Burnden Road Runners are proud to have been named England Athletics Volunteer North West Club of the Year.
Recognising the club for their efforts to make the sport accessible and enjoyable.
The Awards are described by England Athletics as the following,
“As a sport we are indebted to the volunteers that make athletics and running happen. The regional volunteer awards are organised in partnerships with Regional Councils and provide an opportunity to celebrate the fantastic contribution that athletics and running volunteers make to our sport.”
After submitting a successful bid for nomination on behalf of the Club, Chair Andy Dunleavy and Secretary Sarah Brown – accompanied by Cheryl Dunleavy and Lawrence McDonald – attended the Regional Volunteer Awards evening at Ewood Park and were delighted when Burnden Road Runners was announced as the winner.
England Athletics were represented by Dan Isherwood and Nichola Skedgel from England Athletics, and by North West Regional Council members Shelby Williams, Marie Cartwright and Uyai Ikpatt.
Here is the winner’s announcement,
“This Club believes a great welcome, inclusivity and a positive vibe enables it to thrive. This year the club has listened to and acted on members' ideas. Simple, secure, accessible training routes were introduced, and has many inclusive modes (for example, muster runs, run and talk, tail walkers). This continues through to competition – achievements are recognised by an 'effort' virtual championship where achievements are celebrated independent of speed, age, or gender. For the more usual competitive opportunities, club coaches carefully planned adaptations to sessions to coincide with Club competitions, which has led to enhanced personal performances at Club level and beyond.
Meeting 7 out of 7 Club Standards has increased awareness that safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, and served to develop individuals the Welfare Officer, Secretary, and Chair each benefitting from the training and support resources to gain expertise in their area. With an eye for the future the club now fund Race Director training in addition to Run Leader courses. The new wellbeing group also now organise Run and Talk within the beginner groups. North West Club of the Year is Burnden Road Runners.”
Chair Andy collected the Award on behalf of Burnden Road Runners and said,
“All our Run Leaders and coaches support the Committee and the club – we're in it together and we run en masse!"
From providing a wide variety of safe and guided running sessions to being all inclusive and accessible, from providing funding for courses to being a positive hub for mental health support and encouraging members to run and talk and from being there to welcome everybody home from every run to welcoming every newcomer to running, Burnden Road Runners has proved what most members knew already – that it is a special, unique and award-winning club and a very welcoming family.