We’re so excited to introduce you to Matt Fricker, our runner and Stagetext ambassador extraordinaire, who’s taking on the London Marathon in April 2027!
Matt is a primary school teacher and understands that communicating things clearly means none of his pupils miss out on education. Matt was deafened at 5 years old, and growing up, he developed a love of theatre and live events. He resigned himself to the fact that as he was deaf, he would always miss parts of the dialogue. But that all changed when he discovered Stagetext:
“I felt that I could fully embrace and be accepted into the worlds I adored. As someone who was deafened aged 5, I’ve never known a world where I could hear everything. With Stagetext, I can now go to live events and actually hear everything that’s said in the correct context. No AI, no missed words, just equality,” he said.
Matt grew up in South London and had the privilege of watching the Marathon live throughout his life. As a child, his Dad ran to raise money for charity to support his deafened son and Matt said he was inspired to do the same.
“I always knew wanted to one day complete the marathon myself. When the opportunity to support Stagetext came up, I knew I had to put my name forward.
By running the marathon for Stagetext I hope to show the world that captions can increase accessibility and enhance the experience of arts, culture and live events. I also hope to inspire the children I teach, that age (41 is an old age for them) and disability is no barrier to achieving a lifelong dream.”
How You Can Help
With this incredible challenge ahead, every mile Matt runs will help make theatre, museums, talks and events accessible to anyone who is deaf, deafened or hard of hearing. Your donation will help Stagetext:
- Bring captions to theatre performances
- Provide live subtitles for museum talks and tours
- Make festivals and events accessible for everyone
- Train arts and culture staff in deaf awareness
- Break down barriers so no one misses a word
Follow Matt’s training journey on our social media channels as he gets ready for race day.
