After six days of campaigning in the Glass House in Den Bosch, 3FM Serious Request has raised 18,423,566 euros for Spieren voor Spieren, which helps children with a muscular disease. That made NPO 3FM announced on Wednesday. Never before has so much money been raised with the campaign.
3FM DJs Barend van Deelen, Sophie Hijlkema and Mart Meijer locked themselves in the Glass House for six days. Listeners contributed by requesting records for a donation and by participating in actions in and around the Glass House. The proceeds go to research into new treatments and medicines via Muscles for Muscles. Part of the money also flows to sports and exercise programs for children with a muscular disease and to speeding up diagnoses.
The old record dates from 2012, when the counter stood at 12.2 million euros on Christmas Eve. The money was used at the time to reduce global infant mortality. At a standings at 6 p.m., 15,163,447 euros had already been raised this year, partly due to a strong final sprint of donations and actions in and around the Glass House in Den Bosch.
Charities closer to home
Since the old record in 2012, the amount raised dropped considerably for a number of years, reaching a low point in 2018, when the 3FM campaign had to do without a Glass House for the first time and ‘only’ 1.3 million was raised. The money went to three charities: victims of war and natural disasters and resuscitation in the Netherlands. The way up was found again from 2023. Last year the campaign already came close to the record. More than 12.3 million euros were raised.
Instead of focusing on international topics such as malaria or victims of sexual violence in conflicts, the campaign now focuses on goals closer to home, such as the ALS Netherlands Foundation (2023), the Metakids Foundation (2024) and this year Spieren voor Spieren. “In the past, we raised money for foreign charities with the Red Cross. These stories are more difficult to tell because they take place further away,” Menno de Boer, station manager of NPO 3FM, said on Monday. NRC.
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