NewsPeoplePulseTotnes Town

Sharpham Estate Parkrun Celebrate 1 Year

Totnes Mayor, Cllr Emily Price, was at the starting line on Saturday when the Sharpham Estate Parkrun volunteers, and 150 participants, celebrated their first anniversary.

TTC Funding

A Totnes Town Council Community Grant of £1,000 helped to provide some of the essential starter funding the local group needed to set the events up. In one year, the Parkrun has proved to be a real success story, welcoming over 100 participants and volunteers of all ages and abilities every week and playing a positive role in boosting local residents’ fitness, wellbeing, and sense of community.

Pulling it together

Sharpham Park RunnersThe Parkrun, which starts at the top of Sharpham Drive, is co-ordinated by a team of local volunteers. However, funding was needed to cover essential start-up items, ranging from technical equipment to record running times to high-vis jackets for the volunteers. Race Director Sara Mills said: “The grant from the Town Council helped us enormously. We needed to raise £4000 for start-up costs and equipment and the grant helped us towards that goal. It was much appreciated.
Totnes Mayor, Cllr Emily Price, said: “What Sara and her team of dedicated volunteers have achieved by setting up a Parkrun in Totnes is absolutely fantastic. There’s a really supportive atmosphere at these events with people smiling despite the fact they’re running or walking up a hill! I’m proud that Totnes Town Council can support our local community to get initiatives like this up and running and I congratulate everyone involved.”

The grant from the Town Council helped us enormously

Visitor Park Running

Sharpham Estate ParkRun
Sharpham Estate ParkRun

Participants each week include local residents as well as people who come specifically to Totnes to take part in the run – including from as far afield as Australia and the USA. These ‘Parkrun Tourists’ provide another added benefit to Totnes – a welcome extra boost to the town’s economy as they enjoy exploring the cafes and shops after taking part.

Can you get funded?

Totnes Town Council’s community grants are funded by a portion of the Council Tax that is collected from Totnes residents. A grant fund pot of £25,000 has been allocated for 2024 to support local community initiatives. Applications are now open until 9 May 2024.
For more details, please go to the town council website.
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x