Activities – The Active Wellbeing Society

Active Communities Learning Festival

The Active Communities programme has been running for nearly six years across six of the most deprived areas in Birmingham and Solihull. It was funded as the Birmingham and Solihull Local Delivery Pilot (LDP) by Sport England, with the aim of increasing physical activity in those deprived communities that are statistically least likely to be active. In addition to testing interventions, we were also interested to see if there was a link between physical and civic activity.

Mason’s Story

My name is Mason and over the summer I was part of the Active Streets team. Due to this being my first job, I was very nervous and didn’t know what to expect. Nerves soon died down after a warm welcome at the main office at Hay Hall from all

Can you help feed Birmingham?

There has been a welcome move in recent years to combat food waste, and to make sure any leftovers go to feed bellies, not bins. This is something we are fully behind at the Active Wellbeing Society, we use surplus food in our cafes and our outreach food truck, and

Wheels of change

The Big Bike Project exists to make cycling accessible to everyone, regardless of their background or how much money they have. After all, it’s hard to cycle without a bike! So, the Big Bike Project took 13 newly upcycled bikes to West Park in Wolverhampton for a group of young

Emma’s story

Emma began running in 2017. As a full-time carer for her daughter, Emma was looking for something which could help her decompress. Over the years she has run miles, made friends and raised money for the Smith-Magenis Syndrome Foundation, to support families like hers. Here’s her story in her own

Lenox’s story

When sight loss and bereavement transformed Lenox’s life beyond recognition—a local walking group helped him recover. Walking with others in nature brought him back to himself— reconnecting him with his body, lifting his mood and inviting him into mutually supportive connection with others. In this story, Lenox reflects on how

Black History Month – Spotlight on Sally and the Walking Book Group

During Black History Month, we are shining a light on the work our colleagues are doing to celebrate Black heritage and culture. This week, we spoke to Sally, our Run and Walk Coordinator, who organises and delivers a range of activities, such as The Book Project, Social Prescribing walking groups, social running groups and Couch

Walk & Talk – Beryl’s Story

We offer a telephone support service, called Listen & Connect, which gives individuals a safe space to chat and feel heard, as well as receive advice and referrals into a wider range of services within The Active Wellbeing Society and among partner organisations. Within Listen & Connect, we also support

Bikes on Prescription – Damien’s Story

The Active Wellbeing Society have been working with health partners to distribute free bikes to patients across the city. The bikes are recommended to patients whose physical and mental health would see the greatest benefit from access to a bike. One of the patients who was referred to the scheme was Damien, who has anxiety and has

Raza and Rashida’s Story – How the Cycle Fix-it Café helped the family get back into cycling

Husband and wife, Raza and Rashida, took Raza’s and their daughters’ bikes to the Cycle Fix-It Café to have them checked and repaired. The Cycle Fix-It Cafés are a free, pop-up, bike repair service where our bike mechanic can carry out a cycle ‘M’ check and any basic repairs. An ‘M’ check is a simple, 11-step method for checking