There are thousands of charities and non profit organisations around the world that help those in need. Competition is fierce and they have to think of imaginative ways to raise money. A popular trend recently has been for charities to attract the help of members of society who do all sorts of weird and wonderful activities to raise money on their behalf. People are prepared to do unusual and even extreme things for this cause.

David Hunt, who is a firefighter, did something of the kind in 2010. He spent 48 hours without any food locked in a glass box which was hanging 30 feet in the air from a crane above central London. His unusual challenge was certainly not easy. But it successfully gained a lot of attention. With a little help from another firefighter who was on the ground, they managed to persuade the public to support their cause by making donations that added up to over five thousand pounds. Their chosen charities were the Firefighters Charity and Cancer Research UK.

Others prefer to stay firmly on the ground, but still no further away from danger like Nicholas Le Souef a 67 year old businessman who lives in Melbourne, Australia. In 2010, he decided to spend three weeks living in a shop window with 400 deadly spiders to raise money for Children charity. The real life Spiderman wasn't at all nervous as he slept among his eight legged friends and survived the experience unharmed, raising $50,000. The spiders, however, weren't so lucky as by the end of the challenge, a few of them had started eating each other.