Healthcare-related causes most popular among runners, poll reveals
Melanie May | 25 April 2019 | News
With the London Marathon taking place this weekend, a CAF poll has revealed the top causes runners have fundraised for over the past 12 months.
More than half have run for healthcare-related causes, with medical research the most popular category at 27%, followed by hospitals and hospices, and physical and mental healthcare at 15% each.
Causes related to children and young people were the next in line, with 14%, followed by homeless people, housing and refuge centres (UK) at 9%, disabled people at 8%, and sport and recreation at 7%.
Less popular are animal welfare, and elderly people, both at 6%, schools, colleges and education, and ‘Other’ (including rescue services, human rights, benevolent funds and refugees) both at 5%, and overseas aid and disaster relief and religious organisations at 3%.
Conservation, the environment and heritage, and arts-related causes have been chosen by the least number of runners, with only 2% running for the former, and 1% for arts causes.
The poll of 113 people was carried out by YouGov on behalf of the Charities Aid Foundation.
The 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon takes place this Sunday, 28 April, with Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK joining forces as Charity of the Year with Dementia Revolution. They are aiming to raise £3.5m to fund research at the UK Dementia Research Institute.
Last year’s London Marathon raised a record-breaking £63.7m for charity.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.