Over £6,000 raised in the #TwoPointSixChallenge!

Over the past two weeks we have been taking part in The 2.6 Challenge, a campaign organised by the London Marathon to help save the UK’s charities that are seeing their fundraising income decimated by the coronavirus lockdown and the resulting postponement or cancellation of events that would normally raise vital funds.

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we have raised over £6,000 so far with four days still to go until the campaign finishes. Thank you so much!

We invited our supporters to come up with music based challenges that include the numbers 2.6 or 26. We have had some amazing ideas, including drawing 26 musicians for 260 seconds each, performing 26 flute pieces in 26 minutes and cross-stitching 26 musical motifs! We are so grateful to everyone who has already done a challenge or is planning to complete one, and to everyone who has donated to support them.

We also stepped up and hosted our own 2.6 challenge with a Music Marathon on our Facebook page on what would have been the 40th London Marathon (Sunday 26th April), which included 26 musicians each playing 26 minute sets from their homes. There were performances from special guests Joe Stilgoe, Kathryn Rudge and Music in Hospitals & Care Vice Presidents Dame Evelyn Glennie and Christopher Glynn, plus many of our wonderful musicians including everything from classical piano to folk tunes on the accordion.

It was a fantastic day of Joy Through Live Music and we just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated, took part and tuned in to watch. If you weren’t able to join us, or you just want to enjoy the performances again, they are all available to watch below on our YouTube channel:

The 2.6 Challenge continues until 3rd May and you can still get involved by:

• Donating £26 to the campaign page

• Setting your own challenge based around the numbers 2.6 or 26. There’s not long left, but you can still create a fundraising page and share it with your friends and family to collect donations for your challenge. Don’t forget to let us know what you are up to so we can cheer you on!