An inclusive, free summer of sport at Merry Hill with activities for all ages

03 Aug 2023

Published in: Member News

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Merry Hill is encouraging visitors to come together to enjoy a range of fun and family friendly activities this summer with a series of free sporting events at the centre.

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Merry Hill is encouraging visitors to come together to enjoy a range of fun and family friendly activities this summer with a series of free sporting events at the centre.

Aimed at all ages, Play United marks one year on from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and follows the success of the centre’s pop-up stadium which saw community organisations and visitors come together to enjoy sport while cheering on the professionals on the big screen.

This August Merry Hill will be running the free-to-attend programme of sporting activities in partnership with organisations such as The Albion Foundation and Active Black Country, every day between 11am-3pm, from Monday 7th to Friday 18th August. Visitors can turn up on the day, no advance booking is required.

Play United will be hosted at the centre’s event space on the Lower Mall opposite M&S and Mango and is inspired not only by the legacy of the Games but also this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Play United events will consist of a range of activities including seated volleyball, handball, table tennis, adaptive cycles, balance bikes, and the centres very-own pop-up cycle track! The centre will also be offering inflatable football challenges, a blind football experience and target ball games for visitors to test their skills.

Over the course of the two weeks some of the amazing players from West Bromwich Albion’s women’s football, blind football and powerchair football teams will be dropping in and visitors will be able to grab a selfie with everyone’s favourite mascot Baggie Bird.

All the activities are designed to get everyone active and give them the chance to try different sports, while keeping families entertained over the school holidays.

Visitors can also learn more about maintaining their bikes and get involved in a programme of activities focussed on water safety and enjoying the canals around the Black Country with the Canal & Rivers Trust.

Jonathan Poole, Centre Manager at Merry Hill said: "After the success of our 11-day Commonwealth Games inspired programme of activities last year, we wanted to create a lasting legacy of fully inclusive sports activities for the region.

“Much of the country will come together in support of the Lionesses at the FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer, so we want to bring a sense of the celebratory spirit into our centre with activities that everyone in the community can enjoy, regardless of age or ability.

"From Monday, August 7, we will be launching Play United with a host of free sporting activities. We’re partnering with the sporting talent at West Bromwich Albion and some amazing Midlands-based sporting organisations to make it happen.”

All the information for the exciting sporting events and activities taking place at Merry Hill this summer is available at https://mymerryhill.co.uk/whats-on.