Global virtual fundraising relay for UNICEF reaches seventh continent
Melanie May | 26 August 2020 | News
A global virtual relay set up to raise funds for UNICEF UK has seen over 1,000 runners from 31 countries across seven continents take part so far, raising £6,000 to date.
Pass the Baton was set up in April by a group of friends in Nottingham to raise money for the charity. It now has 1,200 runners from across the globe participating and has just had runners join from its seventh continent – Antarctica.
The first week saw participants run an equal section of a 26.2 miles marathon route and passed the baton after each leg over a dedicated WhatsApp group. One week later the concept matured – 48 runners from across the globe, all completing 5.2km in 30 min slots, over a 24-hour period.
Pass the Baton is now 12 weeks old and occurs every Sunday, with three groups of 48 runners completing 250km over 24 hours. During the week an online group of hundreds of runners between the ages of 6 and 55, from 31 countries, choose a 30-minute slot to run, then the relay starts on Saturday evening.
One of the founding members of Pass the Baton and finance director at Nottingham-based 200 Degrees Coffee, Stephen Fern, said:
“We have created a community of runners of all ages and abilities that encourage each other to do their best whilst sharing pictures, stories and encouragement online. The engagement never ceases to amaze us and every Sunday we watch how Pass the Baton provides a space for people to connect –cultivating happiness, joy and a sense of community and belonging.
“When we reached our 1,000th runner and had participants join us from the only continent where we didn’t have any coverage – Antarctica – we were all so excited. As a business we supply coffee to the British Antarctica Survey (BAS) and through that connection, we managed to have runners in all seven continents. It really is a global community that has grown in only a matter of weeks.”
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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.