5 great fundraising events for this summer

Melanie May | 25 June 2021 | News

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With events kicking off again, here are five activities taking place over the next few months – most of which can be done by participants on their own or in small groups, along with the return of the Whizz-Kidz Challenge 75 at Olympic Park in September.

Beat the Street

Beat the Street is a fun, free initiative that any charity can take part in. This summer it has transformed a number of towns into a giant game, challenging people to see how far they can walk, cycle, run, scoot and roll in 6 weeks. In Sheffield, the game started on 16 June and ends on 28 July. Players register and receive a card and a map – they then earn points and rewards by finding the Beat Boxes around the city and tapping them with their card. There are over 50,000 players with around 160,000 miles covered so far.

There is also a fundraising element – people can join the Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and help them meet their points target to win a £500 donation. The game is also taking place in towns and cities including Taunton, Rotherham, Barnes, and Leicester.

Whizz-Kidz Challenge 75

Whizz-Kidz is relaunching its Challenge 75 and is calling on wheelchair users and non-wheelchair users alike to join the fun and inclusive endurance event in the Olympic Park on 4 September – the last weekend of the Paralympics. It will raise funds to support the charity’s work.

Challenge 75 started with the statistic that across the UK there are an estimated 75,000 young wheelchair users. In 2019, the charity held the first event in London’s Olympic Park with families of both wheelchair users and non-wheelchair users alike. Participants completed as many laps as possible around a 400m track in 75 minutes. This year sees the first in-person Challenge 75 event since 2019 after being postponed in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions.

British Home Ice Cube Challenge

British Home has launched the ‘Ice Cube Challenge’, a social media campaign to raise awareness and funds for the charity as part of its 2021 campaign. With a target goal of £500,000, the funds will be used to advance its specialised care and rehabilitation for people living with neuro-disability.

Kicking off on 6 June 2021, which marked the launch of the first ever National Neuro-Disabilities Day, British Home is calling on people across the nation to show off their best ‘trick shots’ using an ice cube and a glass, be it at a Summer garden party, barbecues at the local park, or simply from the comfort of their own homes. Participants are asked to upload a video of themselves attempting to throw an ice cube into a cup from a distance, donate and upload a screenshot of their donation to British Home through the charity’s JustGiving page, and challenge six friends to complete the challenge and donate to British Home by tagging the charity in their social post and include the ‘#BHIceCubeChallenge’ hashtag.

The last big ice related challenge was of course 2014’s Ice Bucket Challenge.

MS-UK My MS Marathon

National multiple sclerosis charity, MS-UK, has launched the second year of its accessible marathon, which will take place in July 2021. The My MS Marathon is accessible to all, and encourages people, regardless of their ability to pick their own challenge and raise money to support MS-UK’s specialist counselling service. Participants can choose what you are going to do based around the number 26 in time or distance and sign up to raise £100.

All the funds raised will go towards supporting MS-UK’s counselling service and those who raise over £100 will receive a marathon medal.

Barnardo’s Big Toddle Week

Barnardo’s Big Toddle Week is back for 2021 from 28 June-4 July. Parents, carers and nurseries are encouraged to hold their very own Big Toddles to help raise money for Barnardo’s. These could be a community Big Toddle, one for family and friends or one organised by nurseries or primary schools.

This year, footwear retailer Deichmann has been announced as the headline sponsor for the event as part of its Best Foot Forward campaign to provide school shoes for underprivileged families across Barnardo’s services. The campaign is also supported by The Mummy Diaries and Barnardo’s ambassador Billie Faiers, whose children will be taking part.  

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.