Charity FAQs

How can a new charity secure places in the TCS London Marathon? 

The New Charity Bond Scheme for the TCS London Marathon (2026 to 2029) has now closed, and successful charities will be notified the week commencing 2 December 2024. If you missed the application window for the New Charity Bond Scheme or were unsuccessful in the ballot, there is a final chance to secure one charity entry in the 2026 TCS London Marathon, via the Charity Ballot.  

The Charity Ballot is open for applications from charities that don’t currently hold any charity entries for the 2026 TCS London Marathon. The application window closes at 23:59 on Friday 13 December 2024. Charities drawn in the Ballot will be notified by Friday 20 December 2024.  

How can we appear on the TCS London Marathon website? 

All charities with marathon places are added to our A-Z charity listing page. You can’t be listed on this page without places. 

Only charities with advertising packages will appear on the ‘I have a ballot place’ and ‘I need a charity place’ pages. As a condition of the package, no other charities can be featured on these pages. 

Will there be a charity ballot for the 2025 event? 

The 2025 TCS London Marathon Charity Ballot closed on Friday 2 August 2024. 

Was my charity successful in the charity ballot this year? 

All successful charities have already been contacted regarding their place. If you have not heard from us, please take this as confirmation that you were unsuccessful in the draw. 

Our charity already has a Golden Bond. Can we apply for more Golden Bond places in the 2025 event? 

Unfortunately, all Golden Bond places have been allocated, and no further places can be purchased for the 2025 event. 

What support can you provide to help us recruit participants? 

We're committed to doing everything we can to help charities recruit participants and maximise their fundraising. Our TCS London Marathon charity toolkits will provide you with everything you need to get your supporters excited about signing up for either the mass or virtual (known as MyWay) TCS London Marathon. These will be updated for the 2025 editions very soon. 

How can we register our participants? 

Your places for the 2025 TCS London Marathon are available to allocate on Let’s Do This. If you already have a Let’s Do This account, you can log in and view your places. If you require support setting up an account or logging in, please read the How-to Guide

What is the deadline to register our participants? 

The participant registration deadline on Let’s Do This is 16:00 GMT on Thursday 13 March 2025. All participants must have completed their registration before this time, otherwise they won’t be able to take part in the 2025 TCS London Marathon. 

Can we cancel participants after we’ve added them to our charity console and add new participants? 

Yes, you can cancel a participant’s registration by following instructions found in the console How-to Guide. Once the entry is cancelled, it will have a red status label that says 'Cancelled', which makes it void. Your total remaining entries will be updated to reflect this cancellation, and you can then register a new participant. Once the console closes, however, you won’t be able to make any further changes to your participants. 

How many places does our charity have? 

You can view a place breakdown by logging in to your Let’s Do This Partner Dashboard

What happens if we don’t use all our places? 

Following each year’s TCS London Marathon, we’ll contact all charities with further information about unused places and your place allocation for the following year’s event. 

What is Enthuse and how does it affect my charity? 

Enthuse is our official online fundraising partner. Once your participant has registered on Let’s Do This, a page will automatically be generated for them to begin fundraising immediately. 

If you have any questions, please email Enthuse. You can also check out ‘Onboarding in three simple steps’

When will our participants receive their Event Packs? 

All participants will need to attend the TCS London Marathon Running Show to collect their Event Packs. This takes place in the lead-up to the TCS London Marathon. The date will be announced on the TCS London Marathon website. 

What support do you provide for participants with disabilities? 

Please read our Participants with disabilities page. For any specific requirements or enquiries, please email Michelle Weltman, Head of Disability at London Marathon Events. 

How can I apply for a Support Runner for one of our participants? 

If your participant requires a Support or Guide Runner, please make sure your participant is registered on your Partner Dashboard first. Once entered, either you or the participant will need to contact us with the following information: 

  • The participant’s full name and entry reference number 
  • An outline of their medical/health condition 
  • The reason why support is required 
  • Details of any other reasonable adjustments that would need to be made for them to safely participate
  • Written documentation from a medical professional to support the request 

Please email our Disability Team who will review your request and be in touch. 

How do we update our charity’s contact details? 

Please email the Charities Team with the updated email address and full name of your new contact and we’ll make the necessary amendments. 

If I’m not happy with a decision that has been made about our charity entries, who can I contact? 

In the first instance, please email our Charities Team and we’ll advise you.