Have you ever wanted to protect your child from the dangers of the world, without realising you were overprotecting them?

I want you to meet Sarah*, and her ten-year-old daughter Lucy*, who has autism and ADHD. Over Lucy's upbringing, plenty of people have told Sarah what her daughter can and cannot do. Teachers, doctors and other parents. After long enough, you stop arguing and you start protecting.

So when Lucy saw our Playkour course and started begging to give it a go, Sarah already had her answer. She came to our admin desk looking for a reason to say no.

She did not get one. Our team explained how the course operates, that our coaches have over ten years of combined parkour experience, and that no child goes through it alone because every one of them is guided by a coach.

Lucy kept begging. Sarah ran out of reasons, and she signed the waiver.

Then she asked if she could come inside and hold Lucy's hand. We said no.

"The course is a youth-only space. Parents watch from the barrier."

It is the hardest thing we ask of any parent all day, and we ask it of every one of them, because a child who is being held cannot find out what they can do on their own.

Sarah agreed. She stood at the rail with both hands on it. She watched the warm-up, where our coaches teach every child how to roll safely, how to land and absorb impact, and how to get over a vault box.

She watched Lucy try it. She watched Lucy get it wrong, and then try again.

Our director Alexander was standing beside her by then, because you can always pick out the parent who is nervous. He asked her what was wrong. She said she was frightened Lucy would fall.

"Do you know what parkour is?" he asked.

"Jumping over things?" she replied.

"That is one part of it. The rest is building mental resilience, and figuring out who you are by overcoming your fears, both physical and mental."

You see, Lucy was not the fastest child on the course, nor was her technique the prettiest, but it did not matter, because she got over every obstacle her own way. Every time she fell over, she got back up and tried again. And again. And again. By the time she reached her obstacle course challenge, she beat her own first attempt by over ten seconds!

Sarah cheered louder than every other parent on the field.

She was never wrong to protect her daughter.

She simply had not seen her do this yet. In watching what Lucy was capable of, a new bond formed between mother and daughter.