05 May 2020

Uplifting news: 26-hour disco for charity and penguins named after NHS heroes

05 May 2020

Three housemates spent 26 hours dancing in their basement for charity, while penguin chicks at Chester Zoo were named after NHS hospitals in Tuesday’s uplifting news.

These are the lighter stories you might have missed.

– Housemates raise £6,000 for domestic abuse charity with 26-hour disco

Three housemates spent 26 hours dancing in their basement and raised more than £6,000 for a women’s aid charity.

Lucy Furneaux, 25, Grace Marjot, 24, and Nathalie Dixon Young, 24, were inspired by the 2.6 challenges that took place in lieu of the London Marathon.

The housemates set up the disco in their basement, with a Zoom call available for people to join and cheer them on.

The three raised £6,083 for Solace Women’s Aid, a charity that supports women and children experiencing domestic abuse in London.

Lucy said: “Solace needs £150,000 in extra resources during the crisis. It seemed like an easy way to do our thing for a charity that has really been hit hard.”

– Penguin chicks born at Chester Zoo named in tribute to NHS

Penguin chicks

Keepers at Chester Zoo have named five newly hatched penguin chicks in tribute to the NHS.

Born between March 26 and April 14, the Humboldt penguins have been named Florence (after Florence Nightingale), Thomas (after St Thomas’ Hospital), Bevan (after NHS founder Aneurin Bevan), Arrowe (after Arrowe Park Hospital) and Countess (after the Countess of Chester Hospital).

Anne Morris, lead penguin keeper at the zoo, said: “Each year the team chooses a new naming theme for the chicks.

“Given everything that is happening around us, we decided to name this year’s class after NHS hospitals in acknowledgement of our wonderful NHS heroes, just as a thank you from everyone here at the zoo.”

– 100-year-old man raises thousands for virus victims while fasting for Ramadan

Dabirul Choudhury

A second “highly respected” centenarian has taken to his garden to raise money for Covid-19 victims amid lockdown restrictions and while fasting for the religious festival of Ramadan.

Dabirul Islam Choudhury is raising money for those affected by the virus in the UK and Bangladesh by walking laps of his community garden.

Inspired by Captain Tom Moore, the 100-year-old began walking 100 laps of the 80-metre garden on April 26 to raise £1,000 – but hit the target within hours, raising more than £60,000.

His son, Atique Choudhury, told BBC London: “When we started, we started at a small pace, but he’s been increasing his number of laps he’s doing.

“The problem we have is that we have to try and stop him because he wants to carry on.”

– Marauding sheep take over Turkish city streets during lockdown

Dozens of sheep were spotting flooding down a deserted street in Turkey as people stayed at home during the coronavirus lockdown.

The sound of bells and baaing could be heard as the unusual traffic passed through the empty roads in Atakum, in Samsun, on the northern Black Sea coast.

The city was under a four-day quarantine, along with 30 others, as Turkey sought to prevent the spread of the virus.

– Schoolboy cyclist clocks up a virtual 256km to raise money for the homeless

A nine-year-old cyclist clocked up 256km as he raised funds for the homeless on a virtual ride in his kitchen.

James Cunningham, from Clontarf, Dublin, spent 12 hours in the saddle over two days, raising more than 2,800 euro for homeless charity the Peter McVerry Trust by Monday night.

James originally set himself a target of 200km but with sister Elise, 12, and brother Benjamin, six, cheering him on, he managed an impressive 256km.

“I had been thinking about people living without homes and wondering where they were going to go during the coronavirus and who was going to look after them with social distancing,” said James.

“It has definitely made me think about helping people in need and I’d really like to do this again.”

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