It's been a week of gruelling heat in the UK, but that has not stopped the FBB family from getting active and doing their best to raise funds for the FBB Virtual School. Late on Thursday evening we collectively pushed past the £10,000 mark on our JustGiving page, meaning with two weeks left of the challenge we are well on our way to reaching that £20,000 target!

The FBB Family have been putting in the kilometres and it's been another spectacular week of action captured on our Strava page. In total, the 171 members of our club have added an incredible 9863.2km over the last 7 days, taking the total distance travelled up to a whopping 17081.45km for the first two weeks of the challenge!

This puts us in a fantastic position to smash our distance target but we need all the help we can to reach our £20,000 fundraising target. Thank you for the amazing generosity of those who have got involved so far. If you are able to donate at the moment and would like to support the campaign, you can do so here.

To put the total distance covered into context, 17,000km is more than the distance from London to Sydney (16,998km) in Australia! To have collectively covered that in two weeks is an amazing feat! A massive thanks to everyone for their magnificent efforts.

FBB co-founder Tom Perez has been delighted with the progress so far: “I’ve seen plenty of FBB campaigns in my time, but this has been the most beautiful collective effort I’ve seen from the FBB family, and we’re only 2 weeks in. These are very strange times to be living in, and a lot of people have been feeling isolated and stuck at home. Through the FBB2020 challenge and the FBB Virtual School, we are finding a way of tackling both these issues as the FBB Family. It’s so important that we continue to find ways of reaching young people in these moments and the FBB Virtual School has shown us that it’s possible to do this.”

Each week we’d also like to highlight some of the amazing people who have supported the campaign so far:

James Connor - Running to 12 London football club's stadiums!

"FBB perform a vital function in society and that was even before Coronavirus; when I heard about the Virtual School I knew that I needed to show my support! Running to 12 professional club's stadiums before the 12th July has been extremely tough; I'm on 5/12 so far but seeing everyone else taking part (and watching the money rolling in) and thinking about the amazing work FBB does, has been a huge motivator."

Mary Kain - Long time FBB supporter & Volunteer

“What’s been really good fun for me is that I’ve been getting together with a group of friends of an older age group, and we've been supporting each other to get active. I’ve got a friend who’s swimming, a friend who’s cycling and others who are walking like me. It's great that they’re not just sponsoring me, they’re also getting out there and getting active. It’s great fun seeing our activities go up on Strava each week and getting closer to our targets, whilst always having a fantastic reason to keep going. I’m half way towards my personal target so I’m going make a real big push over the next two weeks.”

Stefan Imeson - FBB Practitioner

“For years I was an avid runner, I loved nothing more than the feeling of getting out into nature and challenging myself to run big times and distances. As I’ve got older and after various injuries, I’ve had to slow down. I didn’t feel that I could get my fitness back up to previous levels. However, when the FBB2020 challenge came about, I really felt a responsibility to do my bit for the organisation, to support the important work that we do for young people. I dusted off the old running shoes, got out of the house and realised how much I missed running. I started posting my runs on instagram and have had a great response! I’ve really been enjoying being outside and I’m so grateful for the support of friends and family who have been donating so generously!”

Lona Price Jones - FBB Volunteer & Sports Marketer

Two weeks in and two left to go! It is amazing to see the FBB2020 Challenge has surpassed the halfway mark. It shows how when groups and individuals come together for a common cause, so much can be achieved. The work I have seen from teams and the goals set by individuals has been incredible to watch unfold. I knew I was a part of something much bigger as soon as I started taking part. I knew my actions would impact the lives and education of those less fortunate than myself. That is what pushed me on. Walking the last few kilometres of the 20 I completed in one go, I kept reminding myself that what I was doing, in the long run, could enable someone to discover or learn a new talent or passion. Let’s now surpass the £20k goal!

Donate to our JustGiving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/FBB2020

To get more of an idea of the latest projects we are running as part of our Virtual School, check out the tweet below and follow the thread!

Alongside learning a range of different art techniques, the main focus has been on supporting our participants to feel empowered to talk about their art. 🗣

This has been key to developing their confidence in their own creative process. 🙌

Listen to Tiam's epic description 👇🔊 pic.twitter.com/mhab85lbZn

— Football Beyond Borders (@FBeyondBorders) June 26, 2020