Volunteers’ Week – England Athletics Award winner focus Newcastle Frontrunners
Newcastle Frontrunners won the North East Club of the Year as part of the England Athletics Volunteer Awards 2017.
Find out more about the club and how you can nominate in a range of categories including Club of the Year, Coach of the Year, Official of the Year and more.
Whether it is a club, coach, official, volunteer, project that supports individuals to overcome barriers to participation you can nominate NOW for the England Athletics Volunteer Awards 2018 at eavolunteerawards.co.uk.
To celebrate Volunteers’ Week from 1-7 June we will be giving away five pairs of tickets to the Manchester International people who nominate their worthy volunteers! Nominate now to be entered into the draw!
Newcastle Frontrunners
Newcastle Frontrunners is a club with charity status whose aim is to reduce barriers to healthy activity for LGBT people. Studies have found that LGBT people exercise less than average, and reasons for this include lack of confidence, low income, fear of ridicule and stigma. The club fulfils its aims by making running accessible from a cost and an ability standpoint and raising the profile of LGBT runners in the community.
Newcastle Frontrunners take great care to praise all, have a Grand Prix series with points for participating not speed, don’t publish race results to avoid embarrassment, draw relay places at random, and organise Couch to 5k programmes to help non-runners. Often a Newcastle Frontrunner member comes last in a race, but the whole team stays and cheers them in. A new project in 2017 was a fortnightly Strength and Conditioning session. The club goes away one weekend per year to a place where multiple distance races are on offer, such as the Edinburgh Marathon festival with 5k, 10k, half-marathon and marathon.
Transport to events is subsidised; half of club the grand prix is free parkruns. Newcastle Frontrunners fund raise to keep costs low, so when they rebranded in 2017 they gave free vests to every member.
The club organises the popular LGBT5k run on Pride weekend, which sold out all 800 places in 5 days during 2017. It’s a serious race and fun run combined, with prizes for the fastest but also for best fancy dress.
Winning the England Athletics Award in 2017 has raised the profile of the charity and their cause in the local area, and with entries having already sold out for their prestigious LGBT5k this year, they have expanded the whole event to also incorporate 3x1mile races and a children’s 2k!