Recommended Viewing- Despatches "8pm" Friday 9th April- Channel 4

Journalist Ben Laurance looks at what it costs to stage the London Marathon, how much money it generates and the extent of its charitable giving.


In 2009, 36,000 participants in the London Marathon raised a phenomenal £47 million, cementing the Marathon's place as the biggest one-day fundraising event in the world.

In the course of his investigation Ben discovers who the lucky recipients are of some of the money distributed by the London Marathon race organisers. He also talks to leading charities about the amount they pay to take part, the competition for places, and asks why hundreds of desperate charities are left without a place in Britain's biggest fundraising event.