Featured
Welcome Tracy
by Parkour UK
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
by Parkour UK
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.
Parkour UK Return to Move Guidance
by Parkour UK
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
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
by Parkour UK
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.
Natasha Preville – Being The Change We Want To See…
by Parkour UK
As we near the halfway mark in 2021, I reflect on my journey as an Independent Director at Parkour UK. Entering my second year of service, I remain in awe at the resilience, growth and transformative power of our Sport and practice. We have all experienced a year like no other and the team have worked tirelessly to provide guidance and support to our communities and practitioners in any way they could. We have strived to build sustainable ecosystems through widening engagements, participation, strategy and investment that continue to enable Parkour and the dynamic and adaptable nature of its practice, to thrive, ‘Moving with Purpose’ through 2021 and beyond.
Sport England Award:
Since our last update earlier in the year, we are delighted to announce Parkour UK will be a recipient of continued Sport England funding, testament to their support in the development of Parkour UK as a National Governing Body. The award of £120,240 will help sustain our Executive capacity in 2021/22; prioritising areas such as strategy, financial sustainability, insight and governance.
Extension of Sub Committees and Working groups:
One of the many reasons I love my work as an Independent Director for Parkour UK is the unwavering commitment of my fellow peers, our Exec team and expanding Workforce Committees, Partners and Supporters; they bring to life the ambition and demonstration of a modern, progressive governing body: One that is customer facing and works collaboratively to coproduce with and through the community.
Our ‘Moving with Purpose’ strategy has continued to meet fruition as we build and grow in the following areas: Digital Workforce, Space & Place, Economy, Mental Health, Life course (all age / intergenerational activity), Inclusion & Diversity and Storytelling. I am particularly excited to be involved in driving forward our work in the realm of Diversity & Inclusion. As a society and as a human being within it, if this year has taught us anything, for me, there is no place for division, we ALL know that in authentic unity, there is strength. To this end, during the Summer, we plan to bring together four more Sub-Committees and Working Groups to strengthen our work in Diversity & Inclusion, Space & Place, Digital and Storytelling.
Unstructured Insight:
We want to build on the insight report on the structured community launched in September 2020 by David Butler. In response, we have commissioned a second report for the unstructured community, working again with David Butler. In addition, Rob Young (RY Consulting) will work with us to build capacity in order to help us gain an independent view / perspective. We endeavour to initially speak with 15 – 20 Companies to explore; their brands, businesses, income streams, barriers and challenges, campaigns and causes, services and support, quick wins and immediate concerns (not a short list).
Parkour UK is also cognizant of our structured communities and to that end, we want to take a deep-dive approach to gain a comprehensive insight into some well-known Parkour names and brands within the unstructured world: Our initial work will include brands such as Ampisound, Jimmy the Giant, MOTUS etc.
Observations on the Digital Roadmap:
Digital literacy, marketing and engagement is important now, more than ever. We are living in a normalcy where the video call is king. As Covid-19 restrictions begin to ease, Parkour UK have kept the lens on the development of our Digital Roadmap, produced by 7 League and first shared in February 2021. As part of our due diligence, we looked at a variety of lifestyle Sports and it quickly became apparent we had numerous similarities with Skateboard GB. With this identified, March 2021 saw us convene meetings with Lewis Wiltshire and Lenka Istvanova (7 League) and Adam Freeman-Pask (Sport England) to explore the next steps… Unity is strength, once more, through shared insights around community engagement, areas for development and sustainable growth. The outcomes of the meeting concluded the key areas of focus would be; digital strategy, systems and processes and content and community engagement. We are thrilled to be in a position to continue working with 7 League and wider partners to further develop our Digital Strategy… Watch this space for updates.
Progress with Community and Stakeholder Relationships:
Our most recent CEO Report, by Dan Newton continued to make encouraging reading, particularly in reference to structured and unstructured relationships monitored between September 2020 and April 2021; all of which showed growth, improved engagement, where numerous relationships were viewed as “positive with intent to support”. This is humbling news as we continue to grow steadily and we very much look forward to building on our new and existing relationships during the next phase(s) of our development.
Diversity and Inclusion: Women’s Empowerment
Last, but certainly not least, I want to highlight a(nother) area close to my heart and the shared ambition of Parkour UK and our communities. Giving a platform, giving a space and place, giving (back) of power and reflecting and learning, then doing better, is the order of the day, when I think of empowering women in sport. Entering the second round of the programme, we are working in tandem with Women in Sport, to look at the perspective of women in Parkour and the stories they tell; including, but not limited to, the lack of female role models, lack of representation in Parkour media, barriers to entering / engaging with Parkour to name a few. When exploring the lifecycle of sporting activity, it was found ‘girls tend to stop doing sport as they reach their teens’, furthermore, ‘women doing sport want to feel included and integrated into their communities and want do sport as part of their lifestyle’. We all have a commitment to make this happen. We continue to proudly work with Women in Sport to help us eradicate inequality of access, experience and participation with Parkour, through storytelling, content creation and media; promoting equitable access, positive role models, all within safe and inclusive environments.
As we all adapt our lives and overcome unforeseen challenges, we gain insights, we learn, we grow and we do better. We have entered unchartered territory with boundaries constantly shifting in the world around us, however, Parkour UK remains stalwart in our commitment and we continue to work tirelessly to ensure, as a National Governing Body, we uphold and demonstrate the change we want to see.
Natasha Preville
Independent Director
Parkour UK Board
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