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<\/p>\nLondon Marathon Events (LME) has signed the International Working Group (IWG) on Women in Sport\u2019s Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration, becoming the latest major organisation to signify their commitment to gender equity and equality.<\/p>\n
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The announcement coincides with the celebrations of the 30 th anniversary of the creation of the Declaration and sees LME join more than 600 federations and organisations across the globe that have signed the treaty.<\/p>\n
The Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration was created in December 1994 and consists of 10 Principles which form an international treaty to support organisations in developing a culture that enables and values women within sport.<\/p>\n
The Declaration was signed by Jeanette Wong, Chief Financial Officer for London Marathon Events, and Lisa O\u2019Keefe MBE, Secretary General of IWG, at LME\u2019s London offices.<\/p>\n
LME has led the way in diversity, equity and inclusion in mass participation sports events and through its extensive outreach programmes to schools and community groups across the UK.<\/p>\n
Specific initiatives include:<\/p>\n
– Dedicated support for women\u2019s groups of all ages and demographics, including running crews, cycling groups and swimmers
\n– Support for women taking part in mass participation events with training programmes tailored to menstruation and menopause, dedicated breastfeeding areas, free sanitary products, baby changing areas together with an enhanced pregnancy and postpartum deferral policies for the London Marathon
\n– Creation of extensive campaigns focussing on inspiring activity in women, particularly Celebrate You with major female influencers and in collaboration with organisations such as This Woman Runs, Women\u2019s Running and other groups
\n– Schools programmes that focus on equity for girls<\/p>\n
Jeanette Wong, CFO of the London Marathon Group, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe work to inspire activity in all ages, abilities and demographics and we are passionate about providing equity for girls and women, whether that is at school, at our events or in the workplace. We have made significant progress but we all know there is still much more work to be done before we reach true gender equality and we look forward to working with other signatories to drive further change.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Lisa O\u2019Keefe MBE said:<\/p>\n \u201cWe are delighted to welcome London Marathon Events as the latest Brighton plus Helsinki Declaration signatory. It\u2019s brilliant to have such a globally recognised event organiser place a clear focus on gender equality not only in terms of promoting and attracting more women and girls to their events but also in supporting their specific needs during their events. We look forward to working with LME over the coming months to help shine a spotlight on their brilliant work.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n A world record total of more than 840,000 people applied in the ballot for the 2025 TCS London Marathon and 49.03 per cent of the applications were from women, taking applications close to parity for the first time. At the first edition of the London![\"\"](\"https:\/\/old.iwgwomenandsport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Jeanette_Wong-transformed-300x193.png\"){kind=spacer}
<\/p>\n![\"Photograph](\"https:\/\/old.iwgwomenandsport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Lisa-OKeefe-MBE-headshot-300x169.jpg\")
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\nMarathon in 1981, fewer than six hundred of the 7,000 finishers were women. More than 50 per cent of staff at LME are female and the Executive Leadership Team is 50 per cent female.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"