Whilst we make every attempt to limited the amount of leftover items following the Manchester Marathon, inevitably we are left with a number of medals and t-shirts that were not required.

Earlier this year the medals were donated to Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. These are melted down and used to help raise funds. Helen Higginson, who is Charity Fundraising Manager for the Trust, says:

‘Medal donations received from the Manchester Marathon have been utilised for the direct benefit for the Patients and their families at Warrington and Halton Hospitals above that which the NHS provides, your support is hugely appreciated by all our staff, patients and families’.

Additionally we have donated the remaining finisher t-shirts from the 2018 and 2019 Manchester Marathon to KitAid.  KitAid is a volunteer  based charity which collects unwanted items of sports kit to pass them on to individuals and teams across the Developing World for re-use. Since the charity started in 1998, over 630,000 items of kit have been recycled and found a new home in 55 different countries.

The kit is used primarily for sports related projects but the benefits can vary beyond inclusion and sport. For example, a recent project in Uganda has used kit to set up a regular football league which opens up the opportunity for dialogue with poachers who have been killing chimpanzees. Many projects use sport as a way of engaging with local communities to deliver health and education messages. Sport is a vehicle for change and kit is an essential part of the journey.

 Derrick Williams MBE, Founder of the organisation, explains their work:

“We are extremely grateful for the support we receive from the Manchester Marathon and the kit they have donated has supported many projects and hundreds of individuals to participate in sport. We have a saying, ” It’s more than just a shirt…..” but it starts with the donation and develops from there. Thank you for your ongoing support.”