The Trustees of the London Marathon Foundation announced that Mike Diaper has been appointed London Marathon Group Funding and Impact Director.
The Foundation is one of the UK’s major funders of projects that help children, young people, and underserved communities to lead active, happy and healthy lives. This month the Foundation announced it had reached a significant funding milestone of awarding £110 million to inspire activity since 1981.
Nick Bitel, CEO of the London Marathon Group, said: “The London Marathon Foundation has ambitious plans to inspire millions more people of all ages and abilities to become active. The appointment of Mike Diaper as the first Group Funding and Impact Director will enable the Foundation to continue to build on its commitment to being a fair, flexible and transparent funder, working in collaboration with the wider community to make the most impact possible.”
Mike has led teams in many high-profile government and sports organisations. These include Sport England, where he was responsible for the creation and leadership of the children and young people, community sport and tackling inactivity policy portfolios. He also led the government’s national school sport strategy under Tony Blair, working across the Departments for Education and Culture, Media and Sport, and worked on the inclusion of children with special educational needs at the Department for Education.
Before joining the Foundation, Mike worked as a consultant across the education, sport and health sectors. Projects included working on the development the £19.5 million Go! London Fund, the capital’s largest youth sports fund; project managing the RFU’s semi-independent review of rugby union in schools; and supporting Merton Council to become London’s first Borough of Sport.
Diaper, who has served as Interim Director since 10 June 2024, said: “I’m delighted to be joining the London Marathon Foundation. I’m looking forward to expanding the great work of the Foundation and, most importantly, increasing the social impact of our grant-giving and investments to inspire activity and change people’s lives for the better.”