Marathon fundraising is a major revenue generator for charities and Oxfam is no different.

About 150 supporters will take on the 26.2 mile London course this year and their efforts are expected to generate £200,000.

This makes the London Marathon Oxfam's second biggest annual fundraising event, with only its own Trailwalker UK netting more money.

My generous sponsors and those of the other 149 runners will see their cash go into Oxfam's general pot.

Lisa Seddon, sponsor challenges manager, said: "This enables us to respond to emergencies as quickly as possible.

"It can go where the need is greatest. We don't have to get it signed off by outside organisations.

"How we responded to the flooding in Pakistan was a great example of that last year."

Oxfam has been involved with the London Marathon since 1995.

Ms Seddon said: "We can easily count £900,000 since 2003, which has made a big difference.

"It has been a way to get different types of people involved, who want to use their spare time for Oxfam rather than giving by direct debit.

"It also raises Oxfam's profile in a very public arena. We often have repeat runners and there's one person who is running it for the fifth time this year."

The village of Beuring, in Aceh province, Indonesia, saw one Oxfam project to benefit from London Marathon sponsorship money last year.

To help the community recover from the Asian tsunami disaster, Oxfam is working with women to retrain them as painters and decorators.

Oxfam's idea is to empower them and allow them to earn income in a new way.

The unprecedented scale of housing reconstruction in the village is creating a high demand for skilled trades people.

It is Oxfam's plan to employ the women initially and later recommend other agencies find them further work.

Oxfam's local coordinator Ainy Fauziyah said: "The women feel happy to be independent.

"Some women have told me it is good to work and we want to do the work the men do. We want a job rather than nothing."

Trainee painter Rusmiyati, 40, said she was hopeful about the future.

"I am now feeling better because my children are not feeling hungry," she said.

"But if Oxfam stop helping, maybe the situation will get worse. I would like to paint more houses for money to help my children."