40 organisations.
150 people.
1 Marketplace.
100s of new connections made.

On a cold but beautiful sunny Tuesday morning at Highfield Hall in Hall Green, the Public Participation Team held their first Marketplace event which brought all of these people together and made these new connections possible.

The aim of the event was to share information with local people, with local organisations, in a local venue which they might not have been aware of. We wanted to go where people are and not ask people to come to us as we might have done in the past. The hosts of Highfield Hall were incredibly generous in providing their venue and hospitality at no cost to us. This was only possible through the relationship we had built with this organisation, and others, through our work on Shaping Birmingham’s Future Together over the past six months.

And this marketplace event is very much work done in that spirit. That is, the Council using our convening power as a leader of place to bring people and different organisations together. It was great to see how all the organisations who attended made so many useful connections and really took the opportunity to network with others who they hadn’t met before, this was in addition to how useful it was for the people attending. 

Collaboration and connection were cornerstones of the entire morning

From Cllr Suleman opening this event to Cllr Khan closing it, the day rushed past us but in a good way. There was such a buzz in the building, and people literally queuing out the door to get in. It was a tremendous day and so great to see so many BCC colleagues join us to make it such a success, and special tribute to the Public Participation Team for all their incredible work here.

But it’s not just me who thinks this as we are already receiving some fantastic feedback, including from Moseley Day Centre who attended with a group of citizens with Learning Disabilities.  They were delighted how we supported and made all of them feel included.

Their manager told us:

“A huge thank you from everyone at Moseley Day Centre to the SBFT team for a truly fantastic event today! We were delighted to see so many organizations represented and learn about the incredible work they do. We've discovered many promising opportunities for our citizens that we're eager to explore. Moseley Day Centre is always happy to be involved in these events and we look forward to working with your teams again in the future.”

This was the first of 11 events we have organised, and it would be great if you can spread the word about this work or potentially join us at our other events.

Shaping Birmingham’s Future Together is more than a slogan.

It’s a different way of working.

And this first marketplace event reaffirmed the value, the need, and the amazing possibility of this on a cold, but beautiful sunny morning in Hall Green.