Ballachulish Junior Park Run

HELP GET BALLACHULISH JUNIOR PARKRUN ‘RUNNING’

Rachel McKerral

A group of parents in Ballachulish are working hard to establish a Junior Parkrun for children aged between four and 14 years old, but still need to raise around £1,300 to get things started.

Parkrun is a charity which organise weekly timed runs in different parts of the world and an adult 5km is a regular feature in Lochaber. Junior Parkruns which are only 2km long, are a relatively recent creation of the charity and are very under represented in Scotland beyond the central belt.

Junior Parkruns happen every week on a Sunday morning following a 2km route and children from age four to 14 can take part, there is no cost to participate and we propose to use Ballachulish Quarry. It is a good location where the children can be constantly monitored, has nearby public toilets, shops and a large car park for those travelling a distance to take part.

Parkrun UK requires each new Junior Parkrun to raise £3,000 for their start up costs and essentially the perpetual licence to run. This also covers the physical equipment required such as a timing system, flags, markers, high vis vests, cones and signage, PVG and Disclosure checks for the volunteer race directors, and insurance. Beyond the start up fee, there are no ongoing costs to the running of a Junior Parkrun and are totally free for children to take part in.

We are not allowed to fundraise in the traditional way – e.g. sponsored events, crowdfunding, bake sales etc – in order to protect the Parkrun brand. They expect us to involve local businesses in seeking financial support to benefit the community.

Our group has been trying to get this off the ground for the last 18 months but Covid has seriously reduced our ability to fundraise as many of the local businesses we have approached or would have approached have been severely affected and are no longer in a financial position to donate.

More than half the money has been raised, with kind donations from Highland Titles, Lochaber Athletic Club, Lochaber Community Fund, and MOWI, but we are obviously keen to secure the remaining funds to get off the ground as soon as we can. The minimum donation Parkrun will accept is £200 and payment can be made via BACs or a cheque once an invoice has been raised by Parkrun UK.

As keen runners ourselves and parents of young children, we know the health and social benefits of running, with much research showing that Parkrun and volunteering at Parkruns has a real benefit to participants’ physical and mental health.