Why Cancer Counselling

This Sunday 26th April, the organisers of the Virgin Money London Marathon are inviting people all over the UK to take on a '2.6 challenge' to help raise money for the thousands of charities facing hard financial times due to the covid-19 outbreak. The idea is to take on a challenge you can achieve during lockdown - it can be anything at all as long as it's linked to 2.6 or 26, to match the 26.2 miles of the marathon.

Raising more than £66million in 2019, the London Marathon is the world's biggest one-day fundraising event and a major source of sponsorship income for charities of all sizes. We Hear You is a registered charity partner for Sunday's event and is calling on its supporters to take on a 26-related challenge as part of the event. Fundraising and Communications Manager Gemma Wilkes says:

"We are excited to be involved in the 2.6 campaign, helping charities like WHY across the country to raise vital funds. We’re asking you to take part in an activity of your choice based around the numbers 2.6 or 26. People of all ages are taking on The 2.6 Challenge with a host of activities – from walking, running or cycling 2.6 miles, juggling for 2.6 minutes, to holding online workouts with 26 friends. The ideas and options are endless! The only requirement is that you must follow Government guidelines on exercise and social distancing. Most people are taking part from Sunday 26 April but you can do your activity whenever is most convenient for you.

There are just five simple steps to take:

1. Dream up your 2.6 challenge
2. Head to WHY's 2.6 challenge page to donate or to set up a fundraising page
3. Ask all your friends and family to sponsor you and challenge them to do their own 2.6 Challenge
4. Complete your challenge
5. Share a photo or video of your challenge on social media with #TwoPointSixChallenge

If you can fundraise or make a donation, no matter how small, it will make a big difference. It is your donations that ensure WHY can provide people with a life line at what is often described as the darkest time of their lives. Let us know what you get up to and do get in touch if you need anything from us. tag us in your posts, message us or email us at fundraising@wehearyou.org.uk so we can share all your wonderful activities.

The 2.6 challenge is a particularly good fit for us as we've just launched our own 26-themed challenge in the form of the #WHYworkout for WHY's 26th anniversary. Our supporter Alice of Starr Fitness Frome led a team for the the 2019 Three Peaks Challenge, raising more than £30,000 for WHY. Her mini-workout is the basis of our #WHYworkout challenge - people post a film of themselves doing 26 reps of four exercises as demonstrated by Alice, make a small donation and nominate five friends to do the challenge within 24 hours. So we've made it easy for you...but you could also come up with your own challenge, or check out the 2.6 challenge ideas page for inspiration. It doesn't have to make you sweat, either - my daughter will be baking 26 cupcakes and delivering them to neighbours...and we've got someone doing 26 minutes of gardening! So join us this Sunday and help WHY keep supporting people coping with life-threatening conditions including covid-19."

More information about the challenge can be found at https://twopointsixchallenge.justgiving.com/. We Hear You's 2.6 challenge fundraising page is at twopointsixchallenge.justgiving.com/get-involved?charityId=186998 and supporters can also donate £3 from a mobile phone by texting WHYONCE3 to 70085.

To refer yourself for free professional counselling with WHY, please email info@wehearyou.org.uk.