Community Games gives retailers another boost
Retailers are gearing up for another boost in trade in the run up to the Olympics as thousands of Community Games kick-off across the country. The recent Jubilee celebrations sent traders’ tills ringing to the sound of sweet success in the West of England and they anticipate Community Games events will do too.
Retail giant Marks and Spencer’s benefited from a huge surge in sales during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. They sold more than a million packs of strawberries, a third more Champagne and sparkling wine than at Christmas – pushing sales up a whopping 200% on the same week the year before. But that wasn’t all, a massive 70,000 Queen jubilee biscuit tins, over 200,000 jubilee teacakes and 1.2 million pork pies flew off the shelves.
As thousands of Community Games take place all over England this year and next – with a number of them being hosted during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – it’s expected retailers will see another hike in sales.
Community Games, which was the brainchild of Legacy Trust UK, aims to unite families and communities in the spirit of the Olympics.
Legacy Trust UK have teamed up with the County Sports Partnership Network and the YMCA to deliver the programme, which has seen a cash injection of £2m from The Big Society Fund.
Olympian and chair of the West Midlands Leadership group for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, David Moorcroft OBE, is urging people to get involved in Community Games events. He said:
“Community Games offer something for everyone.
“You don’t need to be sporty to take part – they are just as much about celebrating cultural achievement as sporting endeavour.” He’s appealing for people to step forward and organise an event in their local area.
A Community Games event is taking place in the West of England.
For more information about the Community Games log on to www.communitygames.org.uk or www.wesport.org.uk/communitygames.
