At Millennium Point we believe that STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is instrumental to the future. “STEM” accounts for a large breadth of industries in the UK and is one of the key factors to economic growth and prosperity. For example, the construction industry contributes £90bn alone.
Outside of economy, STEM provides vital services and mechanisms which improve quality of life, improve sustainability by shrinking human environmental impact, and provide innovations that help us flourish as a species.
However, these advances are being stifled by numerable issues plaguing STEM industries – chiefly of those in a STEM skills shortage, and STEM education poverty which is having a serious impact on young people, their futures, and the future of the UK as a whole.
Read more below as we look more into the impact of STEM education, and five reasons why investing in it creates the foundations for success for young people’s futures.
Better Education around STEM opportunities increases ambitions for young people
An impact report from STEM Learning surveyed (what age group or key stage level were they?) on their aspirations. Before ambassadors visited, 80% of the young people wanted to be YouTubers, Vets, Footballers, or Gamers. STEM Ambassadors then showed them bigger global projects and found they then wanted to pursue a wider breadth of careers in STEM.
Many commented that they suddenly had their horizons broadened and started to consider different careers in STEM.
STEM Education + STEM Industries = Economic Growth
The Royal Academy of Engineering found that engineering alone accounts for 25% of gross value added for the UK economy. It goes on to say manufactured goods account for 50% of UK exports. In whole STEM underpins the whole economy.
STEM industries are rapidly expanding and with that comes the need for more skilled workers. Currently there is a skills gap costing the UK economy £1.5bn. Investment in STEM education and support for pathways will increase appetite in STEM industries – providing more skilled workers to fulfil the jobs required to reduce this deficit.
Better Education will reduce the STEM gender gap
According to WISE, a mere 24% of the current STEM workforce are women. Additionally, only 8% of women progress to a level 4+ STEM qualification. This means there is a huge pool of potential talent which is currently being overlooked.
More investment in STEM education will reduce the gender gap and go a long way to shrinking the STEM skills shortage in the UK.
Girls Who Code is an international non-profit organisation working to close the gender gap in technology by teaching girls computer science, bravery, and sisterhood. Alumni are choosing to major in computer science or related fields at a rate 15 times the national average. Their research shows if they continue, they can close the gender gap in in new entry-level tech jobs by 2030.
More diversity, more people, more innovation
It has often been pointed out that there is a strong correlation between diversity and innovation.
According to STEMWomen, research has proved that when underrepresented groups have access to inspiring role models, they are more likely to feel like they belong.
In an article published by The Royal Society, a study found that only 18.7% of academic staff in STEM were from ethnic minority groups, with only 1.7% being black.
More diversity can be achieved by improving STEM education to underprivileged and underrepresented groups. This not only encourages more welcoming conditions for these groups but will start a chain reaction for attracting future talent, by creating role models out of those who have achieved before them.
Similarly, to the gender gap, this will bring a wider talent pool to STEM industries – and an exponential increase in chances for innovation.
Accessible education, expanding possibilities
Education Hub made the point of in the past that STEM subjects have been harder for children and young people to access, particularly among girls, minority ethnic groups and students from low-income and disadvantages backgrounds.
However, it looks to be changing as between 2010 and 2020, the number of women accepted into full-time STEM undergraduate courses increased by 49%. The rate also increased for 18-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds by 79%. The results suggest that young people are benefiting from increased support in these subjects, with potential barriers to access based on gender, race, or class gradually being lifted.
More investment in STEM education will go a long way to continuing this positive trend.
How the Millennium Point Trust STEM Grants has helped education
Since 2018, the Millennium Point Trust STEM Grants has provided over 120 projects with funding. From Lego cars to a night under the stars, we have seen some amazing things achieved with STEM.
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. The 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
The next round of applications for the 2022 grant are now open and close at 5pm on Friday 17th December 2021, to apply just simply download the application form from the website.
With awareness on the environment ever increasing, it is no surprise that people are now looking at ways to be more sustainable at Christmas.
From Christmas tree choices, to making your own advent calendar, we look at ways you can be more eco-friendly without ruining the festivities this season.
Rent a real tree for the festive season
A tree shouldn’t just be for Christmas, GWP found that as many as 8 million Christmas trees are thrown away each year. This includes 14 per cent of people who will even be binning their fake Christmas tree. Fake Christmas trees are made up of plastic and metals, therefore often can’t be recycled.
For next year, if your fake Christmas tree is in good condition, why not donate it to a charity shop and opt for a real tree instead? Simply Plants and Love a Christmas Tree, both offer tree renting services, enjoy the tree for Christmas and after, it gets planted back in the ground for Spring.
If you have bought a real Christmas tree this season, don’t worry, Birmingham City Council offer tree recycling which is free. Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice Treecycling also offer the service, although free, a donation of £10 is recommended, with all proceeds going to St Mary’s Hospice.
Make your home merry and bright with LED lights
Being sustainable doesn’t mean your home has to be dark and gloomy this Christmas. Choose LED lights to hang on your tree, LED lights use 80-90% less energy than non-LED, the cost of powering them is less too.
There’s lots of LED light options to choose from this Christmas, so you’ll be spoilt for choice!
Get creative with your wrapping paper
The amount of wrapping paper thrown away at Christmas in the UK alone would stretch to the moon, according to estimates by recycling advisors WRAP. That’s 225,623 miles of wrapping paper!
The problem with wrapping paper is often due to the foils, dyes, and paper it’s printed on which makes it unable to be recycled. There is alternative paper that can be used such as kraft paper, although brown, why not customise it with reusable ribbons and patterned biodegradable zero plastic Sellotape.
Replace your throwaway advent calendar for a reusable one
Advent calendars and selection boxes add to the three million tonnes of extra plastic waste created every year during the festive period in the UK.
There are lots of ways to get a reusable advent calendar, support independent businesses and find one on Etsy. Or if creativity is your thing, upcycle old items to make your very own. You can fill it with chocolates, make-up, whatever you want!
Eat sustainably without cutting out on quality
During Christmas, 2 million turkeys, 5 million Christmas puddings, and 74 million mince pies get disposed while still edible, causing almost 270,000 tons of food waste in total during the festive season.
Earlier this year we wrote a blog about sustainable supermarkets to try in Greater Birmingham. There are also lots of other ways to eat more sustainable this Christmas.
Try planning your shopping for the winter break to avoid over buying and only buy what you plan to eat. Organise your fridge so you can store food properly, so it will last longer and not get spoilt. If you have leftover untouched food and it’s in date, look for a food bank to donate it to during the Winter to help others.
Millennium Point and sustainability
This Christmas we have looked at how we can enjoy a sustainable Christmas, continuing our journey to be more eco-friendly. For example, our 39ft Christmas tree, which is rented, is fitted out with LED lights.
We have also placed a range of processes to ensure we’re not adding to our carbon footprint. Energy management and the journey to net zero carbon are at the heart of all our decisions. We try not to create waste but where we do, we segregate and recycle as much as we can. Lastly, we encourage staff, tenants, and visitors to make green travel choices when visiting us.
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.
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 – including £4.98m in the last financial year alone.
Opened in 2001, Millennium Point is a landmark public building in the Eastside of Birmingham city centre. Inside, it is home to 17 versatile event spaces including a 354-capacity Auditorium, meeting rooms and offices, and tenants, including ThinkTank and Birmingham City University (BCU).
Commercial activity that takes place in the Millennium Point building feeds back into the Millennium Point Charitable Trust. This enables the charity to donate to, invest in, and facilitate STEM-related projects, events and initiatives in the West Midlands. This has included over £2.7m in STEM grants to schools, not-for-profits and charities in Greater Birmingham and the Wider West Midlands.
In addition, the trust funds £16,650 in STEM degree scholarships annually, in partnership with Birmingham City University. To date, scholarships have totalled over £83,000.
Abbie Vlahakis, CEO of Millennium Point said: “Promoting STEM education across the region is what we do – increasing the opportunities for the next generation via some of the most exciting career paths available.
“As a meeting and events space, the last 18 months has been incredibly challenging, but it’s fantastic that we have continued throughout to contribute to the West Midlands’ myriad of exciting STEM projects and initiatives.”
The trust has also announced an extension to the deadline for applications to the Millennium Point Charitable Trust STEM Grants Programme 2022, which is now 5pm on Friday December 17th.
Paul Hughes, Schools Manager at the Aston Villa Foundation, commented: “The STEM grant we received from the Millennium Point Trust funded our innovative STEM Stars project, which has allowed us to add a new dimension to our provision and provide children, teachers and schools the opportunity to embark on their STEM education journey helping to develop skills of the future and make a real difference.’’
With STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) funding grants of up to £20,000 available, the trust has moved the deadline to give more organisations time to apply for money that can often be life-changing for young people and their future careers.
The latest round of funding in 2021 saw a wide range of successful, creative STEM projects – from a proposal to build a fully operational light aircraft to STEM training toolkits for schools.
Abbie Vlahakis added: “Every year we are impressed and inspired by the applications we receive for our small grants programme, and this year has been no exception – and I’d urge any organisation looking to fund an exciting STEM project in 2022 that there’s still time for their idea to be considered.”
To apply for a grant, please click here.
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.
With Christmas Day just over a month away, we just can’t stop talking about our spectacular 39ft tree! That’s why we’ve put together some fir-tastic facts together about our decorations.
The Christmas tree is based in our event space Atrium for everyone to enjoy as soon as they walk into our landmark building.
It’s starting to look a lot like CHRISTMAS
The tree built was put together by Christmas experts The Christmas Decorators. It takes a team of 5 installers and a team of 7 decorators, to prepare the branches and baubles. The Christmas tree takes around 10 hours to complete. With good reason too as there are over 21,000 lights and 1,500 baubles to set up!
Where do you even get a 39ft tree from you ask? We’ll let you in on a secret, it’s not actually a real tree! The Christmas tree is made up of a metal frame with each individual branch attached separately each with their own power source.
As far as we know we are the biggest indoor tree in Birmingham at 12 metres tall. It’s also accompanied by two nutcrackers and a (currently) nameless bear giving visitors lot of opportunities to snap a festive selfie.
Excited to share the Christmas Tree with everyone
We wanted everyone to enjoy our Christmas Tree, and with last year, we realise how important this Christmas is. In November we invited our industry friends and colleagues to have a catch up at our festive meet-up under our Christmas Tree. The event was well received by everyone, and we enjoyed catching up after a long time away from face to face events.
Feel Christmas all around you with themed wine and Love Actually
Feel the love this Christmas with a screening and themed wine tasting experience of the seminal 2003 festive rom com, Love Actually. Millennium Point have once again teamed up with movie geeks The Wine Events Company for a fun and unique wine tasting. This festive event will include five themed wines and a very big screen, all for the price of £31.95 (plus fees). The event takes place on Sunday 5th December at 5pm. Tickets can be purchased by clicking below.
Imagine, your event and our Christmas tree
With 17 versatile event spaces to choose from, make Millennium Point your venue of choice this Christmas. Contact our friendly events team on 0121 202 2200 or click below to explore our award-winning event spaces.
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.
On Friday 3rd December St Basils hosted their big sleepout at Millennium Point with the aim to raise funds to help end youth homelessness. The event previously hosted at Birmingham Cathedral moved to versatile event venue Millennium Point. Approximately 300 people joined up to do the sleepout to fundraise for the charity.
Due to last year and the pandemic, 2020’s sleepout was cancelled. Usually, the event raises over £100,000 so the organisers hope that this year’s is the bigger than ever. The event tries to appeal not only to the adventurous nature of people. But also, to their willingness to support young people with additional challenges of homelessness through these difficult times.
Homelessness shouldn’t be part of growing up
St Basils work with young people ages 16-25 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, to enable them to find and keep a home, grow their confidence, develop their skills, increase opportunities, and prevent homelessness.
During April 2020 – March 2021, St Basils has been able to provide 3,860 young people with advice and support, 590 young people stayed with them every night. Not only this 92% of young people that stayed with St Basils moved on in a planned positive way.
A wealth of support to make the event a success
The event was also supported by projects and companies that made the evening a success.
Langar Aid, a project that that focuses on fighting hunger worldwide and provides vital food and water in emergencies, supplied curry and samosas to guests to warm up. The Band of the West Midlands Fire Service rose spirits by providing some tunes in a festive way. Salvation Army Cradley Heath knitted hats for the outreach team to give out, Campanile Hotels also donated thermal hats.
A team from Squire Patton Boggs, a global law firm, had the important role of handing out the cardboard boxes to guests. The boxes were kindly provided by the packaging manufactures Schumacher.
And of course, everyone that helped raise money and took part in sleeping rough for one night, so young people don’t have to.
As a charity ourselves, we were thrilled to be involved
Supporting young people improves the chances they have for their future. Helping provide a safe space, education and resources allows them to build better foundations for later life. As a strong supporter for education for STEM, Millennium Point wanted to take part.
A team from Millennium Point including CEO Abbie Vlahakis took part in the sleepout to help raise money for the life-changing charity St Basils.
So far Millennium Point have raised over £1,500, however we’re not finished yet! There’s still time to donate.
Couldn’t make it to the sleepout? You can still make a difference
It costs £5 a day to support a young person and keep them at a St Basils project. Supporters can make a one-off donation here. Help change a young person’s life for the better today.
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.
For further information about the event, charity, or venue you can get in contact with our team.
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.
Don’t miss out on an introduction into the world of NFTs and explore the opportunities of a digital future in this exciting event taking place at Millennium Point this Saturday.
A Digital Future With NFT Talks takes place at Millennium Point on Saturday 11th December 2021, 5pm-11pm. This is the perfect event for anyone that is interested in the NFT space, that wants to learn more and connect to the NFT community.
Who are NFT Talks?
NFT-Talks is an educational brand created for the NFT space. They believe that NFTs (Non-fungible tokens) are the future and want to play their part in creating awareness to help build the NFT community.
NFT-Talks aim to deliver digestive content about the NFT space for anyone with little to no experience to consume.
What is an NFT?
Non-fungible tokens (NFT) is at the forefront of cutting edge technology and has been the highlight of the year disrupting the Art, Sports & Entertainment, Music, Gaming and Fashion industries so far.
A Non-fungible token is a cryptographic token called ERC-721. This token represents proof of ownership to any digital asset it has been linked to, which is then recorded onto a blockchain.
What to expect on the evening of the event?
The first hour of the event will kick off with a live “NFT Talks” podcast with an anonymous digital artist from the UK “KidEight”.
Taking place after the podcast, listen to a panel of industry leaders and creatives, who will be talking about the future of the NFTs in Art, Music, Digital Fashion & Collectibles followed by a Q&A session.
The event will also include a VR/Metaverse demo, live Art and Music performance, before ending the evening with a chance to network with like-minded individuals and talk about the NFT space.
Limited tickets available so don’t miss out!
Don’t miss out on the exciting world of NFTs and book your place now by clicking below. Tickets are priced at £11.37 (including fees) each.
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.
STEM Grants application deadline is now extended until Friday 17th December 2021. For more information or to apply please click here.
Every year, the Millennium Point Charitable Trust Small Grants programme gives out grants of up to £20,000 to support science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education projects in the West Midlands. We have funded many different projects across all areas of STEM, supporting learning development for young students.
Here is another great example of the type of work we do, this project was funded in 2019 and shows the power of what the grants funding can achieve for STEM organisations.
Who are Birmingham Botanical Gardens?
The Birmingham Botanical Gardens are a 15-acre botanical garden situated in Edgbaston, and one of the most popular attractions for families in the region. There is plenty on offer for visitors with outdoor events including film screenings and performances, along with access to four stunning glasshouses, a playground, tea room and garden gift shop.
Why did they apply for a Millennium Point Grant?
The Birmingham Botanical Gardens reached out to the Millennium Point Charitable Trust to help support it’s Sensational Science project. They wanted to address a ongoing issue where primary schools lack the resources and skills to provide laboratory style and specialist science learning experiences for young people. Sensational Science is a new, original interactive education workshop designed to enable school children to investigate plant DNA and undertake scientific experiments into the science behind plants in a laboratory-style session at Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
The aim of the project is to inspire and generate more interest around Science, while developing young peoples skillsets and implementing more science and STEM subjects at school.
Sensational Science impacts 1,000 pupils
The results of the project have been fantastic with KS1 and KS2 primary school pupils benefitting from practical experience of scientific investigation. The project is being led by an award-winning education team, with 35 sessions taking place, covering 1000 pupils, many from deprived and marginalised backgrounds.
The project demonstrates the practical application of STEM within a green space which elevates their knowledge of STEM in a fun and imaginative way.
Botanical Gardens “thrilled” with the outcome of the project
Our STEM Grants team caught up with The Botanical Gardens and they couldn’t of been any happier with the outcome of the project. They commented:
“We are absolutely thrilled to have been awarded a small grant from Millennium Point Trust. As a direct result of this grant, we can deliver an exciting programme of bespoke workshops enabling school children to investigate plant DNA and undertake scientific experiments into the science behind plants in a laboratory-style workshop at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
The funding will enable us to deliver a minimum of 35 workshops during the year 2019/20, and provide opportunities for up to 1,000 primary school children from Birmingham and West Midlands schools to ‘work scientifically’.
We are especially delighted that this grant will help support the prohibitive costs of travel for up to 20 of our most deprived local schools, a cost we know to be a barrier to some of our closest inner-city schools. With your support, we are able to provide the additional benefit to schools of being able to access the Gardens in general -where they can stay for as long as they choose!
We would like to put on record our thanks to Millennium Point Trust for their support for our work and their hugely important commitment to developing the STEM agenda in this region.”
About educational grant funding from Millennium Point
Educators, Charities and Not-for-Profits within the West Midlands Combined Authority can apply for up to £20,000 from Millennium Point to fund their STEM activity.
The STEM Grants application deadline is now extended until Friday 17th December 2021. For more information or to apply please click here.
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.
Originally set to close on Friday 3rd December 2021, the STEM Grants application is now officially extended to Friday 17th December 2021 to give everyone a chance to apply this year. Over the last five years, the Millennium Point Charitable Trust has awarded over £2 million to charities, not-for-profits, community groups and schooled to further STEM education.
Millennium Point STEM Grants are available from £1,000 to £20,000 to individual applicants to support science, technology, engineering & maths (STEM) education in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands.
You can apply here.
Robots, Sensory Gardens, and an Automatic Weather Station
With STEM the possibilities are endless! Millennium Point Charitable Trust has previously seen the rewarding outcome of past projects such as Bishop Vesey Grammar School – STEM Robotics Club. South Bromsgrove High School had an insightful and imaginative project with their Automatic Weather Station. Millennium Point also saw a fantastic Sensory Garden achieved by City Road Primary School.
You can read more about our fantastic case studies here.
Need some help applying?
We want everyone applying to have the best chances of success. That’s why our fantastic Trust Team have put together some useful information on our website. If you have any questions have a look at our frequently asked questions page, you can always contact our team with any other queries. You will also find our STEM Grant Applicant Guidance there too. The guidance intended to assist organisations in applying for funding from the Millennium Point Trust’s STEM grants programme.
Anyone applying can also look at our latest blog with tips on applying for the Millennium Point STEM Grants.
Book with Millennium Point and help support the future of STEM
Everything Millennium Point Charitable Trust achieves is made possible by the commercial activity that takes place in our landmark building. It all feeds back into the Charitable Trust, enabling it to donate and invest in STEM-related organisations, projects, and initiatives.
When booking events with Millennium Point you are widening your CSR and supporting the local region. Find our how and more about our 17 unique event spaces here.
Don’t Delay, apply for our STEM Grant today!
The deadline is now extended to Friday 17th December 2021, you can apply via our easy to download form on our website.
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.
What’s ‘worse than the total agony of being in love’? … potentially not getting a ticket to Love Actually with wine!
There is only a few days left to buy tickets for this festive treat on Sunday 5th December at our award-winning venue. Millennium Point have once again teamed up with the charming movie geeks The Wine Events Company for a fun and unique wine tasting. This festive event will include five themed wines and a very big screen, all for the price of £31.95 (plus fees).
You can book your ticket here.
Love Actually – several modern love stories in one classic film
Nine intertwined stories examine the complexities of the one emotion that connects us all: love. Among the characters explored are David (Hugh Grant), the handsome newly elected British prime minister who falls for a young junior staffer (Martine McCutcheon), Sarah (Laura Linney), a graphic designer whose devotion to her mentally ill brother complicates her love life, and Harry (Alan Rickman), a married man tempted by his attractive new secretary.
Featuring: Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman
Certificate: 15|Running Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
‘To me, you are perfect’- You to the wine… probably
The ‘new classic’ Christmas movie will be paused to pour you a glass of festive cheer as The Wine Events Company shares with you their five perfect wines. The film and wine connoisseurs will also pause the film at appropriate moments to share some fun movie trivia. For example, did you know that Love Actually was the most rented DVD in the UK in 2004, it must be good!
The event will be a safe, fun, and interactive ‘wines and movie’ event in our multi-award-winning venue with one of Birmingham’s biggest screens.
The film is showing on the Sunday 5th December, the doors will open at 4:00pm with the event starting at 5:00pm. There are limited tickets available so make your you secure your ticket for this fantastic festival event.
Our movie + drinks nights are not to be missed
Our movie + drinks nights have been hugely successful with fans and are not to be missed. Want to get a feeling of what to expect? Check out our screening of the eighties classic Dirty Dancing below. Guests had the time of their lives with a live band, themed cocktails, and movie trivia from the film geeks at The Wine Events Company.
We pride ourselves on our outstanding hospitality, with a wide range of events there is something for everyone. You can keep up to date with all our events on our refurbished website here.
Getting to Millennium Point
Millennium Point is in the Eastside of Birmingham City Centre just 5-minutes’ walk from Moor Street and 15-minutes from Grand Central and the tram. There is also limited parking on-site which means we’re easy to find regardless of how you travel. For more information please click here.
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.
Applications for our Charitable Trust STEM Grants programme close in just under a month!
Our small grants are available from £1,000 to £20,000 to individual applicants to support science technology, engineering & maths (STEM) education in Birmingham and in the wider region. Applications close at 5pm on Friday 17th December 2021, meaning you have got just under a month to apply. You can apply here.
We want everyone to have the best chance of success. That’s why we have put some helpful tips below.
A good plan is half the work done
To get started, complete the form that can be easily downloaded from our website. Have a read through all the sections and start to complete them in as much detail as you can as this will help us when our team begin to shortlist applications.
Clearly plan what the aims of the project and how those aims will be achieved. Don’t forget to include details on how the success of the project will be measured. This is where using ‘SMART’ objectives will be useful –
Make sure your application is detailed with what activities will take place, when, and where they will be carried out will also help chances of being successful. Have a look through your budget plan and ensure it contained the correct pricing and quantities for everything you need achieve your project.
When talking about your project look at the link between the project and the selected category choice. Make sure the connection is clear to show why you’re doing the project and how it will benefit your chosen group. Also plan about the duration of the project, will it be throughout the year, or could the project be done in a day? Can the project be repeated with the resources bought, or is it a one-off project?
For extra help the guidance and F&Qs pages will help you with your application, you can always contact our friendly Trust team too [email protected].
Submitting your application for grants
Have a read through your final application, ensure that it’s clear, precise and explains all about the exciting project you have planned.
After you have decided you’re happy with your application, submit it to us by email – [email protected]. Make sure you send it on or before the 17th December 2021. We prefer applications to be submitted by email, good luck!
What happens next?
Once it’s sent over, our fantastic Trust team will send you an email acknowledging receipt, you won’t hear from us again until a decision has been made. All applications will be read through by the small grants team and then moderated by a separate panel. It will finally be presented to our Trustees who will make the final decision on the successful applicants. At this stage you don’t have to do anything but wait for the good news!
Our grants help make STEM happen!
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.
Last year Millennium Point Trust saw 70 applications from not-for-profit organisations in aim of receiving a share of the grant money.
Apply Now
With less than a month till the deadline, there is still time to apply for a Millennium Point Charitable Trust small grant.
