We’ve got some cracking news: the Shit Runners Club has been awarded £12,000 of National Lottery funding through Sport England’s Movement Fund.
Yes, really. The Shit Runners Club has received funding from the Movement Fund. Sometimes the bowel-movement jokes simply write themselves.
The award will help us train and support 15 volunteers through run-leader qualifications, first aid, safeguarding, mental-health awareness, neurodiversity and inclusion training, DBS checks and essential equipment.
Helping more people feel that they belong
The Shit Runners Club began in Kendal in January 2026 as a welcoming alternative for people who feel intimidated or excluded by traditional running clubs.
Our sessions are free, friendly and proudly non-competitive. We welcome complete beginners, slower runners, walkers and anyone returning to physical activity. Nobody gets left behind, nobody cares about personal bests and shitting yourself remains entirely optional.
What began as a slightly ridiculous idea in Kendal has quickly grown into a volunteer-led movement, with clubs operating and developing across Cumbria, Lancashire and the North East.
Behind the name and toilet humour is a serious purpose: helping ordinary people become more active while improving mental wellbeing, confidence and social connection.
Supporting the volunteers who make it happen
Our volunteers are at the heart of every SRC session. This funding will give more of them the qualifications, training, equipment and confidence needed to provide safe, welcoming and inclusive activities in their communities.
Shaun Fagan, founder of the Shit Runners Club, said:
“When we applied to Sport England’s Movement Fund, we knew the bowel-movement jokes would be unavoidable. We didn’t expect them to be worth £12,000, though.
“Behind all the toilet humour, this is a massive vote of confidence in what our volunteers are building. It will help us support more people to take that difficult first step, feel like they belong and discover that getting active can be enjoyable – or at least considerably less awful than they expected.”
Our runs will remain free
SRC sessions will remain free to attend. This award will strengthen the volunteer network behind our clubs and help us take our inclusive, distinctly unpolished approach to physical activity into more communities.
We’re enormously grateful to Sport England and everyone who plays National Lottery games. Their support means the Shit Runners Club is now officially a funded movement – and one we hope plenty more people will get behind, although perhaps not too closely.
Be Kind. Be Slow. Be Shit.