Organisers of the London Marathon have launched a scheme to enable 800 new charities to become part of the fundraising event from 2026 onwards.
Charities that are not currently partners of the event will be able to apply for golden bonds, which offer four entries per year for a four-year term, and silver bonds, which offer two over the same time period.
Organisations can apply for one, three or five golden bonds or one silver bond.
Applications open today and will close on 26 November, with a random ballot to allocate the bonds then held and results announced the week commencing 2 December.
London Marathon Events (LME) said it expects all options to be oversubscribed.
Changes to current charity schemes
Meanwhile, golden bonds for existing holders will be brought into line with the new scheme, with the number of annual places in each bond reduced from five to four and the five-year term reduced to four years.
Currently-allocated silver bonds, which offered one place every five years, will be phased out after the 2025 event.
The cost of a charity entry in the 2026 marathon will increase to £400 plus VAT from 2026, up from £370 + VAT.
Any unused entries may be rolled over for one year but, if not used the following year, will expire with no refund.
The average amount raised through a charity place in the TCS London Marathon is more than £2,600.
LME will next review its bond scheme in 2029 with any changes introduced for the 2033 London Marathon.
Earlier this year, LME brought back its Charity Ballot, which offers running spots to 500 charities.
LME confirmed that this too will be held annually and be open only to charities that do not hold entries through the existing or new bond schemes.
Applications for the ballot for the 2026 London Marathon will open on 2 December and close on 13 December, with charities notified by 20 December.
New scheme follows ‘extensive consultation’
LME chief executive Hugh Brasher said: “The New Charity Bond Scheme is the culmination of years of work following extensive consultation with our existing charity partners.
“The TCS London Marathon is the biggest annual one-day fundraising event in the world and we have worked hard to ensure that we can bring in the maximum number of new charity partners while continuing to support our existing partners who have raised so much from the event over the years.
“We look forward to welcoming 800 new charities to the London Marathon family in 2026.
“Many of our charity partners depend on money raised by participants in the London Marathon to fund their work so we need to work many years in advance to enable our charity partners to plan ahead.”
