Today should have been the day when thousands of runners would have raised millions of pounds for charity by running the London Marathon.

Charities will miss out of the biggest single fundraiser of the year as it has been cancelled due to Covid-19.

So, many people are looking at alternatives, including two former Stutton Primary School pupils who are joining in with the #twopointsixchallenge.

Elizabeth Wadeson, 13 and Shay Cavanagh are looking to raise £400 for MIND by camping in their peninsula back garden, and are already well on their way of reaching their target but need your help for the final push.

Elizabeth's mum said: "They decided that during the lockdown they would like to raise money for MIND. They are doing the 2.6 challenge by staying in a tent in their own back gardens for 26 hours.

"Many charities would have raised larger amounts of money via the Marathon so this is the next best thing that they could think of to raise money at home. If you would like to sponsor them please use the following link: Elizabeth and Shay 2.6 challenge for MIND

The duo, who are now in Year 9 at East Bergholt High school, started at 10am yesterday and will finish today at midday, just as many of the runners would have completed the marathon.

All the money raised will be used to towards supporting and developing existing and new services at mental health charity Suffolk Mind.

If you are taking part in the 2.6 Challenge on the peninsula, feel free to send us details and photos to [email protected].

Virgin Money London Marathon raised more than £66.4m in 2019 and supporters across the country set to take part in the 2.6 Challenge this weekend, instead.

The 2.6 Challenge has been set up by the main mass-participation event organisers in the UK and aims to raise £67m to support UK charities through the crisis.

According to its website, the 2.6 Challenge has raised about £1.6m so far.

Five-year-old Henry is among them. He is running a marathon over 10 days (2.6 miles a day) and has already raised £3,000 for children charity 2 Wish Upon A Star. 

Outlander actress Caitriona Balfe is running 2.6 miles on Sunday for World Child Cancer, the charity she is patron of. But she is also taking on 12 surprise challenges suggested by fans, one of which is drawing 26 portraits of Outlander characters. She has raised over £24,000 so far.

Among the participants is also a recovered Covid-19 patient, Alexander Serge Lourie, who will be walking 2.6 miles despite having recently had the disease. He is raising money for Kingston Hospital Charity after the hospital took care of him.

For people who are not really the active type, creative ideas for the challenge include spending the day in the kitchen, for example baking 26 cakes.

Sonya Chowdhury, chief executive of Action for M.E, is combining the two: she is aiming to cook 142 curries and walk 2.6 miles to deliver them to people in her community on Tuesday 28 April. She has raised almost £6,000 so far and has an ambitious target of £26,000.

Charities are interpreting the challenge in a range of ways that can resonate with their supporters and causes.

The Royal Life Saving Society is aiming to raise £26,000 by getting 104 people to participate in a 15-minute compression only CPR slot.

The Royal Horticultural Society has a list of 26 gardening activities to suggest, including "giving your wildlife a bath" and "creating a green feature wall".

Finally, NSPCC's pretty creative list of 2.6 Challenge fundraising activities includes live streaming 26 karaoke songs, reading 26 books in 26 days and completing 26 puzzles. 

"The 2.6 Challenge can be anything that works for you," said Nick Rusling, co-chair of the Mass Participation Sports Organisers group (MSO) and CEO of Human Race. "You can run or walk 2.6 miles, 2.6km or for 26 minutes. You could do the same in your home or garden, go up and down the stairs 26 times, juggle for 2.6 minutes, do a 26 minute exercise class or get 26 people on a video call and do a 26 minute workout – anything you like.

"We want people to get active, have fun and raise money to help Save the UK's Charities by giving money or raising funds for the charity close to your heart."

See more at: [L]https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/voices/a-collection-of-our-favourite-2-6-challenges-so-far.html#sthash.r1hN7m94.dpuf[L+] #2.6challenge