Commonwealth Games Bid 2022

Sitting at the heart of the UK, and standing for the diversity of the Commonwealth, Birmingham is well positioned to attract people to the Games and to ensure that the benefits of hosting extend from the city and the region, to the UK, to the Commonwealth. The advancement of the UK’s global role and the Commonwealth movement is integral to our vision is “Birmingham: heart of the UK, soul of the Commonwealth”.

Why can Birmingham host a successful Games?

Our approach to the bid

• Birmingham’s decision to host the Games has been measured and purposeful, based on a feasibility study that explored both how it will be delivered and why it would be beneficial
• We assessed how hosting the Games would accelerate the city’s existing development plans for homes, jobs, services and infrastructure and the type of places and environments we want to create
• We are clear that it needs to be a Games for our times

Our approach to venues

• We have adopted a prudent and innovative approach to minimise costs based on a compact Games
• Venues have been selected on the basis of two core strengths of Birmingham: the quantity of existing venues and their connectivity and accessibility
• Ninety five percent (95%) of venues are already in place and will be repurposed to accommodate the needs of sports, athletes and spectators

Our hosting experience

• Birmingham regularly hosts championships in many Commonwealth sports from athletics to basketball and badminton to gymnastics
• Birmingham has a track record of delivering large international sporting events, recently hosting: the ICC Champions Trophy and The Ashes at Edgbaston; Rugby World Cup fixtures at Villa Park; Diamond League athletics meetings at the Alexander Stadium; the Aegon Classic tennis championships at the Edgbaston Priory Club; the All England Open Badminton Championships; and the UCI BMX Championships

Birmingham as a destination

• The Games will strengthen perceptions of Birmingham as a destination to visit and enjoy sports and culture – Birmingham welcomed a record 39 million visitors in 2016, including 1.1 million international visitors
• Birmingham is an education destination with 50,000 students in five universities and the Games will increase consideration of the city for tertiary education from Commonwealth nations
• The additional profile that the Games offers will allow us to showcase our tourism offering and promote the many and varied reasons to visit the city

Birmingham is young, diverse and welcoming

• Birmingham represents Global Britain in the 21st century. It is young and diverse, with the highest proportion of under 15 year olds of any major city in Europe and highest proportion of under 20 year olds of any major city in the UK
• Birmingham is the most ethnically and culturally diverse major regional city in the UK, with a population made up over 187 different nationalities and with 314,000 (6%) of residents in the West Midlands born in a Commonwealth country
• Birmingham is in a privileged position to extend the hands of friendship, sporting competition, cultural understanding and business development to the 71 Commonwealth nations

Why are we bidding?

• Birmingham’s strategy is to champion ‘A city of growth where every child, citizen and place matters’.
• The city has focused on three drivers of change, all of which are encapsulated in our hosting plans:
  • being connected, to the city, within the city and digitally;
  • being inclusive with a strong focus on youth and diversity;
  • being sustainable in our planning for transportation, energy and infrastructure.
  • Our bid focuses on three legacy outcomes from the Games: better health and wellbeing; better prospects; and better lives
• Sport Birmingham’s ‘Investing in Active Lives’ has a clear objective: ‘Birmingham will be the city with the most improved levels of sport and physical activity participation in the country’ by ‘harnessing the power of sports and physical activity to improve lives across the city’.
• Birmingham’s bid has the full support of: Birmingham City Council; three regional local enterprise partnerships: Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP; Black Country LEP; Coventry and Warwickshire LEP; the West Midlands Combined Authority and the West Midlands Growth Company and the newly elected Mayor of West Midlands, Andy Street

How can you get involved? Call to action:

• Follow us on Twitter (@Birminghamcg22)
• Like us on Facebook (Birmingham2022)
• Join in the conversation (#BrumBid2022)