As the first anniversary of Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games approaches, the West Midlands Combined Authority has announced that funding has been approved for a host of projects to ensure that there is a lasting legacy to be felt in communities across the region.
The funding, worth £70 million, comes thanks to the fact that the organisation and delivery of the games last summer came in under budget. Due to this, the UK government has allowed the remaining funding to be reinvested into the West Midlands.
Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, said:
“I was always our intention that – beyond the summer of sporting spectacle – the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games would leave behind a lasting legacy by delivering a meaningful impact on the lives of local people right across our region for months and years to come.
“That’s why I’m delighted to see that vision now bearing fruit. As we approach the first anniversary of the games, we can now see how legacy funding will begin to be deployed across the West Midlands to change lives for the better. Whether it’s dance programmes or local youngster, enabling future mass volunteering efforts, protecting our natural environment, supporting job creation and much more besides, this funding will act as a catalyst for improving the health and wellbeing of our residents and overall quality of life here in the West Midlands.
“Reflecting now on the announcement that the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport made at the October 2022 Conservative Party conference in Birmingham that we would be able to retain more than £70 million from the Games budget underspend, I’m very glad that we pressed our case with Government and worked together to agree this funding package – clear eyed about the difference that money can and will make for generations to come.”
Projects being funded include:
- £13.7 million to support Birmingham as the host city of the European Athletics Championships in 2026, bolstering the region and the UK’s reputation for hosting major sporting events.
- £5.75 million for a jobs and skills programme that will help to deliver employment support projects, helping to implement the recommendations of the second West Midlands Mental Health Commission.
- £2 million to drive the region’s social economy, including one of the largest specialist business support programmes for new and existing social enterprises.
- £3.25 million to provide intensive support to high growth businesses and those in the manufacturing supply chain to create jobs and grow the economy as part of the region’s Plan for Growth.
- £4.1 million that will support the recovery of the region’s cultural, heritage and creative sector by commissioning creative projects and place-based activity in each of the seven WMCA constituent council areas and developing the first West Midlands-wide strategies to drive engagement, investment, and skills development.
- £2.5 million to kickstart the Global West Midlands programme, aiming to build on the profile that the games brought to the region, run by the West Midlands Growth Company.
Lucy Frazer, Culture Secretary, said:
“Last summer Birmingham hosted an unforgettable Commonwealth Games.
“Beyond the medals won, records broken and memories to last a lifetimes, we were determined to delvier a fantastic legacy - sporting, cultural and economic – for generations to come. At the heart of this plan was inspiring people to get into sport and physical activity, boosting job and volunteering opportunities, and creating a more sustainable region.
“The government’s decision to commit this £70 million funding to support fantastic projects across the region will ensure the Games’ legacy lives on in the West Midlands, maximising the potential of the local area and creating and supporting more opportunities for people to enjoy sport.”
Birmingham City Council Leader, Cllr John Cotton, said:
“This financial support for the hosting of the European Athletics Championships 2026 in Birmingham from the Commonwealth Games Legacy Enhancement Fund strengthens the long-lasting and wide-ranging legacy ambitions from the Games.
“Hosting major sporting events delivers positive, economic, physical health and environmental impact for our resident, businesses and regional economy beyond the programme of track and field activities.
“The UK has never hosted a European Athletics Championship and once again Birmingham is leading the way as a global sporting city, this prestigious mega event will provide another opportunity for Birmingham and the West Midlands to sine on the world stage and drive forward the region’s Plan for Growth.”
Image credit: iStock
