George Webster, who was the first person with Down Syndrome to become a presenter on the BBC, visited No 10 and explained: “I absolutely love parkrun.

“Going to Number 10 Downing Street this week to celebrate the most incredible 20 years of parkrun was so much fun.

“It was amazing to run around the garden, along the front and up the famous stairs to the finish in the reception itself. The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak started the run too.

“I ran the course with my friends, I was the first finisher and I loved it so much I did another lap! My Dad was one of the volunteers high fiving us all as he marshalled the course.”

parkrun has been a huge part of the BAFTA award winning TV presenter, actor, dancer, author and charity ambassador’s life, Webster said: “parkrun has been very supportive, I’ve made so many great friends since I’ve been going from 2014 and I have volunteered over 100 times and run over 100 parkruns.

“parkrun has also been a massive part of my life; my whole career journey has been rocketing partly because of parkrun.

“In 2019 I was part of the parkrun documentary series “Jessica’s parkrun heroes” on Sky TV, that led to a range of things happening with Mencap, starring in a short film and getting spotted by CBeebies.

“If I hadn’t been going to parkrun, then I wouldn’t have made more amazing friends and I wouldn’t have had this fantastic career journey.

“I had the most amazing time; it was so much fun and I would encourage anyone to do parkrun.

“You can run, jog or walk. So why not? You never know where you will end up!”

The No 10 reception hosted by Lucy Frazer MP, Secretary of State for Culture Media & Sport saw parkrun staff, volunteers, trustees, partners, funders, and representatives from local parkrun events across the four home nations come together with a host of MPs to recognise the incredible contribution made by parkrun in the UK and internationally over the last two decades.

The first ever event set up by parkrun Founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt saw 13 runners and five volunteers take part in the Bushy Park Time Trial on October 2, 2004.

Since then, parkrun has grown to a global movement with over 2,400 events across the world (including 1,250 in the UK) and more than nine million registered parkrunners.

Today, it is recognised as a leading and valuable public health initiative with a mission to transform health and happiness by empowering people to come together, to be active and be social outdoors in their community.

The charity also has a strong focus on supporting the health and wellbeing of children through junior parkrun, which was established weekly in 2013.

Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak,added: “I would like to congratulate parkrun on its 20th anniversary and commend all the volunteer organisers and marshals whose weekly dedication has made it all possible.

“I know from taking my daughters to junior parkrun how brilliant it is for young people - and people of all ages – to be out in the fresh air on a Saturday morning getting some exercise. I hope parkrun continues to go from strength to strength.”

parkrun will always be free, for everyone, forever and you can find your local course to run, walk, jog or volunteer at www.parkrun.com.

Leeds parkrunner invited to 10 Downing Street as charity celebrated ahead of 20th anniversary