A Summer of Giving Back

The 2.6 Challenge to Save the UK’s Charities

Turning disappointment into donations

21 April 2020

In our pre-pandemic life, many of us were full of anticipation for 2020’s sports and cultural events. So many great moments have had to be cancelled or postponed: Glastonbury’s 50^th anniversary, Euro 2020, Tokyo’s Summer Olympics, Eurovision Song Contest, Wimbledon, the remainder of the Premier League season, countless tours of bands and artists... the list goes on.

Despite the disappointment of so many missed moments, there is nonetheless an opportunity to turn what could be a ‘summer of CANCELLED’ into a ‘summer of GIVING’.

Some of that money that many of us would have spent on (often) over-priced stadium food, booking fees, festival outfits, last minute transportation (those late night cab rides that our budgets could have done without!) presents instead a chance to help the organisations tackling the crisis and helping the people most impacted by it.

The importance of mass events to charities

Many of those cancelled events don’t just leave a hole in our summer diaries - but will also leave a catastrophic gap in the income of our treasured charity sector too. The top 25 mass participation sports events in the UK raise more than £150 million for charities every year. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, thousands of charities have had to reduce or stop services at a time when vulnerable members of society need them most. Some charities are already struggling to survive the next few months.

But by coming together, we can help. Sunday, April 26 was meant to be the day the London Marathon was run - the world’s biggest one day annual fundraising event, which raised £66.4 million for charities in 2019.

Introducing... The 2.6 Challenge

The organisations behind Britain’s mass participation events have come together to launch a nationwide fundraising campaign to Save the UK’s Charities.

Here at CAF, we are proud to be a partner in the #TwoPointSixChallenge alongside Sport England, the UK Government’s Office for Civil Society, JustGiving and the BBC.

To get involved, from April 26^th, simply have a go at an activity based around the number 2.6 or 26 that best suits your skills or interests. It can be any anything that adheres to social distancing - you can run or walk 2.6 miles, exercise for 26 minutes at home, or - if you’re more of a baker than a runner - you could even flip a pancake 26 times! Share your activity on social media, fundraise from friends or family or donate yourself to your chosen charity at twopointsixchallenge.co.uk.

The aim is to raise £66 million for UK charities by the end of April. If 2.6 million of us raise or donate £26 each, we will get there - or 260,000 people raising £260 each!

How CAF is helping

At CAF we will be working hard to distribute all the money raised to the charities people will be helping to save. By saving these charities, we will be helping them to continue to work tirelessly on behalf of all the people who need their services right now. As champions for charities, CAF will help spread the word about #TwoPointSixChallenge to all of our friends in charities across the UK so that they can use it to raise desperately-needed funds.

Together, we can make all the difference in the world for the charities helping the most vulnerable amongst us.

See more about how you can get involved at www.twopointsixchallenge.co.uk.

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The 2.6 Challenge

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