14/12/11 Changing Lives Through Sport
Sport 4 Life has recently celebrated completing the first year of a two year development project, generously funded by a £25,000 grant from the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales. The grant has been used to employ a full-time Development Officer who works to improve the quality and impact of our charitable activities, with the overall aim of directly changing the lives of 150 disadvantaged people in Birmingham. Over the past 12 months, the project has enabled Sport 4 Life to support unemployed individuals back into training and work, to give low-skilled teenagers the opportunity to gain formal qualifications, and to empower children with special educational needs to improve their performance in the classroom. Equally, the project has helped Sport 4 Life to build fruitful relationships with partners such as local councils, police, and other community groups, enabling us to extend our services to new participants from hard-to-reach groups such as ex-offenders, ethnic minorities, and women suffering from domestic violence. Matthew Forsyth, the Development Officer funded by the grant, says: “It has been a fantastic project to be involved with. I am very proud of the way the work has had a positive impact on the lives of people and communities most in need in Birmingham, and I am looking forward to building on these successes in the second year of the project. The funding from the Lloyds TSB Foundation from England and Wales has been hugely beneficial to our local charity, and we are very grateful for their continued support.”

29/11/11 Trustee Vacancies
Are you passionate about sport? Want to help change the lives of children and young people? Then why not join our Board of Trustees? We are currently seeking to recruit 2 new Trustees to join our existing Board of 5 Trustees. This is an excellent opportunity to be actively involved in supporting and overseeing the growth of our young and dynamic charity, and to contribute at Board level to the strategic direction and decisions of the organisation. We are particularly interested in candidates with professional backgrounds in finance, business, fundraising, youth work, or sport, who have considerable experience of senior management. Trustees are required to commit to a minimum term of 3 years, and to attend Board Meetings in Birmingham up to 4 times a year. Meetings usually take place on Monday evenings from 4.30pm – 7.00pm, in February, May, August, and November. Trustees may also have the opportunity to assist with sub-committee meetings, strategy discussions, press opportunities, and other activities on an ad-hoc basis. To apply please send your CV and a cover letter outlining how you will contribute to the governance, growth and development of the organisation to james@sport4life.org.uk or by post to: Sport 4 Life UK, Portland Pavilion, Portland Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B17 8LS by January 31st 2012. After shortlisting, successful applicants will be invited to an informal, evening interview in February 2012. For more details or to discuss the Trustee vacancies please contact James Forrest on 07950 395 699.

07/11/11 Families Get Active In Smethwick
A Sport 4 Life project that helps families get active and healthy in Sandwell picked up the runners up award for the Physical Activity Initiative of the Year at The Black Country Sport and Physical Activity Awards 2011 this week. The award was presented by Wolverhampton born cycling legend and BBC commentator Hugh Porter to Sport 4 Life, who narrowly missed out on the winners place to the Dudley Healthy Towns programme. Sport 4 Life have been providing this innovative fitness programme – one where parents and their children (aged 18 months to 5 years) can exercise together – in the Smethwick area since April 2009, and over 100 families have attended the 150 sessions delivered so far. The fun physical activity sessions, which include warm-up action songs, parachute games, beanbag challenges, dance, cheerleading, and ball games, are a great way for kids to burn off excess energy and a good workout for parents too. Due to the young age of the children the activities are carefully chosen to suit their developing bodies and ability levels, and the sessions work on cardiovascular fitness, muscle strengthening, co-ordination and gross motor skills as well as developing communication, concentration, and listening skills. Best of all the classes are free thanks to funding received from the Harborne Parish Lands Charity, a local grant-making organisation.

19/09/11 Building Community Through Neighbourhood Sports
Sport 4 Life has helped to bring children and young people together and promote community cohesion on some of Birmingham’s toughest estates this summer by organising a number of neighbourhood sports festivals. The events were organised in partnership with the national charity StreetGames and Coca Cola Great Britain, who provided funding and free resources including t-shirts and medals. The festival at Summerfield Park in the Ladywood area of Birmingham, which included tournaments in 5-a-side football and “street tennis”, was a particular success. Having been cancelled once due to the civil unrest and riots, the event showcased that – thanks to the constructive opportunities provided by Sport 4 Life – young people can make a positive contribution to building a stronger community. Additional festivals were held in the St Marks Crescent Estate in Ladywood and the Stockfield Estate in Acocks Green, and were equally successful at improving a sense of community. Matthew Forsyth, Project and Development Manager at Sport 4 Life, said “We have organised these festivals in order to help promote cohesion and unity between children and young people from a variety of different backgrounds, and of course to give youngsters the opportunity to get off the streets, out of trouble and involved in positive community activities. We are really pleased with the successes these events have achieved, and we hope to run similar events in the future.”

23/08/11 Sport 4 Life UK Celebrates 5 Year Anniversary
Sport 4 Life reached its 5th birthday on July 1st 2011, and to celebrate published its latest Annual Report which highlights the successes and achievements of the charity over the past 12 months. The report shows that Sport 4 Life supported 13,345 people to attend its services 27,894 times in the last year. 507 disadvantaged children and young people participated in the Street Sport project, while 384 families got active together at family fitness classes and 11,400 people experienced the innovative health promotion tool the Smoothie Bike. 1,841 hours of volunteering were also contributed to the local community, and 9 underprivileged young people were supported to gain accredited qualifications through long-term volunteering. The Annual Report also showcases the impact Sport 4 Life has had on the lives of its participants. A teenager excluded from school has been supported to transform his behaviour and attitudes through engagement in a community football coaching and mentoring scheme, for example. Likewise, a primary school pupil with special educational needs has been helped to improve his confidence and to engage more positively in the classroom through a schools outreach project, while a young person with a history of offending and long-term unemployment has been empowered to find a job through a volunteering programme. For more interesting and inspiring facts, stories and case studies about the work of Sport 4 Life please download a copy of the Annual Report by clicking here.

02/08/11 Sport 4 Life Awarded Grant By BBCCF
Sport 4 Life is celebrating after receiving a £5,000 grant from Birmingham & Black Country Community Foundation to help disadvantaged young people achieve something tangible – gaining a new skill or qualification, transforming their behaviour, and improving their health. The funding has been received from the Deutsche Bank Community Development Fund - one of many funds administered by the Foundation which receives its income from local benefactors, businesses and government agencies – and will be used to provide a 6 month programme of sports and educational activities in the Ladywood area of the city. Matthew Forsyth, Project and Development Manager at Sport 4 Life said “We are really excited about delivering this project. Many young people in our target community struggle to succeed educationally or to find employment, or have behavioural and attitude problems that see them turn to negative influences in their lives such as crime and drugs. Our project, however, will empower these young people with the confidence, skills, and qualifications to progress positively in life.” Yvonne Palmer, Director of Operations & Programmes at the Birmingham & Black Country Community Foundation said: “We are delighted to be able to award this grant to Sport 4 Life, and to support them in the work they are doing in their community. The Foundation is all about supporting local people to find local solutions to local problems, by distributing money to people who really do and will make a difference for the future”.

07/07/11 Healthy Hearts, Happy Families
Overweight mothers and their young children, from five deprived inner-city wards in Birmingham, will learn how to keep their hearts healthy through an interactive fitness project thanks to a Healthy Heart Grant of nearly £10,000. It is being run by Sport 4 Life UK and has been funded by national heart charity, Heart Research UK. This free, 10 week project will work with underprivileged and unhealthy mothers and their children, aged 18 months – 3 years old. The programme will teach them about the links between obesity, physical inactivity and how the two together can lead to poor heart health. Activities will include fun physical exercise games with Healthy Heart themes such as relay, ball and parachute games, cheerleading and the ‘my heart’ song that will encourage families to get singing, dancing to learn about the heart. The project will work with families in the inner city wards of Springfield, Soho, Sparkbrook, Aston, and Lozells and East Handsworth, in these areas 25% of adults and 22% of year six pupils are obese and the adult population is the least physically active in England. Barbara Harpham, National Director of Heart Research UK says: “I’m delighted that Sport 4 Life UK has received a Healthy Heart Grant, it is so important for children to see their parents leading active and healthy lifestyles so they are influenced to do the same. This outreach project will inspire families in Birmingham to take responsibility for their own heart health and show the wider community that it can be easy and fun to lead a healthy heart lifestyle.”

29/06/11 Children Experience The Olympic Spirit In Birmingham
With 12 months or so to the launch of London 2012, the Olympic spirit came to Birmingham last week thanks to an event organised by local charity Sport 4 Life and the Ladywood Ward team at Birmingham City Council. The Ladywood Games 2011 gave 250 children from 8 local primary schools the chance to emulate their Olympic heroes in athletics, football, uni-hockey and basketball competitions. Barford Primary School were crowned the overall champions, with The Oratory Catholic Primary School and St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School coming a close second and third. It was not all about winning, though. The Games were set up to build community spirit and identity in the local area, to promote a healthy and active lifestyle, and to teach local children the 7 Olympic and Paralympic values of respect, excellence, friendship, courage, determination, inspiration and equality. James Forrest, Manager for Sport 4 Life, said: “The Ladywood Games proved to be a fantastic event this year. Many of the children showed exceptional sporting talent, and all of the competitions were played to a very high standard. We certainly hope that the event will have inspired and motivated many children to continue playing sport and being active and healthy, and perhaps some of them will grow up to be our future Olympians”.