Our blog carries on, onto the next big event! The Fundraising Ahead blog is a Fit4Change series aimed at providing our users ideas with fundraising opportunities and events as they arise over the course of the year. Our last piece focused on The London Marathon (to find it, all you have to do is navigate back to the Blog page and scroll down the page). Today, we move on to another large well-known fundraiser – although our subject today is one that really gets everyone moving. You know the drill, let’s get warmed up, and clued up!
Sport Relief
Now, compared to The London Marathon, this one is a bit harder to immediately, and simply, define. The reason being that Sport Relief is both massive and multifaceted. Rather than consisting of one large event, Sport Relief passes the onus onto its fundraisers to get active and to get creative (a combination that we love here at Fit4Change!) The result of this is thousands of separate, unique fundraising experiences that raise vital funds in support of disadvantaged people across the planet.
So, how did it first start?
Sport Relief, a biannual event, consists of a high number of separate fundraising events. However, it’s also pulled together by its BBC Telethon, which highlights the incredible activities across the country, and the causes that the event is supporting. The first Sport Relief show aired in 2002 and was presented by some celebrity names you may just recognize: Gary Lineker, Ulrika Jonsson, Clare Balding, and Jamie Theakston. The event is closely related to Comic Relief, was essentially born from it, and is still closely supported by it. So, with all that considered, Sport Relief might be best recognized as a series of events designed to bring the UK together in the spirit of fundraising.
Sport Relief Today
Sport Relief is only a few weeks away, and this year’s looks to be an incredible event. Despite the nation feeling the chill, with the ‘Beast from the East’ making fundraising feel more like an arctic expedition at the moment, the challenges are still being carried out. BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James has recently begun his Pedal to the Peaks challenge, where he will not only climb the three highest peaks in the UK, but also cycle between them. There are also long-distance cycle events, tag-team relay events, distance swims, sponsored sports matches, there are even danceathons!
Sport Relief will be broadcast live on the 23rd March in MediaCity in Salford, there will be appearances made by Gary Lineker, Gabby Logan and Alan Shearer.
There are so many avenues by which people can get involved with Sport Relief, that it would take an awfully long time to list them all, and even then, it would be likely we’d have missed something – the creativity of the participants knows no bounds!
Fit4Change and Sport Relief
Fit4Change and Sport Relief share a great many things in common. Yes, there’s the obvious connection of charity fundraising, but we also both strive for innovation and creativity. Getting involved with both also involves an app. But, might this be a problem? Not at all! While the Sport Relief app tracks your progress in your chosen activity, our fundraising app can also be used in conjunction. So, whether it is used while training or for the event itself, the Fit4Change app can be used to boost the funds you raise for charity. Let’s say you and a team decide to follow the Edinburgh to London step challenge as set on the Sport Relief website. The distance is over 400 miles, and should your team engage our fundraising app while completing those steps, you will raise over £20 to add to your fundraising total. This is a substantial amount, and all it takes is running the app on your phones.
Getting involved
If you would like to get involved in Sport Relief, then please do visit their website and have a think about what kind of activities you could participate in or run.
As always, we would love to hear about your experiences, so if you decide to get involved then feel free to message us through our Home page, and we can support you where possible.
Whether you run, walk, or cycle, fundraise for free with Fit4Change.
