United by 2022 Charity

United by 2022 Charity, founded in March 2021 as a legacy of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, drives enduring social impact in the West Midlands by transforming Games venues into community hubs and sustaining momentum in volunteering, civic pride, and inclusive growth. Its mission emphasizes fairness, inclusivity, and practical support for local challenges, connecting businesses, charities, and communities to champion youth, marginalized groups, people with disabilities, and the third sector through grants, free training, mentoring, and its Skilled Volunteer platform, which has aided over 500 organizations with bid writing, governance, and budgeting.

The charity prioritizes community development, children and young people, third sector resilience, and initiatives like youth volunteering (Gen22), disability inclusion (Critical Mass), school engagement (Bring the Power), and volunteering networks (Volunteers Collective). Funding supports projects in physical activity/sport, mental health/wellbeing, and arts/culture/creativity, including revenue for activities/services, capital for small works/refurbishments up to £100,000, and capacity building; it extends twelve Games-linked legacies and five trailblazer programs.

Eligible applicants include UK-registered charities and community groups of all sizes (no income thresholds) delivering in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands—projects outside this area are ineligible. Unsolicited applications are accepted online via the Heart of England Community Foundation portal, addressing core themes with full project details and budgets; no expression of interest needed. Typical grants range £15,000–£75,000 (small up to £15k, medium £15k–£75k, large £75k–£300k), with deadlines per stream (next: 4 January 2024 for Small Works/Refurbishment and Large Grants; notifications in 8–12 weeks). Distinctively, it avoids unrestricted core funding, leverages public-private-third sector partnerships, and aligns with regional priorities via government-backed income, differentiating it as a Games-legacy catalyst for collaborative, volunteer-driven change.