Marathon runner’s high hits £2.3m – while new campaign keeps record breaker focused
The fundraising world record was beaten by nearly half a million pounds at yesterday's Virgin London Marathon.
Steve Chalke just had to cross the finishing line to confirm his place as the Guinness World Record holder for fundraising. As he finished the race the amount raised stood at £2.3m and is still rising.
Steve Chalke said: 'After 20 miles I could have collapsed with exhaustion - the heat was punishing. But I couldn't let down the supporters and staff who'd helped me achieve this staggering sum. I'd rather have crawled over the line than let them down on this amazing day.'
Every penny of the money raised will go towards community projects run by Oasis, the charity founded by Chalke in 1985.
Chalke holds the record for the third time - having raised over £5m in total for the three London marathons he’s run. In 2007 he won back the title from Sir Steve Redgrave.
Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief, Craig Glenday, said: ‘Running a marathon is one thing, but to raise over two million pounds is a phenomenal achievement and one we are proud to award a Guinness World Record to. We congratulate Steve and Oasis.’
Richard Branson, of marathon sponsor, Virgin, personally congratulated Steve after the race.
Will he try and break the record again?
After the race, Chalke said: 'Never say never but right now I'm going home to take a long bath and then I’ll be back to work tomorrow planning our new campaign, ‘13’, which will support homeless and vulnerable teenagers, such as those entrenched in gang culture or at risk of being trafficked, which is, of course, modern-day slavery.’
Chalke will now lead Oasis into their new initiative ‘13’ which aims to highlight and address some of the challenging social and cultural issues surrounding teenagers in this country and around the world, particularly those who already grapple with a label of ‘disadvantaged’.
ENDS
The giving page for Steve Chalke’s Guinness World Record attempt remains open at: www.virginmoneygiving.com/stevechalke
Press contact:
Andrew Green t: 020 7921 4300 m: 07887687885 e: andrew.green@oasisuk.org
Editors Notes
Photography
Hi-res Images of Steve Chalke available from Andrew Green
About Oasis
To find out more about Oasis visit www.oasisuk.org
Thirteen is the average age of a child soldier, a trafficked child, and street children. Here in the UK, life for young teenagers is not what it once was; you can find out more about the Oasis campaign, ’13 Change My Story’ at www.oasisuk.org/13 launched Tuesday 19 April.
About Steve Chalke
Steve Chalke MBE is the UN advisor on anti-human trafficking and founder of the Oasis group of charities and initiatives including Oasis UK, Oasis Global, Stop The Traffik and Faithworks. He is based in the UK and is a prominent, social activist and Christian leader.
Steve Chalke is 55 years old and, with his wife, Cornelia, has four grown-up children.
Steve was told at school that he would ‘never make anything of his life’. It served as the incentive to prove his teachers wrong and he chose to commit his life to helping create opportunities for others who were similarly condemned by ill-chosen words as young people. To this end, Steve works tirelessly to end poverty and create opportunities for the most marginalised in society. As a young Christian in his teens Steve decided he would work specifically to improve housing, education and healthcare.
Today, Oasis Trust, which he founded in 1985, has over 10,000 staff, students and volunteers who pioneer educational, healthcare and housing initiatives in the UK and overseas.