Fine wine buyer completes London Marathon as top fundraiser for JustGiving

Gareth Birchley, buying director for fine wine trading company Burns & German Vintners, has completed the London Marathon as the top male fundraiser, raising over £271k for charity.

The 38-year-old from Richmond, who works as buying director of fine wines for Burns & German Vintners, has come in as the top male fundraiser for JustGiving, having run the London Marathon and raised over £271k for Motor Neurone Disease and The Broad Appeal.

The idea for running the marathon began as a bit of fun between Birchley and his friend Stuart Broad, but he has now well exceeded his initial target of £50,000. A self-confessed “obese London wine merchant with a disdain for exercise”, Birchley signed up for the race despite not having undertaken any exercise in a decade. Fast forward to Sunday 23 April, he completed the marathon in 6 hours 53 minutes and 58 seconds.

With help from the worlds of wine, entertainment and hospitality, as well as friends and customers, Birchley has raised the highest ever amount to date the charity MNDA (Motor Neurone Disease Association) and for The Broad Appeal.

The Broad Appeal was set up by Stuart Broad, a friend of Birchley, to help fund research into Motor Neurone Disease following the death of a close family member by the illness in 2010.

According to JustGiving, £35 million has been raised by London marathon participants (as of 4pm on 23 April) with the final count expected to exceed last year’s total of £37 million. Charities on JustGiving which received the most donations to date were those raising money for to cancer, mental health, Alzheimers and Dementia.

JustGiving received more than 850,000 donations to 1,700 charities for runners of the London Marathon. Despite financial pressures caused by the cost-of-living crisis, the average page on JustGiving raised £2,039, which is 19% higher than the previous year.