Stuart Ashmore

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Sport England are pleased to invite community organisations to apply for sporting equipment which was used at the Games.

The opportunity is open to organisations providing inclusive and accessible sports, physical activity and wellbeing activities in communities in the West Midlands (Birmingham, Black Country, Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire, Hereford and Worcestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire).

The organisations will be encouraging participation and cohesion through sport, while promoting the benefits of physical health and wellbeing for their community.

Our main purpose is to help everyone in England to get active regardless of their age, background or ability.

This complements Birmingham 2022’s pledge to deliver an inclusive, accessible and sustainable Games.

Both us and Birmingham 2022 are committed to tackling inactivity and extending the reach of sporting and physical activity opportunities, and these are set out in Birmingham 2022’s Physical Activity and Wellbeing Legacy Plan.

This sporting equipment includes an array of items from across the Commonwealth Games sports, such as basketballs, netballs, boxing gloves and rugby equipment.

There’s also a range of consumable items which may indirectly help your organisation run activities, such as vacuum cleaners, mops, buckets and ice machines.

A full list of the lots available are available via the sports equipment gifting legacy catalogue.

Please note, at the point of releasing the list of “lots”, we’re still collating equipment from each Games venue. There’ll be some items that have been broken/damaged or lost during the Games and/or in transit. Therefore, the final lots may differ from those published.

To find out more, (including eligibility criteria), and to make an application, please visit: Commonwealth Games equipment giveaway | Sport England

**PLEASE NOTE** Applications close at 5pm on 15th September 2022

Millions of people on means-tested benefits will receive the first of two Cost of Living Payments totalling £650 from 14th July 2022 as part of a £37billion government package to help families with cost of living pressures.

The first £326 instalment for qualifying low-income households in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be paid by their usual instalment method form 14th July 2022, continuing to the end of the month. For those eligible, the rest will follow in a second instalment in the autumn.

People receiving tax credits and no other eligible benefits will receive their first payment from HMRC in the autumn and the second in winter.

In total, millions of vulnerable households will receive at least £1,200 from the Government this year to help cover rising costs. These are specific payments for those on means-tested benefits, pensioners, those on disability benefits and to help people with energy bills.

For more information, please visit: Cost of Living Payment – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

This study (Third Sector Trends 2022) of voluntary and community organisations, social enterprises, cooperatives, societies and clubs (the ‘third sector’ or ‘VCSE sector’) started in 2010.

A lot has happened since the last survey in 2019.  So it’s time to find out what has changed in the last three years.

Whether your organisation or group is big or small, flourishing or struggling – or just carrying on more or less as normal – your input is invaluable.

It’s (genuinely) an interesting survey and only takes about 10 minutes to complete.

The responses help to build a picture of how organisations and groups work and what they achieve. This helps funders make good decisions on how to invest in the sector.

Join the Third Sector Trends survey here ==>> Third Sector Trends in England and Wales 2022 (onlinesurveys.ac.uk)