Happy New Year to everyone!
Following a short break over the Christmas period, Parkour UK has been busy in the month of January.
Here’s what has gone on!
Our Level 2 coaching qualification course is now available to book for the Spring and Summer intake for 2023.
If you have any further questions, please get in touch with us!
We have recorded a podcast that aims to answer any questions regarding the new Level 2 course. We recommend checking it out, as the answer to your question could be in there.
The link is below!
In the opening weeks of January, the digital support team, along with Parkour UK’s head of development Chris Grant, went to The Motus Projects HQ in Staplehurst to record the Parkour UK podcast.
A to B with Parkour UK is a podcast by Parkour UK which aims to bridge the gap between the work Parkour UK is doing and the parkour community.
On the day, we managed to record a number of podcasts, with episode one available to listen to now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. We also recorded a video of each episode of the podcast, which you can watch below.
If you have any questions for the next round of podcasts, make sure you reach out to us. We are expecting to record the next set of episodes in March.
On the 14th of January, we had our first board meeting of the year in London.
The Parkour UK board members were joined by the Parkour UK team, who led a historical tour of the iconic IMAX parkour spot.
At the start of the day, we talked through the key moments / historical events at IMAX to chart the communities’ development and show how and why a location can become a linchpin of a community. Chris and Callun for lead this and made it engaging by showing some old photos from over the years.
To get to know each other we then heard about each other’s backgrounds/roles and discussed getting started in the sport, and the common barriers to participation. We considered assumptions about parkour; challenging “it’s just about roof gaps and massive jumps” / “it’s dangerous” / “it’s all about damaging property and antisocial behaviour”.
The board then stayed on for their first meeting of 2023.
In January, we had a new member join the Parkour UK staff team.
Caroline joins the team in a Workforce Support role, helping Simon in his very busy role.
“As part of the Workforce Support Team, I’ll be leading on the bookings and support for Level 1 & 2 courses, and look forward to hearing from learners and helping on your coaching journey.
I will also deal with any inquiries that learners may have and generally support them to complete their chosen course. I am currently involved with researching new CPD opportunities for the Parkour Community and will assist the wider team to review existing materials for existing CPD/coaching qualifications. I have already organised to visit a local Parkour session to me which is exciting and I look forward to travelling across Scotland to visit other opportunities too over time.”
On the 20th-21st of March, we are running another mental health first aid course, this time at the new Parkour Generations venue.
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a training course that teaches people how to identify, understand and help someone who may be experiencing a mental health issue.
MHFA won’t teach you to be a therapist, but it will teach you to listen, reassure and respond, even in a crisis – and even potentially stop a crisis from happening.
You’ll learn to recognise warning signs of mental ill health and develop the skills and confidence to approach and support someone while keeping yourself safe.
You’ll also learn how to empower someone to access the support they might need for recovery or the successful management of symptoms. This could include self-help books or websites, accessing therapy services through their GP, their school or place of work, online self-referral, support groups, and more.
The course is available at a heavily discounted rate of £85 for the two days, and you can contact us if you have any questions.
In January, Chris visited Newcastle for the Northern Speed and Skill competition, hosted by The Urban Factory and NEPK.
Parkour UK is trying to visit as many grassroots parkour competitions as possible this year, this is to help us understand how competitions are structured and run within the parkour community.
Chris was even talked into competing in the skill competition whilst he was there, which has pushed him to make a commitment to training more this year.
We want to visit as many competitions and events as we can this year, so if there is an upcoming competition that you are hosting, make sure you let us know, and we will do our best to get a member of the team to the event. You can let us know about competitions and events by messaging us on Instagram @ParkourUK.
