Vanarama

Making football history on a memorable Non-League Day

Together with vehicle-leasing brand Vanarama and The National League, we embarked on a journey to use the power of sport to help save men's lives. 

In October 2018, Vanarama made English football history as they rebranded the Vanarama National League to 'MANarama' for a whole month, raising more than £150,000 to support our work. The company's six-week fundraising drive involved transforming its naming rights for the fifth and sixth tiers of English football in the lead-up to Non-League Day. Under the slogan, 'Lease a van, save a man', Vanarama donated £50 for every vehicle leased from the start of September until Non-League Day on 13 October. 

One man's inspirational story behind Vanarama's award-winning campaign

We were proud to be presented with a cheque at the televised Non-League Day match between FC Halifax Town and Chesterfield Town. And our ultra-marathon hero Kevin Webber, who had just completed seven walking marathons in seven days as part of an epic fundraising challenge, was also given a guard of honour by both sets of fans before kick-off. 

In the build-up to Non-League Day, Kevin walked more than 180 miles from Blyth Spartans to FC Halifax Town, visiting 10 National League clubs and hand-delivering unique captain's armbands to be worn by all MANarama teams during their fixtures on Non-League Day. The bright orange band, which featured the iconic Man of Men logo, illustrated the clubs’ united stand against the most common cancer in men. 

The campaign surpassed all expectations, helping to reach 1.9 million people and generating 53 pieces of press coverage - including BBC Sport and The Sun. The groundbreaking partnership was even recognised at the prestigious BT Sports Industry Awards, picking up the national award for 'Event or Competition Sponsorship of the Year'. This came out on top of multi-million-pound campaigns for the FIFA World Cup and the Premier League.