Celebrating Communities: £2million council fund set to be created to help people celebrate Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

A £2million fund to help residents in all 69 of the city’s wards feel involved with the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games is set for approval next week.

The Celebrating Communities Small Grants Funding Scheme, due before Cabinet members on December 15, is part of a wider £6million package assembled by the council to maximise the benefit and legacy of hosting the Games.

Grants will be available to run initiatives which deliver against one of three themes: ‘Getting Active’, ‘Ready, Steady, Fun’ and ‘Celebrating Culture’ - which are described as follows:

Getting Active – encouraging communities to get out and get active by participating in sports and recreational activities. The overriding aim should be to encourage residents, of all abilities and ages, to engage in physical activity and improve their health and wellbeing.

Ready, Steady, Fun – delivering community projects to ensure a local area is Games ready (e.g. by improving communal space, and hosting community celebrations to develop active citizenship and reduce loneliness and social isolation).

Celebrating Culture – developing community-led cultural events and initiatives that encourage intergenerational activities. Proposed schemes must harness the power of culture to bring people together, celebrate their identities, and the culture, heritage and stories of their communities.

The scheme, which will be run in two rounds from April 2021, will allocate funding across the city’s wards using a formula that takes into account local deprivation data and the size of the ward.

Wards with one councillor will receive between £11,100 and £17,500. Wards with two councillors will receive between £22,200 and £35,000.

Fuller details will be announced and widely publicised in due course with funding set to be available from April 2021, subject to the plan being approved by Cabinet.

Cllr Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games have been described as a Games for everyone – this fund is all about making that a reality.

“We want everyone in every ward of the city to come together and have a chance to embrace our status as a Proud Host City, and there are plenty of ways that this can be done by our communities.

“Sometimes these plans will require small amounts of money to make them happen. We hope this Celebrating Communities fund will help unlock some of the local ambition and help make the events of 2022 memorable for the people of Birmingham for many years to come and help them experience the benefits the Games will bring.”

Of the remaining £4million that forms the wider £6million set aside by the council to help communities embrace the Games, £2million has already been approved for the Creative Communities Small Grants Fund.

The final £2million will be targeted at supporting learning, equalities and physical activity and be the subject of a separate Cabinet report by the end of March 2021.

Background notes

As detailed in the Cabinet report that outlines the proposals, the Celebrating Communities fund is designed to:

• Support and engage Birmingham communities to feel part of the Games;
• Make sure engagement and participation opportunities are spread across the city, supporting our diverse communities, celebrating Birmingham and the Commonwealth;
• Deliver benefits for the city’s residents that align with ward priorities;
• Create feelings of connectivity, positivity and pride.