26 examples of 2.6 Challenge fundraising events

Howard Lake

Howard Lake | 27 April 2020 | News

Save the UK's charities - man in superhero mask and cape
The 2.6 Challenge to save the UK’s charities

Yesterday thousands of people joined in the 2.6 Challenge, in an effort to make up some of the money that would have been raised by runners in the London Marathon, the world’s biggest single day fundraising event. In fact, the challenge has the ambitious challenge of saving the UK’s charities!
Yesterday 40,000 or so runners would have run the London Marathon, no doubt raising over £66 million for many charities. But of course it isn’t taking place due to the coronavirus lockdown, adding to charities’ cashflow problems.
But the charity sector has stepped up and supported the organisers of the London Marathon in their virtual version of the event, designed to raise funds for charities now, rather than make them wait until October, the month to which the London Marathon has been postponed.
The 2.6 Challenge is designed for all charities and for almost any supporter to get involved. You simply have to come up with an idea that involves the numbers two and six. Yesterday, the original date of the London Marathon, was the 26th April, and the marathon distance is 26 miles (not forgetting the 385 yards).
 

2.6 Challenge - pick a charity

Find a charity on JustGiving or Virgin Money Giving – and see what people have raised for them via the 2.6 Challenge


 

Fundraising ideas for the 2.6 Challenge

These are just some of the remarkably varied ideas that people have come up with to raise funds while stuck at home or with only minimal access to outdoor spaces. That clearly has not held people back!
 

1. Run 2.6 miles

Nothing wrong with the standard run of 2.6 miles. It was a popular choice!

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2. Run 2.6 miles in 26 minutes – backwards

But of course, there are many variations on running 2.6 miles.


 
Not surprisingly, it’s hard to find genuinely unique ideas:
 


 
And why not include 26 handstands while you’re doing that distance?


 
 

3. Row 26 miles

The organisers have recommended not trying to run a marathon today due to recommendations about how much exercise one is allowed to take. But Nick Matthews has an indoor rowing machine, so he’s still up for rowing 26 miles for St Peter’s Hospice.


 

4. Bake 26 cookies and deliver them to friends and family

You could always run a little having baked 26 cookies.
 


 

5. Wear cricket kit for 26 hours

Some it seems were thinking about a different kind of runs. Simply wearing your full sporting kit for 26 hours was good enough for them!
 


 

6. Build a 2.6m (or higher!) tower of Lego

How do we build a charity sector for the future? With Lego of course – 2.6 metres of it.
 


 
 

7. Different people running 2.6 mile segments of the London Marathon route

You couldn’t run the London Marathon route in one go today, but a group of runners did so collaboratively by choosing a different 2.6 mile leg, all the way from Blackheath to the Strand and central London.
 


 
 

8. 26 x 26-minute exercise videos

Rita Chadha, CEO of the Small Charities Coalition, will take part in 26 rotations of exercise routines organised by the Team Body Project. Each routine lasts about 26 minutes meaning she will be committing to completing 13 hours of low and high impact exercising over 24 hours. 
 


 

9. Signing 26 letters of the alphabet

Jade Secker, Fundraising Manager at the Haven Hospice, decided to do 26 challenges related to 26! Here’s just one of them – signing 26 letters of the alphabet in sign language.
Actually, 26 challenges on a theme of 26 was quite popular:
 

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Busy day for the Lilly family today, taking on the #TwoPointSixChallenge by doing 26 activities involving the numbers 2 and 6. Here's what we got up to… 1. Say Good Morning to 26 people  2. Cycle 26 km 3. Run 2.6 miles  4. Get 26 at bat & ball  5. Rally of 26 at table tennis  6. Score 26 at Scrabble  7. Do 26 keepy uppies  8. Read for 26 minutes  9. Garden for 26 minutes  10. 26 sit-ups  11. 26 press ups  12. 26 shoulder stands  13. Run up & down the stairs 26 times  14. Daisy chain with 26 daisies  15. Complete a quiz with 26 questions  16. Meditate for 26 minutes  17. Stroke the cats 26 times  17. Catch the ball 26 times  19. Play the PS4 for 26 minutes  20. Hop on each leg 26 times  21. Have a 2.6 minute shower  22. Skip 26 times  23. Wash up 26 things  24. Hula hoop 26 times  25. Play hopscotch 26 times in the garden  26. Donate £26 to charity And now rest…

A post shared by Simon Lilly (@simonlilly) on


 
 

10. Drawing a 2.6 shape on a running app


 
Here’s another map image, based on a 26km cycle ride early this morning:
 

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?‍♂️? of the ? kind by @coderunnerguy ?. He was up at 0430 to do this work of art over 26km. Who's the Japanese sensation? #twopointsixchallenge #pokemon

A post shared by #TwoPointSixChallenge (@londonmarathon) on


 
 

11. Climb the stairs 26 times


 
 

12. Donate in return for a music request

Fundraising consultant Richard Sved will play your favourite tune on his corner. If you like it, please donate 26p, £2.60 or £26 to his favourite charity Youth Talk.
 


 
Music offers many options for fundraising ideas:
 


 
 
And here are 26 residents with complex disabilities who live at the Queen Elizabeth Foundation’s Independent Living Service and who have formed the QEF Diversity Choir, signing the Andrea Day song  ‘Rise up’ for their challenge. Members sing and sign, depending on their abilities, and wanted to to convey a positive and inclusive message to everyone.
 

 
 
 

13. 26 thousand steps in a day


 

14. Guided virtual tour

Fundraiser Simon Scriver is taking you on a 2.6 km tour of Dublin, using Google StreetView:
 

 

15. A 26-minute brush pen sketch

Sarah Lawson offered the result for sale to raise funds for David Shepherd Wildlife, and promised to add a donation herself of £26.
 

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*SOLD* 26 minute brush pen sketch for #twopointsixchallenge! For sale – 100% of the proceeds plus a £26 donation from me will be donated to @dswfwildlife foundation helping them protect endangered wildlife ?? . Message me if you’d like to purchase the drawing and help support the charity and myself as a partner artist to them ✍?? . Drawing with pen is way outside of my comfort zone! Especially when setting a time limit ??! But I’m pleased with how they have turned out and enjoyed doing something a little different ? ? . @dswfwildlifeart #dswf #challenge #pendrawing #elephantcalf #elephant #wildlifeart #drawing #sketch #pendrawing #elephant #elephantart #charity #artforsale #illustration #conservation #wildlife #endangeredwildlife #artistsoninstagram #cornwallart #newquay

A post shared by Sarah Lawson (@sarah_lawson_art) on


 
And along similar lines here’s an eight-hour doodlethon:
 

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Well that was fun. A huge thank you to everyone for who donated as part of the #twopointsixchallenge for Music in Hospitals & Care and a scathing look to all who didn't (LOLZ) We've raised nearly two hundred quid from my 8 hour doodleathon, which is way above my initial expectations. So again thank you so much for helping out the wonderful charity Music in Hospitals & Care, they do astounding work bringing live music across the county to those who need it most. You can still donate here if your so inclined https://justgiving.com/fundraising/musicaldoodles I'm off to have a beer and soak my hand in a bucket of ice #MusicalDoodles #joythroughlivemusic

A post shared by Jim Matherson (@the_irish_bug) on


 

16. Learn as you go

You can expand your mind while you’re fundraising too.
 


 
Or go on your own Springwatch:


 
 

17. Dance for 26 minutes

If distance is a challenge for you, you can dance on the spot:
 


 
 

18. Ping pong

Got access to table tennis table? 676 ping pong bounces could be your target.
 
https://twitter.com/ChildhoodTT/status/1254504812223377410
 
 
 
 

19. Silence


 

20. Reading

Whether reading aloud or in your head, you’ve no doubt got some unread books on your home bookshelves, or you can go for extra points by choosing a book relevant to your charity:
 


 
Or why not test your family and friends’ knowledge about books and reading?
 


 
 
 

21. Haircut

The longer the lockdown continues the more of us will need some kind of home-made haircut. So why not turn that into a fundraising initiative, like TV journalist Rory Cellan-Jones?
 


 

22. Making masks

Given the continued shortage of PPE in the UK even in the last week of April, you can put your time to even more good use by making masks to keep healthcare workers safer:
 


 

23. CPR – practise saving lives

If your charity focuses on life-saving skills, how about a 26-hour non-stop CPR marathon?
 


 

24. 26 costume changes

Time to explore your wardrobe. Here’s a combination of costume changes with that evergreen choice of climbing the stairs at home:


 

25. Travel differently

There turns out to be many different ways you can get from A to B.
Here’s going by roly-poly:
 


 
Or you can go by skates – roller or in-line:


 

26. Going up in the world

So much of the 2.6 Challenge has been focused on travelling a horizontal distance. You could of course try bouncing:
 


 
 
 
 
 

Need more ideas?

If you’ve not started, the 2.6 Challenge isn’t like a normal London marathon where you have to take part all at the same time. You could start yours on another day, like tomorrow.
Here are more 2.6 Challenge ideas:
 

NSPCC

The NSPCC has a dedicated page for the 2.6 Challenge with plenty of ideas for what to do.
 
Fundraising and challenge ideas from NSPCC
 
Even better, it has precise suggestions for what 2.6 Challenge-related sums could help them achieve – £26, £260, £,2600, £26,000:
 
How fundraising helps protect children - what donation amounts enable NSPCC to achieve
 

Involving everyone

One of the hallmarks of the 2.6 Challenge was that charity staff and trustees were actively involved in many cases. With original events like the London Marathon it’s all down to the fortunate few who secure places. With 2.6 Challenge anyone can join in – and they did!


 
 

The sum raised?

At the end of 26 April the 2.6 Challenge had raised…


 
Not surprisingly the campaign has attracted and benefited from substantial news coverage:


 
 

 3,050 total views,  9 views today

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Howard Lake

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is a digital fundraising entrepreneur. Publisher of UK Fundraising, the world's first web resource for professional fundraisers, since 1994. Trainer and consultant in digital fundraising. Founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of Utopy.co (formerly GoodJobs). Researching massive growth in giving.