Council wins Peace and Sport Award for its role in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

Birmingham City Council’s role in the delivery of this year’s hugely-successful Commonwealth Games has been recognised with “Institution of the Year” status at the Peace and Sport Awards 2022.

At a ceremony last night (30 November), the council won the honour for its Be Bold Be Birmingham community engagement and legacy programme for the Games, the biggest event to be staged in the city’s history.

According to the organisers, the award is presented to reward a public body or sport institution that leads or supports a sustainable programme which contributes to the development of peace through sport.

Also competing in Birmingham’s category were the National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark as well as the World Karate Federation.

Peace for Sport organisers noted the council’s Be Bold Be Birmingham programme contributed to strengthening connections between different communities, and sustaining their involvement in the Games and beyond.

Through a £6million community fund, separate to the core Games budget, the council awarded more than 300 small grants to grassroots projects through Celebrating Communities – focused on enabling people to embrace Birmingham’s Proud Host City status in a range of ways including by improving physical and mental well-being and reducing loneliness and social isolation through sport.

In addition, the fund supported 106 projects through the Creative City programme, engaging under-represented communities in the city’s cultural activities, linking culture and sport in a range of new and exciting ways.

Commenting on the award win, Cllr Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council, said:

“We all remember with pride the way in which people enjoyed and celebrated the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in our fantastic city.

A global audience saw that we could host major events with a style and warmth that is second to none – but even more important was the way it brought people in all parts of the city together in a way we hadn’t seen before.

Through our engagement activity and our legacy fund, we have built a platform for our communities and neighbourhoods to look forward with optimism. This is a Golden Decade of Opportunity for the city, and it is a tribute to everyone involved with delivering our Proud Host City Games activity that we are now being recognised for our efforts through international awards.”

Joël Bouzou, President and Founder of Peace and Sport, added: “The Peace and Sport Awards 2022 Institution of the Year Award recognises Birmingham City Council for using sport to strengthen ties between communities from diverse ethnic backgrounds as part of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

“Through the 'Be Bold, Be Birmingham' initiative, Birmingham City Council has used sport to celebrate diversity. This is an admirable example of how major sporting events can leave lasting legacies oriented to social inclusion and living together.

“Congratulations to Cllr Ian Ward and to the Birmingham City Council teams for this great project!”