Fundraising during lockdown

Thousands of fundraising events have now been cancelled due to COVID-19 and it's estimated that the the UK charity sector as a whole will lose £4 billion in income as a result of the pandemic. This impacts all charities, like Samaritans, and it is now more important than ever to try and fundraise in any way that we can.

The 2.6 challenge has been introduced by Virgin Money Giving to help charities continue to find ways to fundraise through such unprecedented times. Sunday 26 April 2020 marked the day of the London Marathon which now has been postponed because of the pandemic. Last year, this raised almost £67 million for charities which is brilliant! That's the equivalent of 2.6 million people raising £26. The 2.6 challenge encourages charity supporters to run sponsored events involving the numbers 2 and 6. This could include running up and down the stairs 26 times, a treasure hunt with the kids for 26 minutes or perhaps something more creative such as juggling for 26 minutes!

At Samaritans of Leeds, we are lucky to have two supporters taking part in 2.6 sponsored events to help raise much-needed funds for our branch. Here are their stories:

I decided to take on the 2.6 challenge as Samaritans as a charity now are struggling to find ways to fundraise due to the current Coranavirus Pandemic. I decided as part of my daily exercise, I could achieve running a marathon (26.2 miles) before 26 April 2020. I have now reached that target in 7 days and have so far ran a total of 31.07 miles in 8 days. I have further pledged to run up to 54 miles for the duration of lockdown. I chose this as part of my 2.6 challenge as I could do this within Government guidelines and it is an easy way for me to raise money for the Samaritans, as I have a great passion for running! This is also achievable for me now, as I do not have the commute time to work and more spare time on my hands than I ever did! I've also had a personal experience where I sadly lost a close family member to suicide, so raising money for this charity is more than important than ever for me personally and for the charity as a whole, as I know they continue to support so many people on a regular basis and volunteers give up their spare time to support anyone who might be going through a difficult time.

Since I did my 1st triathlon in 2017, I have continued to run about twice a week. This takes place between 06:15 and 07:30 hrs around Barwick in Elmet village. To raise money for Samaritans of Leeds, during “lock down” I decided to increase this to 4 or 5 times in a 7 day period around 26th April so the accumulated mileage would be 26.2 miles – a marathon. I appreciate that this is not a huge challenge but this would be my exercise allowance for the day, the circuit I use l never takes me more than a mile from home and social distancing is not an issue at that time in the morning so I would be complying with government requirements. Without realising it I had chosen the London marathon as the pivotal date.

In the end I completed my challenge in 5 days; 4 days running and 1 day off (my birthday). To run 26.2 miles in 4 parts meant 6.55 miles per day. I carefully planned the route on Memory Map, software that I use for devising walks. I then used a GPS whilst running to confirm the mileage. Unfortunately, on the 1st day I recorded a shortfall which meant I had to add another loop for the subsequent 3 days. I ended up with a very convoluted route through the streets of Barwick in Elmet in my attempts to keep duplication to a minimum. In total I ran over 27 miles, starting on 23rd and finishing on 27th April. The weather was good throughout which was a bonus because I hate running in the rain. The benefit to John, my partner and Samaritan, was a cup of tea in bed when I got home.

I am delighted to say that so far together we have raised almost £2000 for Samaritans of Leeds which is phenomenal and I'm glad I was able to do my bit to support the branch.