Greek Runner Statue Fundraiser Beats Its Target

Over £13,000 raised to restore St Peter's Square landmark

Joanna Edmunds, Chair of St Peter’s Square Residents Association with the statue.

August 23, 2025

A Grade II-listed statue in a local square is set for a revamp as a fundraiser to support its restoration has hit its target.

The Greek Runner, which has been in the similarly Grade II-listed St Peter’s Square Gardens in Hammersmith for almost 100 years, is due a tidy up with the bronze figure showing signs of wear and tear.

Joanna Edmunds, Chair of St Peter’s Square Residents Association which organised the fundraiser, said she has been ‘delighted’ by the support as she looks forward to work starting in the autumn.

The Greek Runner was installed in St Peter’s Square in 1926.

It was created by the famous sculptor Sir William Blake Richmond, best known for his portrait work and decorative mosaics in St Paul’s Cathedral.

According to the association’s fundraising page, the statue was cast at the Thames Ditton Foundry in 1879 and later donated to the square by Sir William’s family.

The £12,886 the association was aiming to raise will remove the statue’s protective coating, deep clean it, and remove oxidisation on its bronze surface, among other things.

Hosted on the Spacehive platform, Hammersmith and Fulham Council, which owns the square and the statue, is match-funding everything the association raises.

Melvyn Rodda, from Rupert Harris Conservation which will be doing the works, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Nothing’s really been done to it for the last 100 years, so the statue is actually starting to corrode. It’s gone green, and if it’s left too much longer it will start to damage the surface. So we need to arrest its deterioration as much as possible.”

He said the statue is generally in fairly good condition, though there is some pitting and undulations on the surface.

Mr Rodda added that once the work is done the statue would ideally be waxed once every two years.

The restoration is expected to take two to three weeks, with the hope they can begin in late September.

Ms Edmunds said the council has been “very supportive” throughout the process

“The square is Grade II-listed, the statue is Grade II-listed, pretty much all of these houses that overlook the square are Grade II-listed, and I think we’re very conscious locally of our role in preserving the area,” she told the LDRS.

“There are a lot of people who work quite hard to try and maintain and restore and improve the area, and I think this is absolutely a massive illustration of that. It’s one where you’re really going to see the difference, and the square is very widely used, whether its dog walkers or kids learning to ride their bikes…it is a hive of activity, and it’s very much the centre of the community.

“The Greek Runner is central to everything and it overlooks everything,” she added. “I think it’s going to look fabulous.”

The statue has stood in the square gardens since 1926. Picture: St Peter’s Residents’ Association

Cllr Florian Chevoppe-Verdier, Hammersmith and Fulham Cabinet Member for Public Realm, previously said: “I am grateful to everyone who has donated and supported the preservation of this remarkable sculpture for future generations. Together, we’re helping to protect and celebrate the borough’s rich artistic and cultural heritage, making Hammersmith and Fulham an even better place to live, work and enjoy.”

Ben Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter