Last weekend our IPP Chantelle took part in our collaborative event with Step Up Youth, running 5k around Richmond Park to raise money for the Care for Carers initiative. Here are her thoughts below about how she found the experience:

Teamwork. Such a key word that is used so often and never more so than with community initiatives. It was definitely there at the heart of our event on Saturday 11th September when a group of JCI London members decided to take part in the 5k run in Old Deer Park in Richmond ….all in support of the long running Step Up Youth theme: Care for Carers.

With a heavy lockdown having been imposed upon us for the last year and a half, community action for JCI London and JCI in general has been limited and whilst we were called upon to improvise and make the best of virtual events, there’s just no beating the in person interaction - especially with our members! Having taken part in the Care for Carers food delivery project back in February I was delighted to see we would be teaming up with them once again, this time in a new and refreshing way.

With a heavy lockdown having been imposed upon us for the last year and a half, community action for JCI London and JCI in general has been limited and whilst we were called upon to improvise and make the best of virtual events, there’s just no beating the in person interaction - especially with our members! Having taken part in the Care for Carers food delivery project back in February I was delighted to see we would be teaming up with them once again, this time in a new and refreshing way. 

Now, running wasn’t exactly my strong suit in my younger years and if you had asked me to participate in a 5K run I would have thought you were joking and said absolutely no way - even if it was for a great charitable cause! It wasn’t something I had particularly engaged in before at any level and maybe seemed like quite a large feat when I learned how long approximately I could expect to run for (45 minutes). But when you’ve been through a hard year tainted by something as prolific as Covid 19, you do begin to have a different perspective on things….and just like that as things opened up, I had a whole lot of energy to burn!

Round and round we ran Richmond Park with encouragement from other JCI members along the way and some fun shots to capture which made for a light atmosphere and a real sense of community - not only in the impactful sense, but also the social sense. To be active together and offer support to each other. 

If there’s one thing JCI has taught me over my time as a member it is this; get out of your comfort zone. I was certainly doing that with this run and so pleased I did. I actually challenged myself in a way I hadn’t expected was possible. Perhaps I may even begin training for another one in a short while - who knows? All I know is I put the effort in and felt a good sense of pride in also representing my local organisation in a public activity like this. Wouldn't compare myself to Usain Bolt just yet but it's a start nonetheless!