Entwining sport, culture, and community the Games will provide us a tremendous opportunity to accelerate and strengthen community cohesion and inclusion. We can also showcase Birmingham and the region’s distinctive talent.

As the Games for Everyone we would like our legacy on community cohesion, inclusion and pride to mean that the Games reaches into every area of the City and region and ensures we reach out to the people and places who could benefit the most. We want to enable local people and communities to participate in the Games in a way that builds cohesion, inclusion, and civic pride and uses the Games as a turning point in uniting the city’s population and tackling inequalities. This is an opportunity to give local organisations and people the platform and the skills to continue to improve the lives and prospects of communities and local people following the Games – helping to celebrate and safeguard what is important to them.

After a year of extraordinary isolation and hardship for many people we hope the Games can also bring relief, hope, and joy. It is a once in a generation chance to bring people together, to watch and be inspired by world-class sport, to celebrate our diversity and stand together with a great sense of pride as we welcome visitors from around the world.

For Communities

As proud host city, Birmingham City Council has created the £6 million Commonwealth Games Community Fund. The aim is to help local communities to be able to access, be connected to and be part of the Games. This is a chance for people to celebrate the Games their way and do something that they feel is important for their local area. Devised to be locally driven, designed and delivered the Community Fund has three funding pots, each seeking to maximise the benefit and legacy of hosting the Games and helping build pride, respect, and cohesion across the city.

A key part of this £6 million fund is the £2 million Celebrating Communities small grants fund (see below) will allocate funding across each of the 69 wards in the city to be spent by local people on local priorities.
Find out more on the Birmingham City Council website

United by Birmingham 2022 recognises and promotes exceptional community projects being delivered by community and grass-roots organisations. Over 50 projects have so far been welcomed into the United By family. A Community Engagement team at the Organising Committee (OC) is working to help more people and places around the West Midlands feel part of the Games experience.
Learn more about United by 2022

"Through the Games we can foster a culture of change in which we realise the collective potential of young people. Sport is a vital enabler in the empowerment and inspiration of young people, and the Games will reignite civic pride and municipal comradeship. This is a unique opportunity to rebuild back better for all of our communities, in a way that is constructive and effective. It is our once in a generation uniting cause to ensure long-standing empowerment and vitally, visibility". Chris Burden & Aisha Masood, Co-Chairs West Midlands Young Combined Authority

“The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will inspire a new era of opportunity in Birmingham for today and tomorrow. These Games will provide a platform to showcase the very best of the people who make our vibrant and brilliantly diverse city the beating heart of the UK. Celebrating Communities is one of the legacies that will strengthen connections between communities and generate a celebration of culture, sport and unity for all in our role as proud host city.” Craig Cooper, Commonwealth Games Programme Director, Birmingham City Council

For Individuals

Improving accessibility and removing barriers

Every activity in the legacy programme includes an element of low barrier/no barrier participation for local people to experience the event or the legacy benefits. We want this to be the most accessible Games ever. Games events like the Queen’s Baton Relay, the marathon, the cultural programme, community events and volunteering opportunities will help to do this. We have clear goals to reach particular people and places and an engagement plan for how to do that, for example considering venue accessibility and creating an accessible ticketing strategy.