2023 London Marathon raised £63mn for charities
Melanie May | 16 April 2024 | News
With this year’s TCS London Marathon taking place this Sunday, 21 April, it’s been revealed that last year’s fundraising total for charities reached £63 million and was the highest since 2019.
This brings the cumulative total of funds raised since the first event in 1981 to more than £1.2 billion.
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity) was the Charity of the Year for 2023, and raised more than £2.7 million from the event.
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Hugh Brasher, Event Director for the TCS London Marathon, said:
“Every year, the TCS London Marathon inspires tens of thousands of people to take on the challenge of completing 26.2 miles and raise these incredible sums for charity. It’s part of what makes the London Marathon unique and such a force for good on a day where we truly celebrate humanity and community.
“This means that the London Marathon has helped thousands of charities to raise more than £1.2 billion since our first edition back in 1981. It is a phenomenal total and we salute every single person who has contributed to this. We wish the class of 2024 all the best for a fantastic day on Sunday 21 April.”
Liz Tait, Director of Fundraising at GOSH Charity, commented:
“Being selected as the official Charity of the Year partner for the 2023 TCS London Marathon was an incredible honour for GOSH Charity. By partnering with this iconic event, we had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to launch ‘Build it. Beat it.’, our public fundraising appeal to help build a world leading new Children’s Cancer Centre at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and the biggest fundraising appeal in our charity’s history. I’m so proud that together, our incredible TCS London Marathon runners, partners and supporters raised over £2.7million to help build the new Children’s Cancer Centre, drive transformation in children’s cancer care and help save more lives.”
This year, Samaritans is Charity of the Year, and the charity is hoping participants will help to raise £1.7 million for its 24/7 helpline.
More than half a million people applied in the TCS London Marathon ballot for a place in the 2024 event, breaking a world record for marathon applications. In total, 578,374 people from the UK and across the globe entered the ballot for the 2024 TCS London Marathon before the deadline of 28 April.
The event offers a bond scheme and a ballot for charities. The bond scheme sees charities allocated places, and the ballot offers an opportunity for UK-registered charities to secure places although the latter did not take place in 2023 due to the impact of the pandemic on the event. The bond scheme is undergoing a series of changes over the next few years, following a review in 2021 of the Golden Bond, Silver Bond, Charity Ballot and One Year Charity Bonds scheme.
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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.