Press release

£35m raised on JustGiving by London Marathon participants

24 April 2023

  • Leading fundraising platform has reported more than 850,000 donations to almost 19,000 JustGiving pages benefitting 1700 charities
  • The average page on JustGiving has raised £2029 which is 19% higher than last year, despite the cost-of-living crisis
  • Fundraisers from London, the South East and East of England overall raised the most for charities on JustGiving
  • Harry Potter Star, James Phelps, Radio 1 DJ Adele Roberts and Mumford and Sons front man, Marcus Mumford were amongst 2023 London Marathon celebrity fundraisers on JustGiving

More than £35 million has been raised on JustGiving by London Marathon participants so far (16:00 on Sunday 23rd April), according to the leading fundraising platform, JustGiving.

It’s expected that donations will continue to rise in the coming days and surpass last year’s total of £37 million.

People donated to London Marathon participants on JustGiving more than 850,000 times benefitting 1700 charities.

The average page on JustGiving has raised £2029 which is 19% higher than last year, despite the cost-of-living crisis.

Fundraisers from London, the South East and East of England have so far raised the most for charities during the world’s biggest single day fundraising event, followed by those in the South West, North West and East Midlands.

Regions which have raised the most on JustGiving for charities so far:

  1. London
  2. South East
  3. East of England
  4. South West
  5. North West
  6. West Midlands
  7. East Midlands
  8. Yorkshire and Humber
  9. Scotland
  10. Wales
  11. Northern Ireland
  12. North East

In terms of the fundraisers on JustGiving who have raised the most for their chosen charities, to date, Gareth Birchley, 38 from Richmond has raised more than £271k for Motor Neurone Disease.

Top 5 male fundraisers on JustGiving:

  1. Gareth Birchley, 38 from Richmond raised over £271k for Motor Neurone Disease
  2. Tim Russell, running alongside his daughter raised over £83k for DEBRA
  3. Grant Berry, 56 from Cheshire raised over £42k for The National Brain Appeal
  4. John Parnell, 45 from Salisbury raised over £39k for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity
  5. Charlie Hanbury from Berkshire has raised more than £25k for Stroke Association

Top 5 female fundraisers on JustGiving:

  1. Caroline Frith from East London raised more than £20k for Maggie’s Centres
  2. Hannah Mollet, 49 from Wales has raised more than £19k for Alzheimer’s Research UK
  3. Annabelle Eyre from Berkshire raised more than £18k for Breast Cancer Now
  4. Rebecca McGillycuddy from Hertfordshire raised over £17k for the Lighthouse Club
  5. Tanya Whitaker from Dorset has raised more than £15k for Mind in memory of her son

Meanwhile, the fundraising teams on JustGiving which have raised the most for their chosen charities so far are:

  1. ALDI’s Caterpillars for Cancer team who raised more than £41k for the Teenage Cancer Trust dressed as Cuthbert the Caterpillar
  2. Run For Ruby – in memory of 15-year-old Ruby her mum, sister and friends have raised more than £23k for Chickenshed
  3. Team NFU, the National Farmers’ Union raised more than £20k for Farm Africa to support smallholder farms in Eastern Africa
  4. Run For Their Lives team raised more than £20k for Great Ormond Street Hospital
  5. Team MacLean also known as Jane and Mairi have raised more than £16k for Bowel Cancer UK, in memory of their late brother

The charities on JustGiving which have received the most donations to date are those which relate to cancer, mental health and Alzheimers and Dementia.

Meanwhile, charities which have seen the biggest increase in donations when compared to last year’s London Marathon are those which support eating disorders (64%), homelessness (54%) and motor neurone disease (34%).

Some of the most creative ways in which fundraisers completed the London Marathon were seen from James Graham, 55 from Bexhill-on the-Sea did the race barefoot for Butterflies Child and Adolescent Counselling. This was James’ 21st barefoot marathon.

Garry Maybanks, did the marathon in full firefighter kit, including breathing apparatus, that weighed over 20kg for Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Will Hicks from London ran the event dressed as an air ambulance and raised more than £18k for the Great Western Air Ambulance, explaining that his dad had his final journey with them.

Guinness World Records were attempted by many JustGiving fundraisers on the day including:

  • Gary Qualter 56 from Exmouth did the London Marathon dressed as a milkman raising more than £4000 for Cancer Research UK
  • Lucy Price, 41 and her partner Joan Pons Laplana, 48 from Chesterfield ran the event as Christmas crackers, raising almost £5k for Ashgate Hospice
  • Martin and Bran 54 ran the event dressed as Bill and Ben the Flowerpot men raising over £4k for Scope

Meanwhile, celebrities fundraising on JustGiving who completed this year’s London Marathon include:

  • English Rugby Coach and former professional rugby league player, Kevin Sinfield OBE completed the London Marathon to raise funds for MND.
  • Radio 1 DJ Adele Roberts took on the event to raise funds for Attitude Magazine Foundation
  • Harry Potter Star, James Phelps completed the 26.2 miles to raise funds for Endometriosis UK
  • Former jump jockey, Josh Moore and his wife Hayley completed the event for Cancer Research UK
  • Mumford and Sons frontman, Marcus Mumford did the London Marathon for The Grenfell Foundation
  • Winter Olympic gold medalist, Eve Muirhead completed the event for My Name’5 Doddie Foundation
  • Former X-Factor star Jake Quickenden took on the London Marathon dressed as a bone for Sarcoma UK
  • TV Presenter and Model, Kirsty Gallacher did the 26.2 miles to raise funds for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.

Pascale Harvie, president and General Manager at JustGiving said: “I’m in awe of all of our incredible fundraisers who took part in the London Marathon this weekend.

“The commitment and strength they’ve shown to support the causes closest to them is remarkable and collectively, they’ve raised an astonishing amount of money.

“Congratulations to all of our fundraisers from everyone at JustGiving and thank you, on behalf of our 1700 charities that will benefit from your hard work and determination.”

Ends

NOTES TO EDITOR

For further information contact  press@justgiving.com

*All figures quoted include GiftAid and are accurate at the time of releasing this press release.

Figures quoted relate to fundraising activity on JustGiving only. JustGiving is one of many fundraising platforms that people can choose from when fundraising for events such as the London Marathon.

About JustGiving
JustGiving is the world’s most trusted platform for online giving. We help people raise money for the charities and people they care about the most. In 2000, JustGiving.com began with one simple goal – to enable charities to receive donations online from anywhere in the world. Fast forward 22 years and over £5 billion has been raised for good causes in almost every single country in the world.

JustGiving became part of Blackbaud, the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good in 2017.

To note – JustGiving does not charge a fee on donations but instead operates a voluntary contribution model, meaning people donating can choose to leave a ‘tip’ if they wish. The only non-optional fee is a 1.9% + 20p to cover card payment charges.