This investment also includes the funding of our Places and Spaces programme across the West Midlands, working with Crowdfunder to support community organisations to raise funding for important community projects.
But as well as inspiring the people and communities of the West Midlands to get active, more importantly we want to work to keep them active.
We are directly investing £3m into a Commonwealth Active Communities programme in the Black Country, Coventry, Birmingham and Solihull.
This investment will put communities at the heart of local action, supporting people to move more on a daily basis where they live.
There’s no one size fits all approach so, if we want this to be a lasting and meaningful legacy, we must ensure we cater our approach to meet local needs.
That is why we are talking, and more importantly listening, to communities, grassroots organisations, local sports clubs, volunteers and other partners to understand their priorities, what works and where investment is most needed.
We are also investing in the next generation of talent to help national coaches and athletes of the future, with a particular focus on talent from backgrounds that are historically under-represented, so the sport sector and our national teams better reflect British society.
This is also an opportunity to support more children and young people to get active, which is why we’ve invested £4.4m into the School Games.
This will go towards engaging with and encouraging more children to get involved in the School Games, offering a wider range of physical activity by providing extra resources for schools, as well as supporting the national finals to take place in 2022.
With a little over six months to go and our legacy work already well underway, the Commonwealth Games brings with it a real opportunity to both celebrate the now and build for the future.