Para Bowls World Cup winner Sally-Ann Lewis-Wall also visited the club to talk to members and learn more about the impact of our investment.

"Without it [funding], this club can’t exist – a lot of clubs can’t exist. It is gold dust," she admitted.

"They’ve had difficulties with flooding and everything else, but they've built themselves back up, like the rise of the phoenix.

"This is not just a building – it's the heart. And everybody within the community has got a piece of that pumping blood. So it becomes much bigger than just an establishment – it's an extended family.

"And bowls is a sport that the whole community can get involved in – it's a safe environment and it doesn't matter about age or ability."

Our sustainability funding

The partnership with Team England is the latest step in our mission to drive forward environmental sustainability and secure the future of community sport and physical activity.

Climate change is having a negative impact on our ability to be active, with the increasing prevalence of extreme weather events such as heatwaves and flooding affecting participation levels.

That’s why grants of up to £15,000 are available from our Movement Fund to help clubs adapt and improve the resilience of their facilities.

Since launching the fund in April 2024, we’ve awarded nearly £1.3 million to 138 environmental sustainability projects.

Our strategic lead for environmental sustainability, Denise Ludlam, said: "Sport England is helping communities across England to prepare for a changing climate and enable participation for everybody.

"Malmesbury Bowls Club nearly didn’t exist because of flooding. The future of sport is threatened and we need to protect it so people can continue to play."

After setting off from London and having visited the bowls club, the taxi carrying the baton is heading to Birmingham on Thursday for SportsAid Live, a day of expert talks and connection that aims to empower talented young British athletes benefiting from the charity’s support.

This year, the event will also incorporate Team England Futures, a programme funded by us in partnership with Commonwealth Games England and delivered by SportsAid, providing an immersive Games-experience programme for emerging athletes and coaches ahead of Glasgow 2026.

The baton is then joining Team England for a beach clean-up in Wirral on Friday as part of the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign, which is bringing athletes and communities together to prevent one million pieces of plastic from entering Commonwealth waters.

Finally, following further stops in Manchester, Leeds, Doncaster, Loughborough and Plymouth, the baton will arrive at the host city of Glasgow for the opening ceremony on 23 July, when it’ll be united with 73 other batons from each of the participating Commonwealth nations and territories.

For previous Games, there has been one baton making an epic journey around the whole Commonwealth by land, sea and air, with the UK leg featuring multiple baton-bearers and convoys of vehicles.

So this year’s change – along with undertaking the relay in a single electric vehicle – is much more environmentally friendly, also removing the need for closed roads and diverted journeys.

Our Going for Green pledge

As our climate changes, we're on a mission to ensure everyone can continue to enjoy the benefits of an active life.

Going for Green is a simple way for organisations to join that movement by committing to becoming more environmentally sustainable.

Every club, community group and organisation in England is invited to sign the pledge, which was first launched as part of our Pedal for Paris event in summer 2024.