Seven-year-old Toby was born with a heart condition which has resulted in him needing treatment and care from Great Ormond Street Hospital since he was born.
To show their appreciation for their work, Toby’s family took to social media platform TikTok in a bid to raise £260 for the charity.
Embracing the #TwoPointSixChallenge
Toby’s father, Casper, wanted to come up with an original idea that would not only raise money but would encourage others to get involved from their own homes. Working on the theme of the #TwoPointSixChallenge, Toby and his family set out to recreate 26 of the most popular TikTok videos.
“My nine-year-old daughter is far cooler than me and had introduced me to a little of the TikTok phenomenon,” says Toby’s dad, Casper.
“Given they are usually 15-second videos, and my kids have reasonable coordination of their limbs (compared to me) I reckoned we might be able to copy 26 of the most popular viral TikToks!”.
Casper’s seven-year-old son, Toby, was born with a heart condition, which resulted in him undergoing surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) after he was born. “The hospital took fantastic care of him, and all of us, during his month on Bear Ward over Christmas that year,” Casper recalls. “He's been back a couple of times since as well, and we'll always be grateful for the incredible care he has received from the skilled surgeons, doctors, nurses and other wonderful staff.” Wanting to support Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity) even though many of its usual fundraising events and activities are on hold during the COVID-19 crisis, Casper, Toby and the family decided to get involved with The 2.6 Challenge. The family wanted to create their own unique challenge around the theme of ‘”2.6” or “26”. “The day before, I was trying to think of something new,” Casper tells us. “My nine-year-old daughter is far cooler than me and had introduced me to a little of the TikTok phenomenon.” “Given they're usually 15-second videos, and my kids have reasonable coordination of their limbs (compared to me) I reckoned we might be able to copy 26 of the most popular viral TikToks!”. And so, the challenge began: to copy 26 of the most popular viral TikToks, and film them all in a day! “The 2.6 challenge actually gave us an opportunity to get involved in a way we wouldn't have been able to previously: having some fun as a family and (in my case) making a massive fool of myself,” Casper says. The challenge proved tougher than the family initially thought and many of the routines took practice, but they managed to pull it off! “The kids were absolute superstars and kept on going with, miraculously, no arguments, and we managed to complete the challenge before it got dark.” The family initially started off with a fundraising target of £260 and asked friends and relatives to donate £2.60. Before 10am on the same day they had already exceeded their target and they have now raised more than £1000 for GOSH Charity! “We've been blown away by the generosity of our family and friends… We just wanted to help raise unrestricted funding for the charity to spend wherever it's needed most, and help make sure that families who need the hospital's critical services at the moment continue to get the same incredible care that we've received in the past.” It’s not too late to sign up to take on a 2.6 challenge! Your fundraising will make an enormous difference and will allow GOSH to continue providing vital services in this challenging time and beyond. For more information and how to sign up, click here: https://bit.ly/3aXAQdQ
With this video, Toby’s family managed to exceed their initial fundraising target of £260 and have since raised considerably more for Great Ormond Street Hospital.
“We’ve been blown away by the generosity of our family and friends,” Casper continues.
“We just wanted to help raise unrestricted funding for the charity to spend wherever it’s needed most, and help make sure that families who need the hospital’s critical services at the moment continue to get the same incredible care that we’ve received in the past,” concludes Casper.
To learn more about Great Ormond Street, or to donate to their COVID-19 appeal, click here, or via the button below.
