This week, Birmingham City Council (BCC) announced it is supporting residents by matching funding for community crowdfunded projects through crowdfunding platform, Crowdfunder UK. The funding portal revealed BCC’s Public Health Department will be supporting residents who wish to “take action now” towards health issues (such as obesity) with a £140,000 fund.
Adrian Phillips, Birmingham’s Director of Public Health, stated:
“There is no single solution to tackling health issues amongst young people, however we believe that some of the best ideas exist at grassroots level, with people who live and work with them – we want to engage community support and help make some of those ideas happen. Life expectancy in Birmingham falls below the national average, with males peaking at 77.6 years (79.4 years England average) and females at 82.2 years (83.1 years England average). Physical health, mental health, wellbeing and fitness are not isolated problems to Birmingham – in fact, this is a global crisis. By empowering the community to crowdfund for grassroots projects, and pledging that the council will match their fees raised, we are putting those directly affected back in the driving seat to improve the current situation for Birmingham’s young people.”
Projects eligible for the funds include those looking to help improve young adults’ health and well-being and must set up on Crowdfunder to qualify. Phillips also shared:
“The health of our residents is a top priority for the Council. The people of Birmingham have the passion, time and dedication to run projects that tackle of the issue and can develop innovative plans to help educate and aid young people to. We have discovered that crowdfunding is a great way to encourage local people to improve health, and to have fun whilst doing so. Our aim is to add gravitas and additional funds to these projects which will make a difference to this issue in the local community.”
Dawn Bebe, Director and Co-Founder of Crowdfunder added:
“Crowdfund Birmingham gives residents the opportunity to support the projects that are close to their heart. By showing their support for specific projects, residents can send a signal to Birmingham City Council about which projects they think should receive funding. We are delighted to work closely with Adrian and his team on creating a sustainable programme to help improve Birmingham’s youth health crisis.”
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