A freerun group in Bedfordshire enjoys a financial boost
A parkour and freerun club in Bedford Borough is gaining investment from the Harpur Trust and Sports England.
Last updated 22nd Sep 2023
Spiral Freerun was started by a couple of passionate people in Bedford Borough who wanted to train as a group in an area where the sport had not yet been developped.
It has, since then, grown, and now offers up classes to people from all ages.
The group recently benefitted from the Harpur Trust investment, a charity operating in Bedford Borough which offers grants up to local businesses and charities each year.
"...definitely makes you stronger..."
For Luke Brown, CEO of Spiral Freerun, this investment will help them secure a training space, which is something they had been working on for years.
He said: "When I first started there was about two other people in Bedford that actually did parkour, so it was incredibly hard to find people that were like-minded and wanted to do the same thing as you."
Mr Brown spoke of not only the physical health benefits of being outside, but also the positive impact training as a group and overcoming challenges has on mental health.
"...you are overcoming barriers on a day-to-day basis..."
He said: "Particularly myself and the team have trained up at height before, obviously that is not what we encourage kids to do, but we are teaching them that on a ground basis and they still encounter the same experience as we do up at height, so being able to push past something that physically scares you definitely makes you stronger."
"The most important aspect of what we do is the mental health - parkour is a very good sport for mental health because you are overcoming barriers on a day-to-day basis", he added.
With the Harpur Trust investment, the business was able to put a deposit down for a training space.
Not only will that help them relocate to where they want to be, but it will further put them in the running for a Sports England grant, which would open up their business even wider and help them to grow.
Their first step will be to relocate classes to Bedford, following their move in April from Bedford to Wyboston, to cater for the members they lost, and any other Bedford residents who may struggle to access classes.