Odia girl in UK receives award for volunteering during parkruns | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: An 11-year-old Odia girl living in the UK has received the Amersham Volunteer Award-2025 from the Amersham Town Council for volunteering during parkruns.
The award was presented to Sunayana Subarna Nanda by Lord Lieutenant of Bucks, Countess Howe, a representative of the king of UK and Commonwealth realms, at a function in Amersham, a town in the north-west suburbs of London, recently.
Sunayana started volunteering at parkruns when she was a little over eight years. So far, she has volunteered during 103 parkruns at 16 locations. As a volunteer, she is involved in pre-event setup, briefing first-timers, barcode sorting, among others. For her 100th volunteering effort, Sunayana led the warm-ups for around 500 runners. “I am very happy to receive the award and want to continue volunteering in parkruns,” said Sunayana, who has been running since she was four and has completed 360 parkruns.
Earlier, she featured in a promotional video for her achievements in parkruns in which she asked others to join in. Such videos feature people whose role is beyond taking part in the parkruns. Parkrun is a free weekly, 5 km and 2 km community event, organised in parks and outdoor spaces around the world. It was started in UK in 2004 and is now being organised in 20 countries. Anybody above the age of four years can participate in a parkrun.
Apart from being a volunteer in parkruns, Sunayana is also a student leader at her school, Chalfont Valley E-ACT Academy, where she coordinates with teachers for different activities.
The award was presented to Sunayana Subarna Nanda by Lord Lieutenant of Bucks, Countess Howe, a representative of the king of UK and Commonwealth realms, at a function in Amersham, a town in the north-west suburbs of London, recently.
Sunayana started volunteering at parkruns when she was a little over eight years. So far, she has volunteered during 103 parkruns at 16 locations. As a volunteer, she is involved in pre-event setup, briefing first-timers, barcode sorting, among others. For her 100th volunteering effort, Sunayana led the warm-ups for around 500 runners. “I am very happy to receive the award and want to continue volunteering in parkruns,” said Sunayana, who has been running since she was four and has completed 360 parkruns.
Earlier, she featured in a promotional video for her achievements in parkruns in which she asked others to join in. Such videos feature people whose role is beyond taking part in the parkruns. Parkrun is a free weekly, 5 km and 2 km community event, organised in parks and outdoor spaces around the world. It was started in UK in 2004 and is now being organised in 20 countries. Anybody above the age of four years can participate in a parkrun.
Apart from being a volunteer in parkruns, Sunayana is also a student leader at her school, Chalfont Valley E-ACT Academy, where she coordinates with teachers for different activities.
