Run Everyone 2021 for Power2Inspire
We are delighted to be an official charity partner for Run Everyone 2021 – Cambridge’s biggest event this March.
This event is open to everyone, from first time runners to seasoned athletes, you can run every day or just one day, every run counts. Everyone will get a t-shirt and medal for competing. Sign up on your own, with your family and friends and join Team #Power2InspireUK – the inclusive team! We would love as many as people, of all backgrounds and athletic abilities to join us to make a big splash as a truly inclusive event.
It costs £25 to enter and we hope everyone will be able to raise some fantastic funds for Power2Inspire as we continue our mission to ensure “No one is left on the bench”! For that you will get a bespoke running top sent to your home before March, fantastic technology, creating exciting leaderboards and interactive maps and a quality medal sent to your home following the event. We also have the opportunity to earn virtual goody bags, as our team clocks up the KM’s.
The event will take place over the month of March 2021 with each team member being entered automatically for both of the two categories available, namely most KM run or fastest Half Marathon.
Our inspirational Founder and CEO, John Willis, has decided to walk 700m every day throughout March, come rain or shine, completing the distance of a half marathon over the month. Would you like to do the same? Or could you do a weekend run pushing the little one in the buggy, or count up all the dog walks through March??
Team #Power2InspireUK will be competing under 6 leaderboards:
- Most members entered per organisation
- Most KM per organisation
- Most KM per individual
- Fastest individual
- Fastest 4 per team
- Most money raised
The minimum age for this event is just 4 years old, so grab your kids, grandparents or work colleagues and let’s get outside, having fun and raising money for a fantastic charity.
To sign up go to the Run Everyone website by clicking the image here and sign up. Don’t forget to join Team #Power2InspireUK when you sign up so that we can all run virtually together as the biggest team for Inclusive Sport.
THANK YOU and GOOD LUCK!
Living Sport Awards 2020
The Living Sport Sports Awards recognise and celebrate the achievements of talented sports people, the significant contribution made by coaches and volunteers, and showcases the organisations and clubs who are using sport and physical activity to make a positive impact on people’s lives across Peterborough and Cambridgeshire.
We are delighted to announce that our inspirational Founder and CEO, John Willis, has been shortlisted for the ‘Services to Sport Award’ – an award that recognises an outstanding, long-term service to sport.
In a highly competitive category, Living Sport noted
We received some exceptional nominations in this category; well done to all nominees, your dedication and achievements are hugely inspiring.
In more amazing news, Power2Inspire have also been shortlisted for the Matthew Warn Power of Sport Award. This award recognises sport projects or initiatives that have harnessed the POWER OF SPORT to make a positive impact on the lives of under-represented groups in sport. It is for the amazing Seat-Based Exercise Classes in Partnership with Oak Activities that we have been shortlisted.
Since starting in March, at the beginning of the first lockdown, we have had over 300,000 views of our live, online seat-based exercise classes that have helped keep the elderly and disabled community healthy and connected.
In a year defined by unprecedented challenges, and with little face-to-face sport and physical activity taking place, Power2Inspire – driven by John Willis – have adapted and thrived in championing inclusive sport, and bringing it to as many people as possible. We are delighted to have made the final shortlist in both these categories.
The awards will be held online on Thursday 3rd December at 7pm, hosted by Olympic medallist Louis Smith, on Facebook Live. You can access the page by clicking the button.
Thank you to all of our amazing supporters who voted for John and Power2Inspire!
Cambridge Half Marathon 2021
Sunday October 17th 2021
The Cambridge Half Marathon 2021 is to take place through the streets of Cambridge on 17th October 2021. If you would like to pre-register your interest with Power2Inspire please send us your email address. We will then get in touch with more details.
You can find out general information about the event at the official site by clicking below
Zach's story
Back at the beginning of October our CEO John Willis returned to Quilters Junior School in Billericay, Essex for their 3rd Annual Paralympic Week! You can read all about their amazing week by clicking the image.
We just heard back from a parent of one of the young children who took part in the Paralympic Week, and wanted to share their story. At Power2Inspire, we want to inspire those around us through the power of sport – creating a society where nobody is left on the bench. Stories like this make it all worthwhile!
Hi John,
My son Zach came home on Monday very excited about his day. He said he’d learnt new games and you have the same car as us (but better and red!)
As the week went on, he’d been chatting about the different activities, and when I took part in the Year 5 day myself, I was able to ask better questions!
He lit up when I mentioned sitting down netball, he said it was the best game ever. His younger sister Zara asked how you play it, and he eagerly told her. We set up a little court at home and they played for half an hour.
He’s since asked if they might play it at school again soon!
It’s been lovely to meet you!
Best wishes,
Zoe Howe
And it looks like Zach wasn’t the only one inspired!
Check out this fantastic video from two of the teachers at Quilters who invited all 60 of the children involved in Paralympic week to write down some of the ways in which John had inspired them.
Thank you to Miss Theobald and Miss Murray for sharing.
Varsity Rugby Event with Leonard Cheshire
Varsity rugby players from Oxford and Cambridge Universities met virtually with residents from Leonard Cheshire services to take part in a seat-based exercise class together, run by Power2Inspire.
Everyone joined in with the exercises, taking the relationship between the Varsity players and Leonard Cheshire to a new level: they had never participated together in sport before. The players then went into separate ‘breakout rooms’ with residents: Oxford with Banbury, and Cambridge with Brampton.
Louis Jackson, from Oxford, says:
we talked through some of our backgrounds, both rugby and personal, with the Leonard Cheshire residents before discussing how important exercise is of any kind and how it can help cope with the stresses of lockdown.
The Oxford and Cambridge Varsity teams have been visiting the Leonard Cheshire services in the build-up to the Varsity match for years. Leonard Cheshire are a UK-wide charity for individuals with disabilities, providing accommodation and promoting independence.
Rob Quinlan, a Varsity player from Oxford, remembers visiting in 2018:
to see the resilience and spirit of the people there…was truly inspiring.
As Covid-19 made in-person visits to the Leonard Cheshire services impossible, Jeremy Macklin, Director of Two Blues Cambridge and Chair of Power2Inspire, looked for ways to recreate those “moments of magic” between players and residents in a safe way.
Power2Inspire is delighted to have facilitated this through their seat-based exercise programme, created during lockdown to help less mobile people stay fit and healthy. Now run three times a day live on Facebook, they have received over 275,000 views and has proven very popular across the world.
Whilst the virtual format of the event lacked the proximity of in-person meetings, both teams thoroughly enjoyed the collaboration with the residents. They were amazed at how many exercises you can do sitting down, and Louis was impressed at the full body workout they all got!
John Willis, Power2Inspire’s CEO, was thrilled at the event’s success.
The most valuable things taken from the session were how it strengthened the relationship between the clubs and Leonard Cheshire, and introduced Power2Inspire to both. I’m looking forward to working with everyone again at future events.
Anna Willis is a freelance writer and blogger. You can find her at www.tellstoriestolive.com, and on Twitter @annawillis101