The Cow Club Fund
How our 'friendly tourist' cow design enables us to give back
Everything sold via the "Cow Club Shop" on the HAPPiDAY site contributes a donation to the UK parkrun Tourists' Cow Club Fund. Since 2015, sales of 'cow' gear bearing the original cowhead motif designed by Kathy Brown have been earning royalties which have benefited a number of parkrun events and charitable causes across the United Kingdom.
How has the money been used?
Visit this page to view a list of past recipients for funds from the Cow Club Fund.
About the UK parkrun Tourists Group
The UK parkrun Tourists Group is a Facebook group set up in 2012 by Louise Ayling as a place for like-minded sociable tourists to meet, swap stories and information, ask questions about parkruns and arrange meetups. An entry target of 20 different parkruns was set for joining the group in order to filter out dedicated tourists from beginners and to help set the tone for the group. In time, the 20 different UK venues requirement was relaxed to include parkruns anywhere in the world. In this way, membership of the group grew to include parkrun tourism devotees based around the globe, not just in the UK.
By 2015 the group had grown significantly and members decided it would be fun to have a way to recognise each other out and about. After a little discussion, group member Kathy Brown came up with the 'Cow-cowl' concept, adopting the 'cow' theme to generate a design with a cowhead motif built in. It was important to the group that if merchandise was being sold and profits made from the group's activities, that donations should also be incorporated to ensure the group was giving back to the parkrun community.
Between 2015 and 2024, a total of over £13,000 has been raised via the sale of 'cow gear'. The launch of the Cow Club Shop in January 2024 marks a new era in the Cow Club Fund, and the UK parkrun Tourists Group will be instrumental in deciding where future funds are disbursed.
In addition, a new partnership has been formed with Flanci Activewear. From January 2025, Flanci will make and sell a friendly tourist garment, the 'Moo Cowl', the next-generation neck sleeve which replaces the cow-cowl concept. As part of their licence agreement to use the new cowhead motif in their design, Flanci will be paying royalties on sales of the Moo Cowl, and additionally a voluntary 10% royalty on sales of every item in their Moove It range. All royalties will go into the Cow Club Fund.
Please get in touch if you would like more information.