The Showroom Parkour & Free-Running Club receives £10,000 of new equipment.

YMCA Lincolnshire & The Showroom Activity Centre's most successful youth project, The Showroom Parkour Club, is going from strength to strength, having just received £10,000 of funding from the National Lottery to purchase new equipment.

The Showroom's Parkour & Freerunning club began as a small project delivering a single one hour sessions to eight beginners over a six week period. Within a year, the club had expanded to deliver five weekly sessions at the Showroom, providing top class Parkour coaching to over one hundred young people each week.

Joe Hicks, Parkour coach for YMCA Lincolnshire explains; “Parkour is the Discipline of Movement, and is accessible for everyone. All you need is yourself, and ideally a decent pair of shoes! …most of us practice Parkour subconsciously without even realising.”

The Showroom have recently bought bigger and better equipment resulting from recent funding bids; balance beams and rails, foam cubes, and four various sized 'Walls' up to two meters tall which interconnect to provide endless possibilities for obstacles. This in turn will provide a better experience for the Showroom Parkour Club's Traceurs of all ages and abilities.

Joe illuminates how the 'extreme' perception of Parkour is simply wrong; '99% of our training is done at ground level, with a focus on repetition, discipline and, in equal measures, both self-improvement and self-restraint.'

The new equipment has been well received by club members, being described in feedback as 'amazing', facilitating 'really fun sessions.'

Oscar Coombes, 16, is an Advanced Club Member and Volunteer Coach for The Showroom's Parkour Club, who described the new equipment's arrival as; 'a dream come true.' This is the first purpose built and accessible Parkour equipment in Lincoln.

Our sessions are very popular, and we are currently operating a waiting list looking to gauge interest in further clubs. If you have any interest in giving Parkour a go, please contact The Showroom Activity Centre on 01522 508360, or at: activities@theshowroom.org.uk.

The club has also delivered bespoke sessions and courses to various schools, uniformed groups and organisations across the county, including children's services, young offenders and disability groups. If you would like to know more about our Parkour club, please don't hesitate to get in touch with Joe at: joe.hicks@theshowroom.org.uk

Our current weekly timetable is as follows:

Wednesday:

• Junior/Beginners (5-11yrs) 5.00pm-6.00pm

• Intermediate (11yrs+) 6.30pm-7.30pm

• Advanced (Open, Invite Only) 8.00pm-9.00pm

Thursday:

• Junior/Beginners (5-11yrs) 5.00pm-6.00pm

• Intermediate (11yrs+) 6.30pm-7.30pm

• Advanced (Coach-Led, Invite Only) 8.00pm-9.00pm