England Athletics, Personal Best Foundation and JogOn announce collaboration to get young people kitted for the track.
JogOn, Britain’s national campaign to remove 1m pairs of running shoes from landfill are linking up with England Athletics and the Personal Best Foundation to distribute hundreds of unwanted running spikes which have been collected over the last 18 months.
Whilst the JogOn campaign is primarily focused on running shoes, there has been a steady stream of running spikes being donated, some with, and some without spikes. These shoes are perfectly usable and JogOn’s founder Tony Piedade, has been keen to find a good home for them. Working in partnership with England Athletics and the Personal Best Foundation the team will identify athletics clubs across the country who could benefit from these.
England Athletics currently supports over 1,600 clubs across the country and through its official charity, the Personal Best Foundation will lead the process of identification of need with a priority to support young people.as well as those struggling financially because of the cost of living crisis.
England Athletics will also support the JogOn campaign more broadly by offering collection points at some of their competitions including:
· 17 and 18 June: England Athletics U20 and U23 Championships (Chelmsford)
· 22 and 23 July: England Athletics Senior and Disability Championships (Chelmsford)
· 5 and 6 August: U15 & U17 Combined Event Championships (Manchester)
· 26 and 27 August: England Athletics U15 and U17 Championships (Birmingham)
Tony Piedade, JogOn’s founder said “It makes great sense to partner up with England Athletics and the Personal Best Foundation. We have a growing hoard of running spikes that could be used to introduce, develop and support young people into Athletics. I am so very grateful for the vision and support that England Athletics has brought to the partnership, together we can make a real difference”
Chris Jones, Chief Executive of England Athletics, said ‘We are delighted to support the work of JogOn by encouraging our network of athletes and runners to recycle their old running shoes. This forms part of our wider approach supporting clubs and their members to make sustainable choices.’