London Marathon Events’ 2020 Races Raised More Than £50m For Charity
London Marathon Events (LME) says the virtual events it hosted across 2020 saw some £50 million raised for charity.
The events company – which organises the London Marathon among other mass participation races – says the only 2020 event it was able to host as planned was The Vitality Big Half on Sunday 1st March, before postponing or cancelling the rest of its 2020 event calendar.
In partnership with a group of other Mass Participation Sports Organisers (MSO), including the likes of the Human Race, parkrun, The Great Run Company, and Limelight Sports, the organisation created The 2.6 Challenge, which encouraged people to take on a challenge based on the numbers two and six and donate or raise money for the charity of their choice, raising £11.2 million for almost 4,000 charities, beginning on the date when the Virgin Money London Marathon was supposed to take place – 26th April.
The postponed Virgin Money London Marathon itself, meanwhile, took place on Sunday 4th October as an elite race around a closed-loop course in St James’s Park (pictured above), as well as virtually when a world record 37,966 runners took part from around the world raising £36.3 million.
LME has also revealed that the virtual 2020 Prudential RideLondon cycling event saw riders raise more than £3 million, while a further £1.2 million was raised by runners in The Vitality Big Half – which did take place in-person – and the virtual Vitality London 10,000, which was held during the October half-term week.
“Our charity partners are so important to us and we are very proud that we have enabled charities to raise more than £50 million in 2020, during these very challenging times,” said Hugh Brasher, Event Director at London Marathon Events.
“These funds have helped charities to continue to provide the critical services which are desperately needed by vulnerable members of society.
“We would like to thank every single participant who took part in one of our virtual events and fundraised for the charity of their choice. Your desire to do something good at a time of such uncertainty and loss has been a huge inspiration to us all.
“We all hope that we will see the return of the events we love later this year. We are working hard with our colleagues in the mass participation sports industry to bring back events and parkrun safely and we believe that the recent Reunion 5K at Kempton Park, which was part of the government’s Events Research Programme, was a major step towards that. Exercise and mass participation events across the UK are so important for the mental and physical health of the nation, in addition to the millions raised for charities.”
Jo Barnett, Executive Director, Virgin Money Giving, added: “Whilst we’ve been hugely disappointed to see the delay or cancellation of so many mass participation events over the last 15 months, the commitment and innovation shown by LME, combined with the determination and hard work of charities and fundraisers, means that supporters have continued to undertake all sorts of virtual challenges in aid of the causes that are so important to them.
“Since the start of the pandemic Virgin Money Giving has supported a more diverse range of events than we have ever seen in our 12 years. By tackling the challenge head on and pivoting with speed and dexterity, LME, the charity sector, and fundraisers have been nothing short of inspirational.”
Image: Shutterstock
