Rackets Cubed
Charity 1170744
Overview
Summary
Rackets Cubed appears to use racket sports as the entry point to a broader child-development model that combines learning, nutrition and trusted local support. Its role is therefore more distinctive than a sports-delivery charity: it links school-based enrichment with family-facing community infrastructure. The available evidence also suggests a developing national partnership model, though there is an important unresolved question about how its UK-wide and family-focused activity relates to its formal charitable remit for school-age young people in England.
Operational geography
Coverage: National
Operational areas:
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
Billesley
Confidence: medium
The latest filed annual report names both Billesley Primary School as a participating Midlands school and Billesley Tennis Centre as a Midlands host site. The evidence relates to the year ended 31 March 2025, rather than a published 2025/26 timetable.
- Rackets Cubed Annual Report 2025
The report lists Billesley Primary School among Midlands schools whose staff enabled students to take part, and Billesley Tennis Centre among Midlands host sites providing facilities, coaches and catering. - Birmingham City Council: Billesley Primary School directory record
Billesley Primary School is in Billesley ward. - Birmingham City Council: Billesley Indoor Tennis Centre directory record
Billesley Indoor Tennis Centre is in Billesley.
Brandwood and Kings Heath
Confidence: medium
The latest filed annual report identifies Wheelers Lane Primary School as a participating Midlands school. Birmingham City Council places the school in Brandwood & King's Heath ward. The report does not state whether delivery at this school continued after the year ended 31 March 2025.
- Rackets Cubed Annual Report 2025
The report lists Wheelers Lane Primary School among Midlands schools whose staff made it possible for students to take part in Rackets Cubed. - Birmingham City Council: Wheelers Lane Primary School directory record
Wheelers Lane Primary School is recorded in Brandwood & King's Heath ward.
Bournbrook and Selly Park
Confidence: medium
The latest filed annual report identifies Tiverton Academy as a participating Midlands school. Birmingham City Council records place it in Bournbrook & Selly Park ward. The available evidence does not confirm a current academic-year programme schedule.
- Rackets Cubed Annual Report 2025
The report lists Tiverton Academy among Midlands schools whose staff enabled students to participate in Rackets Cubed. - Birmingham City Council: Tiverton Academy directory record
Tiverton Academy is in Bournbrook & Selly Park ward.
Edgbaston
Confidence: medium
Rackets Cubed' latest filed annual report names the University of Birmingham as a Midlands host site. The university identifies its main campus as the Edgbaston campus; Birmingham City Council material identifies the University of Birmingham as located in Edgbaston ward. This supports use of the ward as a host-site location, although the report does not specify the precise university facilities or linked school programme.
- Rackets Cubed Annual Report 2025
The report lists the University of Birmingham among Midlands host sites that provide facilities, coaches and catering for Rackets Cubed programmes. - University of Birmingham: Getting to campus
The university identifies its main campus as the Edgbaston Campus. - Birmingham City Council: Edgbaston Ward Action Plan 2022-2026
The ward plan identifies the University of Birmingham as being in Edgbaston ward.
Remaining uncertainties
- The evidence establishes a Birmingham footprint through named schools and host sites, but does not provide a current 2025/26 programme timetable, frequency, participant numbers or confirmation that every listed site remains active after 31 March 2025.
- Rackets Cubed operates nationally; its Birmingham activity is evidenced across several separate south-Birmingham wards, not as a citywide service. There is no evidence that it delivers directly in all Birmingham wards.
- The annual report lists Midlands sites together, including sites outside Birmingham. The named Birmingham schools and host sites are therefore identified separately in the evidence.
- The available evidence does not establish a Birmingham Community Partnership Hub or social supermarket operated directly by Rackets Cubed. Its Community Box partnership has national reach, but Birmingham distribution locations are not specified in the current evidence.
- No Birmingham premises are evidenced as owned or permanently operated by Rackets Cubed; the model relies on partner schools, sports facilities and university host sites.
Additional evidence needed
- A current 2025/26 or 2026/27 programme list showing active Birmingham schools, host venues and delivery days.
- Confirmation from Rackets Cubed or its Birmingham partners of which school is linked to each host venue, including the University of Birmingham and Billesley Tennis Centre.
- Current information on whether Community Box distribution or Community Partnership Hub activity operates at any Birmingham school or community venue.
Areas of work
- Amateur Sport
- Education/training
- Other Charitable Purposes
Who they help
- Children/young People
How they help
- Provides Advocacy/advice/information
- Provides Services
- Sponsors Or Undertakes Research
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
Sport is a vehicle rather than the end product
The organisation appears to use racket sports to engage children in an integrated programme aimed at educational confidence, wellbeing, physical literacy and wider life skills.
Why it matters
This helps distinguish Rackets Cubed from organisations whose primary role is sports participation. Its potential contribution lies in joining educational, health and social-development goals within one recurring offer.
Show evidence
“Each school programme session includes a STEM lesson, a racket sport session and a nutritious meal.”
Source:Organisation“The charity's objects include developing young people's skills, capacities and capabilities and advancing education.”
Source:Charity Commission
The organisation bridges children’s provision and family support
Rackets Cubed appears to be extending its role beyond direct work with children by building community hubs that address food access, connection and navigation toward other services for local families.
Why it matters
This suggests the organisation may hold a valuable connecting role between schools, families and local support systems, rather than operating as a stand-alone extracurricular provider.
Show evidence
“Community Partnership Hubs provide food support, hot meals, drinks and guidance to connect people with additional local services.”
Source:Organisation“Community Box is delivered with The Elliot Foundation through partner primary schools across 18 sites and supports around 900 families every week.”
Source:Organisation
Its operational footprint may be broader than its formal remit
There is a possible tension between a legal focus on school-age young people living in England and organisational language describing UK-wide work and support for local families.
Why it matters
Clarifying this would improve understanding of who the organisation is accountable to serve, where it can operate, and whether family support is a means to improve outcomes for children or an objective in its own right.
Show evidence
“The charity's objects refer to young people of school age living in England.”
Source:Charity Commission“Rackets Cubed describes itself as a national charity working in the UK's most deprived communities.”
Source:Organisation
- Which communities and schools are prioritised, and how deprivation is assessed.
- Whether family support produces measurable benefits for participating children.
- How partnerships with schools, The Elliot Foundation and local services are governed.
Remaining uncertainties
- A current impact report with beneficiary numbers, locations, outcomes and retention data.
- A map of hubs and school partners, plus partnership agreements or referral pathways.
- The full governing document and an explanation of how family and UK-wide activity fits the charity's objects.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
Rackets Cubed is a national charity committed to transforming the lives of underserved young people in the UK's most deprived communities. Our goal is to empower children to overcome educational barriers, build academic confidence, and develop the resilience needed to thrive. We run Community Partnership Hubs offering integrated Rackets Sports, Tennis, Education (Maths) and Nutrition support.
Charity objects
TO ACT AS A RESOURCE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE OF SCHOOL AGE LIVING IN ENGLAND BY PROVIDING ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE AND ORGANISING PROGRAMMES OF PHYSICAL, EDUCATIONAL AND OTHER ACTIVITIES AS A MEANS OF ADVANCING IN LIFE AND HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE BY DEVELOPING THEIR SKILLS, CAPACITIES AND CAPABILITIES TO ENABLE THEM TO PARTICIPATE IN SOCIETY AS INDEPENDENT, MATURE AND RESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUALS AND ADVANCING EDUCATION.