Inspirational Run England Group Leader profiled

Run England’s newly-appointed Area Coordinator for the Midlands and South West, Charlotte Fisher, profiles Group Leader Kerry Newell (pictured: far right) – who, through her running groups in Gloucestershire, has encouraged and supported hundreds of women in the area.

"Kerry Newell is an enthusiastic Run England Leader who is really making a difference in Gloucestershire. In the last 18 months Kerry has persuaded around 450 women to get running through her ten-week beginners running groups and progresser groups.

She now runs no fewer than four weekly groups in her local area. These include sessions in Cheltenham and in her home village of Cranham, where celebrity singer Lilly Allen recently wed! Perhaps Lily could be Kerry’s next Run England sign up? Who knows!

Kerry got hooked on running at a young age and, in addition to persuading large numbers of women to take up running, she also coaches youngsters at Gloucester AC. Her enthusiasm for running doesn’t stop there either, because four of her ex-beginners are now qualified leaders themselves, successfully taking Groups of their own after just a little encouragement and some mentoring from Kerry. 

I'm only two weeks into my new role with Run England, but one of the highlights was meeting Kerry. Her energy and passion for encouraging others is what Run England is all about."

If you are looking to start a Group in the Midlands or South West area and would like to know more about how Kerry got started, please contact Charlotte on cfisher@englandathletics.org. Contact details for North, South and London Area Coordinators are available at www.runengland.org/contact.

If you are thinking of joining a Run England Group, you can find details of local running groups on Run England’s Group Finder map.