24hr Swim Relays to raise funds for Level Water, plus more event news
Melanie May | 2 May 2024 | News
A round up of recent and upcoming fundraising events from around the country, from Level Water’s 24-hour Swim Relays to the Peak District Challenge for Military vs Cancer.
24hr Swim Relays to raise funds for Level Water
Level Water has announced a new series of 24-hour swim relays, across six open water venues, to raise funds. The 24hr Swim Relays are a celebration of open water and the swimming community and challenge people to gather a team of up to eight and swim for an hour each, on rotation, for 24 hours. All proceeds go to the charity. Each event is open to swimmers of all abilities and participants from every team start and finish each swim together on the hour. It’s not timed or competitive and the challenge is in longevity, not distance with the pace and laps all determined by the individuals.
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The four swim relays will be taking place at Shepperton, Clevedon, Bedford’s Box End Park, and Chelmsford in June, and at Lake 32 in the Cotswolds, and Watersedge in Worcester in September.
Russell-Cooke Silicon Cup Regatta to support three good causes
The Russell-Cooke Silicon Cup Regatta returns this September to The Solent for the annual two-day charity event. The IT industry’s biggest charity sailing event, it’s an opportunity for companies to network, while raising money to be divided equally between three charities; The Genie’s Wish, The Andrew Simpson Foundation, and Greig City Academy.
Last year’s event raised £48,000 and over the last 23 years, more than 7,250 competitors have taken part in the regatta, raising a total of £1.15 million to date. The 2024 event will take place on Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 September. Every eight or ten guest yacht comes with a professional crew, alongside safety gear and a safety briefing on the first day of the event. A gala dinner will also be held on the first night at Cowes on the Isle of Wight, with competitions and auctions held to raise money for the chosen charities.
JustGiving named as official fundraising partner for Action Challenge’s The Ultra Challenge® Series.
Action Challenge, organisers of the ‘Ultra Challenge Series’, has announced JustGiving as its official fundraising partner. Since its inception in 1999, Action Challenge has raised over £100 million for UK charities through its events.
JustGiving and Action Challenge have been working together for a number of years to grow fundraising within Action Challenge’s Ultra Challenge Series, which supports more than 500 charities every year, and raised more than £7 million in 2023 alone. This year, however, marks the first time that JustGiving has been named as the business’ official fundraising partner. It’s estimated that through the partnership, Action Challenge’s charity partners will benefit from a 25% increase in donations, with the event organiser aiming to raise £9mn in total.
Pedalling 2 Pubs returns for second year to help Only A Pavement Away & the Licensed Trade Charity
Following the debut Pedalling 2 Pubs ride in 2023, the industry bike ride and sibling fundraiser to Pedalling for Pubs, is returning for another year, having already raised over £25k so far for two industry charities; Only A Pavement Away and the Licensed Trade Charity. It will see 50 hospitality professionals cycling 230km across the rolling hills of North Devon from the 16-18 May.
Pedalling 2 Pubs launched last year, with riders tackling the Yorkshire Wolds and raising £80k. Through the united effort of Pedalling for Pubs and Pedalling 2 Pubs, organisers have set the target of raising over £350k for the two charities this year. This will add to the £670k already raised in the first two years since the Pedalling for Pubs challenge was founded in 2022.
Peak District Challenge to raise funds for Military vs Cancer
On 10-12 May, Military vs Cancer will undertake a physically gruelling weekend fundraising event in the heart of the Peak District. In association with ET Payroll and Mindful Walks NE, The Peak District Challenge will see participants complete a 15 or 22-mile trek — with the distance determined by the choice of each individual — against the scenic backdrop of the National Park on Saturday, before going head-to-head in a series of adrenaline-fuelled dragon boat races on the Sunday.
Military vs Cancer’s Peak District Challenge is open to everyone. By rallying the support of both individual participants and corporate sponsors, Military vs Cancer hopes to raise an additional £15,000 in donations to support its campaign work, as well as help fund a range of critical services including: respite breaks; additional family and nursing care funding; and essential home adaptations.
Tent for Lent challenge raises over £11K for ShelterBox
Supporters of ShelterBox have raised over £11,000 for people around the world left without shelter after disaster by taking part in its annual Tent for Lent challenge.
Around 300 people supported the fundraising campaign this year. It encourages people to give something up, take on a challenge, or organise a fundraiser, and donate the money raised or saved to support people uprooted from their homes because of disaster and conflict. People from all over the UK have been getting creative in their efforts, giving up their beds, litter picking, and running miles. One supporter from Tower Hamlets taxed herself on every leisure activity during Lent, in a creative way to gather funds. Cinema tickets, restaurant meals, and take away coffees all incurred a ‘leisure tax’ which was then donated to the charity.
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.