£2m drive to help Birmingham residents embrace 2022 Games

Birmingham City Council is ready to splash the cash to get local residents interested in next year 's Commonwealth Games.

The council is offering £2 million to residents in its 69 wards, under its 'Celebrating Communities Small Grants Funding Scheme ', so that people 'feel involved ' with the event.

The grants will be available for various initiatives, 'Get Active ', 'Ready, Steady, Fun ' and 'Celebrating Culture '.

The first is about ideas for encouraging people to get active by participating in sports and recreational activities.

'Ready, Steady, Fun ' is about projects to ensure a local area is 'Games ready ', which can range from making improvements to communal space to hosting celebrations to 'connect people and foster civic pride '.

'Celebrating Culture ' is about coming up with initiatives that encourage intergenerational activities.

The council said: “Proposed schemes should harness the power of culture to bring people together, celebrate their identities, Birmingham 's place in the Commonwealth and the culture, heritage and stories of their communities. ”

Council leader Ian Ward said: “We're determined that the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will be a Games for everyone, bringing people and communities across the city together.

“Of course, not every district and neighbourhood will have a venue for the main competition, but through this fund residents and community groups can play a big part in a city-wide celebration.

“We want everyone to embrace our status as a proud host city and, thanks to this funding, there are lots of ways for communities to get involved. We hope Celebrating Communities will help unlock some of the local excitement and help make the events of 2022 memorable for the people of Birmingham. ”

The deadline for the first round of applications is 1 June 2021. Voting will take place to select the successful bids between July and September, with projects commencing in October.

An application process for round two will then get underway with projects being selected and going live in early 2022.