parkrun goes from strength to strength!

This week we had some very good news for parkrun! London Mayor, Boris Johnson, has announced his programme of funding in order to increase community sports participation in London, and he has awarded parkrun £130,000 to help support the set up and running of up to another 23 parkruns in the area. This is excellent news, and certainly a sign of things to come in terms of funding and development for parkrun as a whole. It is great that government and councils are working parkrun into their plans now, and that parkrun is being recognised as the outstanding community organisation that it is. A huge congratulations to all involved! Take a look at http://www.london.gov.uk/media/press_releases_mayoral/mayor-announces-further-funding-community-sports-participation for the full break down of funding allocation.

On a local level I will be looking to involve Newcastle parkrun with government and council initiatives in order to increase sport participation and also volunteering participation within the North East. Hopefully we will be able to secure some local funding for continued support and promotion of Newcastle parkrun and all we have to offer. If you are a key decision maker within a business or educational organisation and think that your institution would benefit from a free weekly exercise initiative, or from continued professional and personal development through volunteering, then do get in touch and I can come along and introduce parkrun and encourage employees and learners to get involved.

I would like to say a huge thank you to all parkrun volunteers who have braved the snow recently to keep Newcastle parkrun running as usual. We had 30 runners when the snow first fell, and then last week we had 45 runners that turned out to run in below freezing conditions. Well done to all that ran and helped out.....we are all incredibly dedicated, or possibly slightly mad! Videos from these two events can be seen on the Newcastle parkrun facebook page (search 'Newcastle parkrun', or click the link at the right hand side of my blog page. This weekend we are set for another snowy and icy parkrun, which will go ahead as usual, providing the course route is safe to run on. We are still looking for volunteers for this Saturday and so if you are free and willing please register online at www.parkrun.org.uk/newcastle/home.aspx and then email newcastlehelpers@parkrun.com to let me know you would like to help out.

I will be delivering a workshop at Newcastle College this evening based around Character Strengths, which is an area covered within Positive Psychology.  A strength is something that is morally valued, displayed in behaviours, thoughts, feelings, and actions, and contributes to fulfilment for self and others. Charcter strengths (as classified by the Values in Action classification of strengths) include such things as creativity, leadership, integrity, kindness, self control, and gratitude. Strengths are useful within recruitment in order to match candidates to job roles. They can be utilised when building teams, in order to group complimentary characters together, and jobs can be seen to be valued more when strengths are used within the role. Strengths provide a sense of direction, increase experience of positive emotions, and improve confidence and well-being. To find out what your top strength is visit http://www.viahappiness.org/ and take the test.

Thanks,

Niyc xx