Parkour Returns to Stockport (Yes, We’re Back)

Bank holiday heat wave?

Didn’t have that on my 2026 bingo card.

Project Z Parkour returning with Stockport parkour classes though? That one was always coming eventually.

And over the bank holiday weekend, it finally happened.

On Monday 25th May, we had the pleasure of heading over to Marple Hall School to deliver the first of our brand-new weekly local parkour classes. The weather was suspiciously tropical for Greater Manchester, everyone was sweating before the warm-up had even started, and somehow we still thought launching parkour classes was a good idea. Professionalism at its finest.

Why We Left Stockport in the First Place

For those who don’t know, Project Z has operated in Stockport before. For years, we built a brilliant local community there, but when we moved into our new Project Z Academy facility in Salford last summer, we had to make a difficult decision.

To properly establish the Academy, we closed our grassroots satellite sessions so the coaching team could focus fully on building the new space and programme.

It was exciting, but honestly, it was also rough. We knew a lot of our loyal Stockport students were going to struggle with the travel over to Salford, and we hated leaving the local community behind. We always planned to return, it just took slightly longer than expected because apparently opening a massive Academy in a brand new area is “time consuming”. Who knew?

The Return of the Satellite Sessions

The good news is that over the past year we’ve developed an incredible team of young volunteers from among our most dedicated students. Watching them grow into confident leaders and assistant coaches has been one of the best parts of this whole process.

Their development has finally given us enough depth in the coaching team to send staff back out into local communities and relaunch our satellite classes.

And naturally, Stockport was first on the list.

Goodbye Welkin Mill, Hello Marple Hall School

Unfortunately, our old venue at Welkin Mill was snapped up by another company shortly after we moved out. They did say we could still hire the space… but they weren’t too keen on us storing our collection of battered vault boxes and loose scaffolding poles there anymore.

Fair enough, honestly. They’d spent a lot of money making the place look nice and probably didn’t want our “post-apocalyptic PE cupboard” aesthetic ruining the vibe.

But the idea of carrying our entire mobile gym up and down three flights of stairs every Monday evening, the same stairs that already had half the parents breathing like they’d just completed a marathon during pick-up, wasn’t exactly appealing.

So after approximately 400 phone calls, several existential crises, and what may or may not have been a small bribe to one of Tom’s old colleagues from his trampoline park days, we finally found a new home.

We’re now based at Marple Hall School’s Isherwood Gymnasium, and honestly, it’s perfect. Plenty of space, access to existing equipment, and no need for us to transport half a construction site every week.

The only downside so far has been Colin the Magpie, who attempted to join our Mini Movers class and missed my head by about a foot with a dirty-protest while I was setting up for the class.

The First Session Back

We kicked things off earlier this week, and genuinely, it was brilliant.

It was great seeing old students again after such a long break, but equally exciting to meet brand-new students who’d spent the past year hearing about parkour and decided to come and see what all the fuss was about.

Since we had a mix of complete beginners and returning students who hadn’t trained in over a year, we kept the session simple and focused on solid fundamentals. We worked on step vaults, tic tacs, and route building, while the older students also got stuck into speed vaults.

Given that the sports hall felt roughly the same temperature as the surface of the sun, we decided against ridiculously intense conditioning work. Instead, we focused on balancing challenges and games to build ankle stability, coordination, and control without anyone dissolving into a puddle halfway through the session.

The returning students shook the rust off surprisingly quickly, and the new students picked things up even faster than expected. Within a few weeks, everyone will be back to throwing themselves enthusiastically at challenges again, preferably once the weather remembers we live in northern England.

Weekly Classes Return From June 8th

We’ll officially be back at Marple Hall School every Monday from June 8th, with the following timetable:

Mini Movers (4–8 years) 17:00–17:45

Junior Jumpers (9–12 years) 17:45–18:45

Movement Masters (13+ & adults) 18:45–20:00

Spaces are more limited than at our previous Stockport parkour classes, so we expect classes to fill quickly.

Want to Try Parkour in Stockport?

The best way to find out what our local parkour classes are like is simple:

Come and try one.

Still need convincing? Fill in the enquiry form and we’ll send you a code for £10 off your first session (because bribery works both ways)

We’re incredibly excited to be back in Stockport properly, reconnecting with old faces and welcoming new ones into the community.

See you on the 8th.

Tom Redfern

Kingpin at Project Z Parkour