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We recently published our new global five year strategy that sets out the direction for the future.

December 2021

December volunteer update

Welcome to the monthly volunteer update for December.

We’re delighted that even more events have returned during November, including a breakthrough that enabled events in Victoria, Australia to come back for the final Saturday of the month. Thank you to every single person who has helped make this happen.

Even so, we are still not back everywhere around the world, and we continue to keep working hard to bring back all our events as soon as possible.

Scanning barcodes off phones

After careful consideration, we have made the decision to allow barcodes to be scanned from mobile devices. You can read the details around the announcement here.

We will continue to ask that parkrunners bring a scannable barcode with them in order to record a time, and ideally carry it on their person whilst participating so that their ICE details are easily accessible but in instances where an individual presents a digital version this should be accepted.

junior parkrun records!

With new events starting up, and existing events continuing to return, we have set a new record for the number of junior parkrun events taking place, with 356 junior parkruns held on Sunday 21 November, in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Huge thanks to over 7000 wonderful junior parkrun volunteers who are helping to make the magic happen!

Weather and Cancellations

In many places where we operate, we tend to see an increase of incidents recorded in relation to cold weather, particularly regarding older participants and volunteers. Please do keep an eye on everyone and encourage people to wrap up if temperatures drop.

Our first priority is always to ensure that our events are safe. Whilst in cold climates a few minor patches of ice can be marshalled, treated or marked appropriately if you are in any doubt as to the safety of the course you should always cancel. The Run Director on the day should feel comfortable cancelling right up to the start time, and even mid-event should conditions change.

If you do need to cancel please inform us as soon as possible via the menu in WebFMS and note the following:

  • Informing us via WebFMS triggers several changes to your event website; populating the volunteer roster column with the words ‘no event’ and the appearance of a red notice of cancellation banner of the cancellation on your home page and news page. (If the cancellation is done in advance, this will appear in the week before the cancelled event.)

  • Please also inform your community about the cancellation via social media as people are as likely to check on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter as the event website for updates.

  • Please do not confirm any volunteers if your event has not taken place.

You can read more about the Cancellation Policy here.

Festive season parkruns

Around the world, teams are busy confirming whether they will be holding events during the festive period. You can check out whether your local event is holding parkruns on these days by following this link and clicking on the relevant parkrun territory. Feel free to reach out to your local event to offer your assistance as a volunteer if you would like to help out on one of these days!

As a reminder, “Doubles” on New Year’s Day are no longer taking place (you can read the reasoning behind this decision in this previous Volunteer Update). All events will operate at their regular start time.

Festive Season Response Times

Between 23 December and 3 January we will only be responding to critical or urgent support matters as the office will be closed during this period. Our support team has a global remit, and with events taking place throughout the festive period we will be monitoring requests and prioritising accordingly.

We urge anyone having any issues processing results to contact us using the chat facility that is available via WebFMS - click on the orange ‘chat bubble’ in the bottom right-hand corner of the page when you are processing results. This is particularly important if you are hosting an event on either Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.

Our Serious Incident Lines will of course be available on all parkrun days.

Volunteer Pin Badges

Keep an eye out for the brand new milestone pin badges available to buy later this month. Available for each milestone club, including the new volunteer milestones, the enamel pin badges are perfect to showcase your parkrun achievements.

More details to follow soon.

Volunteer Hub

As always, we would really love you to take a look around the Volunteer Hub, where you’ll find all that you need to know about volunteering at parkrun. You can read more about our guiding principles for volunteering here and learn about the different roles that are required for parkrun events.

In addition, the parkrun Safeguarding Hub contains everything you need to know about safeguarding children and vulnerable adults at parkrun events.

Thanks for reading, and until the new year, wherever you are in the world, stay safe, keep active, and if you’re close to a parkrun event that’s open - see you at the weekend.

Meet parkrun Volunteer Sandra

“Six years ago I was part of the team setting up parkrun local to me. I had a type of agoraphobia and panic attacks, I hid it well and gradually overcame them and enjoyed marshalling at distance posts. I have achieved my 100th volunteer now. I say to everyone, never give up, keep going.”

Image of Volunteer

Thanks for reading, and until the new year, wherever you are in the world, stay safe, keep active, and if you’re close to a parkrun event that’s open - see you at the weekend.

James Kemp, Global Operations Manager