Celebrating 17 years – The evolution of volunteering at parkrun

It’s parkrun’s 17th anniversary this coming weekend and, to mark the occasion, we’re celebrating everything volunteering.

We’ve learnt a lot over the years, and here, for the first time, we’re telling the story of what we once thought about volunteering, how that’s changed, and what it might look like in the future.

Volunteering has always been one of the cornerstones and great success stories of parkrun. But the way that we view the involvement of those who volunteer has evolved significantly.

At that very first event in Bushy Park in October 2004 there were five volunteers, including Founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt CBE. Fast-forward 17 years and more than half a million people have volunteered at 2,200 locations in 23 countries around the world, clocking up a staggering six million instances of volunteering between them.

It’s parkrun’s 17th anniversary this coming weekend and, to mark the occasion, we’re celebrating everything volunteering.

We’ve learnt a lot over the years, and here, for the first time, we’re telling the story of what we once thought about volunteering, how that’s changed, and what it might look like in the future.

Volunteering has always been one of the cornerstones and great success stories of parkrun. But the way that we view the involvement of those who volunteer has evolved significantly.

At that very first event in Bushy Park in October 2004 there were five volunteers, including Founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt CBE. Fast-forward 17 years and more than half a million people have volunteered at 2,200 locations in 23 countries around the world, clocking up a staggering six million instances of volunteering between them.

It’s parkrun’s 17th anniversary this coming weekend and, to mark the occasion, we’re celebrating everything volunteering.

We’ve learnt a lot over the years, and here, for the first time, we’re telling the story of what we once thought about volunteering, how that’s changed, and what it might look like in the future.

Volunteering has always been one of the cornerstones and great success stories of parkrun. But the way that we view the involvement of those who volunteer has evolved significantly.

At that very first event in Bushy Park in October 2004 there were five volunteers, including Founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt CBE. Fast-forward 17 years and more than half a million people have volunteered at 2,200 locations in 23 countries around the world, clocking up a staggering six million instances of volunteering between them.

It’s parkrun’s 17th anniversary this coming weekend and, to mark the occasion, we’re celebrating everything volunteering.

These participants have proudly worn the parkrun high-vis, and in doing so have taken huge steps to improve their own health and wellbeing. But in the beginning, we didn’t realise how positive and life-changing volunteering could be.

In the beginning.

In the early days we were focused on delivering events as efficiently as possible, and so our attitude was ‘what’s the fewest number of volunteers we can get away with to deliver an event each week’. And if everyone, regardless of their circumstances, were to ‘do their bit’ events would be safe in the knowledge that they would have more than enough people to fill their roster every week. Unfortunately, this sometimes meant people felt pressured to volunteer a certain number of times each year.

Without realising it, we had fallen into the trap of viewing volunteering as a sacrifice. To volunteer meant ‘giving something up’ or ‘doing your duty’. Sadly an inevitable consequence of this was that too often it led to resentment of those who walked, jogged and ran, but rarely or never volunteered at parkrun.

Phrases such as ‘giving up your time’ and ‘doing your bit’ positioned volunteering as something that should be done for reasons other than the simple joy of it. In this context it was a sacrifice, a reluctant but necessary job that was required to allow others to enjoy parkrun. We just hadn’t realised that far from being an unrewarding chore, volunteering was providing some of the richest and most beneficial parkrun experiences.

Insight

It’s true that as an organisation we always had a really good understanding of the function of volunteering and how it can effectively add operational capacity at scale. But it’s only in the past few years that we have really begun to understand how beneficial it is to the volunteer in terms of their own health and wellbeing, with clear improvements in sense of purpose through community engagement, belonging and self worth.

These participants have proudly worn the parkrun high-vis, and in doing so have taken huge steps to improve their own health and wellbeing. But in the beginning, we didn’t realise how positive and life-changing volunteering could be.

In the beginning.

In the early days we were focused on delivering events as efficiently as possible, and so our attitude was ‘what’s the fewest number of volunteers we can get away with to deliver an event each week’. And if everyone, regardless of their circumstances, were to ‘do their bit’ events would be safe in the knowledge that they would have more than enough people to fill their roster every week. Unfortunately, this sometimes meant people felt pressured to volunteer a certain number of times each year.

Without realising it, we had fallen into the trap of viewing volunteering as a sacrifice. To volunteer meant ‘giving something up’ or ‘doing your duty’. Sadly an inevitable consequence of this was that too often it led to resentment of those who walked, jogged and ran, but rarely or never volunteered at parkrun.

Phrases such as ‘giving up your time’ and ‘doing your bit’ positioned volunteering as something that should be done for reasons other than the simple joy of it. In this context it was a sacrifice, a reluctant but necessary job that was required to allow others to enjoy parkrun. We just hadn’t realised that far from being an unrewarding chore, volunteering was providing some of the richest and most beneficial parkrun experiences.

Insight

It’s true that as an organisation we always had a really good understanding of the function of volunteering and how it can effectively add operational capacity at scale. But it’s only in the past few years that we have really begun to understand how beneficial it is to the volunteer in terms of their own health and wellbeing, with clear improvements in sense of purpose through community engagement, belonging and self worth.

These participants have proudly worn the parkrun high-vis, and in doing so have taken huge steps to improve their own health and wellbeing. But in the beginning, we didn’t realise how positive and life-changing volunteering could be.

In the beginning.

In the early days we were focused on delivering events as efficiently as possible, and so our attitude was ‘what’s the fewest number of volunteers we can get away with to deliver an event each week’. And if everyone, regardless of their circumstances, were to ‘do their bit’ events would be safe in the knowledge that they would have more than enough people to fill their roster every week. Unfortunately, this sometimes meant people felt pressured to volunteer a certain number of times each year.

Without realising it, we had fallen into the trap of viewing volunteering as a sacrifice. To volunteer meant ‘giving something up’ or ‘doing your duty’. Sadly an inevitable consequence of this was that too often it led to resentment of those who walked, jogged and ran, but rarely or never volunteered at parkrun.

Phrases such as ‘giving up your time’ and ‘doing your bit’ positioned volunteering as something that should be done for reasons other than the simple joy of it. In this context it was a sacrifice, a reluctant but necessary job that was required to allow others to enjoy parkrun. We just hadn’t realised that far from being an unrewarding chore, volunteering was providing some of the richest and most beneficial parkrun experiences.

Insight

It’s true that as an organisation we always had a really good understanding of the function of volunteering and how it can effectively add operational capacity at scale. But it’s only in the past few years that we have really begun to understand how beneficial it is to the volunteer in terms of their own health and wellbeing, with clear improvements in sense of purpose through community engagement, belonging and self worth.

These participants have proudly worn the parkrun high-vis, and in doing so have taken huge steps to improve their own health and wellbeing. But in the beginning, we didn’t realise how positive and life-changing volunteering could be.

In the beginning.

In the early days we were focused on delivering events as efficiently as possible, and so our attitude was ‘what’s the fewest number of volunteers we can get away with to deliver an event each week’. And if everyone, regardless of their circumstances, were to ‘do their bit’ events would be safe in the knowledge that they would have more than enough people to fill their roster every week. Unfortunately, this sometimes meant people felt pressured to volunteer a certain number of times each year.

Without realising it, we had fallen into the trap of viewing volunteering as a sacrifice. To volunteer meant ‘giving something up’ or ‘doing your duty’. Sadly an inevitable consequence of this was that too often it led to resentment of those who walked, jogged and ran, but rarely or never volunteered at parkrun.

Phrases such as ‘giving up your time’ and ‘doing your bit’ positioned volunteering as something that should be done for reasons other than the simple joy of it. In this context it was a sacrifice, a reluctant but necessary job that was required to allow others to enjoy parkrun. We just hadn’t realised that far from being an unrewarding chore, volunteering was providing some of the richest and most beneficial parkrun experiences.

Insight

It’s true that as an organisation we always had a really good understanding of the function of volunteering and how it can effectively add operational capacity at scale. But it’s only in the past few years that we have really begun to understand how beneficial it is to the volunteer in terms of their own health and wellbeing, with clear improvements in sense of purpose through community engagement, belonging and self worth.

These participants have proudly worn the parkrun high-vis, and in doing so have taken huge steps to improve their own health and wellbeing. But in the beginning, we didn’t realise how positive and life-changing volunteering could be.

In the beginning.

In the early days we were focused on delivering events as efficiently as possible, and so our attitude was ‘what’s the fewest number of volunteers we can get away with to deliver an event each week’. And if everyone, regardless of their circumstances, were to ‘do their bit’ events would be safe in the knowledge that they would have more than enough people to fill their roster every week. Unfortunately, this sometimes meant people felt pressured to volunteer a certain number of times each year.

Without realising it, we had fallen into the trap of viewing volunteering as a sacrifice. To volunteer meant ‘giving something up’ or ‘doing your duty’. Sadly an inevitable consequence of this was that too often it led to resentment of those who walked, jogged and ran, but rarely or never volunteered at parkrun.

Phrases such as ‘giving up your time’ and ‘doing your bit’ positioned volunteering as something that should be done for reasons other than the simple joy of it. In this context it was a sacrifice, a reluctant but necessary job that was required to allow others to enjoy parkrun. We just hadn’t realised that far from being an unrewarding chore, volunteering was providing some of the richest and most beneficial parkrun experiences.

Insight

It’s true that as an organisation we always had a really good understanding of the function of volunteering and how it can effectively add operational capacity at scale. But it’s only in the past few years that we have really begun to understand how beneficial it is to the volunteer in terms of their own health and wellbeing, with clear improvements in sense of purpose through community engagement, belonging and self worth.

These participants have proudly worn the parkrun high-vis, and in doing so have taken huge steps to improve their own health and wellbeing. But in the beginning, we didn’t realise how positive and life-changing volunteering could be.

In the beginning.

In the early days we were focused on delivering events as efficiently as possible, and so our attitude was ‘what’s the fewest number of volunteers we can get away with to deliver an event each week’. And if everyone, regardless of their circumstances, were to ‘do their bit’ events would be safe in the knowledge that they would have more than enough people to fill their roster every week. Unfortunately, this sometimes meant people felt pressured to volunteer a certain number of times each year.

Without realising it, we had fallen into the trap of viewing volunteering as a sacrifice. To volunteer meant ‘giving something up’ or ‘doing your duty’. Sadly an inevitable consequence of this was that too often it led to resentment of those who walked, jogged and ran, but rarely or never volunteered at parkrun.

Phrases such as ‘giving up your time’ and ‘doing your bit’ positioned volunteering as something that should be done for reasons other than the simple joy of it. In this context it was a sacrifice, a reluctant but necessary job that was required to allow others to enjoy parkrun. We just hadn’t realised that far from being an unrewarding chore, volunteering was providing some of the richest and most beneficial parkrun experiences.

Insight

It’s true that as an organisation we always had a really good understanding of the function of volunteering and how it can effectively add operational capacity at scale. But it’s only in the past few years that we have really begun to understand how beneficial it is to the volunteer in terms of their own health and wellbeing, with clear improvements in sense of purpose through community engagement, belonging and self worth.

These participants have proudly worn the parkrun high-vis, and in doing so have taken huge steps to improve their own health and wellbeing. But in the beginning, we didn’t realise how positive and life-changing volunteering could be.

In the beginning.

In the early days we were focused on delivering events as efficiently as possible, and so our attitude was ‘what’s the fewest number of volunteers we can get away with to deliver an event each week’. And if everyone, regardless of their circumstances, were to ‘do their bit’ events would be safe in the knowledge that they would have more than enough people to fill their roster every week. Unfortunately, this sometimes meant people felt pressured to volunteer a certain number of times each year.

Without realising it, we had fallen into the trap of viewing volunteering as a sacrifice. To volunteer meant ‘giving something up’ or ‘doing your duty’. Sadly an inevitable consequence of this was that too often it led to resentment of those who walked, jogged and ran, but rarely or never volunteered at parkrun.

Phrases such as ‘giving up your time’ and ‘doing your bit’ positioned volunteering as something that should be done for reasons other than the simple joy of it. In this context it was a sacrifice, a reluctant but necessary job that was required to allow others to enjoy parkrun. We just hadn’t realised that far from being an unrewarding chore, volunteering was providing some of the richest and most beneficial parkrun experiences.

Insight

It’s true that as an organisation we always had a really good understanding of the function of volunteering and how it can effectively add operational capacity at scale. But it’s only in the past few years that we have really begun to understand how beneficial it is to the volunteer in terms of their own health and wellbeing, with clear improvements in sense of purpose through community engagement, belonging and self worth.

These participants have proudly worn the parkrun high-vis, and in doing so have taken huge steps to improve their own health and wellbeing. But in the beginning, we didn’t realise how positive and life-changing volunteering could be.

In the beginning.

In the early days we were focused on delivering events as efficiently as possible, and so our attitude was ‘what’s the fewest number of volunteers we can get away with to deliver an event each week’. And if everyone, regardless of their circumstances, were to ‘do their bit’ events would be safe in the knowledge that they would have more than enough people to fill their roster every week. Unfortunately, this sometimes meant people felt pressured to volunteer a certain number of times each year.

Without realising it, we had fallen into the trap of viewing volunteering as a sacrifice. To volunteer meant ‘giving something up’ or ‘doing your duty’. Sadly an inevitable consequence of this was that too often it led to resentment of those who walked, jogged and ran, but rarely or never volunteered at parkrun.

Phrases such as ‘giving up your time’ and ‘doing your bit’ positioned volunteering as something that should be done for reasons other than the simple joy of it. In this context it was a sacrifice, a reluctant but necessary job that was required to allow others to enjoy parkrun. We just hadn’t realised that far from being an unrewarding chore, volunteering was providing some of the richest and most beneficial parkrun experiences.

Insight

It’s true that as an organisation we always had a really good understanding of the function of volunteering and how it can effectively add operational capacity at scale. But it’s only in the past few years that we have really begun to understand how beneficial it is to the volunteer in terms of their own health and wellbeing, with clear improvements in sense of purpose through community engagement, belonging and self worth.

These participants have proudly worn the parkrun high-vis, and in doing so have taken huge steps to improve their own health and wellbeing. But in the beginning, we didn’t realise how positive and life-changing volunteering could be.

In the beginning.

In the early days we were focused on delivering events as efficiently as possible, and so our attitude was ‘what’s the fewest number of volunteers we can get away with to deliver an event each week’. And if everyone, regardless of their circumstances, were to ‘do their bit’ events would be safe in the knowledge that they would have more than enough people to fill their roster every week. Unfortunately, this sometimes meant people felt pressured to volunteer a certain number of times each year.

Without realising it, we had fallen into the trap of viewing volunteering as a sacrifice. To volunteer meant ‘giving something up’ or ‘doing your duty’. Sadly an inevitable consequence of this was that too often it led to resentment of those who walked, jogged and ran, but rarely or never volunteered at parkrun.

Phrases such as ‘giving up your time’ and ‘doing your bit’ positioned volunteering as something that should be done for reasons other than the simple joy of it. In this context it was a sacrifice, a reluctant but necessary job that was required to allow others to enjoy parkrun. We just hadn’t realised that far from being an unrewarding chore, volunteering was providing some of the richest and most beneficial parkrun experiences.

Insight

It’s true that as an organisation we always had a really good understanding of the function of volunteering and how it can effectively add operational capacity at scale. But it’s only in the past few years that we have really begun to understand how beneficial it is to the volunteer in terms of their own health and wellbeing, with clear improvements in sense of purpose through community engagement, belonging and self worth.

An ever growing volume of evidence was emerging for us, that supported the opinion that:

volunteering can be emotionally, mentally and physically life enhancing
volunteering leads to better health and wellbeing, not only for individuals but also for communities

On our 15th anniversary (October 2019) we published the findings of our first-ever health and wellbeing survey. Over 60,000 UK parkrunners completed the survey, making it one of the biggest ever independent studies into physical activity.

The results confirmed our belief that participating at parkrun is fundamentally good for our physical and mental health. But it also revealed that the biggest benefits were experienced by those who volunteered in addition to walking and running. An incredible 84% of volunteers said parkrun improved their happiness.

An ever growing volume of evidence was emerging for us, that supported the opinion that:

volunteering can be emotionally, mentally and physically life enhancing
volunteering leads to better health and wellbeing, not only for individuals but also for communities

On our 15th anniversary (October 2019) we published the findings of our first-ever health and wellbeing survey. Over 60,000 UK parkrunners completed the survey, making it one of the biggest ever independent studies into physical activity.

The results confirmed our belief that participating at parkrun is fundamentally good for our physical and mental health. But it also revealed that the biggest benefits were experienced by those who volunteered in addition to walking and running. An incredible 84% of volunteers said parkrun improved their happiness.

An ever growing volume of evidence was emerging for us, that supported the opinion that:

volunteering can be emotionally, mentally and physically life enhancing
volunteering leads to better health and wellbeing, not only for individuals but also for communities

On our 15th anniversary (October 2019) we published the findings of our first-ever health and wellbeing survey. Over 60,000 UK parkrunners completed the survey, making it one of the biggest ever independent studies into physical activity.

The results confirmed our belief that participating at parkrun is fundamentally good for our physical and mental health. But it also revealed that the biggest benefits were experienced by those who volunteered in addition to walking and running. An incredible 84% of volunteers said parkrun improved their happiness.

An ever growing volume of evidence was emerging for us, that supported the opinion that:

volunteering can be emotionally, mentally and physically life enhancing
volunteering leads to better health and wellbeing, not only for individuals but also for communities

On our 15th anniversary (October 2019) we published the findings of our first-ever health and wellbeing survey. Over 60,000 UK parkrunners completed the survey, making it one of the biggest ever independent studies into physical activity.

The results confirmed our belief that participating at parkrun is fundamentally good for our physical and mental health. But it also revealed that the biggest benefits were experienced by those who volunteered in addition to walking and running. An incredible 84% of volunteers said parkrun improved their happiness.

An ever growing volume of evidence was emerging for us, that supported the opinion that:

volunteering can be emotionally, mentally and physically life enhancing
volunteering leads to better health and wellbeing, not only for individuals but also for communities

On our 15th anniversary (October 2019) we published the findings of our first-ever health and wellbeing survey. Over 60,000 UK parkrunners completed the survey, making it one of the biggest ever independent studies into physical activity.

The results confirmed our belief that participating at parkrun is fundamentally good for our physical and mental health. But it also revealed that the biggest benefits were experienced by those who volunteered in addition to walking and running. An incredible 84% of volunteers said parkrun improved their happiness.

An ever growing volume of evidence was emerging for us, that supported the opinion that:

volunteering can be emotionally, mentally and physically life enhancing
volunteering leads to better health and wellbeing, not only for individuals but also for communities

On our 15th anniversary (October 2019) we published the findings of our first-ever health and wellbeing survey. Over 60,000 UK parkrunners completed the survey, making it one of the biggest ever independent studies into physical activity.

The results confirmed our belief that participating at parkrun is fundamentally good for our physical and mental health. But it also revealed that the biggest benefits were experienced by those who volunteered in addition to walking and running. An incredible 84% of volunteers said parkrun improved their happiness.

An ever growing volume of evidence was emerging for us, that supported the opinion that:

volunteering can be emotionally, mentally and physically life enhancing
volunteering leads to better health and wellbeing, not only for individuals but also for communities

On our 15th anniversary (October 2019) we published the findings of our first-ever health and wellbeing survey. Over 60,000 UK parkrunners completed the survey, making it one of the biggest ever independent studies into physical activity.

The results confirmed our belief that participating at parkrun is fundamentally good for our physical and mental health. But it also revealed that the biggest benefits were experienced by those who volunteered in addition to walking and running. An incredible 84% of volunteers said parkrun improved their happiness.

An ever growing volume of evidence was emerging for us, that supported the opinion that:

volunteering can be emotionally, mentally and physically life enhancing
volunteering leads to better health and wellbeing, not only for individuals but also for communities

On our 15th anniversary (October 2019) we published the findings of our first-ever health and wellbeing survey. Over 60,000 UK parkrunners completed the survey, making it one of the biggest ever independent studies into physical activity.

The results confirmed our belief that participating at parkrun is fundamentally good for our physical and mental health. But it also revealed that the biggest benefits were experienced by those who volunteered in addition to walking and running. An incredible 84% of volunteers said parkrun improved their happiness.

An ever growing volume of evidence was emerging for us, that supported the opinion that:

volunteering can be emotionally, mentally and physically life enhancing
volunteering leads to better health and wellbeing, not only for individuals but also for communities

On our 15th anniversary (October 2019) we published the findings of our first-ever health and wellbeing survey. Over 60,000 UK parkrunners completed the survey, making it one of the biggest ever independent studies into physical activity.

The results confirmed our belief that participating at parkrun is fundamentally good for our physical and mental health. But it also revealed that the biggest benefits were experienced by those who volunteered in addition to walking and running. An incredible 84% of volunteers said parkrun improved their happiness.

Since then we’ve been committed to regularly surveying our volunteers, giving us valuable insights into the ongoing experience, motivations, concerns and challenges.

This feedback guides us in our decision making and influences improvements in processes and operational policy. Hopefully, it ensures an even better overall experience.