Whisper clothing

Running vests

Running vests for sporting events are made from polyester or similar wicking materials that stay dry. Cotton clothing is not usually considered suitable because it soaks up perspiration and becomes heavy.

Personalise Your Vest is recommended for small orders of custom running vests; prices start at £21.10 for one vest, plus £4 for postage, and discounts are available for multiple orders. The vests are sent from Albania, so it’s best to order the vests individually, to avoid VAT and customs duty, and to order them well in advance so that the runners can get used to them. Delivery takes 1-2 weeks; 9 working days is typical, and most of that time the parcel is in the UK! They require a phone number for the delivery. They only offer UK delivery. The best tracking site for delivery is here: https://eposta.postashqiptare.al/tracking/. The vests are made from Dry Clim which is a breathable, slightly stretchy polyester manufactured by this company https://spwear.es/en/technologies/ in Barcelona. In some styles, e.g. the men’s athletic vest, they don’t do black; there are colours that look like black on their palette but they are actually other dark colours.

Personalise Your Vest may not ship to some countries outside the UK, in which case for overseas runners in the Virtual Marathon the vests will need to be forwarded from the UK. The HS (Harmonized System) customs code for exporting a vest is 61099020.

Other companies that do one-off vests are https://teamshirts.co.uk, https://motiq.co.uk and https://bludog.co.uk.

You could also order Whisper running vests from The Charity Clothing Company although their minimum order quantity is 50 (not 25 as they say on their website). They can be slow to respond to e-mail orders, so you may need to chase them by phone.

T shirts for volunteers

The very cheapest cotton T shirts, as used by Whisper volunteers in Uganda, are printed in Uganda at a cost of £2-£3 each.

There are many UK suppliers of custom T shirts, for example Spreadshirt.