24-Hour Cha Cha Challenge

1 day. 1 song playing on repeat. 1 monumental fool trying to dance along for 24 hours to raise money for charity.

From the 18th-19th October 2025, I will dance to the Cha Cha Slide on repeat for 24 hours.

So how did we get here?

It started with a question, innocently asked:

"If you had to dance to the Cha Cha Slide for 24-hours, what's the minimum holiday you would accept as a prize."

This was a question I asked some people over the course of a few weeks last year, as it always led to an interesting conversation. I have no idea how it entered my head. It just did. Eventually I asked the wrong person.

He asked me what my prize would be. I gave the answer I'd given to the others who had asked: that I'd settle for a substandard weekend away in a typical sad seafront town that had its best years long behind it. My reasoning was that it would be a great story to tell, so there's not much to care about the outcome.

Having thought back on this several times, I still don't fully know why this was my constant answer. You could poke yourself in the eye every minute for a full day which would give you a story to tell at the end of it, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

As you can expect, his response was "Go on then." With him putting funding towards the 'prize'.

After much conversation, including a fair share of stammering, spluttering, and excuses from my side, I decided to hell with it: let's just say yes and think about the consequences afterwards.

As word got round about my friend paying towards a sad weekend by the sea for me, I received more offers of patronage. It very soon felt like there was a bigger opportunity to be had. So, rather than crowdfund a disappointing holiday, I thought any money would be much much better used by a bloody brilliant charity: Reading Mencap.

Reading Mencap do wonderful things for adults and children with learning difficulties, while giving valuable support to carers. With my wife's uncle Dave being supported by them, I get to see the brilliant impact they have week after week, from the day services that they run, to the special events like discos and concerts.

Dave is one of warmest and friendliest people that I know, and Reading Mencap have given him countless good times over the years. This ridiculous challenge feels like a great opportunity to spread the word about the charity and give something back. Also, as if by magic (as it deifnitely wasn't down to any semblance of planning), the challenge coincides with Dave's 60th birthday earlier in the week, so it would be a lovely end to the month to tell him how much has been raised.

You can take a look at the charity page here to see the impact Reading Mencap has, and why that work is so important.

FAQS

Why do we scale the highest mountains? Why do we run/swim/cycle absurd distances? The Cha Cha Slide is my Everest, and I mean to conquer it with determination, gusto, and most likely some long therapy sessions afterwards.

No idea! There are many worse songs, there are many better songs. I feel like if you're going to dance to something for 24 hours, then you may as well have one that falls in the middle of your personal scale, as you're going to end up hating it anyway. However, if this doesn't get me a personal shout out from DJ Casper in my Spotify Wrapped for being the number 1 listener, I'll be furious.

I wasn't sure of what was realistic, but 393 is the number of times the song has to be played to get to 24 hours, so it felt like a nice goal.

I'm currently weighing up the logistics and the eternal shame of livestreaming the whole thing for those of you who want to check in on if I'm still alive/witness the collapse of a fellow human. I will share details if this goes ahead.

I'm planning on having a selection of easy to eat food on hand, as well as a lot of water. I also have a few people dropping in to replenish these for me as the day goes on.

Not really. I'm not particularly worried about the physical side of things - I keep active, and my fitness is generally good. I also have a young child, so I'm used to not having huge amounts of sleep. But, I have absolutely no idea what this challenge will feel like. A lack of time, and a slither of self-respect left in the tank mean that I haven't filled my weeks with building up to dancing to the song for anything longer than an hour (which was fine, but not particularly exciting). I feel like the mental side of things will be much harder than the physical. I'm going to do my utmost to last the full 24 hours, but I really don't know what to expect.

Due to a reluctance to go all in on a catheter and imodium, I'll be pausing the clock whenever nature demands.