An Olympic athlete has helped Bermondsey and Rotherhithe schoolchildren celebrate the 150th anniversary of Southwark Park.
Hurdling champion Colin Jackson joined pupils from Albion, Riverside, Rotherhithe, Southwark Park and St James’ primary schools for an afternoon of athletic activities in the park on Friday, June 21.
The park has often played host to athletic events in its 150 years, with meets organised by Cambridge Harriers dating back to 1890 and school sport festivals taking place from 1902.
The sports day, organised by the Southwark Athletics centre, aimed to educate children in the borough about Olympic sports, and encourage them to keep active.
Olympian Colin helped lead the 200 children in a warm-up, and gave advice to all the children taking part.
“We are really excited to have Colin come and join us for our Sporting Champions day to celebrate the park’s 150th birthday,” said James Tierney, community development manager at Everyone Active, which runs the centre.
“The park is a beautiful, spacious area which provides so much opportunity for people to get active and enjoy exercising.
“We hope this event will inspire and encourage more kids to fall in love with athletics and learn new skills whilst having fun.”