DinoDay Challenge FAQs

The DinoDay Challenge is an inclusive and family-friendly fundraising event suitable for children of all ages and abilities. We want as many families as possible to be able to get involved.

All you have to do is pick 19 activities to take on throughout June, and then ask your friends and family to sponsor you. This could be anything you’d like — as long as the number 19 is involved! You could walk 19 miles, visit the park 19 times, do 19 star jumps, try 19 new foods, or just get out of the house 19 times… Big or small, what you choose to do for your challenge is totally up to you.

Taking part in the DinoDay Challenge couldn’t be easier. Here’s how to get involved:

1. Register here for your FREE DinoDay t-shirt and printed activity tracker.
2. Join our DinoDay Challenge 2026 Facebook group. You’ll get to meet other participating families, swap updates and photos, discover inspiring challenge ideas, download fun dino-themed activities, and get fundraising support from our team.
3. Now it’s time to choose an activity to complete for your challenge! This is totally up to you – scoot 19 miles, draw 19 pictures, learn 19 dance moves, find 19 different animals… Whatever you pick, just make sure the number 19 is involved!
4. Finally, set up your fundraiser and ask your friends and family to sponsor your challenge. After you complete the t-shirt registration form, you will be automatically prompted via email to create your fundraiser on JustGiving. But if you don’t want to do this straight away, you can always set it up later here.

Just a little heads up: we’ll need to see at least one donation on your fundraiser page before we can ship your child’s free DinoDay t-shirt and activity tracker. We’ll automatically ship them once you receive your first donation (whatever the amount).

If you’re fundraising offline, then you will need to email us at [email protected] to let us know so we can ship your t-shirt and tracker to you.

We will announce the final fundraiser total on 6 July. You will still be able to receive donations after this point, and we’re grateful for every one, but they won’t count towards your eligibility for fundraising prizes (such as a medal or trophy).

The DinoDay Challenge takes place throughout June. DinoDay itself is on 19 June, but you can start (and finish) your challenge at any point. You will have until 30 June to complete your challenge.

It’s also completely up to you how you choose to split things up: some participants do one activity per day, while others prefer to complete them all in one day.

We will announce the final fundraiser total on 6 July. You will still be able to receive donations after this point, but they won’t count towards your eligibility for fundraising prizes (such as a medal or trophy).

We’re asking you to choose an activity that you think is manageable for you and your family, but of course something might happen and you might not be able to complete it before the end of June. We’re very happy for you to continue into July if you need some extra time.

Anyone who would like to – this is an inclusive challenge for children of all ages and abilities. Simply choose 19 activities that work for you and your family, and then ask your friends and family to sponsor you.

You are welcome to take on the DinoDay Challenge anywhere in the world, but unfortunately we can’t ship any t-shirts, printed activity trackers, or fundraising prizes outside the UK.

Every child who is actively taking part in the challenge will be eligible to receive a free t-shirt and printed activity tracker. However, we will need to see at least one donation on your fundraiser page before we can ship your child’s t-shirt and tracker to you.

Your t-shirt and activity tracker will be automatically shipped to you once you’ve received at least one donation (of any amount) to your JustGiving page.

If you are fundraising offline using our printed sponsorship form, or online via a different fundraising platform, please let us know by emailing [email protected]. Then we’ll get your t-shirt and tracker shipped to you.

If you have more than one little dino-lover joining the challenge, we’re happy to send additional t-shirts your way once you’ve received at least one donation on your fundraiser. You can order up to three t-shirts through the standard t-shirt registration form. For more than three, please drop us an email at [email protected] and we’ll try our best to organise this for you!

Please allow up to 7 working days for delivery once you’ve received a donation, but you will most likely receive it much quicker than this. If you’d like us to check the status of your delivery, please email your name and postcode to [email protected].

Once you complete the t-shirt registration form, you’ll be prompted via email to set up your fundraiser on JustGiving so that friends and family can sponsor your challenge. You can also set it up directly via this link instead.

If you encounter any issues while setting up your fundraiser or need any assistance, just drop us an email at [email protected]. Our team will be there to help!

If you are fundraising offline using our printed sponsorship form, or online via a different fundraising platform, you can donate any funds you raise directly via our website. Please include a note with your donation saying ‘DinoDay 2026’.

Or you can send us a cheque (with a note saying ‘DinoDay’) to our offices: Contact, Wenlock Studios, 50-52 Wharf Road, London N1 7EU

Please let us know if you’re fundraising offline (or online through a different platform) by emailing [email protected] so that we can make sure you receive your t-shirt and activity tracker.

As Contact’s flagship annual fundraising event, the DinoDay Challenge exists to help change the lives of families with disabled children in the UK. Every donation you raise will go towards funding our free advice and vital support services that 380,000 families rely on each year, as well as help us campaign to tackle the inequalities they face.

This will help us be there for even more UK families who need expert guidance or support with any aspect related to raising a disabled child – from education, benefits, health, and social care through to work and employment, relationships, accessing practical help, managing common concerns, and much more.

We do everything we can to raise funds so we can offer our services free of charge for families with disabled children. But we can’t do it without your help! By taking part in our DinoDay Challenge and raising funds this June, you’ll be helping us continue to change the lives of families with disabled children with our vital services and information.

We’ll send you an activity tracker and a free DinoDay t-shirt for your child to wear when doing the 19 activities you’ve chosen for your challenge.

We’ll also email you some helpful tips and suggestions, and we can help setting up your fundraising page.

Contact’s team will also be active in the Dinoday Challenge Facebook group to cheer you on and provide support with your fundraising throughout May and June. Our group is also a great place to meet other participating families, get ideas of challenges to try, swap fundraising tips to help boost donations, and download lots of dinosaur-related activities!

We’re excited to be offering more prizes than ever before to children who take on the 2026 DinoDay Challenge. As well as a free t-shirt and tracker, this year’s fundraising prizes include a digital certificate, a special medal, and our newest addition – an exclusive trophy!

Prizes are awarded based on fundraiser value. Here’s how much you’ll need to raise to qualify for each prize:

• T-shirt and tracker – any amount: Every child who fundraises will receive a free DinoDay t-shirt and a printed activity tracker (one shirt per child). We will automatically ship this once you have received at least one donation to your JustGiving page.
• Digital certificate – £10 or more: Every child who raises £10 or more by 5 July will receive a personalised digital certificate to mark their achievement (one certificate per child)
• Medal – £40 or more: Every child who raises £40 or more by 5 July will receive a special DinoDay medal in the post (one medal per child)
• Trophy – £150 or more: Every family/household that raises £150 or more by 5 July will receive an exclusive DinoDay trophy in the post (one trophy per family/household)

Medals are awarded per child. If you have multiple children taking part in your family, and they collectively raise over £40 (whether through a joint family fundraiser or across separate fundraising pages), we’ll send a medal to each participating child.

Trophies are awarded per family/household. If you have multiple children taking part in your family, and they collectively raise over £150 (whether through a joint family fundraiser or across separate fundraising pages), we’ll send a trophy to your family. Eligible families will receive one trophy per household.

However, if you have more than one child taking part, please consider raising over these targets to help cover the additional costs involved in creating these fabulous prizes! We want the challenge to be inclusive, so prizes are awarded based on your family’s fundraising total rather than per child. But please do help support our vital services for families by raising as much as you can – thank you.

Yes! If you raise more than £150, as well as earning a trophy for your family, each participating child in your family/household will also receive their own medal.

Digital certificates will be sent to eligible families after 7 July.

Medals and trophies will be shipped by 17 July.

Please note that the final fundraiser total will be announced on 6 July. Unfortunately, any donations you receive after this point will no longer count towards your eligibility for a fundraising prize. You can still receive donations after this date, and we’re grateful for every one, but they won’t count towards your prize threshold.

While the DinoDay Challenge runs throughout June, DinoDay itself takes place every year on 19 June. It’s our flagship annual awareness and fundraising day.

The inspiration behind DinoDay is a little boy called Cameron Mathieson. He had both Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, and sadly passed away aged 5 after spending nearly three years in hospital.

At that time, the main benefit for disabled children – Disability Living Allowance – was automatically taken away if a child spent more than 12 weeks in hospital. Contact helped the Mathieson family to legally challenge and successfully overturn this unfair rule in a landmark case that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

Because of the Mathiesons’ determination, and with the help of our campaign, families with the most disabled and poorly children are no longer denied this essential financial help when they need it most.

Cameron was born on 19 June, and he loved dinosaurs (or dowsers, as he called them) – especially his green triceratops called Troy! So every year, we celebrate his birthday with our annual fundraising day, DinoDay. It’s a chance to honour Cam’s huge legacy while raising vital funds so that we can continue to support thousands of families like his.

As well as supporting our vital services, the funds you raise this June will also help us campaign to tackle the inequalities that families with disabled children face, like we did for the Mathieson family and thousands of others since.

Contact is the UK national charity that supports all families with disabled children, whether or not they have a diagnosis. We understand that life with a disabled child brings unique challenges and we exist to help families feel valued, supported, confident and informed.

Contact supports UK families with all aspects of caring for a disabled child. We run a free national helpline for parent carers, host workshops and events, provide specialist support in children’s hospitals, connect families through local groups and online communities, and offer expert guidance to help families navigate practical and emotional challenges.

As a campaigning charity, we also work closely with parent carers to influence national policy and tackle the inequalities their families face.

Last year, we supported over 380,000 families with our information, advice and support. But we want to be there for every family with a disabled child that needs us now and in the future — and we can’t do this without the help of people like you, who help raise vital funds and awareness of the work we do.

Every donation you raise through your DinoDay Challenge will go towards funding our free advice and vital support services for families with disabled children, as well as help us campaign to tackle the inequalities they face. This will help us be there for even more UK families who need expert guidance or support with any aspect related to raising a disabled child – from education, benefits, health, and social care through to work and employment, relationships, accessing practical help, managing common concerns, and much more.

There are over one million disabled children in the UK – 33% more than a decade ago. Government figures estimate that around 12% of children in the UK are disabled.

A quarter of parents of disabled children provide 100 hours of care a week – that’s equivalent to three full-time jobs. It costs three times more to raise a disabled child than it does to raise a child without disabilities, and over half (52%) of families with a disabled child are at risk of experiencing poverty due to the difficulties of juggling work with caring. More families than ever before are turning to Contact for information, advice and support.