London Marathon Charitable Trust awards £2.5m to projects to get people active

The London Marathon Charitable Trust has announced awards of more than £2.5 million for the creation or renovation of 31 facilities that will encourage and support participation in physical activity.

The awards include two of £500,000 – one to a joint Ealing and Hounslow Council project and one to Greenhouse Sports - in addition to a £150,000 grant to Enfield Council to create London’s first fully inclusive play area.

Ealing and Hounslow Councils were awarded £500,000 to build a brand new five-court sports hall in Gunnersbury Park as part of a scheme to transform the area into a regional community hub for physical activity and sport.

Greenhouse Sports, a charity which aims to help young people living in inner-city London to realise their full potential through sport, was awarded £500,000 to transform the deconsecrated Christ Church in a deprived area of Marylebone, Westminster into one of the capital’s major centres for community table tennis. The new Greenhouse Sports Centre will also provide the opportunity for seated volleyball as well as offering judo and fitness training facilities for the community.

Enfield Council’s grant of up to £150,000 will be put towards London’s first Plan Inclusive Play Areas (PIPA) accredited playground in Albany Park. It will provide children with disabilities and long-term health problems the same opportunities for movement, physical activity and play as able-bodied children through a wide range of adapted and sensory equipment.

Sir Rodney Walker, Chairman of the London Marathon Charitable Trust, said: “In the past year, we have restructured our system to offer three levels of grants which are awarded on a quarterly basis, rather than annually. We are delighted to announce these awards which we believe will have a significant positive impact on participation in physical activity in those communities.

“At the beginning of our current financial year in October 2015, The Trust received a record £5.7 million as a result of London Marathon Events Limited staging of events for future grantmaking and we are actively seeking high quality applications from organisations that will get more people physically active.”

The London Marathon Charitable Trust was created in 1981 by Chris Brasher and John Disley, the founders of the London Marathon, to meet one of their founding aims to raise money for sport and recreational facilities. Their vision ensured that the profits from the London Marathon would go to The London Marathon Charitable Trust in perpetuity. 

The Trust currently provides grants towards capital projects that inspire people to lead a more active lifestyle and increase the number of people regularly taking part in sports and physical activities.

The Trust is able to distribute grants in all areas where London Marathon Events Limited organises mass participation events: the 32 London boroughs and the City of London, Surrey, South Northamptonshire and Aylesbury Vale.

The total value of grants awarded by The Trust since 1981 is now over £62 million to more than 1,130 projects.