Wellness Warriors on the Run's third wave

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Wellness Warriors on the Run celebrates end of successful third programme

BNU’s sober running group Wellness Warriors on the Run celebrated the end of its third wave with an organised 5 and 10K run in Walton-on-Thames. 

Lead by Senior Community Engagement Officer Charmain Clayton and Managing Director of Phoenix Lifestyle Innovations, Lewis Baker, 13 runners embarked on the final run of the Couch to 5K programme with an organised Phoenix Running event. 

Wellness Warriors is a collaboration between BNU’s Community Engagement team, the BNU Sports Performance Lab, Gateway Gym, BNU Drug and Alcohol Research Group, and local partner Phoenix Lifestyle Innovations.    

It is a social prescribing programme based on the Couch to 5k model, designed to support those suffering from drug and alcohol-related issues in the local community.    

Wellness Warriors on the Run's third wave

Following the end of the third wave, Charmain said: “I’m incredibly proud of everything Wellness Warriors has achieved as a sober running group which is less than a year old. We have an amazing community of individuals who are benefiting from the programme and now play a fundamental part of the BNU community. 

“We’re looking forward to continuing the programme into its fourth cycle to help people and raise awareness for social prescribing and drug and alcohol issues.”   

The sober running group will celebrate its first birthday in January. It has been an extraordinary year for Wellness Warriors, having not only completed three successful cycles of the programme, but it also recently secured £6.5K in funding from Sport England  

Wellness Warriors has also been supported by Leap, who funded the training of two LIRF (Leader in Running Fitness) qualifications from England Athletics for programme leaders and a hardship fund to keep runners in the programme, totalling £900.   

Wellness Warriors on the Run is part of the Public and Civic Engagement Strategy BNU unveiled earlier this year, which outlines the ways in which the University plans to support communities to achieve better health and wellbeing and advance social inclusion, amongst other priorities linked to the United Nations’ Sustainability Goals.   

The fourth cycle of the programme is starting in January. If you’d like more information, register interest by contacting Charmain Clayton.