RIA Member – Emancipated Run Crew
Emancipated Run Crew CIC (ERC) was set up by sisters Denise and Julia Stephenson and friend Trojan Gordon who were determined to challenge the lack of diversity in grassroots running by creating a physical and virtual space where black and brown runners can support and encourage each other whatever their running goals.
We are a group of runners who support, inspire and encourage black and brown runners to meet and exceed their fitness goals. Our aim is to provide a space and a voice to those who may feel excluded from the “mainstream” running community – to show that running is something that can and should be open to all. We believe that running can be a powerful tool to make positive changes to a person’s physical and mental wellbeing. We want to encourage greater participation in running and movement from the black and brown community, regardless of age, gender, sexuality, size and ability. We want to create a safe space that celebrates our cultural identity and encourages our community to “Run Free”. We organise runs and attend official races so that our runners can attend runs in an environment where we as black and brown people are represented and seen. We work with brands and organisations to help improve the representation within organised grassroots runs, where participation has been historically very low. We have discussions with media publications and sporting organisations about the crucial need to improve representation and challenge the typical depiction of runners to ensure stories and images are more diverse and inclusive.
ERC registered as a Community Interest Company in 2021, which enables us to focus our work on giving back to our community, whilst we continue with campaigning and promoting representation in grassroots running.