Couch to 2k project receives Highly Commended award

We’re delighted to have supported the Couch to 2k project and are proud the project received a Highly Commended award at the 2022 Addressing Child Health Inequalities in the North East & North Cumbria Event.

The Couch to 2K project delivered by The Children’s Foundation, was initially funded by Rise in June 2020 as a pilot programme with the aim of engaging young people who were inactive and introducing them to running over a six week programme.

The initial programme worked with a paediatrician from the Great North Children’s Hospital to offer young people a fun way to gain self-confidence, gain fitness, and have fun through walking/jogging/running over four weeks. Young people were referred by their doctors to the scheme if they were identified as being likely to benefit from the project. A group of six young people met three times a week for four weeks to take part in the programme.

The group were supported throughout and supervised by two Youth Workers who ensured the sessions were ‘fun’ in order to keep the interest of the group at all times. 

Following the initial pilot and the success of the programme The Children’s Foundation then received further funding to expand the programme in Newcastle and Gateshead. Funding was provided to cover the Youth Workers who were pivotal to the sessions and to provide the young people with the correct clothing and equipment to ensure we could overcome any barriers to participation.

To find out more about the project, hear from Sean Soulsby, CEO of The Children’s Foundation, in the below video (from 24mins in), who talks about the project in the latest virtual Addressing Child Health Inequalities in the North East & North Cumbria Event.