Charitable organisation Everyone 4 Sport CIC, based in Solihull, has received a £9,650 grant from HS2’s Community & Environment Fund to support its service to encourage participation in a range of activities including racket sports, fitness & exercise, petanque and multi-sports.
Everyone 4 Sport works with local charities, organisations that support people living with disability, schools and other educational institutions to provide accessible sports opportunities.
MP for Meriden, Saqib Bhatti, said:
“I am delighted to see that Everyone 4 Sport has received important funding that will help the charity in its efforts to extend access to sports and exercise to all parts of the local community. I am pleased that this funding will go towards helping more children and adults gain access to sports which I have no doubt will improve their mental and physical health.”
Cathy Elliott, Independent Chair of HS2 CEF Funds, said:
“Everyone 4 Sport provides a key service to their community by offering local people in and around Solihull a chance to participate in sports and exercise. I am pleased that they have received a grant through HS2’s Community & Environment Fund.
“HS2’s CEF scheme was set up to ensure that local organisations like Everyone 4 Sport can continue their vital work and is still available to similar organisations that are demonstrably affected by the construction of HS2 throughout the next few years.”
An active pillar of the local community, Everyone 4 Sport has delivered 12 separate projects over the last decade, working with over 1,750 people across the West Midlands. An increasingly important part of their work includes working with special needs schools, learning difficulty day centres, charities, and care homes to promote physical and outdoor activity in an accessible way. They have recently established a community hub at Hampton Tennis Club and Coleshill Tennis Club.
Director of Everyone 4 Sport, Ian Poole, said:
“We deliver a selection of community sports opportunities for people in Hampton on Arden (located in the Forest in Arden area, on the fringes of Solihull borough, West Midlands), supporting local people in the village by providing them with access to opportunities they currently do not have.
“We also provide sessions for elderly people isolated by the pandemic and give them the confidence through activity to socialise again. We have started to work with pre-school and nursery children suffering from deprivation to re-engage with friends via sporting activities both within their setting and through the local sports club which is what we see as a pillar of the local community.”
HS2 Community & Environment scheme has funded 15 projects in the Solihull area since 2017, who have shared over £600,000 from the £40 million funding package available on Phase One of the HS2 project.
The Funds for Phase One of HS2 between London and the West Midlands, independently administered by community charity Groundwork UK, continue to support urban and rural, community, environmental and business projects. As construction of HS2 continues, applications for both the Community & Environment (CEF) and the Business & Local Economy Fund (BLEF) are still being welcomed.
ENDS
