Vanarama

In October 2018, vehicle-leasing brand Vanarama made English football history as they rebranded the Vanarama National League to “MANarama” for a month and raised more than £150,000 for Prostate Cancer UK.

Vanarama's six-week fundraising drive involved the commercial vehicle-leasing company 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^th October.

Prostate Cancer UK were presented with the cheque at the televised Non-League Day match between FC Halifax and Chesterfield. Ultra-marathon hero Kevin Webber, who had just completed seven walking marathons in seven days for us, was also given a guard of honour by both sets of fans before kick-off.

In the build-up to Non-League Day, he walked more than 180 miles from Blyth Spartans to FC Halifax Town, visiting 10 National League clubs and hand-delivering unique captains’ armbands to be worn by all MANarama teams on Non-League Day. The bright orange band, which includes 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 1.9m people and generating 53 pieces of press coverage across BBC Sport and The Sun. The ground-breaking partnership was recognised at the prestigious BT Sports Industry Awards, picking up the national award for Event or Competition Sponsorship of the Year. This beat multi-million pound campaigns for the FIFA World Cup and the Premier League.

We would like to thank both Vanarama and the National League for their efforts and enabling us to reach new audiences with our lifesaving health messages.