Nine months on from the 2018 London Marathon, we take a look at how our seven runners’ fundraising total has supported Deaf and Disabled Londoners to get active.
After six months of blood, sweat, and tears through training and fundraising in the lead up to the 2018 London Marathon, the seven London Sport runners, went beyond their expectations in achieving their tough fundraising target of £10,000, and crossing the finish line.
Completing a marathon in any weather conditions is no mean feat, but last year’s runners had to tackle a heatwave that saw parts of the capital hit temperatures of 24 degrees C. This was the highest temperature on record and unsurprisingly the 2018 race is now widely regarded as one of the most challenging runs in London Marathon’s history.
Following the marathon, Josef Baines, Disability Development Officer from London Sport who was also one of our seven runners, approached Disability Rights UK to explore a potential partnership.
The collaboration would seek to deliver a first of it’s kind sport-specific ‘Leadership Academy Sports Programme’ to deaf and disabled people which would be funded by the money raised by our 2018 runners.
Since then, London Sport and Disability Rights UK have worked collaboratively over the last eight months to create course materials, adverts, applications, market review and surveys.
They are now looking at recruiting potential deaf and disabled candidates and mentors, and are currently drafting a Partnership Agreement.
Over the coming months the partnership will begin delivering courses to make a real impact to deaf and disabled people living in London.
To find out more about our work with deaf and disabled Londoners, read our plans set out in An Active Inclusive Capital which explore our aspirations towards ensuring that deaf and disabled people in London are at least as active as non-disabled people.
If you want to help this year’s runners raise vital funds to support deaf and disabled Londoners to be given more opportunities to get active then check out their fundraising page below.
