York Marathon Relay: Six Churches Run for York Foodbank

Six runners, each from one of the six York churches that host York Foodbank’s weekly sessions, will split the 26.2 miles of the Yorkshire Marathon between them on Sunday 18 October, running as one relay team under the name No One Left Behind.

Three more runners will take on the Yorkshire 10 Mile for the foodbank, and its manager, Adam Raffell, is running the full marathon.

By Thursday afternoon, 15 October, the team’s JustGiving campaign stood at £682 of a £2,000 target, from 21 donations.

Why six churches

York Foodbank runs its sessions in six church buildings across the city, one for each day from Monday to Saturday. The relay team is built the same way: one runner per host church, each running a single leg.

The foodbank says that is the point. “When most people think of a marathon relay team, they think of six people sharing the challenge. For York Foodbank, we’re hoping it will represent something much bigger,” its campaign page says. “Each runner will complete just one leg, but together they’ll cover the full 26.2 miles, a fitting picture of how tackling poverty works. No single church or organisation can do it alone, but together we can achieve far more than any of us could individually.”

Mr Raffell said:

“Their challenge is a beautiful illustration of what we’re seeking to achieve. No single organisation can end poverty alone. It takes a whole city working together: the council, churches, charities and communities, each playing their part. Our real ambition is a city where fewer people need emergency food, and ultimately where no one is left behind.”

8,123 food parcels in a year

The foodbank gave out 8,123 three-day emergency food parcels in 2025 to 2026, it says, alongside practical support for people facing a financial crisis. It started in 2012 as an initiative of local churches and now works together with Trussell, the national foodbank network.

The campaign page says the six host churches between them “welcome hundreds of people every month with emergency food, practical support and a warm welcome”, and the money raised on Sunday will pay for emergency food, debt advice and practical help, as well as the foodbank’s wider work with churches and partners.

The foodbank says it wants to go further than handing out food: with Trussell and other partners, it is working on the causes of hardship, with the aim of ending the need for food banks altogether.

What No One Left Behind is

No One Left Behind is a project of One Voice York, the city’s church unity network. It brings churches, charities and community groups together with the aim of reducing poverty in York over the next ten years.

The relay comes shortly after the civic launch of two reports from the project: the Understanding York Place Review, and a mapping of the social action York’s churches already do, the foodbank’s work included. The foodbank says the two together give the city new evidence on how to respond to poverty. Last week a separate University of York study found that 18.2% of York children were in relative poverty after housing costs in 2025.

Alison Dawson, No One Left Behind’s project director, said:

“The No One Left Behind project is working with churches across York to help them play their part in reducing poverty here. I’m so pleased that York Foodbank are part of this initiative, showing in practice how charities and churches can work together to make a difference.”

Give them a shout on Sunday

The foodbank is asking people to come out and line the route, for its own runners and everyone else’s:

“We’d love to encourage people to come out on Sunday 18 October and support the Yorkshire Marathon. Building on the extraordinary example of Jane Tomlinson, it’s a wonderful celebration of thousands of runners taking on challenges for causes close to their hearts. Please give our York Foodbank runners a shout as they go past, alongside everyone raising money for so many worthwhile causes.”

The campaign page also thanks Run For All, the race organiser, “for giving us the opportunity to tell that story through one of York’s biggest community events”.

What it means for you

• To sponsor the team: give through the York Foodbank JustGiving campaign. The total above was checked on 15 October and will move.
• To watch: the race starts from University Road at the University of York. Our marathon road closures page has the route, every closed road and its times, the crossing points and the organiser’s where-to-watch tips.
• If you need the foodbank: it runs one session a day, Monday to Saturday, listed below. More at york.foodbank.org.uk.

York Foodbank sessions

The foodbank’s own base is at Unit 5, Sterling Park, Bleriot Way, Clifton Moor, YO30 4WU. York Foodbank is registered charity 1154149.