Think Active
Working together to help sports clubs and community spaces to help transform lives and to keep people living well through the impact of sport and physical activity.
Think Active is an Active Partnership in the West Midlands whose initiatives support their vision for everyone to benefit from movement and enjoy a healthy and active lifestyle in safe and thriving communities.
In 2023, we worked in partnership to do just that, by identifying, refurbishing and supporting six community spaces across Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire together to enable more movement to take place and ultimately, enable future generations to have healthier and more prosperous lives. The local Active Partner team have then since continued their support with the venues to boost the local impact and ensure more physical activity is taking place.
Canley Community Centre, Coventry
Our first project saw us completely repaint this vital community centre, with the aim to help them attract and host more physical activity groups for the local community, which now includes a dance school and increased engagement from young people. We freshened up the tired space with the help of local young volunteers from City College and Hereward College, who support students with disabilities and learning difficulties, alongside partner volunteers from the technical team at one of our National Trade Partners, Dulux.
“We’re so grateful for the refresh. As a charitable organisation ourselves, the centre hasn’t been painted in 10 years due to slim resourcing and funds. In order to be able to best serve our community, through our food bank, local youth groups tackling knife crime and soon, local sports activities like yoga, dodgeball and fitness classes, we need to be looking our best to attract more people to use the centre and our services, whilst feeling comfortable to be in a bright, welcoming space, when they’re here. This full redecoration of the centre will do just that.”
Anne-Marie Corbett, Centre Manager, Canley Community Centre
Bradby Youth Club, Rugby
17 local young people, some current and former users of this popular youth club, all achieved an Entry Level 3 City & Guilds accreditation in Painting & Decorating, by helping to completely transform this 100 year old building and their boxing gym into a more welcoming, exciting space for sport and youth support. Our tenth project co-funded by another of our National Trade Partners, Toolstation, supported with the help of 15 volunteers from across the Travis Perkins Group. Think Active has continued to support the club with new boxing equipment.
Urban Heard, Chelmsley Wood, Solihull
Our second project in the heart of Chelmsley Wood was at an active youth club hosting everything from boxing to sexual health clinics to media training. The centre was in desperate need of a brighter space for the young people to feel proud of, to be happy to call their own and more welcomed into. In a short VIY project, we added sectional pops of colour using their Urban Heard colours in a mini rebrand of their main hall.
Coventry Saracens RFC
Following the 2023 Women’s World Cup, having been asked “why don’t you have a girls team Grandad?”, three weeks later Football Coach Lee Thomas set up the club’s first girls team, with 16 young girls turning up to the first session. To help these young girls and neurodivergent young people feel welcomed to play football, we transformed their former male-dominated rugby changing rooms to make them fit-for-purpose and created outdoor spaces for them to feel safe.
Colebridge Trust, Chelmsley Wood, Solihull
This neighbourhood in North Solihull is ranked in the top 10% most deprived in the country. Colebridge Trust are a local charity who provide supports and services to tackle deprivation and help people in the local community to lead inclusive, happy and healthy lives. We’ve supported their community hub by creating much-needed storage for physical activity groups in the area to be able to use their centre to store equipment to host their sessions and offer more opportunities for local people to be active.
“Since the project has been completed, we have provisionally secured a booking from a local personal trainer, who has previously been supported with finding employment through Colebridge Trust. He is a local resident who now wants to create opportunities for young people to engage in physical activity and feels that being able to store equipment on site has made it easier for him to facilitate this here at our centre.”
Gemma Ashington, Centre Manager, Colebridge Trust
Manor Park Rugby Club, Nuneaton
We helped re-instil pride in this club and make it a welcoming place for new players to join in physical activity, with a full repaint of their changing rooms and corridor areas, as well as all new handmade overhead and corridor storage, plus some protective tiling around the shower entrances. All with the help of 22 young volunteers from Coventry College and new learners from Hereward College.
