With over £1m refurbishment of sports facilities over the last year, a drive for making sport accessible and the legacy of Sandwell Aquatics Centre, sport in Sandwell is making a difference.
In the last year alone, there were over 2.4m visits to facilities in Sandwell Leisure Trust (SLT), a 22% increase on the previous year, almost 70% of which (69.4%) from deprived areas, with almost half a million pounds in concessions provided to key groups.
2022 Commonwealth Games Legacy
Sandwell Aquatics Centre made its arrival as part of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Birmingham. As well as an active facility for swimming lessons, clubs and events, it’s seen a rapid introduction and growth of diving in Sandwell.
The only 10m facility in the West Midlands, the Sandwell Diving Club, led by Nigel Mills, already boasts a national champion, multiple regional and national titles and over 30,000 attendances to diving sessions since the club began in September 2023. This includes over 400 attending weekly sessions and more than 5,000 free taster sessions to children from across the Borough.
“What makes diving in Sandwell so special is that there’s never been this facility and opportunity for the sport to be tried by the community” explains Nigel.
“For us, it’s been amazing to encourage the area to try the sport, and we hope to reach even more people over the coming years whether that’s trying it for the first time, completing their badges, or going all the way to the Olympics.
“It’s an incredible legacy of the Games and it’s fantastic to work so closely with Sandwell Leisure Trust in building such a strong diving base within the community.”
Did someone say Padel?
Another new sport to hit the area has been the rapidly growing sport of Padel. A sport that has endorsements from the celebrity and sporting world that’s proving popular around the world… and it’s booming in Tipton!
Now home to three indoor Padel courts, Tipton Sports Academy is breaking the mould of the private members clubs and commercial offerings of the sport, by providing public pay-to-play courts, one of the first in the country to offer padel facilities funded by a local council.
“We knew people wanted to play Padel and there weren’t the affordable, accessible sites for them in the area” explains Lee Marks, Assistant Leisure Manager & Tennis Manager at Tipton Sports Academy.
“We’re seeing groups coming to Padel that wouldn’t usually come to the centre – the sport is definitely proving a really sociable and enjoyable activity for communities across the region. It’s great that anyone can come and book a court and in Sandwell we’re ideally located for people from across the region to visit and have a go.”
With plans to grow the sessions available, with affordable off-peak sessions, women-only coaching and plans to engage younger groups, Padel is proving a hit in Sandwell!
Sport in Sandwell
- Over 2.4m total visits last year, 22% increase on 2023
- Over £1m spent on refurbishments over the last year
- Fitness members grown 11% to 12,200 and group workout grew by 81k visits
- Swimming activities and lessons were the most popular activities and increased year on year by 213K visits to 523K in Oct 23 – Sep 24.
- SLT have a far higher proportion of participants from the top 30% deprived areas in England, with this making up 69.4% of all users. All 5 sites had a much higher percentage of participants from IMD 1-3 than their comparable sites, with 4 out 5 growing their participation amongst the most deprived individuals year on year.
- According to Moving Communities Survey, visitors are most happy with Staff Friendliness and Cleanliness of facilities, which are around 10% and 15% higher than industry averages (91.09% Staff Friendliness compared with 82.76% industry average and 81.74% Cleanliness compared with 66.8% industry average). Overall 41.6 Net Promoter Score GREAT, against industry average of 28.07.
- In an independent report by 4Global, nearly £11.4m in social value was generated from SLT managed sites during 23/24 financial year. All sites performed within top 65% for social value per person, when benchmarked against the wider sector nationally.
- 68.5% of participants were from IMD groups 1-3 (the most deprived groups), an increase from 22/23 and far higher than the sector average of 25.3%.
- 78.5% of participants are from the Sandwell local authority. SLT also employees of 55% of its workforce from Sandwell.
- £424k worth of concessions provided to key user groups including Adult Social Care Services, Disability, SEN (Special Educational Needs)
