Serious Request fundraiser to happen without glass house this year

Radio station 3FM's annual fundraiser Serious Request will happen without locking three DJs into a glass house this year. Instead three teams of two DJs will visit campaigns for different charities. "The Glass House is broken", DJ Sander Hoogendoorn, who stayed in the glass house last year, said, NU.nl reports.

Between December 18th and 24th, 3FM and the Red Cross will run what they call the "Lifeline". For 24 hours a day, three teams of two DJs will visit different actions to raise money for three different charities, focused on the Netherlands and abroad. They will raise money for resuscitation in the Netherlands, protection against natural disasters, and emergency aid in war- and conflict zones.

The week of actions will end in TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, where Serious Request launched in 2004. In addition to various fundraising actions organized by listeners, there will also be a festival in TivoliVredenburg where listeners can go watch performances, listen to lectures and participate in workshops.

The amount raised by Serious Request showed a declining trend over the past years. Last year over 5 million euros was raised to reunite war-torn families. In 2015 a total of 7.5 million euros was raised for war victims. The future of the fundraiser seemed uncertain when 3FM failed to announce where the glass house will be set up this year.