27 volunteers from Top Church in Dudley served as thevolunteer stewards at Dudley Parkrun on Saturday morning. The team lined thecourse to make sure everyone got through safely, timed the runners and evenprovided cake at the end! The Archdeacon of Dudley, Nikki Groarke also helpedout, sorting the runners tokens after she herself had completed the run.
James Treasure, Vicar of the Top Church resourcing church,was the run director for the day, giving the pre-run briefing for newparticipants and starting the runners. He said:
It is part of Top Churchs vision to be a blessing to thecommunity so are always looking for ways in which we can be involved in thingsoutside of the church. Quite a few members of the church run at the event mostweeks, so it seemed like a good opportunity to volunteer as stewards.
The team of volunteers was co-ordinated by Carlo who hasbeen participating in Parkrun for almost a year. He said: This is a greatchance to get us out of the pews and into the community as well as a good teambuilding opportunity. Parkrun has a great atmosphere and promotes fitness, activenessand health, which can only be a good thing. Volunteering is also a lot of fun!
Around 300 people took part in the 101st DudleyParkrun. Volunteer Event Director, Steve Coldicott, said: Its great when agroup of people get involved like this as it means I dont have to find the 30volunteers needed at the event! Its really nice that Top Church wanted to givesomething back and having people smiling and cheering the runners along makes abig difference. I find that volunteering at Parkrun is just as rewarding asrunning.
