Turning Pain into Power

As the London Marathon approaches, all eyes are on the runners preparing to take on the 26.2-mile test of physical and mental endurance. But this year, another marathon is being brought to the fore – one that thousands of women across the UK are enduring daily, often in silence.

Fold7 has partnered with charity Women’s Health Hope to launch the Painathon, a fundraising and awareness campaign running alongside the London Marathon on 26–27 April. While thousands hit the streets of the capital, this campaign highlights a very different kind of endurance: the excruciating wait times for gynaecological care in the NHS.

Currently, over 260,000 women are waiting longer than the NHS’s 18-week target (UK Gov 2025) to see a specialist, with 27,000 waiting over a year – an unthinkable timeframe for those living in chronic, debilitating pain.

At the heart of the Painathon is a striking creative concept that turns marathon bibs into symbols of systemic delay. Along the marathon route, posters will feature real women – many of whom are unable to run due to their conditions – wearing bibs not with race numbers, but their actual NHS wait times.

That raw authenticity is visible throughout the campaign. Award-winning photographer Georgie Wileman, who also suffers from severe endometriosis, captured the imagery featuring Evie Lapworth, a trustee of WHH, and Nathalie Meagan-Blake, a passionate women’s health advocate. Their stories, told through both imagery and narrative, bring home the real-life consequences of an overwhelmed and under-prioritised system.


The campaign’s goal is to raise £27,000, symbolising the 27,000 women currently stuck in year-long limbo. Funds will go directly to Women’s Health Hope to expand support groups, advocacy efforts, and resources for those suffering in silence.


But it’s not just about donations. The campaign invites affected women to share their own stories and wait times – even if they’re unable to run. There’s also a digital component, with Instagram bib stickers that encourage women to share their own stories and drive awareness online.

Fold7 is proud to have a long-standing history of supporting women’s health initiatives, and the Painathon marks another chapter in that journey. Through emotionally resonant creative, lived experience, and powerful collaboration, this campaign exemplifies the best of what advertising can achieve when it becomes a voice for the voiceless.


To support the Painathon or to join the movement, visit Women’s Health Hope’s Just Giving page.