The Active Birmingham network has recently recruited additional community organisations as part of its expansion plan to step forward in helping tackle one of the city’s biggest health challenges – physical inactivity.
These organisations are the new Active Birmingham ‘Champions’, and they are helping to shape the next phase of the Active Birmingham approach by working directly with local residents to understand barriers to being active and identify solutions that work for their communities.
Active Birmingham was established in 2022, building on the legacy of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Supported by investment for Commonwealth Active Communities, the approach has continued through a Memorandum of Understanding between Sport England and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).
Active Birmingham is delivered through a partnership of organisations including Sport Birmingham, Birmingham City Council, The Active Wellbeing Society, Public Health and StreetGames. Working towards a shared vision of making physical activity a normal part of everyday life for everyone in the city; we aim to connect the system, build capacity and reduce health inequalities.
Communities at the Centre
From the beginning, the approach has focused on working with organisations already rooted in their communities. Early ‘Anchor’ partners including Our Community Foundation, St Pauls Community Development Trust, Compass Support, Legacy West Midlands, and Sports Key have helped build the foundations for engagement and impact in neighbourhoods across the city.
Now, a new group of Active Birmingham Champions has joined the network to support the programme’s deepening into more communities. The network now covers 17 wards in Birmingham through the leadership of 14 champion and anchors.
The champions include:
MADE CIC, Foundations 4 the Future, Birmingham United Foundation, Sporting Your Futures, Impact 4 Life, Pitch 2 Progress, Aspire and Succeed, Saheli Hub, Together St Paul’s, Support Through Sport, Fitcap, Continental Stars, Spark Active and Inspire Hub.
Together, these organisations are leading conversations with residents, listening to local experiences and helping co-design solutions that make it easier for people to move more in their daily lives.
Listening, Learning and Co-Creating
The latest consultation phase of the programme focuses on co-production, ensuring that design, approach and solutions are shaped and driven by community insight; supported by system and place partners.
Using the National Evaluation and Learning Partnership (NELP) approach, the programme is gathering evidence about what works in different neighbourhoods and why. This helps partners understand how to address the root causes of inactivity and inequalities in access to sport and physical activity.
Through this collaborative approach, Active Birmingham and its growing network of anchors and champions are building a stronger, community-led movement for physical activity across the city.
As the programme continues to expand into new neighbourhoods, these local anchors and champions will remain at the heart of the work, ensuring Birmingham moves closer to a future where everyone has the opportunity to be active and healthy.
A learning exchange and networking event is planned in April which will be a great opportunity for partners to build upon recently gathered local insight, and to discuss the next stages of the Active Birmingham partnership. For more information about Active Birmingham you can visit our dedicated page here
To promote your activity, you can plug into the free Activity Finder platform here.