What's on
From family support, fitness classes and learning to art exhibitions, festivals and talks, our activities are wide and far reaching.
In five weeks, fourteen staff and friends of Coin Street will take on the Big Half to raise money for Youth Night. It will be a big challenge for all of those involved with some of us never having run before, let alone completed a half-marathon.
The aim is to raise £4,200, this will go towards supporting the continued success of Youth Night for the young people of Southwark and Lambeth to enjoy for years to come. It will also fund the introduction of brand new activities. Suggestions have included everything from sports coaching to DJ lessons, textiles to game design.
Last week, we spoke to Richard, who explained the motivations behind his decision to sign up for the Big Half, read them here. This week, it's Caroline's turn to tell us how her training is going and why she signed up to run the Big Half.
Caroline:
I signed up for the Big Half because I wanted to challenge myself. I am a regular runner, but only usually go out for 5 kilometres, so shorter distances. There was a time that I would go for a run every morning, but this was still only at these smaller distances.
When I heard Coin Street were looking for runners, I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to challenge myself. I’m really looking forward to it. I think it will be so much fun and, on the day, I’m looking forward to the big crowds and really getting pushed on.
As I wasn’t a complete beginner, I didn’t start my training from scratch. Instead, my training has mainly been about trying to get my distance up and I haven’t been following an official training plan as such. The last few weeks I’ve been able to push myself to reach 16kms, which is the furthest I’ve ever run (until the Big Half of course!).
I am proud to be helping youth night and if we can do anything to contribute to improving the lives of young people in Southwark, Lambeth and further afield, that’s brilliant.
I’m always trying to push and test myself, so it’s feeling good that I’ve quickly upped the amount of distance I’m covering. I usually run through the park near me, a quite scenic route around Burgess Park and soon I’m thinking of trying out Hyde Park.
I’m not really a social media person so I’ve been fundraising through my friends using leaflets and word of mouth. It’s a great cause and it’s giving me lots of motivation to run for the benefit of Youth Night.
I think it’s amazing that the money raised will go towards helping our youth club. Youth services have been cut so much and there isn’t a lot for young people to do. You can see it in the area that I live that there are lots of children who would benefit from a youth club and the activities that Coin Street offer.
Without this, children are often pushed towards anti-social behaviour and boredom, which I’m seeing more of in the area of London that I live. I am proud to be helping youth night and if we can do anything to contribute to improving the lives of young people in Southwark, Lambeth and further afield, that’s brilliant.