Summer of Sport event inspired by Commonwealth Games offers fun activities for community in Birmingham
Posted by james brindle | Published: 09/08/2022
Dozens of people have gathered for a special Commonwealth Games inspired day of sport in a Birmingham community featuring activities from Inflatable basketball to cricket and dodgeball.
The Summer of Sport event was held at the Sport for Life Centre in Barrows Lane, Yardley and was opened up for the community to take inspiration from the Games that have been taking place on their doorstep and try some new sports and get active.
Central England Co-op organised the event and worked with their partners at Sporting Spirit CIC who provided the wide range of sports for those in attendance to have a go at.
They included cricket, archery, tennis, volleyball and dodgeball, as well as inflatable games such as darts, basketball and penalty shootout.
James Knight, Member and Community Relations Officer at Central England Co-op, who organised the event, said: “It was an absolute pleasure to be able to put on a day of great activities for the local community and give the opportunity for people to maybe try out a sport they wouldn’t have done usually and hopefully find a new passion.
“Having the Commonwealth Games on our doorstep in Birmingham this summer has reminded us just how inspiring and empowering sport can be and at Central England Co-op we want to support people of all ages to get active and discover the many benefits of playing sport, such as developing teamwork, building character and boosting mental and physical wellbeing.”
Those enjoying the event and the summer sunshine on the day were also able to enjoy a refreshing drink from iPRO who donated 200 bottles of low sugar energy drinks, made with natural sugars for healthy hydration.
Mike Sinclair, Director of Sporting Spirit CIC, said: “Sporting Spirit are a sports organisation who were set up to ‘develop and enhance peoples everyday life skills through the participation of sports and activities’.
“Our working relationship with Central England Co-op began in 2018 when we went into their Great Barr store to ask if they could donate some bottles of water for a football tournament we were hosting locally.
“Central England Co-op supplied the water and lots more additional healthy snacks for the footballers and spectators to consume. This was more than we expected, and we were really grateful.
“James Knight has always tried to support our sports organisation in any way possible.
Going forward we are looking forward to working with him on our children’s holiday camps as well as hosting further sporting events for Central England Co-op.”
More information about membership at Central England Co-op can be found at https://membership.centralengland.coop
Notes to editors
About Central England Co-operative
Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral and property investment.
Owned by hundreds of thousands of members, its over 8,000 colleagues serve customers across 400 plus trading sites in 20 counties in the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.
Its purpose is to inspire communities to create a sustainable Society for all.
It actively campaigns for the Government to increase sentencing for violent attacks on retail workers and works with FareShare Midlands and hundreds of food banks, generating enough food donations to create over 2.1 million meals for people in need.
The Society embraces inclusivity and equality and is a signed-up member to the Business in the Community (BITC) Race at Work Charter, while it is also fully committed to addressing the impact of climate change and is on track to be Carbon Neutral by 2030.
It invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities through its Community Dividend Fund scheme which has seen over £175,000 shared out between 116 good causes over the past 12 months.
Central England Co-op was named Leading Co-op of the Year by Co-operatives UK in 2021.
Press office contact: James Brindle, Public Relations Lead
Contact details: email james.brindle@centralengland.coop and telephone 07392 080028.