FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Virgin Signs £17m sponsorship Deal
Virgin has signed a five-year deal to be the official sponsor of the London
Marathon. Virgin Money, the financial services division of the Virgin Group
will lead the sponsorship with the ambition of supporting the event and the
runners in their attempts to raise even greater amounts of money for good
causes across the five-year deal. Virgin hope to encourage runners to raise
an amazing £1/4 billion over the five year term of its sponsorship.
The £17m deal with The London Marathon, which starts in 2010, will
see Virgin take over the sponsorship from current sponsors Flora.
Virgin Founder, Sir Richard Branson commented: "I'm delighted that Virgin
will be sponsoring the London Marathon. It's an epic and inspirational
event and raises a fantastic amount of money for great causes. It's the
single biggest fundraising day on the planet and we want to make it even
bigger, our aim is to help runners smash the £1/4 billion in five
years. Jayne-Anne and the Virgin Money team have got some great ideas to
raise more money and together we're looking forward to putting on a great
show for London."
Over £400 million has been raised for charity by London Marathon fun
runners since the race began back in 1981. Virgin Money are looking at a
programme of initiatives to build upon the sense of community and fun the
London Marathon enjoys and will use its infrastructure, online capability
and expertise to help raise even more money in support of thousands of
different charitable causes.
Virgin Money will utilise the expertise and network of Virgin Unite, the
group's not-for-profit entrepreneurial foundation. This will include an
official partnership in the first year with Virgin Unite Valued Partner
CLIC Sargent, who care for children and young people with cancer and
leukaemia, in both hospital and the community.
The inaugural London Marathon in 1981 saw 6255 runners finishing on
Constitution Hill and with 34,497 runners crossing the finish line on The
Mall in 2008 has continued to be a massive draw to both runners, spectators
and television viewers alike. The event has grown in size, stature and
popularity, now well established among the major events in the world's
sporting calendar, the London Marathon is shown on television in more than
150 countries around the world every year. The 2009 event has already
received over 110,000 UK applications for the public ballot.
Virgin Money's Chief Executive, Jayne-Anne Gadhia, said: "I am delighted to
be announcing this deal. The London Marathon is both an iconic sporting
occasion and a special day full of endeavour, fantastic stories and
fundraising. The London Marathon 2010 will be the 30th in its rich history
and we want to make sure it is the biggest and best yet. We're working on
some ideas that will raise even more money for good causes and we'll be
aiming to help the runners to continue to blow all other fund raising
events out of the water. The London Marathon is a true record breaking
event."
Race Director David Bedford said: "I cannot think of a better and more
appropriate sponsor for the 2010 London Marathon than Virgin. I am
delighted that the event has developed to a level where such a high quality
company has agreed to be our new Sponsor. I am expecting a very exciting
and stimulating future for the event."
One of the first developments under the new sponsorship deal will be the
creation of a state-of-the-art website to be launched on 26 April 2009. The
site will look to bring together the marathon community in one place - not
just runners, but their supporters and spectators too. People will be able
to enter the race, find someone to train with, watch celebrities training,
download music play lists for different training plans and much more.
For more information go to: virginlondonmarathon.com
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