On 26.09.2021, I’ll be taking part in the Hackney Half Marathon, running 13.1 miles along the streets of my youth, to raise funds on behalf of KEEN LONDON , a charity I have been volunteering with since 2018.
Keen London provides opportunities for children and young people ( we call them athletes) with disabilities to enjoy sport, games, interaction with coaches and other and, most of all, play in a safe, secure and supportive environment. All volunteer coaches are vetted and trained with training updated regularly.
In normal times, the sessions take place on Saturday or Sunday in 3 centres located in East, North and South London along with excursions and outdoor activities like visits to museums, adventure parks, wetlands, water parks, sport centres like Twickenhham and Olympic Park velodrome etc, in school holidays and half terms. When Covid-19 intervened, the weekly sessions continued during lockdowns via well attended Saturday Zoom meetings featuring athletes and coaches playing silly games and doing daft exercises, dances etc. Whenever lockdown eased, outings in small groups of the same athletes and coaches called “bubble buddies” were arranged. The three centres came together for a Summer Party in an adventure park in London’ but the athletes have missed their usual summer week away for the past 2 years. Normal weekly sessions will ( fingers crossed) resume in October and some of the excursions will continue because the athletes enjoy them. So do the parents ( for the respite) and the coaches because they are all big kids at heart.
Obviously, all of this costs money. You can help by donating a few quid to my page. I would love to see you, giving me and my co- runners a shout, en route. We’re wearing orange vests and the route includes The Petchy Academy on Shacklewell Lane where our East London sessions take place. If you visit the Keen London website, you might feel the urge to volunteer as a coach. Go on. Why not???
Thank you All.
