“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 London Marathon Events, 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.”
Charities raised more than £50m in London Marathon Events virtual offerings last year
Melanie May | 22 June 2021 | News
Virtual events created by London Marathon Events in partnership with other mass participation organisers raised more than £50 million for charities in 2020.
London Marathon Events was only able to deliver The Vitality Big Half on Sunday 1 March as originally planned before the pandemic hit and it had to postpone or cancel the rest of its 2020 event calendar including the Virgin Money London Marathon.
However, working with other mass participation organisers, The 2.6 Challenge was created and delivered in just 22 days, beginning on Sunday 26 April 2020, the date when the Virgin Money London Marathon should have taken place and raising £11.2 million for nearly 4,000 charities.
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The Virgin Money London Marathon finally took place on Sunday 4 October, with the elite races taking place on a closed-loop course in St James’s Park and 37,966 runners across the UK and round the world running the 26.2 miles on the course of their choice. Participants raised £36.3 million.
Festival of cycling, Prudential RideLondon, was also re-imagined as a virtual event with riders raising more than £3 million for the charity of their choice on 15-16 August.
A further £1.2 million was raised by runners in The Vitality Big Half on Sunday 1 March and the virtual Vitality London 10,000 during the October half term week.
Hugh Brasher, Event Director at London Marathon Events, said:
“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 at Virgin Money Giving said:
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.