#ThisGirlCanJump - Girls Only Parkour & Freerunning to launch at YMCA Lincolnshire's 'The Showroom Activity Centre'

Funding Approved for Girls-Only Parkour & Freerunning Club

YMCA Lincolnshire and The Showroom Activity Centre are really excited to announce Lincolnshire’s first Girls-Only Parkour & Freerunning club will be kicking off at The Showroom at the beginning of next month.

Parkour, or Freerunning, is the discipline of controlled and efficient movement; a way of overcoming and interacting with obstacles in your immediate environment.

The sport, made famous by high-octane chase scenes in movies such as Casino Royal and features in high budget advertising campaigns, has become a focus for The Showroom, with their regular Parkour club engaging over 150 young people each week in physical activity.

Joe Hicks, Parkour Coach for The Showroom, explains how ‘many people see Parkour as an extreme sport; it is in fact more akin to a martial art in the way its practice revolves around self-improvement and self-restraint.’

‘Everyone can do Parkour – many of us do so without even realising… It’s accessible to everyone; it’s non-competitive and practiced in relation to an individual’s own abilities – you just need yourself and some shoes!’

Parkour sessions will be offered to young women aged 11-25 from 4th May 2016, aiming to encourage more young females to engage with the sport, and to generally be more active and stay fit.

Parkour UK, NGB for Parkour and Freerunning in the UK, have joined in with the massively successful national ‘#ThisGirlCan’ campaign, utilising the social handle and tag; ‘#ThisGirlCanTrace’/’SheCanTrace’, referring to Traceurs and Traceuses – male and female practitioners of Parkour, respectively.

The Showroom’s campaign hopes to tie in with the #ThisGirlCan, spreading the word and encouraging participation through the hashtags; #ThisGirlCanJump and #GiveParkourAGo.

The club, which has ran at The Showroom for the past four years, recently received £10,000 of funding from The Big Lottery Fund for new equipment.

‘The new equipment has transformed the club…’ says Joe. ‘I’ve been coaching in Lincoln for seven years, and this is the first Parkour and Freerunning specific equipment within the county. We now not only have the ability to introduce more young people to the sport, but we have facilities challenging enough to keep both local practitioners and our regular Advanced members occupied, challenged and inspired by movement.’

James Walker, Activity Centre Manager of The Showroom, explains how The Showroom’s Parkour Club has ‘given participants increased confidence, belief in themselves, and a great, fun way to keep fit.’

Further information and registration packs can be found at: http://www.lincsymca.co.uk/thisgirlcanjump