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Parkour UK

Welcome Tracy

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At our September board meeting we welcomed Tracy Rea to Parkour UK, replacing Steve Mitchell as the independent chair of Parkour UK.

Tracy was appointed through open recruitment and voted on by our members. The specialist skills that the appointment was based on are leadership, governance, understanding of the sports landscape in the UK and people & workforce. Parkour UK worked with Sam Coppack and his ‘Parkour Coach Companion’ podcast to produce an interview with Tracy which covers many angles.

  • Who are you what is your background?
  • What is the appeal of parkour and Parkour UK for you?
  • What Parkour have you seen / what do you understand?
  • What do you think are the immediate priorities?
  • With your understanding of the sports sector, what are the opportunities for Parkour UK?
  • How are you considering the importance of the community….how do you want to see this evolve?

The interview can be heard in full on YouTube here and on Spotify here. Please note that it was recorded in August 2021.

Colleagues on the board and the executive team are pleased to welcome Tracy to Parkour UK and are excited about the future.  

Recruitment: Senior Independent Director

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Parkour UK are delighted to open recruitment for a new role within our Board.

We are looking for a new independent director to
enhance the leadership, governance and
understanding of the sports landscape in the UK.

In addition applicants with skills and experience in at
least one of the following areas:
• Finance
• Legal
• Risk
• Income Generation

If you are interested please download the recruitment pack here. 

Job Description:

Reporting to: Chair – Parkour UK

Duration: An initial four year term, with the possibility of a second four year term

Remuneration: Voluntary position (reasonable travel and accommodation expenses paid)

Location: Parkour UK do not have any offices. Board meetings have been held virtually during the pandemic, a return to physical meetings will be considered by the new board and will likely centre on London. 

Frequency: The full board meet 4 times per year and sub-committees / working groups meet 2-4 times per year.

Role purpose: To support the chair to provide inclusive and inspirational leadership and guidance, stepping in when the chair is not available and supporting the executive team with sub-committee agendas.

Train Hard – Funding Success

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Train Hard receives substantial funding from BCP’s Bounce Back Challenge Fund

Parkour UK would like to congratulate our members – Train Hard Parkour – who have received a grant to be able to offer Parkour and drive participation in physical activity across Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole.

With support from Parkour UK, Train Hard successfully applied to the Bounce Back Challenge Fund  in April 2021. The fund is designed to engage with the business community to support their ideas to help Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole bounce back from the pandemic.

Train Hard are now delivering on a number of projects funded by the grant including:

  • A series of 6-week courses for Girls Ages 6-9, 10-14 and 14-7
  • Two 6-week courses for Women Ages 18+
  • Two 6-week courses for Adults Ages 18+

“We are so pleased to have received such a good amount of funding for our project. This money will really help drive participation in lesser-represented groups in Parkour and also increase the physical and mental health of children and adults in Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole. Parkour UK were extremely helpful in helping us with our application. Thank you!” said Scott Jackson, owner of Train Hard.

If you are interested in support to find funding for your organisation, Parkour UK has a funding directory and basic advice available here – Funding Directory Archive – Parkour UK

We would also be happy to look over any draft applications and advise. Please contact info@parkour.uk if you have a specific request in relation to funding application support.

Parkour UK Return to Move Guidance

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We understand this is an incredibly tough and confusing time for our members, coaches and gym owners around the UK. In 2021 as gyms re-opened there were frequent changes to lockdown conditions – nationally and locally. 
Updated February 2022

The majority of the UK has moved to minimal restrictions or the removal of restrictions in 2022. 

Our overall advice at this stage would be to learn from previous restrictions and make decisions based on the safety of your coaches and customers with which you are comfortable. As a business owner or coach you have the right to put measures in place that you think are right for your business, and have the right to deny participation to those who will not adhere to your guidance and measures.

We have now removed the regularly update guidance for each of the 4 nations. If you need specific advice please contact us with questions. 

Our COVID toolkit with in depth advice around coaching, classes and venues will remain available. 

It is important to remember that the COVID virus is still prevalent across the country and Parkour UK will fully support any measures that any organisations decide to keep in place. 

Here in our Return to Move page we are supporting members in a number of ways:

  • A Parkour & COVID toolkit – this is a downloadable file of examples of best practice from a number of our members of risk assessments, coaches guidance and other examples. These are free to use and adapt for your own gym.
  • Regular updates of general guidance from Parkour UK.
  • Links to the UK and devolved nation’s live guidance, and that of the corresponding sports bodies

DOWNLOAD FULL PARKOUR UK COVID TOOLKIT

Please note that these are general recommendations and you should refer to guidance regarding any local lockdowns in your area which may have further restrictions. 

Current live guidance from governments and sports bodies: 

The UK government and each of the devolved Nations have the latest and frequently updated guidelines available, and we would encourage individuals and organisations to look at the relevant local guidelines in the first instance for implementation.   

Feel free to contact us directly if you have a specific question or need. 

Farewell Mitch

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The AGM on Thursday will signal the end of the Steve Mitchell’s time as independent chairman of Parkour UK. Mitch has led the board through the early years of development, from February 2013 – July 2021 within which time recognition of governing body status in the UK and funds to employ an executive team were achieved.

Parkour UK have worked with Sam Coppack and his ‘Parkour Coach Companion’ podcast to produce a interview with Mitch which covers many angles.

  • What was / has been the appeal of parkour and Parkour UK for you?
  • What have been the key moments of the 9 years that you have been Chair of Parkour UK?
  • What have you learnt personally from parkour and lifestyle sport?
  • Are any of those insights transferable to other parts of the sport sector?
  • Knowing what you know now, are there any situations that you would have managed differently?
  • What do you think the future looks like for Parkour UK?
  • What is the future for you?

The interview can be heard in full on YouTube here and on Spotify here. Some highlights are:

Parkour & lifestyle sports vs traditional sport (29:17 – 30:04)

“It has made me look at traditional sport in a different way. We don’t always get it right in this country or globally. Does a modern sport offer in a local community truly represent the society its trying to engage? I am not sure it does. And that is where the informal, the fun, the social, the pop up when you can, play when you can, move when you can, and you don’t need to ask permission, you don’t need to join a group and you don’t have to attend a session. That is society reflective. You guys, your generation and the generations pre and post you in terms of the parkour community have grown up trying to shape a different narrative.”

Practitioner Opportunity (58:21 – 58:38)

“If there is one thing that the parkour community have taught me from day one, you are prepared to be resilient, be determined, overcome barriers and challenges. So apply the parkour mindset to jobs, career, life and societal contributions.”

Recognition – Biggest Achievement (21:40 – 22:23)

“The single biggest thing that we have achieved as a community and that I have been hugely proud to be part of is receiving recognition. The recognition journey was brutal. People will never truly understand what went on behind the scenes to get there. I think that the staging post globally of parkour to be recognised and legitimised as a sport, activity, discipline, movement and Parkour UK to be the first recognised national governing body is something that everybody should be inherently proud of.”

Impact on me personally (30:14 – 30:57)

“The connections that I have been able to make behind the scenes, that have allowed conversations to happen, absolutely are based on the learning of meeting and greeting, seeing the power and action of what the community can do. Its not always been unequivocally in the right direction and alongside my value set, but the majority of time and with the majority of people it has been a brilliant personal experience. Has definitely shaped how I will be a father, how ultimately I will try and apply what I have learnt in everything I do moving forward.”

Parkour UK would like to thank Mitch for his commitment over the years and wish him well for the future.

Building networks & throwing yourself in at the deep end

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Building networks & throwing yourself in at the deep end

As part of the benefits package that Parkour UK offer Development Associates, last week we invited Ian Braid and Preeti Shetti to share some of the things that they have learnt during their careers.

Preeti Shetty is CEO of Upshot, a monitoring, evaluation & learning system to help you evidence your impact. Preeti spoke about her career with a particular focus on insight and data, building networks and the importance of acknowledging failure.

Some of the insights were:

  • Learnt the importance of monitoring and evaluation through writing grant applications and producing annual reports.
  • Obsessed with the idea of failure, particularly the concepts of Black Box Thinking which considers how in the aviation industry the learnings drawn from the black box are shared with the whole of the sector so that everyone can learn.
  • During interviews many candidates underestimate the need to understand ‘this company, in this sector, at this time’.
  • Building networks is what it comes down to. A peer network that you can grow with, is the strongest thing. Building trust with a group of people who are going through similar things and who will encounter many of the same problems that you do.

 

Ian Braid is MD and founder of DOCIA Sport Ltd (Duty of Care in Action) who offer independent, expert advice on all aspects of duty of care in sport. Ian shared thoughts on personal development and possible approaches to help improve the duty of care in the sports sector.

Some of the insights were:

  • Two catch phrases have helped me realise what I should do when I grew up. Firstly that ‘everything is worth the price of a cup of coffee’, its an opportunity to listen to a perspective which may lead to an opportunity. Secondly, ‘throw yourself in at the deep end’ as the greatest learning always comes from those incidents.
  • Keep your head up, open your eyes, listen to others with a view to helping.
  • Build the confidence to challenge others over time. We are learning all the time and we shouldn’t be afraid to say what we think.
  • Linking it all together you need to understand who you are, what your values are and stick to them no matter what happens. Create a personal coat of arms and hold yourself to account every day.

 

Thanks to both for their time and effort. If you would like to contact Preeti or Ian you can do so through the following links:

Upshot – Contact Us

DOCIA Sport – Contact

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