On Tuesday 24th November, The Running Charity team was brought together for an inspiring training day around leadership and our strategic priorities. Our trainers, Florence, Maria and Hamid, put the organisation’s largely voluntary team through its paces, helping to develop clear priorities for the benefit of the members we work with.
Our members face many challenges and obstacles that can compound their homelessness. The Running Charity have had many young people talk about how our programme can help to build resilience that have enabled them to face these situations head on.
I love a good challenge that pushes the mind and body to its limits, especially if I’m doing it with others which can make it far more interesting. With the 2015 winter on its way, I had the urge to get one last adventure out the system, and found three others crazy enough to follow me up the three highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales, to do what is known as the Three Peaks Challenge. The catch is to complete this ask within 24 hours!
As further motivation to keep us going through the night and by way of justifying us doing this in November, the event was dedicated to The Running Charity. However, we hadn’t expected the weather to provide a mountain of hurdles, all of its own, along the way.
On September 24th 2012, we began the first day of our pilot programme after eight months of researching and three months of planning. I woke up extremely nervous with so many questions rushing through my mind, much like before a race or a very important pitch – have we done enough, are we prepared, did we forget anything? I remember it as if it was yesterday. The emotions swung from one end of the spectrum to the other. There was no more time for preparation and no turning back.
At The Running Charity (TRC) we like to take every opportunity we can to put homelessness on the agenda. All too often the young people working with us feel excluded from society, prevented from expressing themselves and struggle to get their opinions heard.
Following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQ’s) were opened up to public questions for the first time in their history- and we knew TRC needed to be a part of it, so we asked the young people the simple question “What do you want to ask David Cameron?”.
The Running Charity: Year One Round-up
On the 17 of June 2015 The Running Charity celebrated its first year as a registered charity. Since our foundation we have worked with over 200 young people and supported them to achieve their goals. Our members have reported improved fitness levels, benefits to their mental health and by working in partnership with other homeless services we have helped them to address the underlying causes of their homelessness.
It can make you feel awesome when out with your friends on an all-nighter. It can leave your body broken and weak. Some people need it to go about their everyday lives and become unmanageable without, others binge in large amounts before going for months cold turkey.
Many of us are fortunate enough to be equipped with the necessary skills to overcome difficult challenges that arise in our lives. Often we can attribute these life skills to our parents, loved ones and mentors. These lessons and support can often be the difference between succeeding and failing in the face of adversity. At The Running Charity we offer our members a supportive community that enables them to put in place the skills and support networks that most people can take for granted.
Were you one of the thousands running the 2015 Virgin Money London Marathon, or one of the millions spectating along the course or watching the live coverage? We were there in force supporting friends, loved ones and a group of our incredible fundraisers. The day was truly a festival of running and we can’t wait until next years.
“Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it” – Oprah Winfrey.
Eighteen months before The Running Charity (TRC) was founded back in 2012, a close friend had passed away from a heroin overdose, at which point I left my degree in order to find the answers to all the questions in my head. I began researching drug addiction and homelessness and at the same time I turned to running as my salvation in search of clarity and self-affirmation. It was not until a year later that these two worlds came together in any kind of tangible way.