The 2.6 Challenge earns incredible industry recognition

2nd December 2020

The innovative virtual fundraising campaign was given two more high commendations in the Drum Social Purpose awards last night.

As the final awards celebration of the year, the whole team is bursting with pride after receiving a total of 4 award wins, 3 commendations and 2 nominations. Thanks to a collaborative, fast and impact-focused approach to launching the new initiative, the British public successfully raised over £11 million for charity during April’s lockdown.

The Drum DADI Award Jurors commented:

"This case demonstrates the true power of integration, with partners working together, media working together, community working together. It was a great idea in response to adversity and we loved the execution, short time to market, use of free channels and results. What joyful creative that crossed all media touch-points."


The 2.6 Challenge in numbers:

  • The biggest collective fundraising event in the UK and it is believed in the world
  • Empowered 3,900+ charities to activate their communities
  • Inspired 24,000+ ordinary people across the UK to take on a challenge
  • Raised over £11,000,000 through fundraising and donations
  • Recruited 100’s of world-class athletes and A-list celebrities to complete a challenge including Gareth Bale, Rod Stewart & Penny Lancaster, Dame Kelly Holmes, Lord Coe, Eliud Kipchoge, Mark Ronson, Trevor Nelson, Shane Warne, Jessie Ware, Clara Amfo, Mollie King, Stephen Fry, Shakka, Angellica Bell, Chris Kamara, Piers Morgan, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Jonny Wilkinson, Damian Lewis, Mark Bright, Freddie Flintoff, Ed Balls, Paula Radcliffe, Mike Tindall, Melanie C, Gabby Logan, Fearne Cotton, Daley Thompson, Tim Henman, Tom Kerridge, David Haye, Roger Black, Tom Daley, Jax Jones and Clare Balding.
  • Featured in 100’s of national news outlets included BBC Breakfast, ITV News, BBC Sport, Radio 4, Sky News, Sky Sports, Comic Relief’s The Big Night In, The Independent, The Times, Telegraph, Evening Standard, The Guardian, Time Out, The Express, Metro, Daily Mail, The Sun, Huffpost, Stylist Magazine, Yahoo News and EuroNews. Also featured by the charity and sports sector press including Third Sector, UK Fundraising, Charity Times, Civil Society Media, Runners World, Athletics Weekly, Fast Running, Inside The Games and Sport Industry Group.
  • Dominated social media as the No.1 trending hashtag on Twitter in the UK on April 26th with 90k+ tweets. Over 5,000 challenge videos were shared by individual fundraisers and charities across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube generating 1m+ interactions and 14.6m+ views.
  • Attracted 320,000 visitors to the campaign website who watched on-site videos 5,000+ times and clicked to donate or fundraise for the campaign over 60,000+ times (April 1st - May 31st).
  • Prompted Oxford Brookes university to commission 1 academic paper documenting the collaborative delivery of The 2.6 Challenge campaign, for prosperity.
  • Won 4 prestigious industry awards: Fundraising Campaign of the Year Award (Third Sector Excellence), Community Award (Leaders Sports), Not-for-profit/Charity Sector Award and Integrated Marketing Campaign of the Year Award (Drum DADI)

Here’s what some of the charities had to say...

“A huge THANK YOU to everyone for coming up with the 2.6 Challenge. An absolutely wonderful initiative and one so needed right now. Here at Marie Curie we’ve raised over £120,000 from 450 people taking part for us and this money will go immediately into providing much needed care across the UK at this time. As the coronavirus pandemic unfolds, our nurses and hospices are needed more than ever, our nurses and frontline staff are giving vital support to dying people and their families right now and this money means we can continue to do that – thank you.”

Fiona Chilton
Head of Mass Participation Fundraising at Marie Curie


“Special Olympics GB were delighted to be a part of the 2.6 Challenge and remain tremendously grateful for the opportunity this gave us to bring our communities together and raise funds with the rest of the nation. The 2.6 Challenge was just what we needed. Our supporters really embraced the fun as well as physical challenge and it was lovely to see so much happiness amongst people with intellectual disabilities and those that support them. One of our athletes with intellectual disabilities and multiple underlying health conditions, continues to raise funds by selling the 26 x football stadiums he has drawn. We're pushing them out across social media and he has already raised nearly £2,000. The joy and fulfilment this is bringing to his family and close community is transforming his life. It was a huge community builder and we have raised nearly £30,000 and benefited from great awareness across social media.”

Ginny Kearns
Director of Fundraising at Special Olympics


"As soon as we heard about the 2.6 Challenge, we knew it was an opportunity we wanted to get involved in. It was a great fit for our audience and has shown how virtual fundraising can be accessible, creative and fun too. Thanks to our incredible supporters and corporate partners, the 2.6 Challenge has raised over £90,000 in support of seriously ill children cared for at Great Ormond Street Hospital. We’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who got involved!

Laura Savory
Deputy Director of Community Fundraising at Great Ormond Street Hospital


If you have an innovative fundraising campaign idea that you’d like creative or digital support to bring to life, get in touch today: hello@studiorepublic.com