10 events raising funds for good causes
Melanie May | 24 June 2019 | News
From Tommy’s Splashathon to the BHF London to Brighton Bike Ride, and the new Tesco Dance Beats, here is a selection of recent or soon to be fundraising events taking place around the country.
Thinking of Oscar’s #TOO500
Thinking of Oscar #TOO500 cyclists have completed their gruelling 500-mile cycle, visiting six top UK children’s hospitals in five days and raising funds to invest in projects and innovations within child health with the potential to benefit children nationally and act as a catalyst for positive change in child healthcare. More than 60 cyclists took part, with some doing the whole event and others completing certain legs of the journey.
We hope to make this years Splashathon our best yet, as we aim to raise the funds needed for our brand new Tommy's research centre – the National Centre for Improving Maternity Care.
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Find out more about our new centre today: https://t.co/lKR7oLBhYz #TogetherForChange pic.twitter.com/g8VjWo7r7t
— Tommy's (@tommys) June 12, 2019
Tommy’s Splashathon
Tommy’s Splashathon takes place on 24 June, in partnership with parent and child group Water Babies. It will be bigger than ever in 2019, with the aim of raising more than £1 million. Blue State Digital has created the campaign, which includes more digital and socially focused activity than in previous years. The campaign uses characters from Peppa Pig to appeal to children and their parents, while a ‘Little Splasher’ quiz will invite parents to complete questions to find out which swimming style their little one adopts. A Facebook messenger bot will allow audiences taking part to ask questions relating to the quiz in advance of the event.
Shrewsbury Half Marathon
The organisers of Shrewsbury Half Marathon have launched a new National Charity Partner Package for the event on Sunday 6 October 2019. The National Charity Partner Package gives charities the chance to buy blocks of 10 places for this much-loved race that takes runners through Shrewsbury’s historic centre and out into the beautiful Shropshire countryside. Alongside their race places, each charity will receive a dedicated 3x3m space in the race village plus their logo and url on the event website. Any charity interested in the National Charity Partner Package for On Shrewsbury Half Marathon should email ch*****@sh************.com. The cost is £35 per place and 10 charity places must be booked at a time.
This year, we have raised over a whopping total of £442,000 for @RestlessDev and other charities! What an incredible achievement! Thank you to all of those who fundraised for us – you really are proving the power of young people #youthpower #triflightcentre #restlesstrimore pic.twitter.com/PIG9X5vbhi
— Knight Frank Schools Triathlon (@SchoolTriathlon) June 3, 2019
Flight Centre Schools Triathlon
The most successful Flight Centre Schools Triathlon series to date has finished after a grand final event at Marlborough College. The 2019 Flight Centre Schools Triathlon took place over three weekends in April and May. 3,330 children took part in 2019 bringing the total number of participants in the last four years to more that 9,000. £1 million has now been raised since the event started four years ago with this year seeing a record breaking £400,000 fundraised for the organising charity Restless Development, and many local school charities.
GSK and Save the Children
40 GSK employees from 25 countries recently raised over £270,000 for Save the Children by trekking the Simien Mountains in Ethiopia. Trek for Kids, a joint initiative from the GSK and Save the Children partnership, challenged participants to raise £4,550 each (which GSK would then match), a target mirroring the height in meters of the summit of Ras Dashen. The funds raised will support partnership programme work by Save the Children, including a major vaccination programme in Ethiopia. The GSK employees, some of whom had never undertaken a physical challenge like this before, exceeded their joint target of £182,000 by also organising a range of fundraising activities.
Macmillan Charity Raceday
Macmillan Charity Raceday took place at York Racecourse on 15 June, raising more than £640,000 for the charity. Graham and Jason Paver from The Pavers Foundation presented the winner of the Pavers Foundation Catherine Memorial Sprint, Recon Mission, with the trophy. The Pavers Foundation sponsor the event as a tribute to Catherine Paver, who founded Pavers Shoes in 1971 and had a keen passion for racing.
[youtube height=”450″width=”800″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=43&v=MKZE0D7jKRs[/youtube]
Parkinson’s UK Garden Gathering
Parkinson’s UK is asking people to have a summer Garden Gathering to raise funds for the charity. Suggestions include Tea and cake or cocktails and a BBQ, and everyone who signs up receives a free fundraising pack full of ideas and branded materials.
[youtube height=”450″width=”800″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=33&v=cHnm87O2G6Q[/youtube]
GOSH Jurassic Coast Challenge
As part of its Ultra Challenges series, Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity challenged people to walk the Jurassic Coast in June. Over the 8 and 9 June, people could choose from three distances, 100km, 50km or 25km, with the full 100km challenge starting at Poole Harbour and ending at Bridport.
[youtube height=”450″width=”800″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSRUvrtmZMQ[/youtube]
Tesco Dance Beats
Tesco has launched Dance Beats, a new fundraising campaign, to support its health charity partners – Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK. Dance Beats will run throughout June and July, culminating in three days of dance marathon fundraising events in thousands of Tesco stores across the country on the 18, 19 and 20 July. These events will coincide with an ambitious Guinness World Record attempt at Wembley stadium on the 19 and 20 July where thousands of Tesco colleagues and members of the public will come together to complete a 30-hour dance marathon relay.
What a day! Our incredible riders have battled the Beacon, braved the rain, and smashed 54 miles! Well done to everyone who took on #LondonToBrighton 2019! pic.twitter.com/r1yZvW78ON
— British Heart Foundation (@TheBHF) June 16, 2019
London to Brighton Bike Ride
On Sunday 16 June, almost 15,000 cyclists took part in BHF’s flagship cycling event, the London to Brighton Bike ride and raised £2 million. The 44th annual event and 54 mile route took participants through the south of the capital, down into the beautiful countryside of Surrey and Sussex, up to the views of Burgess Hill summit and then down to Brighton’s seafront.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.