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Sport Relief 2010

BBC Sport Relief 2010

Between Friday 19th and Sunday 21st March 2010, the fifth BBC Sport Relief will take place throughout Britain. The charity event was founded by Comic Relief in collaboration with BBC Sport in 2002, and takes place every two years. This weekend of sporting challenges for both well known celebrities and the general public aims to raise money and awareness for several important causes, both within the UK and overseas.

Overseas, much of Sports Relief’s effort goes into preventing the spread of malaria in Africa. One child dies every 30 seconds of the disease, even though it is both preventable and treatable. Sport Relief provides families with malaria nets, which are extremely effective at preventing infection during the night, as well as testing kits and training for local health workers which make diagnosis far quicker. Health workers are also given new drugs which give infected children a much better chance of surviving long enough to reach a hospital.

The charity also focuses on improving the lives of children living on the street in countries such as India, Brazil and South Africa, by providing them with a much needed education. Without this, many of these children would never be able to escape the poverty in which they currently find themselves trapped. Many of these children are orphans and have no one else to look after them, and no where else to live. Others are forced to work in dangerous conditions from a young age, just to help scrape together enough money for their family to eat.

Half of the money raised by Sport Relief stays within the UK, going to help those whose opportunities would otherwise be very limited, for example those with learning difficulties, or those coming from a very poor background. The charity also helps to raise awareness about less well known issues affecting people of all ages, from eating disorders to dementia.

While many people are involved in completing a range of challenges for the event, a major feature of previous Sport Relief events has been one outstanding physical achievement made by a particular celebrity. Back in 2006, Little Britain star David Walliams amazed everybody by swimming the English Channel; in 2008, former England international footballer Alan Shearer and BBC broadcaster Adrian Chiles cycled 335 miles from Newcastle down to London in just 2 days; while this year, comedian Eddie Izzard ran an astonishing 43 marathons over 51 days.

However, it is not just celebrities that are encouraged to take part in this event. Since its introduction in the 2004 Sport Relief, the Sport Relief Mile has been run by hundreds of thousands of people. Any person, regardless of age or ability, can be sponsored to run the Sport Relief Mile, which is held in multiple locations throughout Britain.

Each year Sport Relief gets bigger and better, with more and more people taking part in a growing variety of different challenges. This is reflected in the event’s earnings, rising from £14million in its original 2002 event to over £28.5million in 2008. Let’s hope that the trend continues, and that Sport Relief 2010 is the first to raise over £30million for its worthwhile causes.

Visit www.bbc.co.uk/sportrelief or www.sportrelief.com for more information. Why not donate, or even take on a challenge of your own to raise money wherever you are?

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