BUILDING ALLIANCES AS THE SPORTS QUARTER BECKONS
Antony Isherwood, BCFC Foundation Director
Our football club was founded as Small Heath Alliance in 1875 by a group of likeminded people here in East Birmingham. For 170 years the Blues have been proud to be anchored in the community – built from the grassroots and always seeking to support local people and local institutions.
A lot has changed over those decades. The nature of communities is that they are ever evolving, and our responsibility as a football club, and the BCFC Foundation’s role alongside the club, is to ensure the gates of our stadium are a welcoming place for all.
That is what our work as the Foundation is rooted in: being good neighbours and partners of the communities that surround our club. To take just two examples, we’re working to support the personal development of young people at local schools, and have rolled out initiatives to help people with disabilities participate in various sports.
This is also the reason why we were so keen to host the second annual Ramadan Streets arts and food festival at St Andrews @ Knighthead Park, supporting the Birmingham-based partnership of Soul City Arts and the Halal Food Festival.
Over five days in early March nearly 18,000 people came through our gates. They included people of all faiths and none, local businesses, local councillors, artists, and many more.
Alongside the food stalls, the artisan crafters, and the amazing arts exhibitions, we met thousands of people from across the community. We used this opportunity to speak to them about the Sports Quarter: the new neighbourhood that will be the future of East Birmingham.
As more people learn about the £3bn investment that is coming, the thousands of jobs it will bring, and the vibrant spaces it will create for local people, we can sense the excitement building.
People talked to us about the transport improvements, the new leisure activities, the jobs, the opportunity for new business and innovation – and of course the football.
Most of all though, we were thrilled to see the sense that a brighter future is on the way for a part of the city, and the country, that for too long has not had the attention and the investment it deserves.
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