SPECIAL REPORT: THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE POWER OF SPORT
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE 2022 COMMONWEALTH GAMES IN BIRMINGHAM WITH THE UK SPORTS MINISTER Sport has the power to change people’s lives. It has the power to have a unique, positive impact on communities and the power to unite people with shared magical moments that live long in the memory. And it is that power we aim to harness once more at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Our venues are complete, the stage is set and soon over 4,500 athletes from across the Commonwealth will make their way to the UK for an incredible 11 days of sport. Backed by over £778 million of public funding, Birmingham 2022 represents the biggest investment in a sporting event in the UK since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is already playing a vital role in helping us level up the West Midlands and it will bring the UK and the Commonwealth together this summer. In the UK we are incredibly proud of our track record of hosting major sporting events in recent years. From two fantastic past Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 and Glasgow in 2014 to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and global sporting events in football, athletics, rugby and cricket. Each of these events touched people’s lives, brought strong legacies for communities and showed the world the very best of Britain. We support these events because we passionately believe in the transformative impact on major sporting events of the places and communities that host them. We saw it with Manchester in 2002, London in 2012, and we’ll see it again with Birmingham in 2022. Since being appointed as the UK Sports Minister in 2020, I’ve made it a mission to support Birmingham in its ambition to deliver the ‘Games for everyone’. I want the profile of these Games and the legacy they will build to be felt for generations to come. We’ve invested almost £600 million from central government, with further support from public funders such as Sport England, which is providing £35 million to give people greater opportunities to get active. We want every person, no matter what their background or where they’re from, to have the chance to access the benefits of sport and physical activity. These Commonwealth Games are made by Birmingham for the world. Home to over 180 nationalities, and sitting at the heart of the UK, Birmingham is a symbol of Commonwealth connectivity. This is a wonderful opportunity to champion the rich cultural heritage of the
West Midlands to a global audience of 1.5 billion people and show why it is such a fantastic place to live, work, visit and invest in. A £24 million economic legacy programme - supported by funding from central and local government - is demonstrating the vast economic potential here on our shores, and leveraging the profile of this landmark international event to drive inbound tourism, trade and inward investment. The first of its kind to be attached to a Commonwealth Games, we want everyone to benefit from this ambitious programme, at home and overseas. Steeped in history of innovation and entrepreneurship, the West Midlands stands as a proud gateway to some of the world’s major trading hubs this year and we’re delighted to be demonstrating the powerful bilateral advantage that unifies so many Commonwealth markets, from Canada to Singapore and Australia to India. We’ll take this one step further this summer as the business and tourism programme’s centrepiece, a nine-day, international trade and investment summit comes to Birmingham, alongside the next installment of the Commonwealth Business Forum. And we extend the invitation to you all as we invite international investors and policy makers to join us to deepen economic relationships across eight areas of strategic importance for the country and the Commonwealth, from digital infrastructure to sustainable development. And to ensure those economic benefits are felt at home, the Games have made £350 million of contracts available to British-backed companies, with over 75% going to regional firms. It’s a huge economic legacy that will support an estimated 35,000 jobs and apprenticeship placements and 14,000 volunteering positions as we level up access to skills and opportunities right across the West Midlands and the UK. Since October last year, the Queen’s Baton Relay has been touring through 72 nations and territories, bringing communities together and reflecting the West Midlands’ rich Commonwealth heritage back to the world. From trips to some of the world’s great cities to visits to the world’s smallest islands, this epic Relay has celebrated the deep bonds of friendship that our nations share. Starting off last October, this Relay has been like no other, travelling round the world in the midst of a global pandemic. And the whole team at Birmingham, the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Associations overseas have engineered a
Hon. Nigel Huddleston, MP
is the UK Member of Parliament for Mid Worcestershire, and has been an MP continuously since 7 May 2015. He currently holds the UK Government post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) and is the UK Minister for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society. He was previously a local councillor and worked in the technology and travel industries.
118 | The Parliamentarian | 2022: Issue Two | 100 years of publishing