Coventry is gearing up for an exciting summer of sport with the launch of two events open to all young people and families around the city.
Both the Coventry Children's Mile and the Go Parks: Active Schools Challenge launch on Sunday 9 June 2024.
2024’s Coventry Children's Mile is set to take place in the War Memorial Park once again.
The event offers an easy, fully accessible, one-mile route. Open to all Coventry schools, this event encourages participation from students, teachers, and staff alike. More than 2,000 students are expected to take part.
Participants can choose to run, walk or jog the route and will receive a souvenir t-shirt and certificate of participation.
The Children’s Mile will signal the start of the ‘Go Parks: Active Schools Challenge - Paris 2024’ Special. It is open to Coventry schools as well as all residents to support and take part in.
The Challenge runs from Sunday 9 June - Sunday 7 July, offering a month-long opportunity for schools and families to stay active for free. The four-week Challenge will culminate on the same weekend as Godiva Festival with opportunities to win points at the festival too.
With 37 parks and green spaces across the city representing the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic sports, participants can win virtual medals by scanning QR codes at each park.
This edition of the challenge features an exciting point and scoring system with a virtual medal table and family competition features via the Go CV system.
As always, every QR code scanned on trips to the parks means more points to your chosen school. The school with the most points wins the Challenge.
There will also be a range of pop-up activities in parks, exciting challenges and opportunities to win spot prizes along the way.
Councillor Kamran Caan, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Sport, said, "It's fantastic news that both the Coventry Children's Mile and the Go Parks: Active School’s Challenge are returning this summer. Both events are open to all young people in the city and the Active Schools Challenge is open to all residents to take part in for free too.
“Initiatives like these are great for our younger generation. They are both fully inclusive events that promote physical activity and wellbeing.
“What’s great is that both the Children’s Mile and the Active Schools Challenge start on the same day. This means those who choose to take part in the Children’s Mile will also get to scan their first QR code of the Active Schools Challenge after completing the mile as the War Memorial Park is one of the QR code scanning points for the Challenge.
“I really look forward to seeing as many schools as possible get involved in both initiatives."
The Go Parks: Active Schools Challenge is a partnership between Coventry City Council and Coventry’s School Games Organisers.
Danny Kingham and Stuart Davoile, Coventry School Games Organisers, said: “It’s been over a year since we held the last Active Schools Challenge and we can’t wait to support the Challenge’s return.
“We want more schools than ever to take part in this fantastic initiative that absolutely anyone can enjoy – any age, any fitness level, any ability.
“We're encouraging schools, staff and parents to take part for their own school, but also Coventry residents who can still enjoy the Challenge and select a school to support.”
Previous Go Parks: Active Schools Challenges have attracted over 100 schools and engaged more than 80,000 residents collectively. The Challenge begins on the same day as the Coventry Children's Mile, allowing families to kickstart their participation in the park immediately following the mile race.
All schools in Coventry are invited to participate in both the event and Challenge and will receive instructions on how to get involved. Coventry residents can also take part and enjoy the Active School Challenge and will be able to allocate their points to a school of their choice.
Information will be shared with schools soon.
Stay up to date with information on Coventry Children’s Mile on Coventry Sport’s Facebook, X and Instagram.