Birmingham City Council

This award is open to a single council or where appropriate a partnership of councils, or a council-owned company. Private sector partners can enter on a council’s behalf, with the permission of the council itself. Many councils are seeking to establish a new relationship with local people and local communities. Community involvement and engagement is increasingly important as a way of shaping council thinking, contributing to service design and improvement and to responding to continuing resource pressures. It may also involve direct community involvement in service delivery. This award is intended to showcase the whole range of community involvement.

Birmingham City Council committed to maximising the benefits of hosting the Commonwealth Games for all of our residents. We were acutely aware that the majority of official Games activity would be concentrated in the city centre and at Games venues. We also knew that residents in more deprived circumstances would not feel able to participate, viewing the Games as “not for us”. The Commonwealth Games Community Fund was created to bring the joy and connectivity of the Games to all areas of the city, providing free-to-access activity; designed, led and delivered by local people for their communities.