Birmingham community organisations have received donations of sports and wellbeing equipment as part of a national healthcare organisation’s UK-wide grants scheme.
Health and wellness provider Benenden shown their support for six local organisations: Lyndon Senior PHAB Club in Solihull, the Kingsbury Training Centre, the Seven Up project, Perry Beeches & Sutton Swim Squad, the Gateway Family Services as well as a party for children with Dyspraxia in the Hall Green area.
Ernie Coggins, Secretary of Benenden’s Midlands West Branch paid a visit to two of the organisations being supported by the healthcare provider, to meet members and present the new equipment – and he even found time to take part in a game of hockey at the Lyndon Senior PHAB Club in Solihull.
The club has around 40 members and creates opportunities for disabled and non-disabled children and adults of all abilities to enjoy activities together. The club was offered funding for a portable PA system as well as sporting equipment, including an indoor hockey set and table tennis equipment.
Ernie Coggins said: “Community is hugely important to us here at Benenden and we look for opportunities to reach out to communities around the country to assist with local health and wellbeing initiatives. The work that the Lyndon Senior PHAB Club does is a great example of this and when we heard about how hard they were working to fundraise we really wanted to help out.”
Kingsbury Training Centre received funding from Benenden for boxing equipment in support of their work providing life and skills development to 14-19 year olds in the North Birmingham area.
Bob Candlin at Kingsbury Training Centre said, “We work with a range of young people in the Erdington area helping to support their positive progression and raise their life aspirations and goals. Many of the people we work with are disengaged and offering different opportunities to learn new life skills and try new things is a key part of what we do.
“The boxing equipment at the club is very popular with the young people we work with – it gives them a great way to constructively get rid of any pent-up energy or frustrations in a safe and supervised environment while also improving their health and fitness levels. We’d like to thank Benenden for their support by providing this new equipment which the club members will get so much use out of.”
Seven Up, who provide play, leisure and learning opportunities to disabled children and their siblings, have also been provided with Benenden grant to provide pop-up tents and sensory equipment and lighting. The equipment will help them meet the needs of children and young people on the autistic spectrum.
Benenden has also supported a special party for children with Dyspraxia, organised by the “Dyspraxia – A Listening Ear, Here to Help” group
Benenden provided support so that families could attend, giving the children the chance to meet in a safe and inclusive environment and interact with others who have the same condition.
Perry Beeches and Sutton Swim Squad is a teaching and competitive swimming club run by volunteers and Benenden have given a grant for a swimming pace clock – promoting this important life-skill and providing their young swimmers with a perfect springboard for them to progress through the club’s various levels.
Benenden have also provided support to Birmingham-based Gateway Family Services to provide specialist bariatric scales to their patients.
The Health Trainer team at Gateway Family Services work with people living in the south of Birmingham to help them achieve a variety of health-based goals – such as losing weight, getting more active, stopping smoking or reducing their alcohol consumption. Increasingly they’ve found that standard scales are not always adequate and to have a set of specialist scales will make such a difference.
Speaking about the community projects scheme, Claire Hetherington, Communications Co-ordinator at Benenden said: “As a responsible health and wellbeing organisation it’s important that we are able to reach out to communities around the country to assist with very local health and wellbeing initiatives led by small community or volunteer-led organisations. The work that these Birmingham organisations are doing is a prime example of what is happening right across the UK and we’re happy to have been able to help out where sometimes, funding isn’t available from other sources.
“It’s been inspirational to hear about the breadth of work the organisations do in engaging with people who may otherwise not have these kind of opportunities available to them.”