Actress Sophie Thompson supporting Fight for Sight in the 2.6 Challenge

Actress Sophie Thompson is running 2.6km this weekend as part of the 2.6 Challenge to raise money for Fight for Sight.

In fact she’s decided to do at least 2.6 each day in the fundraising week to complete a Marathon.

The 2.6 Challenge is a fundraiser set up by the organisers of the biggest mass-participation sports events in the UK to save the UK’s charities whose funding has been profoundly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fight for Sight is a charity close to Sophie’s heart. She said: "Fight for Sight’s cause is a particularly personal one for me, because both my mother Phyllida Law has, and my granny Megsie had, glaucoma. Unfortunately for Megsie, she wasn’t diagnosed until the damage had been done, and her vision was severely affected. Fight for Sight works tirelessly to fund research into glaucoma, amongst other eye conditions, with the hope of finding new treatments and more effective diagnosis for the worst affected.”

Sophie will run the 2.6km daily near her home while carefully adhering to social distancing guidelines, in the hope of raising as much money as possible for life-changing eye research.

She said: "I’m taking part in the 2.6 challenge to help keep UK charities like Fight for Sight afloat during this deeply challenging time. Because of the cancellation of massive fundraising events like the London Marathon, Fight for Sight needs our support now more than ever to make sure they can continue their wonderful mission of finding treatments and cures for sight loss and blindness.”

Sophie is an award-winning actress who has worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio, known for her work in films such as 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'Harry Potter’, and television such as ‘Coronation Street’, ‘Detectorists’, and the recent ‘Feel Good’. She’s also an author & has written children's books such as ‘Zoo Boy’ & ‘Zoo Boy & The Jewel Thieves’ and a cookery book ‘My Family Kitchen’ after being crowned winner of Celebrity Masterchef 2014.