We popped down to the Little Stoke Parkrun one cold, damp February morning to find out what this fairly new phenomenon was all about.
Parkrun organise weekly, 5km timed runs that take place around the world! The runs take place in pleasant parkland surroundings, are open to everyone, free, and safe and easy to take part in. Everyone of every ability is welcome and encouraged to take part – whether you sprint the distance or walk it!
Participants have to register (one time only) in advance to get their unique parkrun barcode which you can then use to register
your time at any parkrun event anywhere!
In August 2012 South Gloucestershire Council announced a taster parkrun at Little Stoke Park to check local interest for the event.
There was a very positive response with 70+ runners on a very short notice. The official Little Stoke parkrun started on 3rd November 2012 and has run 13 events since, every Saturday at 9:00 am with just one cancellation in January due to the snow.
The event is managed and run by a friendly bunch of local volunteers. However new volunteers are always welcome to help
keep the event running smoothly. Little Stoke parkrun has attracted many runners since its inception with over 350 runners having registered already! The event has averaged around 70+ runners every week and there has been representations from 56 different athletic clubs so far.
The 5km course is run as 3.5 laps around the tarmac path around Little Stoke Park. It is a flat route which encourages runners to set their personal best 5km time. There is ample car park space for runners coming further afield and runners can also enjoy a post run coffee at the mobile coffee van and a friendly chat with fellow runners.
More info and details can be found on the website www.parkrun.org.uk/littlestoke/
If you fancy volunteering please email LittleStokeHelpers@parkrun.com
Following on from our ‘Help Our Local Foodbank Please!’ Published on the 22nd February 2013, we would like to remind you, that there is still time to donate food to the North Bristol Foodbank at one of the local collection points:-
In 2013 Foodbank are calling the people of the UK to join together to help feed the hungry in their communities by taking part in the Foodbank Trolley Push!
We were really interested to meet up with Matt Stedman recently, coach at Aretians RFC about the Club’s pioneering initiative to offer a multi-activity session for younger girls and boys aged 2-7 years. Aretians are the first Club locally to offer this provision and Matt (whose own daughter participates in ‘Rugby Cubs’) was particularly enthusiastic about the sessions, telling us “ ‘Rugby Cubs’ is first and foremost designed for fun, whilst gently encouraging Rugby specific skills such as running, catching, passing and kicking – Sunday mornings are definitely something for the youngsters to look forward to at Aretians!”
For more information on the ‘Rugby Cubs’ please contact Steve 07967 023 043 or Matt 07740 844 419
The Year 6 children at Little Stoke Primary have been deservedly celebrating after achieving the school’s best ever Key Stage Two SAT results. 
Little Stoke Primary School hosted the ‘The Circus Comes to Town’ on Tuesday 10th July, a musical festival enjoyed by over 200 Key Stage One children from Little Stoke and surrounding schools. The exciting event was organised by Christine Wright, a Music Adviser, from the South Gloucestershire Music Hub also based at the school.
Further to our previous article on this website and to the latest article on pages 6 and 7 in the Jun issue of Little Stoke Gifford Matters, a new date has been set to search for the Lost farm in Little Stoke. On Thursday 21 June Archeologist, Paul Driscoll, of South Gloucestershire C C, along with Martin Davis (author of the sell-out local history book The Farmer and the Golden Goose) will be leading an archaeological survey at the top end of Little Stoke Park, looking for the site of one of the five farms that once made up the hamlet. They know what the farm looked like in 1725 and one of the group, Janet Gallagher, daughter of Jim and Betty Wyatt, who were part of the Little Stoke Farm community from 1947, has painted an artist’s impression of the 1725 farm (above).
Everyone is invited to Little Stoke Garden Society’s ‘Diamond Jubilee Themed Open Morning’ on Sunday 3rd June from 10am-12noon. This is the Society’s fourth Open Morning at the Allotments in Bush Avenue and is open for non-members as well as members of the Little Stoke Garden Society to join in the plant sale and look around the allotments.
We were pleased to be invited to Little Stoke Social Club again to witness the handing over of the fruits of the last twelve month’s fundraising efforts.
In a bid to raise funds for next month’s Children In Need Appeal, ambitious teens from Little Stoke took part in their first ever sponsored ‘Stay Awake’ last night.
Bristol Palace Football Club is a men’s eleven-a-side football established just last year who play and train in Little Stoke Playing Fields. Having just completed their first season of the Gloucestershire Football Association as league winners and GFA Cup winners 2010-11, they have set themselves a new challenge!