A total of £139m was raised by the top 25 mass participation events in 2016, with Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life maintaining its position at the top for the fourth year running.
The £139m figure was up by £3m from last year, but is still a drop from the £154m raised for charity through mass participation events in 2014 – the year of both the ice bucket challenge and no make-up selfie campaigns.
The list is compiled by events company Massive, and looks at the biggest and most successful fundraising events in the UK.
CRUK’s Race for Life raised £48m this year, slightly down on last year when it raised £52.8m. Macmillan’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning came second with £29.5m raised. The third biggest event was Moonwalk’s Walk the Walk event, which raised £8m.
CRUK and Macmillan ran 11 of the biggest events between them, accounting for 75 per cent of the total income raised by those in the top 25.
The fastest growing mass participation event was Alzheimer’s Society’s Memory Walk which grew by 69 per cent. The second and third fastest growing charities were both Macmillan’s Brave the Shave and it’s the Longest Day, which grew by 62 per cent and 39 per cent respectively.
Virtual events up
Three virtual events, the British Heart Foundation’s MyMarathon, Cancer Research UK’s Walk All Over Cancer and Macmillan Cancer Support’s Outrun, were entered the top 25 list this year.
Virtual events involve people tracking their physical activity online as a way of raising money and heightening awareness of a cause. The report said virtual events based around cycling, swimming and walking, had been launched by charities outside the top 25 but questioned whether they could achieve the ambitions of their physical counterparts.
Almost a third of the top 25 events are more than 25 years old, and account for 76 per cent of the income. However, ten of the events in the top 25 have been created since the survey was started in 2012. Despite only counting for £25m, their income is growing, while income fell for the older events in 2016.
The full list goes as follows:
- Cancer Research UK, Race for Life (£48m)
- Macmillan Cancer Support, World’s Biggest Coffee Morning (£29.5m)
- Walk the Walk, Moonwalk (£8m)
- Macmillan Cancer Support, Brave the Shave (£7.2m)
- Alzheimer’s Society, Memory Walk (£6.6m)
- The Movember Foundation, Movember (£5m)
- Cancer Research UK, Shine (£4.5m)
- Macmillan Cancer Support, Go Sober October (£4.2m)
- Save the Children, Christmas Jumper Day (£4m)
- Cancer Research UK, Dryathlon (£2.8m)
- Cancer Research UK, Relay for Life (£2.5m)
- British Heart Foundation, London to Brighton Series (£2.5m)
- Royal Marsden Hospital, Marsden March (£1.7m)
- Macmillan Cancer Support, Longest Day (£1.6m)
- Breast Cancer Campaign, Wear it Pink (£1.3m)
- Action for Children, Byte Night (£1.2m)
- Princes Trust, Palace to Palace (£1.2m)
- Great Ormond Street Hospital, Race for the Kids (£1m)
- British Heart Foundation, MyMarathon (£1m)
- Macmillan Cancer Support, Your Walk (£1m)
- Cancer Research UK, Walk All Over Cancer (£1m)
- Macmillan Cancer Support, Outrun (£902,000)
- Jeans For Genes, Jeans For Genes (£900,000)
- Breast Cancer Care, Pink Robbonwalk (£881,000)
- The Kiltwalk, The Kiltwalk (£878,000)
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