Hereford Athletics Track Refurbishment

Who are we?

Since the 1980's The Herefordshire Athletics Association has played a key part in the development of athletes from juniors through to seniors in Herefordshire. The Herefordshire Athletics Association is the governing body of athletics in Herefordshire, Our Mission is to promote and support all disciplines of athletics across the county focusing on the growth of athletes, coaches, officials and it’s member clubs but also to create an environment for everyone to enjoy athletics in the county. 

^Above pictures of County Athletes, Clara Evans who represented Wales in the Marathon at Birmingham 2022 & the Tooby Sisters who went onto represent GB at the Olympics. 

Since the 80's the county has had a number of talented athletes who come through from juniors to seniors who have gone on to represent England, Wales and Great Britain at the Commonwealths, World Championships and even the Olympics.

In the county we currently have over 700 registered athletes with England Athletics over 50 qualified officials and coaches with over 30 races being held annually across Road, Multi-terrain, Cross Country and Track & field with the county track being a key part of both competition and athletes training.   

Click here for our current overall fundraising total

Why are we crowdfunding?

The last major investment in the Hereford Athletics Track was back in 2006 and now the track is at risk of not being up to England Athletics competition requirements and as a result it will not be able host meetings in future years. 

The track currently hosts a number of athletics meets throughout the summer months, from the Young Athletes League through to the County Championships which has been an annual fixture in the counties athletics calendar for many years.

Due to the nature of some of the disciplines that are in the sport of athletics the track and field facility is the only place you can Jump, Throw and Hurdle in a safe environment.  

^The current state of the Hereford Track.

Please help us save the only athletics track in Herefordshire.

The Hereford Leisure Centre Track is the only one of its kind in the county, it's helped build so many friendships and helped people reach their goals, along with helping with many people's mental health and wellbeing, athletics is a sport for everyone - we want to inspire the next generation.  

We've had the facility assessed and experts are recommending that the track is in need of a full relaying with an estimated figure of £350,000 that will need to be raised for us to continue to provide a safer experience for our athletes development.  

We hope you can help and support us in our quest!

Who has shown their support so far? 

We have been lucky enough to get the backing of some great people who are involved in athletics, current World 1500m Champion Jake Wightman and his Dad Geoff have both openly supported the campaign as Jake's Mum and Aunty both were born in Herefordshire, we've also had the backing of the ever improving Welsh Athlete Clara Evans who was born and competed for Hereford & County AC as a youngster along with Paralympic Gold Medal Javelin thrower Dan Pembroke who trains regularly on the Hereford track.

World champion's dad campaigns to save Herefordshire track

^Welsh athlete Clara Evans, Tokyo Paralympic Gold Medallist Dan Pembroke & Jake Wightman along with is family have supported the campaign.   

We've also been on the TV....

BBC Hereford & Worcester & BBC Midlands Today are fully behind our campaign and we've had some good airtime over the last few months having had one big feature at the start of our campaign in January. 

Runners in £350k campaign to save Hereford athletics track

Runners in bid to raise £350k to save Hereford athletics track

We've also had some great support locally from local media outlets who have endorsed our campaign and continue to do so. Your Herefordshire - County runners run from Dawn til Dusk to kickstart the Save our Track Campaign, Hereford Times - Time running out for Herefordshire's athletics track & Hereford Voice - Save Hereford's Track

Community impact

The athletics facility is an integral part of the community, with athletics in the county growing it’s an important facility as the track, which is currently fully booked during the weekday evenings with clubs holding training sessions.

During the pandemic we saw more people take up running in the county and this has shown with a big increase in athletes joining local clubs and affiliating to England Athletics, in the last few years the demand is so much Hereford & County AC have been known to have a waiting list for athletes to join.

The county now has athletes competing regionally and nationally at England Championships & English Schools through to masters events.

^ A selection of our current athletes who are representing the county regionally and nationally. 

How we’ll spend the money raised

All the money raised will be used towards the refurbishment of the Athletics Track and this will mean we will have a new and welcoming facility for adults and children to enjoy over the coming years.

The track and field facility is in a poor state, as you can see from the pictures above, when we talk about the facility it’s not just the track itself, the jumping and throwing area’s are just as important and they require relaying as part of the project. 

Commonwealth Games 2022 

Creating a local legacy and to celebrate the Commonwealth Games!!!

'How our project will be United by Birmingham 2022’

At Birmingham 2022 we saw England Athletics have its most successful Games in Commonwealth Games History A Brum Ting with lots of bling

With us having athletes who were born in the county complete at Birmingham 2022 – we want to maintain momentum to help inspire the next generation of runners, jumpers and throwers to compete at future Commonwealth, European, World and Olympic Games.

^ All of the clubs came together to support the Queens Baton Relay in the Summer 2023 as it visited Hereford. 

We are hoping to receive match funding from Sport England which is about creating a local legacy and to celebrate the Commonwealth Games.

How you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, maybe a sponsored activity or similar, use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!