Squats Challenge - FAQs

Supporters raise money for Cancer Research UK by challenging themselves to do 100 squats a day across the month of August. 

Once you’ve signed up, join the Facebook Group dedicated to this challenge and click 'Join Group'. Once you're in, you can complete a form to get your free t-shirt, get tips for completing your squats, be inspired by other fundraisers and find out anything you want to know about the challenge.  

Yes! If you don’t have Facebook, you can set up a Cancer Research UK Online Giving Page here and collect sponsorship for your 100 Squats a Day Challenge.

There is no entry fee for this challenge. Participants are required to collect any sponsorship to Cancer Research UK through their online Giving Page. This will automatically be sent to us once paid onto your fundraising page. 

While we encourage everyone to complete this challenge in August, this is a personal challenge and you can start and finish at a time that’s convenient for you. If you can’t complete your squats on any given day, then you can make up for it at any point of the month and continue the challenge into September. 

You can complete the challenge in any way that suits you. Some people prefer to build up their squats throughout the month, starting at 10 a day and ending on 50 a day. Others like completing 100 squats a day evenly across August. There are people of all levels of fitness doing this challenge, so everyone will complete it differently. The important thing is that you’re doing something that challenges you – it should be tough, but doable. However you choose to complete the challenge and raise money, you’ll be helping us beat cancer.

In the UK, the sun is often strong enough to cause skin damage between mid-March and mid-October, even if it’s cold or cloudy. 

The UV index on weather reports tells us how strong the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays are. If it is 3 (moderate) or above, you need to think about protecting your skin by:

Spending time in the shade – take a break under umbrellas, parasols or trees, or go inside, especially between 11am and 3pm in the UK.

Covering up – wear loose clothing that covers your shoulders. The more skin that’s covered, the better. Pair with a wide brimmed hat and UV protection sunglasses.

Using sunscreen – on bits that you can’t cover with clothes or shade. Apply sunscreen with at least SPF 30 and 4 or 5 stars regularly and generously.

For more information, visit cruk.org/sun

Don’t worry! You can make up the number of squats on another day or extend your challenge into the following month if needed. Complete the challenge in a way that suits you.   

The only thing that matters is that you try to complete as much of the challenge as you can. Whether you complete the full 100 squats a day for the whole of August or not, the money you raise will help us to keep funding life-saving research. Whatever you manage to achieve, we can’t thank you enough. 

We trust you! You don’t need to provide evidence that you’ve completed the challenge to us, but your friends and family will want some updates. Make sure you keep them posted on your progress and share videos, photos and your online Giving Page throughout August – the more updates the better. Supporters who regularly post about their progress raise 40% more on average. 

We recommend using our squat calendar to keep track of your progress. 

Tick off each day you’ve completed your squats and track the number of squats you’ve done so you can see your overall total.

There are many ways to squat and different types of squats for different levels of experience. There are some great resources online to guide you on how to squat with the correct form to avoid injuries. For example: Proper Squat Form: 10 Variations, Barbells, Common Mistakes, More 

Complete this form to receive your free t-shirt in the post. Once completed, please allow 10 working days for your t-shirt to arrive.  

If you haven’t received your t-shirt after this time, please contact supporter.services@cancer.org.uk.

When filling out the sign-up form, simply select ‘no’ where it asks if you’d like to receive a t-shirt. You’ll still receive an online Giving Page, be able to join the challenge group and take part!

Unfortunately, returning t-shirts comes at a cost to us, so we ask that you keep hold of it for personal use (you could wear it in bed, at the gym or give it to a friend). If you’d like a replacement, you can purchase one from our online shop. 

Sending out your t-shirt comes at a cost to us, so please only order one t-shirt per fundraiser to make sure as much money as possible goes towards our life-saving work. We ask that everyone requesting a t-shirt donates something to their fundraising page.  

Alternatively, you can purchase additional t-shirts from our online shop.

For this challenge, if you raise over £10 on your online Giving Page you will receive a pin badge. You’ll also be sent a certificate in your completion email at the end of your challenge and can access downloadable digital badges to shout about your achievement on social media.

Please allow 10 working days for delivery of your badge. The £10 must be raised on your online Giving Page to qualify.

If you raise £10 on your online Giving Page you will receive a free pin badge as thank you for getting your fundraising started. 

Please allow 10 working days for delivery of your badge. The £10 must be raised on your online Giving Page to qualify.

We are sending out pin badges to say thank you for starting your fundraising! You’re a superstar!

If you have not raised at £10 on your online Giving Page we will not send out a pin badge to you. If you have raised the £10 please allow 10 working days for your pin badge to arrive.

Yes, under-18s can take part in this challenge, but we don’t market to them and any third-party platform forums (such as Facebook forums) are only available to people over 18. If under-18s are taking part, their parent or guardian must consent to the child’s participation, supervise the challenge, and accept responsibility for complying with the challenge rules. The child’s parent or guardian must register on the child’s behalf and if a child wants to raise money online and/or join a forum, the child’s parent or guardian must register for an online fundraising page and/or join the forum on the child’s behalf

Participants must register as individuals, but you can then set up a team Giving Page to take on the challenge and raise money together.  

Here’s how:  

1. All your team will need to sign up to the 100 Squats a Day in August Challenge so you each have your own online Giving Page.  

2. Once everyone has signed up, log into your account.  

3. Hit the 'Create new team' button and follow the instructions.  

4. Once you've created your team, you can send the team page URL to friends and family so they can join too!  

Find more information about setting up a team.  

Once you’ve created your team, you can either split up the squats between the group or you can all complete 100 squats a day across the month. You can also invite other registrants to join via our online fundraising site. 

Using your online Giving Page is the easiest way to raise money. You’ll receive an online Giving Page once you’ve registered here: https://activities.cancerresearchuk.org/squat-100-challenge-aug-2025 

You can then share the page with your friends and family to gather sponsorship for your challenge.

We don’t set a fundraising target for participants, but we recommend that supporters set themselves a reasonable target of raising £150 or more.

We have plenty of fundraising materials and ideas to help you raise life-saving donations. Visit our fundraising hub for everything you need for your challenge.

You can use our sponsorship form to raise money rather than using an online Giving Page. Simply download the form, print it off and record all your collected or pledged sponsorships. Once you’ve completed your fundraising, please send the form with a cheque to:        

Squat 100 Challenge in August, Cancer Research UK, PO BOX 1561, Oxford, OX4 9GZ.

This challenge is a fundraising initiative specifically developed by us, therefore all fundraising must go solely to Cancer Research UK.

Gift Aid is a tax relief allowing UK charities to reclaim an extra 25% on every eligible donation made by a UK taxpayer. This means Cancer Research UK can claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated, without it costing you or your sponsors an extra penny. For a donation to be eligible for Gift Aid, sponsors need to fill out the sponsorship form following the instructions at the top of the page.