The London Marathon Charitable Trust has today been renamed the London Marathon Foundation as part of an exciting rebrand of the charity designed to extend its funding reach and impact.

The charity, one of the UK’s major funders of projects and initiatives that inspire physical activity, was founded in 1981 by London Marathon co-founders Chris Brasher and John Disley to distribute the surplus made from the London Marathon.

As London Marathon Events (LME) – organisers of the London Marathon – and its portfolio of events has grown, so too has the charity, which has now awarded more than £98 million in grants across the UK.

The name change to the London Marathon Foundation marks an exciting new chapter as the charity looks to the future and its ambitions to connect new groups and communities with funding, helping those who need the most support to lead active lives.

This new name and design is modern, accessible and builds on a new operational strategy centred on inspiring, encouraging and championing participation and diversity in physical activity. This new strategy also refocused the charity’s priority audiences, putting children and young people and marginalised groups and communities at the heart of its work.

Looking to the future, the new name and design underpins the London Marathon Foundation’s ambition to be recognised not only as an impactful funder, but as a leading voice for change in the sport and physical activity for development sector.

Catherine Anderson, Executive Director at the London Marathon Foundation, said: “After more than 40 years of funding more than 1,500 projects that have inspired activity across London and the UK, now is the right time to modernise our brand to support the charity we are today and want to be.

“We’re excited for how we can inspire activity and change lives as the London Marathon Foundation, directing our funding to where it’s most needed and creating more opportunities for those who need the most help to be active – continuing the legacy of the London Marathon co-founders and helping many more people lead active and healthy lives.”

Sir Rodney Walker, Chair of the London Marathon Foundation, said: “We’re proud of what we’ve been able to achieve to inspire activity across the UK so far – from awarding £10,000 in grants in our first year to the £98 million we’ve now awarded.

“We look forward to our next chapter as the London Marathon Foundation, and the role we can have in championing participation and diversity in sport and physical activity.”

The London Marathon Foundation will be launching a new website next month, and all other work associated with the rebrand has been done in-house to minimise costs.

The London Marathon Foundation is the parent charity of London Marathon Events (LME), the organisers of some of the world’s leading mass participation sporting events, including the TCS London Marathon, the world’s biggest annual one day fundraising event, and Ford RideLondon, the world’s greatest festival of cycling. Every year, after costs, the surplus generated by LME is passed as corporate Gift Aid to the London Marathon Foundation. Both organisations share a mission to inspire activity, and an ambition to explore new opportunities to work together to maximise their collective impact to help many more people to be active across the UK.