New 'S Factor' running groups to hit London

S Factor Academy does some great work in the local community and plans to set up three new Run England groups in and around Lewisham, London, to celebrate 300 days to go to the Olympic Games.

All Run England groups are of course led by qualified, insured Group Leaders and Run! Project Activator Lisa Miller will be sending five young leaders, along with the club’s yoga instructor, onto the Leadership in Running Fitness (LiRF) course in Sutcliffe Park, near Lewisham, on 25th September.

Big thanks goes to the Lewisham sports small grant scheme and the Mayor of London’s PlaySport Skills Fund which are helping to cover the costs for a total of 15 leaders to get the LiRF qualification and start up new Run England groups for their local community.

Lisa has also been busy setting up a series of access events across Lewisham and linking them with the volunteer centre to promote the great opportunities. In addition to running regular sessions at Ladywell track in Lewisham and competitions, the academy introduce a range of additional opportunities from workshops, educational and leadership courses and mentoring, to work experience and health & fitness groups.

She said: “The Lewisham bursary will give S Factor Academy the opportunity to do more outreach work in the local community with the aim to set up three new Run England groups and around 350 members.”

Lisa also put together a very cool film highlighting the volunteer opportunities for young leaders which is linked to England Athletics' ‘Are you Ready?’ which presents the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as the biggest volunteer opportunity for a generation. Check it out:

Talking of London 2012, Run England Activator Lynne Atkinson recently attended the Lewisham Year to Go event, where lots of the filming for the above video took place, to promote Run England to parents on the day!

For more info on any of this, get in touch with Lisa at lmiller@englandathletics.org.

Find out more about the LiRF course at www.runengland.org/LiRF.