Category: Parkrun

Pinner Village Gardens junior parkrun has now begun!

by pinner_adm_8354, posted in Parkrun

The long-awaited Pinner Village Gardens junior parkrun has now begun 5 years after it was first discussed at a meeting of the Friends of Pinner Village Gardens committee. At last! It took extensive planning, several meetings, fundraising and a major pandemic interruption but here we are.


As a reminder, the event takes place every Sunday morning at 9 am, it’s a 2km course for children between the ages of 4 and 14 though accompanying adults can take part but will not have a time recorded. So far (as of 28th February), three official events have taken place with growing numbers of children and adults taking part. The small organising team of local community members have been working hard at getting the event ready for our children to enjoy in a safe environment and each week spend several hours in preparation.


The organising team recognise the event has also been made possible due to the effort and generosity of so many people, particularly that of the committee and members of the Friends of Pinner Village Gardens, local community groups and businesses.


It was the Friends of Pinner Village Gardens who went about raising the majority of the £4,000 needed to establish the event. A huge thanks go out to Antonia Saviddes and Jaykishan Vala for their amazing fundraising efforts. Major donations came from the Friends of Pinner Village Gardens, Pinner Association, Shanly Foundation, Cheeky Chums, PMC Pinner, Carters Chemists, Ideal Fish Bar, Paige and Petrook, Smart Guys, Anana Health and Beauty, Happy Day Hallmark and Diamond Hair Design as well as several individuals who made vital contributions.


As the event continues to attract new participants, it has become clear the junior parkrun is becoming a true community and social gathering as well as providing fun and health benefits for our children. So please do come along and join in, bring your children or just come along for the fun, perhaps help out by volunteering!


The Pinner Village Gardens junior parkrun website link is below. Check it out for further information, results and volunteering opportunities: .https://www.parkrun.org.uk/pinnervillagegardens-juniors/


Also the Facebook page for regular updates: https://www.facebook.com/Pinner-Village-Gardens-junior-parkrun-108549525081564

Junior Parkrun Has Launched

by pinner_adm_8354, posted in Parkrun

We are happy to bring you all some fantastic news. The Pinner Village Gardens Junior Parkrun has now begun, with an invitational test event taking place last Sunday morning. We have to give thanks to Glyn Watkins, one of the FoPVG Committee members, for leading this initiative on our behalf. Also, a very special thanks go out to all the volunteers who have made this possible so far, as well as all those who donated to make this happen.

The Junior Parkrun test event last Sunday

The Junior Parkrun is a 2-kilometre course around the park and is open to children aged between 4 and 14, alongside their family/carers. It will take place every Sunday in the Park at 9 am. Please come along and give it a try, it’s great to improve your fitness and to compete against your personal best time.

Further information is available on our internal Parkrun page here.

In order to take part, you will need to pre-register at the Parkrun website. More details are available here.

We look forward to seeing you all there, and if anyone would like to assist by becoming a race marshall, then please do get in touch with Glyn or Emma at the email addresses at the bottom of this page.

Junior Parkrun Update

by pinner_adm_8354, posted in Parkrun

As we’re sure you’ll already know, we are seeking to bring a Junior Parkrun to Pinner Village Gardens. This is a weekly run for children aged between four to fourteen across a 2-kilometre route set out in the park. With thanks to those generous donations, the startup fund of £4,000 was raised to enable this to take place.

To reflect the imminent status of the start of the parkrun, we have added a specific page to our menu which can be seen here. This will be updated with the current status of the project, and right now we’re encouraging those who have not already done so, to sign up to take part at:

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/register/

Initially, we will run a small scale pilot event to test our equipment, course suitability and most importantly………. our preparation! If successful, we plan to go live the following week.

We’ll publicise the start date on social media and personal communications. We’ll also keep the Junior Parkrun details in our event calendar which can be found here.

We are currently creating a list of fantastic volunteers who are happy to help out on the occasional Sunday. Our parkrun needs 14 volunteers each week to enable it to operate. If you feel you could spare an hour of your time, please do contact either:

Glyn Watkins – glynwatkins11@gmail.com

Emma Rackham – emma.rackham@parkrun.com

We hope to see you at the Junior Parkruns once they begin!

The Children’s Fun Run 2021

by pinner_adm_8354, posted in Events, Parkrun

It was so pleasing to see everyone this morning for our inaugural Children’s Fun Run to support the foundation of the Pinner Junior Parkrun. We had a huge number of attendees, who were all just as excited as we were to see everyone out and enjoying the park.

For those who took part, please download your participation certificate from here: https://www.pinnervillagegardens.org.uk/fun-run-certificate/

We were even lucky with the weather, as there were only a few spots of rain as the runners set off around the two-kilometre course. A huge thank you to everyone who attended, as well as the ongoing support of running club Metros and the Pinner Rotary Club who lent us the equipment to put on today’s event.

It was also great to hear feedback from parents who were keen for us to start up the Junior Parkrun so that we can do this every Sunday. We are thankful for their donations at the event, and a few suggested that we put out a donation link. So if you’d like to donate to the efforts to bring a Parkrun to Pinner Village Gardens, then you can do so via PayPal with this button:


Can the Pinner Local Community Bring a Junior Parkrun to Pinner Village Gardens?

by pinner_adm_8354, posted in Parkrun

The Friends of Pinner Village Gardens, local running club Metros and members of the local community are keen to establish a Pinner junior parkrun within Pinner Village Gardens.


Junior parkrun is a free 2km event for children between the ages of 4 and 14 of all running standards, which will take place every Sunday at 9:00am in Pinner Village Gardens.

https://support.parkrun.com/hc/en-us/sections/200715182-junior-parkrun

Junior parkrun offers an opportunity for all the family to get involved and come together on a regular basis to help improve their health and fitness whilst enjoying the sights and sounds of this beautiful park. Everyone can jog, run, skip or walk together irrespective of their ability – this event is truly open to all, and best of all, it really is free for participants! The organising team is working hard to achieve the various goals needed to bring the junior parkrun to Pinner.One of the main challenges to starting a junior parkrun is obtaining the £4,000 funding for the start-up fee which is essentially the purchase of a perpetual license to operate parkrun. This will include the provision of essential equipment needed to operate the parkrun (license, insurance, signage, etc.)  as well as an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

The team are investigating several avenues to gain funding and the Friends of Pinner Village Gardens are eager to make a donation towards the effort.
If any of our members or the broader community wish to make a contribution towards establishing the junior parkrun, you can do so by electronic fund transfer using reference: Pinner parkrun

·          bank – Co-operative
·          account name – FRIENDS OF PINNER VILLAGE GARDENS
·          sort code – 08-92-99
·          account number – 65792256

In addition, the FoPVG and colleagues at Nower Hill School, are hoping to organise a sponsored 2km event on Sunday 25th July. More information on that in the near future.

If anyone would like further information on the junior parkrun or are interested in occasional volunteering, please contact:

Glyn Watkins – glynwatkins11@gmail.com

Emma Rackham – emma.rackham@parkrun.com