In response to the cancellation of the London Marathon event due to COVID-19, London Marathon organisers have set up a 2.6 challenge for charities to find an alternative way to raise vital funds.  I & 12 other Helpline staff & 9 Ambassadors from Beat have decided to challenge ourselves by volunteering our own time to operate Beat's online peer support group 'The Sanctuary' for 26 hours starting at 12am on Sunday 26th April going non stop until 2am on Monday 27th April!!! 

The staff team will split the 26 hours between us in a ‘relay style’ supervising and moderating the group, working alongside our many wonderful lived experience Ambassadors who are also volunteering their time for this challenge to provide a vital support service to people affected by eating disorders. 

We are hopeful that this challenge will encourage people to sponsor us to help Beat and ensure we can keep support services running. We also want to raise awareness of our support services and encourage our current but also new service users to access support.

Over the last few weeks demand for Beat's support services has risen by 35%, but our income has dropped by 30%. We hope that by running this 26 hour support group, we will raise awareness of our support services and the vital support that Beat does. We receive no Government funding so we also hope to raise funds for the helpline, to ensure that we can keep these support services running during this difficult time & beyond!

Please give whatever you can, small gestures add up to make a big difference and can change lives!

Thank you!

Jo x