The British Heart Foundation has said it hopes to raise £3m through next year’s TCS London Marathon after it was named as the event’s charity of the year.
The charity said it hoped it would have 1,600 people running in the event next year, which is due to take place in October before it switches back to its usual April slot in 2023.
The BHF usually has about 500 runners in the marathon, including 300 of its own. But it will receive an extra 250 places and it hopes that the visibility afforded by the charity of the year position will swell those numbers considerably.
Macmillan Cancer Support was the official charity of this year’s event, which took place last Sunday.
Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, said: “The money raised will turbo-charge pioneering research into regenerative medicine and give hope to hundreds of thousands of people living with incurable heart failure right now.”
Hugh Brasher, event director of the TCS London Marathon, said: “We are delighted to welcome the British Heart Foundation as the charity of the year for the 2022 TCS London Marathon and look forward to working with them to support participants to raise as much money as possible on Sunday 2 October to help fund this crucial research into finding a cure for heart failure.”
The London Marathon has raised more than £1bn for charities since its first race in 1981.