Video of '26 voices' helps out Lancaster charity during coronavirus crisis

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a catastrophic effect with the cancellation of thousands of events and the loss of billions in income through fundraising events.

The Virgin Money London Marathon alone, which should have taken place on Sunday April 26, is the world’s biggest one-day fundraising event, and raised more than £66.4m for thousands of charities in 2019.

Many of these charities have had to reduce or stop services at a time when vulnerable members of society need them most; thousands of staff have been placed on furlough and many charities will not survive the next few months.

And so the nationwide 2.6 Challenge was launched to help save the UK's charities.

The 2.6 Challenge can be any activity you like – from running 2.6 miles to holding an online workout with 26 of your friends.

Anna Webster, who is fundraising officer at Lancaster's CancerCare as well as in the Morecambe Amateur Operatic & Dramatic Society (MAODS), organised a video with friends - "26 Voices for CancerCare" - which has already raised more than £400 for the Slyne Road charity.

She said: "The singing video came about because of the 2.6 Challenge. I’m not much of a runner and I don’t have a bike, but I do sing and I am a member of a few local amateur dramatics societies.

"Rehearsals for our next show, Shrek: The Musical, have been cancelled and the show itself has had to be postponed because of Covid-19.

"I asked some of my am-dram friends for ideas of something we could do and we came up with the concept of getting 26 voices together to record a song!

"My friend Claire conducts the choir at the school where she teaches in Fleetwood and had a backing track for ‘Lean On Me’.

"It’s the perfect song because we wanted to spread the message that CancerCare is there to ‘lean on’ through difficult times. The lyrics say “Lean on me when you’re not strong” and that’s exactly what CancerCare is there for; so that people affected by cancer or other life limiting conditions don’t have to go through it by themselves.

"Another friend, Sophie, who has her own Musical Theatre club for kids in Morecambe, helped me round up enough people to make up the numbers to 26 – people of all ages from various local amateur dramatics societies in Lancaster, Morecambe and even as far as Garstang.

"We initially wanted to raise £260 to fit in with the 2.6 theme, but we’ve now raised £442 with donations still coming in every day. We’ve been so pleased by the response, with over 100 likes and shares of the video on Facebook, helping to spread a little happiness and to raise some much-needed funds for CancerCare, who are still helping local people affected by cancer through these especially difficult times."

You can donate to the cause online here