This is branded content for ACT Health.
Beke Pyne and her 17-year-old daughter Eireann Wood are on a quest – to track down a group of people around the ACT to share their love of a life-changing sport.
The pair are the driving forces behind Now I Can Run ACT (NiCaR ACT) which currently has ten enthusiastic members who meet once a week at the Australian Institute of Sport to train on their frame runners – an ingenious piece of equipment that allows those with cerebral palsy, or other limited mobility, to run.
The group of people at the heart of Ms Pyne and Ms Wood’s mission are the numerous other frame runner owners they know live in the ACT and that they would love to join the team but have not been able to locate.
Now, however, they have a new ally in their mission in the form of their first sponsor, Belconnen business New Step Podiatry, a perfect match facilitated by ACT Health’s Gamechangers initiative which is also on a quest – to fight childhood obesity.
Launched just over a year ago, Gamechangers’ goal is to reduce children’s exposure to unhealthy food and drink marketing and sponsorship in junior sport by facilitating sponsorship partnerships between local non-food businesses and teams.
To become part of Gamechangers, interested businesses complete an online Expression of Interest while the junior sports clubs must make a Healthier Sports Pledge and complete a club profile pitching themselves to potential sponsors.
ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Kerryn Coleman said getting active through junior sports was a great way for young Canberrans to maintain healthy lifestyles throughout childhood.
“This can contribute to healthy physical and psychosocial development while reducing the risk of developing chronic disease later in life,” she said.
“Gamechangers is helping keep a positive and healthy influence on junior sports by reducing sponsorship that promotes unhealthy food and drink options and instead focusing on local Canberra businesses.”
For Ms Pyne, who is state coordinator and coach of NiCaR ACT, and Eireann, the coaching assistant, the new relationship with the team at New Step Podiatry is providing both financial and moral support in their plans for the future.
“New Step are helping us in lots of ways, with funding and also ideas, helping us get the word out to raise our profile and encourage others to come along and have a go,” she said.
“We’d love to contact [the other frame runner owners] and bring them together to join our team. It’s so wonderful to see when these young people are with their peers – their tribe – running and having such a great time.
“We’re also looking at finding somewhere permanent for a clubhouse and to train, and being able to pay the fees for our athletes to enter events like fun runs. Eirreann recently took part in the Canberra Marathon, completing her first ten kilometre event – something that is a huge achievement for a frame running athlete.”
New Step Podiatry’s practice manager, Ange Fenwick, said Gamechangers had made it easy for the business to find a meaningful local sponsorship opportunity that aligned with its own values.
She said New Step had found it challenging in the past trying to connect with a local sports team that it could support and build a long-term relationship with.
“When we read about Now I Can Run, our team were unanimous in wanting to throw our support behind Beke and Eireann and help the program grow in the ACT,” she said
“We felt that it was so aligned with what we do as a practice; frame running is such an amazing thing that’s giving these young people a new lease on life. We just thought it was it was really cool and it would be awesome if we could help to support them.”
Ms Pyne said she’d love to see as many people as possible with physical disabilities that affect their balance and mobility get involved in frame running because of the positive benefits it delivers to children with disabilities who can spend most of their time in a wheelchair.
“It was one of the best things for my daughter that we’d ever stumbled across, it’s really life changing,” she said.
“It’s hugely valuable, for the health aspect, the physical activity, and also the community and social aspect, and the joy that you can see. When you get these little ones on to a frame runner they are unstoppable. They can put their feet on the ground and run for the first time.”
Whether you’re a Canberra business keen for more exposure or a sporting club seeking sponsors that align with your club values Gamechangers can help you make the connections you need. To be part of creating a healthier and more sustainable foundations for Canberra’s future generations visit health.act.gov.au/gamechangers