Riverside Housing is a good sport

Youngsters at Hawthorn Fields will be able to take advantage of free sporting activities during the summer holidays.

Riverside Housing, which is responsible for regenerating the Harvills Hawthorn and Millfields estates in partnership with Sandwell Council and Mansell Construction, has donated £1,600 from the Environmental Challenge Fund to finance a range of supervised sessions including football, rounders and tag rugby.

Lynda Cooke, Community Investment Officer for Riverside Housing, said: Our tenants tell us that there are few activities for children under 11 on the estates, particularly outdoors. There are obvious health benefits for youngsters becoming more active. and with the national bid to combat obesity in children we are keen to make sure that youngsters have local access to team sports in a safe environment.

Providing the opportunity for children to let off a bit of steam throughout the long summer break not only helps to relieve boredom for kids, but is welcome by parents who sometimes find entertaining their youngsters for six weeks a real challenge.

The hour and a half sessions will take place twice weekly from 24 July on Tuesdays and Fridays from 11am at Ratcliffe Park on the Harvills Hawthorn estate, and from 1.30pm at the playing fields on Surrey Crescent, Millfields.

The Hawthorn Fields project is a Private Finance Initiative between Riverside Housing and Sandwell Council.

Residents in Hawthorn Fields are tenants of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council but benefit from services provided by Riverside Housing.