BMW Berlin Marathon 2026 Charity Places

Organising another fundraising activity alongside your main challenge will help you smash your goal. Here are some ideas:

• Host a quiz
• Arrange a raffle
• Hold a sweepstake on how long your run will take
• Organise a bake sale at home, at work or in your community
• Create a sponsored marathon playlist, where supporters donate to add their choice of song

Once you’ve signed up for your challenge, we’ll send you a fundraising welcome pack that’s full of advice on how to meet – and beat – your target.

Setting up a JustGiving page is a great way to fundraise online. Share your link with family, friends and colleagues, and watch the donations roll in.

You can use JustGiving to explain why you’re taking on your challenge for Dementia UK, keep track of how much you’ve raised, and even share your training progress using Strava so your supporters can see how well you’re doing. The more you update and share your JustGiving page, the more donations you’ll receive.

If your supporters are UK taxpayers and their donation is voluntary (not proceeds of a sale), we can claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated – at no extra cost to them. Make sure they fill in the Gift Aid form in your fundraising pack or tick the correct boxes if they’re donating online.

If you’re fundraising through JustGiving, the donations will automatically come to us. If you’ve got cash to pay in, you can do this online, by phone, by bank transfer or by post.

Find out how to pay in your donations.

What is the difference between a lottery place and a charity place?

A lottery place is a place allocated to you directly from the Berlin Marathon organisers, whereas a charity place is allocated to you from a specific charity.

The lottery place only requires a registration fee, whereas a charity places requires a registration fee and minimum sponsorship.

How do I apply for a lottery place?

The lottery is open from the Thursday 25th September – Thursday 6th November and you will be notified by BMW Berlin Marathon if you have been successful or not. After this time, the only way to secure a place in the Berlin Marathon is to secure a charity place.

I’ve applied for a place in the lottery, can I also apply for a charity place?

Yes, by applying for both it doubles your chances in running the 2026 BMW Berlin Marathon.

What are you looking for in a charity place application?

We’re looking for applications that provide as much detail as possible about why you would like to run for Dementia UK and what ideas you have to fundraise. Include as many ideas as possible and any networks you can use to help you.

Unfortunately, we always receive more applications for the BMW Berlin Marathon than we have places, so we can’t guarantee that everyone who applies will be able to secure a marathon place.

Can I change my charity place application?

Unfortunately, you can’t edit your application, however if you email  events@dementiauk.org  with your amendments from the same email address you applied with, we will endeavour to update your application.

How much do I need to fundraise?

Charity place participants pledge to raise a minimum of £1,200.

There is no minimum fundraising target for lottery place runners, we only ask you to raise what you can.

Why do you ask for a minimum sponsorship pledge of £1,200?

Your registration fee contributes to the admin cost of a Berlin Marathon place, however these come at a high cost to charities and as a result, we do ask for a higher fundraising target compared to some of our other running events to help us to recover some of these costs.

We ask for a pledge of £1,200 in line with what other charities ask for their Berlin Marathon participants fundraising.

We value every donation received to Dementia UK and carefully plan how to raise as much money as possible and how to spend that money to ensure that people living with dementia can access the best possible support.

We can assure you that the money raised for our Admiral Nurses is invaluable in helping us achieve our goals to help as many families as possible across the UK that are affected by dementia. What we do and what your donations help fund. If you need any support, please do reach out to the Admiral Nurses on our Helpline or  book a virtual clinic appointment.

What happens if I don’t raise the minimum sponsorship for a charity place?

We ask that you only apply if you’re confident in raising the minimum £1,200 fundraising pledge. With the fundraising target, the Dementia UK Berlin Marathon support team will support you every step of the way with fundraising ideas and we can send out fundraising resources to help you publicise that you’re fundraising for Dementia UK.

It is also helpful to break down the fundraising target into smaller amounts, month by month. This way it is easier to focus on raising a smaller amount each month and you can plan fundraising activities / incentives to help.

When will I know if I have a charity place?

We are aiming to allocate all our places by January, and will be in touch once a decision has been made regarding your application.

An email will be sent to all applicants to let them know the outcome of their application.

If you are successful, we ask that you pay a £50 registration fee to confirm your place and pledge to raise the minimum amount in your application (excl. Gift Aid).

What support will Team Dementia UK runners receive?

We’ll be offering our runners:

• A welcome pack with information on how to get started with your fundraising
• Access to our training hub which include plenty of advice and training plans
• Exclusive access to webinars, top tips and advice from our training experts
• A Dementia UK running vest
• Access to our Facebook community group to swap tips, advice and inspiration with others taking part in this amazing event
• Exceptional support from our dedicated Berlin Marathon Support Team.

Definitions
“Dementia UK/We/Us/Our” means Dementia UK (Registered Charity Number 1039404) of 7th floor, One Aldgate, London, EC3N 1RE. The charity that has reserved Your place in the Event.

“You/Your/Yourself” means the person agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions and who is using a Dementia UK place to take part in an Event.

“Event” means the BMW Berlin Marathon

“Event Organiser” means the company SCC EVENTS GmbH which is commissioned by Sport Club Charlottenburg e.V., Waldschulallee 34, 14055 Berlin (AG Charlottenburg VReg.-Nr. 366Nz) and is responsible for organising the BMW Berlin Marathon.

“Fee” means the registration fee that You are required to pay to confirm Your place in the Event.

1. Participation
   1. You acknowledge that participation in the Event may be physically demanding and You are aware of the nature of the Event and associated medical and physical risks involved.
   2. You agree that you are physically capable of taking part in the Event and agree to be solely responsible for your actions and save as provided elsewhere in these terms and conditions. Dementia UK are not responsible for any injury or illness that You may suffer as a result of Your participation in the Event.
   3. The minimum age of entry is 18 years at the date of the event.
   4. You have read, agree to and accept the Event Organiser’s General Conditions of Entry. To the extent there is any conflict with these terms and conditions, the terms of the General Conditions of Entry shall prevail.
2. Bookings, Payments and Your obligations
   1. Applications must be made by completing the Dementia UK Application Form. On successful application you will submit payment of the Entry Fee of £50.00. You may also be required to register Your place on the Event directly with the Event Organiser.
   2. You shall not be eligible or entitled to participate in the Event and no binding contract shall exist between You and Us until We have provided You with written confirmation that the application was successful and full payment of the Entry Fee has been received.
   3. In order to take part in the Event, you pledge to raise the amount stated in your application or £1,200, whichever is the greater figure, and excluding Gift Aid. You agree to pay all sponsorship monies to Dementia UK within 42 days of the date of Event.
   4. You also agree to:
      1. Notify Us immediately and within 7 days of an event or incident that results in you being unable to take part in the event (whether medical or otherwise).
      2. Comply with any rules or regulation relating to the Event as We or the Event Organiser may notify You of from time to time
      3. Follow all instructions given to Us, the Event Organiser and any of Our or the Event Organiser’s agents, employees or workers, or any referees, stewards or other event officials in respect of the Event.
3. Withdrawal, Cancellations or Alterations
   1. The Fee is non-refundable and non-transferable to other persons or event year under any circumstances save that We may in our discretion refund the Fee in limited circumstances such as:
      1. The Event is cancelled by the Event Organiser provided that We receive a refund on sums We paid to the Event Organiser for the relevant places in the Event;
      2. Any other circumstances in which, in the opinion of Dementia UK, it would be reasonable to provide a refund. The decision of Dementia UK on this matter is final.
   2. You acknowledge that Dementia UK places are limited, and payment of the Fee and reservation of the place affects expenditure of Dementia UK and charity income for the Event. Notice of withdrawal from the Event must be communicated by emailing  events@dementiauk.org, or by writing to Community and Events Fundraising, Dementia UK, 7th Floor, One Aldgate, London, EC3N 1RE within 7 days of an event or incident that results in you being unable to take part in the event
   3. If you have purchased a charity place with Dementia UK but need to withdraw from the sporting event, Dementia UK cannot guarantee you a deferral to the following event year. All deferral requests must be communicated in writing by emailing events@dementiauk.org and it will be at the discretion of Dementia UK if you are successful as per our deferral policy.
      1. All successful deferral applicants will not be refunded their Fee, however their fundraising can be transferred to their new event date. All deferral applicants will need to repay their Fee for their new event date. Please be aware the cost of the Fee may increase and you are obliged to pay the updated Fee cost.
      2. Your place in the Event is personal to You and You may not transfer it or any of Your other rights or obligations to any other person without our prior written consent and provided that the Event Organiser consents to such transfer.
      3. Places on the Event are strictly limited and are subject to availability. We may refuse entry to remove or exclude or cancel Your place in the Event if:
         1. We consider that your participation in the Event will bring the Event, the Event Organiser or Dementia UK into disrepute or otherwise damage the reputation of Dementia UK, the Event or the Event Organiser
         2. The Event Organiser refuses entry at any time.
4. Publicity and Results
   1. You understand that Dementia UK may take photograph and video images of you on the day of the Event. You hereby agree that Dementia UK may use any such images to promote Dementia UK, its charitable aims, the Event and future events, whether on its website or in publicity material (both electronic and hardcopy) or on websites and publicity material of third parties. Dementia UK owns all rights in any images and publicity material created by Dementia UK and you shall obtain no rights in relation to the same.
5. Data Protection
   1. By entering into this agreement, You agree that any personal information provided by You or collected about You in connection with the Event may be held and used by Us in relation to the Event.
   2. You also agree that the personal information provided by You may be shared with:
      1. The Event Organiser who may use it in connection with the organisation and/or administration of the Event or for other reasons associated with the Event.
      2. and in the case of the Event Organiser, we may share the personal information before we have determined whether Your application has been successful.
   3. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that Your data is treated securely and in accordance with our privacy notice.
   4. You agree to inform Dementia UK of any changes to the information supplied in Your original application as soon as such changes occur.
   5. We will be the data controller of the information which You provide Us or which we obtain in relation to the Event and the Event Organiser will be an independent data controller of any information which We pass on to them pursuant to clause 5.2.