Lottery funding awarded by Jersey Community Foundation keeps Jersey Parkrun ‘running’ smoothly on its sixth-year anniversary.
In July, the Jersey Community Foundation awarded grants to the Arts, Culture, Heritage, Sports and Science sectors from the CI Lottery proceeds. The change in how the CI Lottery proceeds are awarded means that 50% of the proceeds go to local charities and good causes via the Association of Jersey Charities and 50% to the Arts, Culture, Heritage, Sports and Science sectors via the Jersey Community Foundation. This change in how the lottery funds are distributed will enable a wider range of organisations to apply for funding.
Jersey Parkrun which is celebrating its 6th anniversary in Jersey this month has successfully applied for a grant of £4,200 and will be using the funds to help their weekly ‘run’ more smoothly.
Improvements will include utilising technology to support a post-Covid contactless operating model, a new PA system, secure storage facilities, event signs and shelter to protect volunteers from the worst of the Jersey weather!
The team behind Jersey Parkrun will also be purchasing two dedicated iPads to process the results and trigger the email and text result system ensuring all runners get their times securely and quickly.
Paul Burrows and Nicola Gott originally set up Parkrun on Jersey in 2015 and Michael Chaytor and Sam Horsfall took over as Event Directors after 12 months in 2016. They have been working hard with their team of volunteers ever since delivering over 250 races to date.
Michael said “We have an amazing team of volunteers who give their time to help Jersey keep fit and active throughout the year – even Christmas and New Year’s Day. They turn up whatever the weather and although Jersey is blessed with a lot of sunshine, we also get our fair share of rain, so we want to make sure they can at least keep dry even if it might be a bit cold. We also needed to modernise some of our systems to meet the new processes post- Covid and ensure that we are operating safely and securely. The funds awarded by Jersey
Community Foundation is invaluable to us as Parkrun prides itself on being a free and completely inclusive event, so we have limited funds to be able to buy or replace our equipment.”
Anna Terry, CEO of the Jersey Community Foundation commented, “Parkrun is a fantastic initiative that is available for all age groups and abilities and is a real benefit to the mental and physical health of Islanders. We took great pleasure in awarding their proceeds from the CI Lottery fund to help them to continue offering their weekly events safely and securely.”
“The next closing date for applications is the 4th of October and we are currently accepting online applications, so I would encourage other Arts, Culture, Heritage, Sports and Science organisations to contact us to see if they can also benefit from the grants available.”
For any initial enquiries, or to discuss a project idea, contact grants@jerseycommunityfoundation.org.
