Breast Cancer Awareness Month: How to fundraise at home, from hosting an online quiz to donating your commute

Every October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month – an annual campaign to highlight the importance of education and research on the disease.

Throughout the month, people across the world show their support for those affected by breast cancer by joining campaigns, making donations and hosting fundraising events.

However, this year is slightly different. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, people in the UK are being encouraged to reduce day-to-day contact with others, while some areas of the country are currently on local lockdown.

While it is important that people adhere to government guidance, the social distancing measures are having a big impact on the ways people can offer their support to breast cancer charities, with many events having been cancelled or postponed.

The good news is that there are plenty of ways you can help raise money from the comfort of your own home.

UK charity Breast Cancer Now has come up with a host of fundraising ideas that can double as ways for people to virtually catch up with friends and family, all while raising money for life-changing care.

From hosting an online quiz to shaving your head and taking part in family Olympics, here are some ways you can fundraise for breast cancer research while staying safe.

If you were planning on hosting a pub quiz this year, why not make it a virtual event instead?

Simply write the questions, invite all your friends and family to join in via a video conferencing app such as Skype or Zoom, and get quizzing.

Breast Cancer Now suggests asking anyone to take part for a small donation and giving the winner a percentage of what you raise.

For something a bit different, you could also do a digital bingo, coffe morning, movie night or even a book club.

With many of us having spent months in the company of our immediate friends and family, conversation can begin to run a little dry, leaving us to rely on the current pandemic for small talk.

If you regularly find conversation drifting towards lockdown-life, set up a Lockdown Jar at home and make anyone donate £1 if they bring the topic up.

Earlier this year, the “Covhead Challenge”, which saw  participants nominate others to shave their heads while also donating money towards the NHS, went viral online.

The initiative raised more than £40,000 for NHS Charities Together, and saw celebrities such as actor Stephen Graham and Avengers star Chris Evans take part.

Take inspiration from the challenge and shave off your own tresses while being watched by friends and family on a Zoom or Skype call or post the evidence on your social media. Don’t forget to share your online fundraising page for your chosen breast cancer charity when you do.  

With office workers across the UK being asked to work from home where possible, many people are no longer taking the long commute to work.

One way to take advantage of this is to donate the money that you would usually spend on your train fare or petrol money to a breast cancer charity.

If you don’t normally have a commute to work, you could ditch having your hair professionally cut for the month and donate the money you would have spent on that instead.  

If you are notorious for having a sweet tooth or regularly indulge in a glass of wine at the end of the day, ask your friends and family to sponsor you for going without for a whole month.

You could also donate all the money you would have typically spent on these items to charity and ask friends and family to fine you if you break your pledge.

Another idea for fundraising at home is to “go the distance, while keeping your distance”.

If you enjoy sports, gather your family or gather your friends online to compete in the ultimate competition without leaving the house.

You could see who can hold the longest plank, or go old school and host a classic sports day complete with eventts like the egg and spoon or three-legged race.

Ask people who enter the competition to make a small donation and you could even introduce fines for cheating.

You can find more ideas on how to fundraise from the safety of your home here.

You can donate directly to Breast Cancer now here and Cancer Research UK here.