The 2.6 Challenge, which was launched to help save UK charities, has raised over £10m.

The fundraising challenge was designed by mass-participation event organisers, including the London Marathon, to help the UK charity sector plug the £4.6bn shortfall expected as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

It launched on Sunday 26 April – the date when the annual London Marathon was scheduled to take place – and asked people to come together to raise money for chosen charities by taking part in an activity around the numbers 2.6 or 26.

It has so far raised more than £10m for 3,961 charities from across the UK as thousands of of people young and old took to social media to support the challenge.

Challenges included riding a unicorn 26.2 feet, 26 backflips, various kinds of marathon relays and 260 burpees wearing a Nicholas Cage face mask.

London Marathon Events event director, Hugh Brashes said: “This is an extraordinary success story. The first virtual meeting about The 2.6 Challenge took place on 3 April and just over five weeks later the campaign has enabled this record number of charities to work together to fundraise more than £10 million. This is an entirely new model for fundraising.

“We would like to thank everyone involved: the team that put the campaign together, the businesses and organisations that supported it and, most of all, every single person who came up with a 2.6 Challenge and raised money for their chosen charity.”

The mass-participation events organisers behind The 2.6 Challenge include Human Race, parkrun, The Great Run Company, Run 4 Wales, Grounded Events, London Landmarks, Virgin Sport and London Marathon Events.

The campaign has been supported by the Charities Aid Foundation, the Institute of Fundraising, the Small Charities Coalition, Sport England, Sport Wales, sportscotland, Let’s Do This, Virgin Money Giving and JustGiving.

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