News

Parkour UK Welcomes Two New Non-Executive Directors

Parkour UK is excited to announce two new non-executive directors joining our board.

Jude Taylor joins us as NED for governance and safeguarding.

Jude brings with her an excellent knowledge of the UK’s sporting landscape with almost 20 years of experience in management roles within the sports and charity sectors. She has held notable positions with various sports committees and is an accomplished leader and motivator of people.

She specializes in sports governance, integrity, equality, diversity, and inclusion. Jude particularly enjoys facing big strategic challenges, change management, and problem-solving, utilising her extensive network within the industry.

Jude is currently supporting UK Sport in the role of Sport Advisor, leading the frontline assurance of UK Sports standards and requirements with NGBs, including in governance, diversity, and integrity. Prior to this, she was the Chief Executive Officer of an independent charity, Together Active, where she developed a strong organisational culture and achieved excellent governance standards.

Parkour UK welcomes Jude Taylor as our NED for Governance and Safeguarding.

Duncan Seller joins us as NED for digital and marketing.

Duncan is a digital communications and marketing expert with over 8 years of experience working in the world of sports.

Duncan has worked across all levels of sporting organisations from amateur to professional, international and governance organisations.


Between 2019 and 2022 Duncan worked for Glasgow Warriors leading on the club’s digital content and PR strategy leading to a three-fold increase in video output, a 27% growth in viewership, and generating an average of 80 pieces of print and digital coverage each week in national publications. Duncan now works for one of the UK’s leading sports communications agencies creating and managing campaigns for TennisScotland, CSSC, and UEFA – including the Europa League and Women’s Champions League.

Parkour UK welcomes Duncan Seller as our NED for Digital and Marketing

The Board and I wish them luck in their roles and thank them for joining us.

– Dr Tracy Rea, Chair Parkour UK

**FREE** Train Like A Woman Webinar

The Well HQ is hosting a free, online webinar called “Train Like a Woman” on 27th Septembe from 7:30pm-8:45pm.

This free webinar is for active women and those who coach them.

It features a whirlwind tour around menstrual cycles from puberty to perimenopause, coaching movement in developing bodies, returning to exercise postnatally, and strength training in midlife, as well as getting up to date on all the newest science and research.

You can sign up by clicking the button below!

Parkour UK Update July/August 2023


Saying Goodbye

We wish Dan the best of luck with the future!

As of June 30th 2023, Dan Newton will stepped down as CEO of Parkour UK, a role that he has held since 2019.

Dan started his Parkour UK journey as Interim CEO on a voluntary basis. After securing funding from Sport England to ‘build capacity’, he took on the CEO role in July 2020. Dan’s impact on the organisation has been significant.

In 2019, there was no outside investment and no infrastructure or capacity to implement a strategy. Since then, Parkour UK has secured system partner status with Sport England to work as an integral part of their mission of ‘Uniting the Movement’. This was a key milestone and places Parkour UK alongside other NGBs and at the heart of a collaborative partnership.

Since 2019, Parkour UK has secured £1.575 million through Sport England and has system partner funding secured until March 2027. Dan’s leadership through this process has been valued and symbolic.

We want to thank Dan for his dedicated contribution to Parkour UK and the sport and wish him well in his next adventures.

Parul Agarwal Steps Up as Interim CEO

We are pleased to announce that Parul Agarwal, Senior Independent Director of the Board of Parkour UK, is stepping up as Interim CEO. (Read the full statement here)

Parul has had a busy few weeks since stepping up as our interim CEO and has been acting as the glue during this transitional phase.

Parul is keen to meet members of the parkour community and attend some parkour classes while in the interim CEO position.

We’re Hiring!

During July/August, we were excited to announce that we were looking to expand our team, offering 7 job roles, including:

  • CEO (Full-Time)
  • Head of Development (Full Time)
  • Membership Lead (Part-Time)
  • Membership Support (Part-Time)
  • Connecting Communities Lead (Part-Time)
  • Connecting Communities Support (Part-Time)
  • Governance & Safeguarding Support (Part-Time)

With the applications now closed, we are looking forward to our recruitment surgery day to meet some of the applicants and grow our team!

Women’s Engagement Project

In early July, our second Women’s Engagement Project piece started filming in Brighton.

This project features Amy Harcourt, who was filmed by Sacha Powell and Silvija Vil. This project is currently in the editing stage and will be released on our YouTube channel soon.

You can watch our first Women’s Engagement Project piece below.

Isla Ramsay – A Journey into Parkour Coaching

Parkour UK Podcast – Parkour Coaching

Our next batch of podcasts is all about parkour coaching.

Simon from our Workforce Team joins Callun, and they discuss everything you need to know about the parkour coaching journey.

The first episode from this series of podcasts is now up and available for you to listen to.

The podcast is available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Parkour Coaching Qualifications Outline

Level 1 Coaching Webinar

To address and answer the parkour community’s questions, in July and August, we hosted a series of webinars.

The first of these webinars was “Is Parkour Coaching Right For Me?” – In this webinar, we will discuss everything you need to know about the Parkour UK Level 1 coaching qualification and answer any questions the community may have about the course.

We are putting together a video of our “Is Parkour Coaching Right For Me?” webinar which will be released soon.

Budgeting For Success Webinar

In August, we also hosted our “Budgeting for Success” webinar.

This webinar was hosted by our interim CEO, Parul, and was delivered alongside members of the organisation. In this webinar, we discussed our budget spend, as well as our spending plans over the next few years.

We had members of the parkour community attend the webinar and ask some insightful questions regarding what was discussed. It was also a brilliant way for the community to ask any questions, or suggest ideas, to Parkour UK about the work we are doing.

Member Visit – Aspire Parkour Academy

In July, we also visited the new Aspire Parkour Academy.

Aspire Parkour Academy has recently opened their very own indoor space to run their parkour sessions.

Following a few years at their local leisure center, the team at Aspire Parkour Academy has now moved into their very own venue, enabling them to run sessions 7 days a week, without the restrictions of hall hire.

The new indoor facility is located at Orton Southgate, Peterborough.

“We are also working towards open jam sessions, as well as offering birthday parties, and other events spread throughout the school holidays.”

Kieran Wylde, Aspire Parkour Academy

Level 2 Face-to-Face

We want to say a huge well done to all of the coaches who attended our Level 2 Parkour Coaching Qualification in London in July.

It was great to see so many learners join us for our London course!

Well done everyone 👏

Grim Jam 2023

In August, Callun visited Grimsby for the Team Reality “Grim Jam” 2023 event and competition.

This year, Grim Jam was a two-day event. Day 1 started with the takeover competition format which has risen in popularity within parkour over the last few years. 50 skill challenges based around Grimsby, all within a five-minute walk from one another.

This was followed by the speed qualifiers and skill semi-finals at the parkour park later that day, with the finals taking place on day two of the event at the Team Reality parkour gym.

We won’t talk too much about this event here, there’s a full piece coming out on it soon – but we want to congratulate Team Reality on such a brilliant, inclusive, and well-organised event!

Sam Coppack in the Grim Jam 2023 Skill Finals

Parkour UK Courses Update

Our workforce team has been diving deep into updating our courses.

These updates include reviewing our policy on supporting learners with additional support needs and exploring new providers for Safeguarding courses for 2024.

We have also started consultation on our new CPD and we are having really interesting conversations to learn what would be beneficial for everyone in the community, and not just coaches.  

Parkour UK Attends The Project Next Gen Premiere

Towards the end of August, Lynn (Our digital lead) and Tracy (Our Independent Chair) visited London for the Project Next Gen premiere.

The Project Next Gen film, directed by Max Ward, follows 60 parkour athletes from 9 teams around Europe as they train around 1 city.

The film was premiered at the Genesis cinema near the Imax parkour spot. This was followed by a two-day jam and after-party hosted by the organisers.

The community came out in full force, and the energy of the event was unmatched!

The Project Next Gen film will be available to watch soon.

Last Chance To Book – Bedford Level 1

Finally, we would like to remind everyone that bookings for our Level 1 assistant coaching course in Bedford are closing soon!

Click the button below to book your space!

Parul Agarwal Steps Up Into Interim CEO Position

We are pleased to announce that Parul Agarwal, Senior Independent Director of the Board of Parkour UK, is stepping up as Interim CEO.

Parul is a qualified chartered accountant with a master’s in business administration and is passionate about the 3P’s (People, Process, and Performance).

Parul is a senior finance professional, six-sigma certified coach, and mentor with 25+ years of progressive global leadership experience as an auditor, business transformation leader, coach, and mentor, focusing on process, people, and projects for multiple B2C and Corporate financial services businesses across India, the US, and the UK.

Additionally, Parul is an avid sports enthusiast and has represented the district of Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh, India) in multiple Table Tennis Tournaments in her primary and secondary school years.

Parul has since been actively building a portfolio of work, including:

  • Senior Independent Director of the Board for Parkour UK
  • Portfolio CFO (supporting start-ups to scale, sustain and be profitable)
  • Speaker, delivering a masterclass on leadership and transformation frameworks and concepts.
  • Volunteer with Spear – Resurgo Employment Initiative for 16–24-year-olds, as well as a sponsor for other charities like Refuge & WalktheWalk: Uniting against Breast Cancer.

Parul lives in London with her husband Nick and her two daughters, Anika (18 years) and Arianna (13.5 years). She is a keen Indian classical dancer, and travel enthusiast who enjoys constant learning and has an active lifestyle with frequent treks and London’s hidden walks. She is hoping to attend her first Parkour lesson soon.

Tracy Rea, Parkour UK’s Chair says:

“I am delighted that Parul has agreed to step up as Interim CEO. Her facilitative leadership, ability to work with anyone, determination, resilience, focus on self-improvement, and constant learning makes her an excellent candidate to listen to and work with all stakeholders, including the Board, Sports England, and Parkour members, coaches, and community.

She will act as the glue during this transitional phase since Parkour is a sport that encourages self-improvement on all levels, and aims to build confidence, determination, self-discipline, self-reliance, and responsibility for one’s actions. It encourages humility, respect for others and for one’s environment, self-expression, community spirit, and the importance of play, discovery, and safety at all times.” 

Tracy Rea, Parkour UK Chair

New Parkour Facility Opens in Peterborough

Aspire Parkour Academy have recently just opened their very own indoor space to run their parkour sessions.

Following a few years at their local leisure center, the team at Aspire Parkour Academy has now moved into their very own venue, enabling them to run sessions 7 days a week, without the restrictions of hall hire.

The new indoor facility is located at Orton Southgate, Peterborough.

Callun from our digital team visited the new Aspire Parkour Academy.

Aspire Parkour Academy runs parkour sessions for kids ages 6+. They offer a wide range of sessions, including Sensory Friendly, which is a class designed with additional needs in mind, such as ASD, ADHD, and SPD.

Their Sensory Friendly class is limited to 12 and they have 6 coaches on hand, giving a coach-to-participant ratio of 1:2.

Callun, from our digital team, visited the Aspire Parkour Academy team, having a look at the space, and talking to Kieran, the owner of Aspire Parkour Academy, about their coaches and sessions.

A handful of their coaches have also recently sat the Parkour UK Level 2 coaching qualification, and had just finished their assessment days in London.

Callun also spoke to Kieran, owner of Aspire Parkour Academy about their plans and ideas to help the academy flourish in the future.

“We are also working towards open jam sessions, as well as offering birthday parties, and other events spread throughout the school holidays.”

Kieran Wylde – Aspire Parkour Academy

Want to learn parkour? Check out the website for Aspire Parkour Academy here.

Free Your Instinct / Esprit Concrete Statement – 30/6/2023

Esprit Concrete and Free Your Instinct announced that the organisations have entered into a strategic partnership that will support comprehensive delivery of parkour as an evidence based method of supporting mental health. This partnership seeks to establish parkour, freerunning and Art du Deplacement as a recognised means of therapeutic support.

The partnership will work to develop participant and coaching development pathways whilst establishing a recognised evidence base of parkour therapy that integrates place, space and person in line with recognised clinical and counselling psychology methods such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), within services delivered by Free Your Instinct and Esprit Concrete.

Esprit Concrete was founded in 2016 by Parkour Coach and Counselling Psychologist Dr Kasturi Torchia and Parkour Athlete Gogoly Yao, co-creating the Esprit Concrete Method (ECM) of parkour therapy. Esprit Concrete has led on reflective practice within sports practice, coaching and athlete development, working within the UK and internationally.

The ECM offers an integrated, embodied method of delivering evidence-based mental health interventions, fully supported by psychologists, and has been used to promote mental wellbeing awareness through performance, professional development pathways and grassroots community initiatives.

Free Your Instinct is a charity that delivers parkour coaching to those with a recognised mental health need currently in London and Bristol, supporting some of the most at risk, vulnerable populations who are most affected by the inequalities of mental health.

Changes that beneficiaries will see as part of this partnership is the inclusion of the esprit concrete therapeutic method within course design, the establishment of development pathways for both coaches and participants, as well as a new name, Esprit Concrete: FYI.

“From conception, we wanted to ensure the Esprit Concrete Method was accessible and affordable, reducing barriers to participation. I am extremely excited at how this partnership will see this dream flourish, whereby corporate and development ventures provided by Esprit Concrete will further support the sustainability of Esprit Concrete: FYI and its community aims. Having collaborated over the last few years, I am grateful for this new chapter and we at Esprit Concrete are energised by this unique opportunity to strengthen and further our aims”

Dr Kasturi Torchia, Esprit Concrete LTD

“We are really excited to be working alongside Esprit Concrete. Our courses have seen significant demand over the last few years as the mental health impact of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent cost of living crisis becomes realised. This partnership not only enables us to continue to fully and holistically support our participants, it ensures ongoing sustainability, enabling us to meet this increased demand.”

Charlotte Boenigk, Esprit Concrete: FYI CEO