This year's work brings the overall sum of grants made by the trust to date to nearly £50 million ($76 million/€58 million), helping more than 1,000 projects to build, preserve, refurbish or purchase sports and recreation facilities since the charity was set up in 1981.

Grants of between £7,000 ($10,600/€8,100) and £250,000 ($381,000/€292,000) have been awarded this year - the largest is being used to bring disused cricket facilities back into action and the smallest for fitness equipment for a gymnastics club - to help fund a wide variety of sports and recreation projects, including community groups, royal parks, local authorities, grassroots sports clubs, schools and local charities.

Other large grants included £150,000 ($228,000/€175,000) each for the regeneration of Copthall Playing Fields in Barnet, for the Holborn community centre in Camden and for a compact athletics facility at Stoke Newington School in Hackney.


One of the official training tracks used for the London 2012 Olympics, the Mayesbrook Athletics Arena in Barking and Dagenham, also received a grant of £42,573 ($64,847/€49,645) from the London Marathon Charitable Trust for pole vault and high jump equipment.

"We are delighted once again to have been able to award so many grants to so many important local sports and recreation projects," the Trust's chairman John Bryant said.

"One of the primary objectives of the race when it was founded was to help provide facilities for recreation and leisure, and it is heartening to know that the event's success means we have been able to award nearly £50 million in grants in 32 years."

The grants revealed today are in addition to the Trust's £1 million ($1.5 million/€1.2 million) contribution to a new ecology-themed community hub and play space in the London 2012 Olympic Park, now called the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, announced last July.


The Trust is helping to pay for the cost of the play area, which is expected to have some of the most imaginative facilities in Britain, where children can build dens, grow plants, investigate insects and climb trees, while the hub itself will include a cafe, offices, toilets and flexible space for use by schools and community groups.

"We are delighted that our £1 million grant for the extended play area will allow children of all ages to stretch their minds and bodies, using nature as a playground and taking on physical challenges that will build confidence and fitness," Bryant added.

"We are happy too, to confirm our continued commitment to the provision of legacy facilities at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park where the London Marathon Trust will also be funding work at the velo park, the aquatics centre and the community athletics track.

"This will help to achieve so much for the true legacy of London 2012 whose aims have been shared by the Trust for over 30 years - to ensure a lasting benefit for the whole community."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
February 2010: London Marathon charity fund set to top £500 million