Fundraising for a personal charity challenge?
Raising money for charity is an extraordinary act of kindness, however you decide to do it. But today we’re celebrating the individuals who’ve gone even more out of the ordinary and done the CRAZIEST things they can think of to raise money for a good cause! No bake sales in sight on this list – here’s our rundown of 10 fundraising superheroes who went above and beyond to raise money for their favourite charities.
1. Richard Kell, fastest marathon dressed as a gingerbread man
In 2016, Richard Kell realised his childhood dream and ran the London Marathon in 3 hours 29 minutes, in a costume that he described as having “the water repellent properties of a giant sponge”! Richard ran to support Help for Heroes, who help any veterans who have been wounded in Britain’s current conflicts, and raised an incredible £32,000! Run run as fast as you can, you can’t catch Richard – he’s the gingerbread man!
2. Amber Buckle, 8 year-old fundraiser
Ever since she could walk, Amber has been going the extra mile for charity – literally. Aged just 5 years old, the inspirational youngster walked the Yorkshire Three Peaks to raise money for Heart Research UK. What is more – she ran a number of 5km races; sold key rings that she made herself; and swam 64 lengths of a pool in 90 minutes. Recently she was nominated by Yorkshire Hour as Young Achiever for raising over £2,000 for charity! How incredible for have such a passion for fundraising at such a young age!
3. Some’ink Different, 24-hour tattoo-athon
Tattoo shop owners Rob Saxon and Garth Cole-Jones hosted a 24-hour tattoo marathon to raise money for Children in Need. Hour-long slots could be booked in for £35 and all proceeds went to charity. Some people even had Pudsey tattoos to mark the occasion! What an ingenious way to raise money for a great cause.
4. Phill Richardson, “doing daft things” to raise £10,000 for charity
Because one challenge just wasn’t enough, Phill has arranged a series of unusual fundraisers in his effort to raise £10,000 for UNICEF, Macmillan Cancer Support and Little Miracles. Phill lists all of his planned activities and challenges over on his blog – Stupid Way: the latest include folding 1,000 paper cranes; a 24-hour fast; and a 10,000 calorie challenge. That’s the equivalent of 52 Krispy Kremes!
5. Nick Pleydell-Bouverie and Rad Hart-George, seven-year cycle challenge
For the past seven years, Nick and Rad have taken time off from work to cycle their very own “RNLI Tour of Britain”, visiting 192 different RNLI lifeboat stations and spending 450 hours cycling legs of the British coastline. After cycling the entire coastline of Britain over the course of seven years, the pair have raised an incredible £68,000 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution!
Do you have your own crazy charity challenge coming up soon? Raise even more money for your chosen cause every time you shop online with GoRaise.
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Chris Astill-Smith, swimming the English Channel
Did you know that the Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, with 600 tankers and 200 ferries passing through every day? Chris Astill-Smith is attempting to join them this year in his epic channel swim to raise £25,000 for Dreams Come True. Just keep swimming, Chris!
7. Phillip Box and his tumble dryer
Phil says he loves to set himself new challenges all the time, but the one that’s undoubtedly put the biggest weight on his shoulders is the decision to run multiple marathons with a tumble dryer strapped to his back! Phil has raised £2,733 so far for The Polycystic Kidney Disease Charity by doing so. What awesome dedication to raise money and awareness for this little-known disease.
8. Craig Peters’ Burpee World Record Attempt
In 2016, Craig completed over 67,000 burpees to help raise money for St. George’s Hospital; without whom, his gorgeous twin boys would not have survived their diagnosis of twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). He’s already raised £15,000 so far, but Craig isn’t stopping yet. This year, he’s aiming to complete over 100,000 burpees. They say that charity starts at home – it’s amazing that Craig has used something so close to his heart to help so many other families too.
9. Planet Steel, Knaresborough Bed Race 2016 winners
The Great Knaresborough Bed Race is a truly whacky challenge. It’s part fancy dress pageant and part grueling time trial over a 2.4-mile course, ending with a swim through the icy waters of the River Nidd. In 2016, team Planet Steel won the race for the second consecutive year, with a finishing time of 13 minutes 15 seconds. They must have lungs of steel too!
10. Atlantic Solo Stu
Stu Morton, former Royal Marines Commando, is challenging himself in January 2018 to row solo across the Atlantic from Portugal to Venezuela. Stu will be raising money for the Jonny Wilkinson Foundation and Rock 2 Recovery, both of which help people with mental health conditions. Stu is doing some not so ‘mini’ challenges along the way to help fundraise – like running the length of Hadrian’s wall in 24 hours! That’s the length of 3 marathons, back to back… to back. Stu, we salute you!
All of these amazing fundraisers have made a huge difference to the charities they’ve been supporting. What crazy fundraising idea have you always wanted to make a reality? We hope you’re feeling inspired to make it happen!
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[…] Physical challenges are a popular way for corporations to fundraise money for charity. It tests your limits – and it’s a known fact that you’re much more likely to receive donations when you’re pushing yourselves and doing something out of the ordinary. […]