admin, Author at Millennium Point

Following the success of three previous #GirlTechWM events Millennium Point Trust, this year Ahead Partnership are delivering the experience for female students in year 8 and 9 in person at Millennium Point on Friday 29^th April 2022.

The day-long experience will see young people from across the West Midlands take part in interactive workshops, guest speeches and a hackathon, to meet and ask female role models in the tech industry their questions, as well as give them a hands-on experience of what working in this sector is all about. The even is free for schools to attend and businesses to get involved.

This year there will also be activities for young people (male and female) with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) after the event on 29^th April.

To find out more information on how you can get your school involved, find out more information here.

Who is Ahead Partnership?

For the last 15 years Ahead Partnership has been helping businesses of all sizes and sectors to deliver social value projects that overcome inequality, promote opportunity, and deliver positive change within society.

Ahead Partnership is a purpose-driven business that reinvests surpluses into its programmes. They believe that it takes the combined resources of business, public and community partners to build a successful and resilient society where everyone, regardless of their background, can flourish.

Why is #GirlTechWM important?

Having events like #GirlTechWM raise awareness of other careers that students might not have been aware of. Having proper representation and exposure makes a real difference and changes career aspirations.

Last #GirlTechWM events have showing excellent results in improving awareness. Ahead Partnership wrote how a past event encouraged a 155% increase. ‘Seeking to initiate real change, activity was targeted at Year 8 students and focused on reaching out to young people of typically underrepresented demographics in the sector before they make important decisions about their future pathways. Successfully raising awareness and promoting interest in technology careers, the event encouraged a 155% increase in the number of students that were now considering working in digital compared to before the event.’

How can your organisation get involved?

Your organisation can take part at no charge, and getting involved can help your organisation:

Reach young people with the latest information and inspiration on careers in tech and digital.
Promote your employer brand to the next generation of tech superstars.
Improve diversity and demonstrate your commitment to inclusion.
Encourage social mobility.
Provide meaningful volunteer opportunities for your team’s development and wellbeing.

There are a range of ways in which volunteers can get involved, from being a guest speaker or panellist through to joining us to create and deliver interactive workshops.

Email [email protected] to discuss how your organisation can get involved.

Want to book with Millennium Point?

For further information about the event, charity or venue please get in contact with our team.

We’ve launched our new and improved venue and catering brochures, brimming with all the right information you need to make your event first class. We review our collateral on a regular basis to ensure our multie-award winning event service remains current and competative. Read on for what’s new below, and get in touch with our team to see why you should make your next event a Millennium Point event.

All your event needs in one place!

Our new and improved venue brochure has all your event needs in one place. Learn about all 11 of our flexible event spaces, suitable for almost any event, from purpose built meeting suites to a newly upgraded giant screen Auditorium perfect for conferences right through to esports tournaments. The brochure gives you an overview of each space, their capabilities and special features. The brochure also includes new eye catching photography, giving you a real sense of what our award-winning venue is all about.

Want to get a first look? Click below to download your copy.

Check out our new sustainable catering menu

We are excited to launch our new catering menu, which is full of tasty choices perfect for your next event. Our mission is to make our catering options as sustainable as possible. Our newest menu is our most sustainable yet, with a higher range of veggie options and where possible we use locally sourced ingredients.

Click below to read our full catering menu.

Help support STEM in the region by booking with us

Help support STEM in the region and widen your CSR just by booking an event at Millennium Point. Commercial profits from our multi-award-winning events business and landmark public building go towards our charitable trust. The Millennium Point Charitable Trust reached a landmark £30m in STEM support to organisations across the West Midlands over the last seven years.

Millennium Point always has something going on!

Keep up to date with the latest Millennium Point news and events. We can’t wait to welcome you to our landmark building!

Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint. Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.

Here at Millennium Point we’re proud to call Eastside our home. Our corner of Birmingham city centre is bursting with activities, culture, and more.

Struggling for Easter plans? We’ve put together all the eggciting things Eastside has to offer over the bank holiday weekend from family activities to places to grab a refreshing pint.

For the family

Fancy going on a scientific journey of discovery? Plan a visit to the award-winning Thinktank Science Museum. Explore space by visiting the Planetarium, where the theatre is under a dome, specially designed to help you explore astronomy, space and the night sky. Have fun in MiniBrum, and don’t forget to head outside to the Science Garden, which is packed full of surprises and fun activities for the whole family. Visit their what’s on page to find out more about any special events they have planned this Easter weekend.

Eastside City Park opened in 2012. It was the first major, new city centre park in Birmingham for more than 130 years. With benches and picnic tables, it’s the perfect place to grab some food and have a picnic.

Fancy a drink?

There are some excellent choices of pubs in Eastside, whether you just want a pint, or some food there will be a space by the bar for you.

The Woodman is a lovingly restored Victorian pub at the heart of Birmingham’s Eastside Park. Pop in for some quality beer & hearty food in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, just 5 minutes from Birmingham’s main train and bus stations. They also have a great beer garden to enjoy the sun in, just don’t forget to say hello to the resident pub cat!

Another authentic Victorian pub on the other side of Eastside Park is The Eagle and Ball. Ran by BCUSU, but open to all, it’s a proper public house! There’s something for everyone to enjoy on their food and drinks menu and entertainment nights. Also, they sell the cheapest coffee on campus and have different deals every day. Every penny you spend also goes back into the Students’ Union at BCU. Although rumour has it, it’s a little haunted, it is still one to visit!

Looking for a pub in Birmingham where chilling out with friends and enjoying the good things in life like beer, burgers, and sport on TV are the order of the day? Well, The Gosta Green is the pub for you. The pub also has pool table, and a beer garden to hang out in. Keep an eye out for their legendary yearly Wrestlemania night which is definitely one to book Monday morning off for.

For the coffee connoisseurs

Millennium Point is the home of authentic Italian food experts based on level 2. Open from 8am – 5pm, Mulino is owned by the Brummie favourite Laghi’s Deli, so expect to find a tantalising selection of delicious pizzas, bakery items and more.

Keep up to date with Millennium Point’s Events

Although Gaia may be over, we’re starting to plan our next big event! Keep up to date with out What’s On. Whether our clients’ events, or our own, there’s always something going on at Millennium Point.

If you’re visiting out landmark public building over the holidays, don’t forget to share your experience on social media and tag @millenniumpoint on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

One of the biggest kilo sales in Birmingham is back again at Millennium Point. Visit and shop tonnes of sustainable, vintage, retro, and branded fashion for just £20 per kilo.

That’s not all, between 3-4pm the price per kilo will drop to £15, and by then it’s free entry – bargain! Your ticket is valid throughout the day, and fresh stock will be added at regular intervals. That means you can take a break and recharge at Mulino Café on level 2 of Millennium Point, before hunting for your next favourite outfit.

Get stuck in and have a good rummage!

This is a rummage event which means each rail is divided into product type categories, like shirts or sweatshirts, jackets, or T’s. Just get stuck in and see what you can find.

As the items are pre-loved and Kilo Birmingham try to keep the stock price as low as they can. So, you may find the odd snag or a missing button, our advice? Get stuck in, save money and repair!

You can also pre-buy vouchers and gift vouchers for the event, we can’t think of a better gift for a vintage fashionista. Kilo Birmingham will also accept cash, card, Apple pay, and Google pay.

Why buy second hand?

At Kilo, they believe that style is eternal, and your clothes should be too. By shopping from the past, we can be kind to the future and help to reduce fashion’s impact on the planet. Each year, 350,000 tonnes of clothing go to the landfill in the UK. There’s so much amazing fashion already in existence, so let’s make use of what we’ve got and shop second hand.

How Millennium Point is becoming more sustainable

As a multi-award-winning landmark building, it is vital to do our part to aim to be as sustainable as possible. As times have changed, Millennium Point have adapted to try and become greener to protect our planet and promote the importance of sustainability.

A range of processes have been put in place to ensure we aren’t wasteful or adding to our carbon footprint. We have energy management and the journey to net zero carbon at the heart of all our decisions. We try not to create waste but when we do, we segregate and recycle as much as we can. Lastly, for our events we encourage staff, tenants, and visitors to make green travel choices where they can.

Can’t make Birmingham Kilo? You can still discover your new style and buy online

Shopping sustainably has never been easier, Kilo also has the option to buy a mystery kilo of clothing, how exciting! Choose from a range of branded t’s, denim shirts, jeans, and skirts all for £20 a kilo or below.

Or visit their website and find out when your next Kilo event is happening, their team are always buying fresh stock so you will always be spoilt for choice at their events.

Millennium Point always has something going on!

Keep up to date with the latest Millennium Point news and events. We can’t wait to welcome you to our landmark building!

At the reception desk in our landmark building, stands a nicely decorated bucket. The contents, just empty pens, but what happens to those pens is raising money that will then be donated to NSPCC and Childline.

By dropping off your empty pens, they can then be recycled for money, which can then go towards the fantastic work the charities do. The Bee Happy Campaign was started by two children, they are leading the way to sustainability and charity giving, and they started it all from their home.

The pen collection bucket is sat on reception at Millennium Point, if you have any empty pens don’t forget to bring them in and help make a change.

About ‘The Children’s BEE Happy Campaign’

Bazzie and Joshua, aged 7 & 5, won Morrisons Sheldon’s Little Sunshine award in 2020. But they didn’t stop there, they are now launching a campaign to collect and recycle pens and writing materials. The inspiring duo wanted to avoid them going into landfill and help the planet by periodically collecting them up from schools, businesses, and community. The pens are then collected and taken to Mel who is Morrison’s Community Champion who will then recycle them, and the money raised from doing this will go to NSPCC and Childline.

Every bucket will have Childline’s helpline number and designed by Bazzie and Joshua with facts about what animals have taught humans and what we can do to be kind to our planet.

They aim between January and June 2022 to get 102 buckets out collecting pens. The reason behind the number is in memory of Captain Tom who inspired them to start fundraising.

The boys campaign statement says ‘We hope you can support us by putting your pens in the buckets we put out, having a bucket or two off us or sponsoring us to get 102 buckets permanent homes in our communities and spreading the word together we can help our planet and vulnerable children too.

‘Our dot-to-dot smiley face will be on every bucket as it’s become our symbol of encouraging everyone to work together and join up the dots that way, we believe everyone can all ‘Bee Happy’ now and in the future’.

As an award-winning-charity, Millennium Point were happy to get involved

After hearing about why Bazzie and Joshua were collecting pens, we were eager to start collecting pens for them. Last month, we got to meet Bazzie, and after talking about the importance of recycling and helping charity, we were then left with the very hard decision of picking which designed bucket that would take residency in our reception area.

In fact, we even took two buckets, one for reception, the other now sits in Millennium Point’s office… we better start collecting!

Keep an eye out for the collection bucket on your next visit to Millennium Point, don’t forget to bring your empty pens too, together we can become more sustainable, while giving to charity in the process.

Want to learn more about Millennium Point?

Keep up to date the latest on our work through our blogs and charity section on our website.

We’ve put our staff’s wellbeing first by completing the Thrive at Work, Workplace Wellbeing Foundation Award.

Receiving the accreditation shows that we are committed to improving health and wellbeing of team members by successfully completing the fundamentals of the award.

What is Thrive at Work?

Thrive at Work is a workplace wellbeing award programme that is helping workplaces around the Midlands to focus on health and wellbeing at work. Employers that gain accreditation to Thrive at Work, are recognised as being committed to excellence in employee mental health and wellbeing. The Thrive at Work is a standard of good practice and a quality mark of health and wellbeing in work.

Only the beginning

Our organisation will continue to build on the wellbeing of staff. The Thrive team are already working on the bronze accreditation, with aims to have it completed in July.

Vanessa Currie, Head of People, Learning, and Development said ‘I’m proud we have completed the foundation level of the West Midlands Combined Authority ‘Thrive at Work’ programme and received accreditation for our work.

‘We will continue to focus on the health and wellbeing of all our team. It is really positive to see that everyone is taking part in our health and wellbeing initiatives and making use of the variety of health benefits that we offer.’

Along with the accreditation, Millennium Point will soon also be found on the Accredited Employers webpage on the West Midlands Combined Authority website. Gaining accreditation to Thrive at Work makes you part of a network of employers committed to excellence in employee mental health and wellbeing.

Keep up to date with Millennium Point

At our multi-award-winning landmark building, there is always something going on! Keep up to date with our latest news in our blog section here.

YOU WM are bringing together leaders of the Birmingham Communities for a launch of you WM on Monday 4^th April at Millennium Point from 18:00 – 19:30 to meet and talk to leaders and young people from the YOU WM organisations and to hear more about YOU WM.

The event is based on the successful YOU London which has been running for some years.

Registration is free and can be booked via Eventbrite here.

About YOU WM – Bringing leaders and young people together

YOU WM is a new collaboration of the 11 Youth organisations in uniform in the urban West Midlands, youth organisations involved include Army Cadets; Boys’ Brigade, Combines Cadet Forces, Fire Cadets, Girl Guiding, Girls Brigade, RAF Air Cadets, Sea Cadets, Scouts, St John’s Ambulance, and the Volunteer Police Cadets.

The development of YOU WM has been led by the WM Lieutenancy with support from West Midlands RFCA and leaders of the eleven organisations and is based on the successful YOU London.

They will be bringing together leaders from Birmingham for a launch of YOU WM to meet and talk to leaders and young people from the YOU WM organisations and hear more about YOU WM. The Lord Lieutenant of West Midlands, Mr John Crabtree OBE will be in attendance.

An impactful event for young people

YOU WM will support the eleven organisations by adding value in four ways –

By providing a high-quality web portal providing easily accessible information to young people, their parents, and carers on what is available to them locally.
By helping to build capacity through advice to attract and develop adult volunteers so the eleven organisations can grow and help even more youngsters.
By supporting collaboration between the eleven for mutual benefit. Including sharing of ideas, facilities, competitions, training, and promotional events.
By advocacy to raise awareness with our civic, business, faith, and community leaders of the benefit of membership of uniformed youth organisations to the youngster and the community.

Why have a YOU WM?

There is considerable evidence that participation by a young person in a uniformed youth organisation can play a major, and sometimes a life-changing, part in the development of the skills and confidence needed to fulfil their potential and to enable them to play an active role as a citizen in our communities. Currently some 20,000 young people are involved in the urban West Midlands. Many more could benefit, if they knew the benefits and what was available local to them and if there were sufficient adult volunteers to achieve expansion.

Join YOU WM at Millennium Point and get involved

The free event is still available for registration through Eventbrite, join us to learn, grow and inspire.

Landmark Building

Want to book an event space with Millennium Point?

The multi-award-winning Millennium Point has 17 versatile event spaces to choose from and an excellent events team to help you with your event.

All profits made from commercial activities that take place at the landmark building are donated by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust to invest in STEM projects and organisations to help Birmingham and the wider regions. Yearly we invest more than £4.8 million back into the region.

For further information about the event, charity, or venue you can get in contact with our team.

There is just under one month left to see the earth in a free exhibition at Millennium Point. To celebrate a fantastic first month, Millennium Point’s CEO Abbie Vlahakis caught up with the Artist behind Gaia, Luke Jerram to chat more about the piece and his inspirations behind it.

Gaia will be at Millennium Point until the 28^th March. The free to attend event requires no booking and is open everyday to the public until 11pm. Hundreds of people from across Birmingham and the wider region have marvelled at the breath-taking earth artwork, which combines NASA satellite imagery with an awe-inspiring soundtrack to invoke a sense of profound love for the earth.

‘A long-term relationship with Millennium Point’

This isn’t the first time Luke Jerram’s work has visited Millennium Point – in 2005 120 guests packed into Thinktank Science Museum for a mass experimental concert that lasted throughout the night. Then again in 2017, Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon visited Thinktank which was accompanied by a musical composition created award-winning composer Dan Jones.

Gaia and Millennium Point

We wanted everyone to have a memorable time at Millennium Point during Gaia. That’s why, along with the breath-taking Gaia, we unveiled an exciting events programme.

We had date night sorted with a special Valentine’s screening of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet with prosecco. Guests enjoyed their drinks while gazing at Gaia before their film started.

There was plenty of fun for families too, with a series of special film screenings during February half-term. On Friday 25^th February, we got ready to go ‘under the sea’ and enjoyed Disney classic The Little Mermaid on the big screen. And on Saturday 26^th February, youngsters watched an adventure of a lifetime with a screening of fan favourite Moana.

Moana film screening

The fun didn’t stop there, throughout half-term, Millennium Point, in partnership with Thinktank Science Museum ran a series of interactive drop-in sessions for families and children, hosted under Gaia. From fun-filled experiments and activities to demonstrations and performances, the programme highlighted the fascinating world of environmental science and the actions we can all take to help protect the planet.

For a quiet getaway, Maria Widdows guided yoga sessions under Gaia. We joined her as she led a grounding, balancing yoga practice. The sessions were enjoyed were enjoyed by yoga enthusiasts as well as newbies to the practice.

And lastly, on coming up on Saturday 19^th March, visitors can see the world in a whole new light, as they enjoy Silent Disco under Gaia. Millennium Point have teamed up with silent disco experts Silent Noize, to give visitors the best night of music from rock, indie, and power ballads to RnB, hip-hop and old skool classics.

An unimaginable view amongst the stars, all from the comfort of Earth

Gaia will be at Millennium Point until 28^th March for all to see. It’s free to attend, with no booking necessary. Plan your visit now and don’t miss out, we can’t wait to see you!

Millennium Point wins Excellence in Third Sector award at 2022 Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Awards.

On Friday 4^th March the Great Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Awards was held in the iconic ICC building in Birmingham. The evening consisted of an array of inspirational speeches, delectable food, and the much-anticipated awards.

Fundraising took place throughout the evening for PANS PANDAS UK – an important charity established in 2018 by a dedicated group of parents which aims to raise awareness and make a difference to children affected by PANS and PANDAS.

Nominated alongside fantastic charities, all with the aim of making a difference

Organisations nominated for Excellence in Third Sector alongside the Millennium Point Charitable Trust were –

Acorns children’s Hospice, Burton Upon Trent & District YMCA, Cancer Research UK, Fareshare Midlands, Living Well UK, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS + Your Trust Charity.

It was a honour to be nominated amongst friends and impactful charities that have all strived to make a difference throughout this year and last.

From Scholarships to Grants to Community Outreach, we are proud of what we have achieved

Over the past 12 months, our organisation has used sound strategy and affirmative action to remain resolute in the face of ongoing tumultuous economic, social, and political landscape. Driven by our passionate and highly skilled team, we have protected our commercial assets which, in turn, has allowed us to continue to make a sizeable impact on STEM education for young people.

Landmark £30m in impact to STEM in the West Midlands

The Millennium Point Charitable Trust has announced it has reached a landmark £30m in STEM support to organisations across the West Midlands over the last seven years. We achieved this through projects, events, and initiatives as well as discounts to STEM tenants and rents.

Millennium Point Trust Scholarship

Each year we work with five young people over the age of 17 over five months as part of our scholarship competition which awards a fully funded degree at Birmingham City University. To date we have been able to provide over £83,000 to students in Scholarship funding.

Grant Funding

We have funded over 100 projects across schools and not for profits since 2019. This has resulted in hundreds of young people across the region becoming more engaged in STEM education.

Over the past five years, the Millennium Point Charitable Trust has awarded over £2 million to charities, not-for-profits, community groups and schools to further STEM education. Millennium Point Charitable Trust has previously seen the rewarding outcome of past projects such as the science area at Ark Tindal Primary and Sensational Science at Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The latest round of funding in 2021 saw a wide range of successful applications – from a proposal to build a fully operational light aircraft, STEM training toolkits for schools and a car engineering workshop for girls.

STEM Roundtable

In 2020, our CEO founded and now orchestrates the Millennium Point STEM Roundtable – a task force comprised of over 20 senior business leaders, academics, and educators from across local STEM industries. The purpose of this group is to facilitate discussion across education and industry and has yield four projects which are due to be delivered in 2022/23.

Community Outreach and Venue Support

For Christmas 2021, we provided festive activities at Millennium Point for 400 pupils across 4 schools in low-income areas. This included a screening of The Polar Express; a Santa meet and greet and an educational gift for every child.

As a venue we also get to host other charities events that help change lives. In December 2021, the St Basils BIG Sleepout took place outside Millennium Point. Members of our team also took part to show support for the fantastic charity and our team managed to raise over £1,800.

Want to learn more about Millennium Point Charitable Trust?

Keep up to date the latest on our charity work through our blogs and charity section on our website.

Deadline for the Scholarship is drawing near, with just 48 hours to go now is the time to submit your application.

In partnership with Birmingham City University, each year Millennium Point Trust fund an undergraduate degree at BCU. There are over 20 courses to choose from in industries for Built Environment, Computing, Digital Technology and Engineering. The deadline is in just under 28 hours at 5pm Friday 11^th March 2022, and can be done via your computer, laptop, tablet and mobile.

You can apply all online on our website here.

Applying is quick, easy and all online

You can easily apply for a Scholarship on our website, through your phone, tablet, or computer. The competition is open to applicants aged 17 and over within the West Midlands Combined Authority, who are looking to start a qualifying degree in September 2022.

Read the application from carefully and start to answer each question. Think about why you want to study your chosen degree and what you want to do in the future. Also discuss any personal attributes and skills that could help you be the next winner of the Scholarship.

It’s a two-stage application, with the final stage being an assessment day. If you make it to the final, you will be invited to participate in developmental workshops that will focus on supporting our personal development and professionalism in both interview and presentation skills.

Last year’s winner Asima

The 37-year-old mum of five was studying Social Science and Humanities at Dudley College, before she secured the scholarship in aims to study planning.

All the finalists attended an assessment day at Millennium Point, where they each presented to a panel of five judges, Asima impressed the panel and was selected as the lucky winner of the Scholarship, which has already helped launch the careers of six outstanding STEM students.

Asima said ‘The Scholarship application was very simple, easy, and quick. The judges were a delight to present in front of, they made me feel so comfortable and relaxed and there is so much you can learn from them. I enjoyed the training and all the help provided prior to the presentation, it was very valuable and enjoyable experience. I also loved the interaction I got from the judges.’

Need any help finishing your application?

We want everyone to have the best chance of success when applying for our Scholarship scheme, and sometimes bigging yourself up can be a little daunting. That’s why we have created a helpful guide to aid you through your application. Keep an eye out on our social media for any new blogs, videos or resources that can help further.

You can always contact our friendly Trust team for any other enquiries you may have.

Deadline is fast approaching, apply today and see what you can achieve

The Millennium Point Trust Scholarship has kickstarted the career for 7 outstanding students already. By applying you could be in a chance to win a fully funded degree. So you won’t have to worry about paying back any fees.

The application deadline is fast approaching, closing on Friday 11^th March, apply on our website today.

Why do we do this?

At Millennium Point we believe that STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is important for the future of the region. Now, more than ever young people need our support and encouragement for them to unlock their potential. The scholarship is just one of the ways we can provide support to help them achieve their goals.