Charity running event in Leicester raising awareness of mental health challenges.
Leicester-based mental health charity Lamp has launched its annual Lamp 5k challenge five months ahead of the big 5k Park Run finale in May in a bid to encourage 5,000 fundraising champions to take part in the ‘5k Your Challenge, Your Choice’ campaign.
The five-month-long Lamp 5k campaign encourages people of all abilities across the world to take on the challenge of raising £50 each by taking part in any activity. So far, Lamp has had participants sign up to complete a ‘5 hot wings challenge’ and thrill seekers pledging to jump out of planes.
Liam Deacy, Chief Operating Officer at Lamp, said: “Ideally, we’d love to have 5,000 people taking part, doing a small challenge each to raise £50. If we reach that target, it could result in £250,000 raised. That will allow us to see 333 people from the start to the end of their mental health journey as it costs an average of £750 to help each person overall."
The campaign begins today on January 19 and ends in May to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week from May 13-19 as well as a Leicester 5k run at Victoria Park with Lamp Ambassador Greg Hollingsworth accompanied by many of the local community.
The completion of 5,000 small challenges each raising £50 could raise a quarter of a million pounds for Lamp.
The annual event has been incredibly successful since it began in 2021, gaining support from fundraising champions all over the world. Last year, participants tracked their progress through the Strava app, seeing people from as far as India and the US taking part.
"The team is so proud of the work everyone put in last year. This year, we hope to drum up even more awareness now that we’ve expanded the possibilities of the Lamp 5k challenge.
"Now that we have extended the time period that people can get involved, I’m keen to see even more people taking part all over the world over the next five months completing 5k in their own way.
"Taking away the need to run a distance of 5k takes off the pressure and is more inclusive to people who can’t physically do that. The ‘5k your way’ aspect allows people to do any small challenge that will support their own mental and physical health.”
In previous years, participants were challenged to complete a distance of 5k whether it be swimming, running, or cycling. Now, people are encouraged to use their imagination and take part in small challenges to raise money and mental health awareness.
Some ideas to get you thinking:
Couch to 5k
Squat challenge
Bake off event
Sky dive
Sign up and download the Lamp 5k pack at lampadvocacy.co.uk.
