Afghan refugees complete beginner's running course set up to help them settle into Northampton

A group of Afghan refugees brought to Northampton as part of the government’s resettlement scheme have completed a beginner's jogging course.

The 10-week scheme was delivered by a run leader from community running group, Running Mate, which has a number of groups around the county.

Members of running groups from Northamptonshire donated clothes and trainers for the refugees to wear during the sessions.

The aim of the group was to help keep refugees active and help them settle into their new community.

During the course, the participants built up the distance they could run to five kilometres and celebrated completing it by taking part in the Sixfields Upton parkrun together.

Vinay Joshi from Running Mate who ran the group said: "With the support of the local running community and the council, we have been able to lead and encourage the runners on their journey and hope that they continue to benefit from running in the future.

“Given the stresses that many members of this community have had recently, the sessions gave them the opportunity to be active and relax in a secure environment.

“The smiles, laughter and sense of achievement that the runners displayed has made this a truly humbling and rewarding project."

Councillor Matt Golby, West Northamptonshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Care, Wellbeing and Health added: “It’s easy to overlook the huge benefits something like this can have for both physical and mental wellbeing.

“Given everything our guests from Afghanistan experienced, it’s fantastic to be able to provide something much more positive for them to be able to focus on, and I’m really proud of everyone who has worked on this initiative.”

To find more information about jogging groups, parkrun and other running opportunities in the county, visit the Northamptonshire Sport website.