Get involved with Sport Relief

On Friday 18 to Sunday 20 March, over 1,000 events will take place up and down the country and thousands will turn out to get together and walk, run, swim and cycle and get involved with Sport Relief. It’s your chance to raise money for an amazing cause while having a crazy amount of fun at the same time.

By joining in with Sport Relief, you can make an incredible difference to people’s lives both here in the UK and abroad. Indeed 50 per cent of the money raised is used to transform the lives of those right on your doorstep, while the other half is used to fund projects in the world’s poorest communities. In 2014, 140,000 people took part in the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games, a staggering £71,820,731 was raised, meaning 7,900,000 people across the world have been helped in the last two years since. Such incredible statistics are making us extremely excited to take part this year and we think you could do your bit, too!

With more events across the country than ever before, fundraising packs readily available and a Giving Page at your fingertips, it really couldn’t be easier to get involved. Here’s how you can join in and do your bit!

Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games

A collection of nationwide fundraising events that take place over Sport Relief weekend, the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games comprise either walking or running in the Mile event, taking a dip in the Swimathon or saddling up for the Cycle event. Partake in local events or, new for this year, do your city proud with the flagship events in Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Norwich and Sheffield. And for something really special, the flagship event for London is taking place in the city’s most iconic sporting venue, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, so you can really feel like a champion for the day. What’s more, if you do fancy taking on a challenge but don’t feel completely prepared for it, Sport Relief have handily put together tailored six-week training plans for each event to ensure you are prepared to the max. Up for it? We certainly are! Simply visit sportrelief.com to see what events are going on in your local area.

Fundraise your own way

But the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games aren’t the only way to raise money for charity.  For years the British public has done many a crazy thing to get some cash. Stuck for ideas? How about being sponsored to do 10,000 steps a day for the whole of March or hold a treadmill relay with your work buddies? And it doesn’t necessarily have to be sports-related. You could try a sponsored silence, a cake sale or donning some fancy dress – anything to get sponsored and get some dosh! For more ideas simply download Sport Relief’s top fundraising ideas from their website, where you can also order a fundraising kit to aid your challenge.

Sainsbury’s Sport Relief merchandise

Another great way to support Sport Relief is to purchase some fantastic Sport Relief merchandise. Choose from T-shirts, wristbands, beakers, mugs, balls, badges and much more, all in the aid of charity. With a great selection available, all fronted by the UK’s fave celebs, buying into merchandise is a quick and easy way to donate a little to the cause. Prices start from just £1 and nothing’s more than a tenner, so it’s certainly not going to break the bank, plus you get a great gift for either yourself or a loved one. Fan of the ‘Bake Off’? Sport a new look in the kitchen with the limited-edition Sport Relief apron from designer Orla Kiely, available exclusively from TK Maxx, HomeSense and sportrelief.com from 21 January. The full Official Sport Relief merchandise is available from sportrelief.com/shop from 20 January or Sainsbury’s stores and sainsburys.co.uk from 15 February.

Simply donate

It’s an obvious one we admit, but so many people often forget to donate or just never get round to it. But with such small amounts of money achieving such big things, it’s essential that we all play our part. Want to know where your money goes? Just £30 could fully vaccinate seven children in Africa against five deadly childhood diseases. Or in the UK it could enable six UK veterans to attend a local mental health support group. Or £50 could pay for 10 isolated elderly people to go to a dinner club and make new friends, and a mere £10 could buy a school uniform for a former child-labourer in Nepal – so they can go back to school. In the grand scheme of things, these are not large amounts of money but they can do so, so much.

Visit sportrelief.com for more information.

Follow Sport Relief on Twitter at @sportrelief