Dryathlon
More than 35,000 people signed up to the campaign to give up alcohol for the month of January and donate the money saved to the charity
More than 35,000 people signed up to take part in Cancer Research UK’s Dryathlon campaign, raising £3m so far.
The campaign encouraged people to give up alcohol for the month of January and donate the money they saved to CRUK. Dryathletes – those who had signed up to the challenge – were also encouraged to seek sponsorship from friends, family and colleagues.
Ed Aspel, head of Dryathlon, said the charity had raised £3m so far but was expecting the total to increase over the next month.
According to the Dryathlon Facebook page, male fundraisers were set to raise an average of £143 and female fundraisers £118, which would take the total raised to at least £4.1m if the pledges were honoured.
Aspel said: "We’ve been absolutely thrilled with the results of CRUK’s first ever Dryathlon. We knew it might be a challenge and a commitment to spend a month on the wagon, but our Dryathletes have proved that it can be done and that they can raise a lot of money in the process.
"We’ve also seen a brilliant response to the campaign on Facebook and Twitter, which offered our Dryathletes somewhere to share their stories and show their support for each other."
The dedicated Dryathlon microsite offered rewards in the form of online badges and trophies – it allowed participants to form teams and move up the leader board.
The campaign also included links to the Department of Health’s Change4Life website for more tips on a healthy approach to alcohol.
