IT IS hoped a junior park run will soon be introduced to Bude, if it receives support and funding.

At the meeting of Bude-Stratton Town Council on Thursday, July 5, a representative behind a scheme to introduce a junior park run to Bude presented ideas to town councillors. She said: “Bude junior park run would be a weekly event, held on a Sunday, for children aged four to 14 years. It would involve a 2km route — they could walk, run, jog, whatever is best for them.

“It would be a voluntary-led event, and we would need help with the venue and start-up costs. Once it’s up and running, there would be no other costs.”

The run is planned to take place at Summerleaze Downs in Bude, with Cornwall Council happy for it to take place on the coastal path, near Life’s a Beach.

“We’re quite limited in terms of safety, as it is a junior park run,” the meeting heard. “There would be marshals every week, and we feel the proposed route is really safe. We’ve looked at the risk assessment, and it would be viable. Now we’re looking at funding and if the town council can help.

“Unfortunately, there are lots of places willing to fund events that are already up and running, and we don’t fit that criteria. It is harder to get funding for a junior park run as opposed to an adult park run, and there is only one junior park run in Cornwall, which is in Bodmin.”

The meeting heard that start-up costs would be £6,000, which was met with criticism by Cllr Julia Bryson, who said she didn’t understand where this money would come in. It was explained that the money would be part matched, with the town council being required to pay £3,000. This would cover the costs of equipment, risk assessments and training of safety marshals.

Mayor, Cllr Bob Willingham, said: “St Petroc’s use the Downs, and there’s a lot of pot holes and rabbit holes around there. I don’t know if that’s already included in your risk assessment, but that would worry me.”

When asking what the times of the park run would be, the meeting heard that it would start at 10am on Sundays, with the slowest runner normally taking around 20 minutes.

The meeting heard: “There are added benefits — it’s a community event, so it’s bringing people together. It gives support to local cafes too — I always find the best bit is the cake after, having a coffee and slice of cake and a chat with other participants and parents. It’s a social event!”

At the Bideford junior park run, it is estimated that between 80 and 100 children take part. Cllr Peter Moores said: “It can get very wet around there (the proposed route). If you run the same route each week, it could cause significant damage. With the volume of children and adults, it’s not something I’m particularly comfortable with.”

Cllr Frank Partridge said that with ‘lots of concerns’, he would prefer it to be a one-off event.

With no deadline on this particular project, the council agreed to defer it to be discussed by the recreation committee.