After a hugely successful event last year, St Basils returned to Millennium Point on Friday 25th November to host their annual big sleepout. The event took place in our Cinema Square car park and was once again successful at raising funds to help end youth homelessness.

The St Basils Big Sleepout is the oldest, longest running event of  its kind. It’s one of St Basils most popular events among their community, with volunteers challenged with sleeping out in the cold during winter to understand the difficulties that homeless people go through on a daily basis.

How St Basils are doing their bit to beat homelessness

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.

This year St Basils announced the annual event had amazingly raised £62,000 and funds are still coming in.

A community united

It was fantastic to see so many organisations braving the cold and taking part in the event, 400 individuals settled in for the night in cardboard boxes all to raise funds for the good cause. Throughout the night volunteers took part in the much loved Creative Cardboard Competition for the best dwelling, with a prize given to the lucky winner.  The cardboard boxes were provided by Schumacher, who have been providing packaging for the sleepout for over 15 years.

Much needed warmth was delivered with free vegan curry and hot drinks provided by the Langar Aid project.

Fundraisers were also entertained during the night by The Band of the West Midlands Fire Services to keep spirits high on a very cold evening.

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.

VSFighting is an annual video gaming tournament based entirely around fighting games. It’s hosted by the Midlands-based community ‘Electronic Dojo’ and exists as a place to meet up offline and compete on the big stage. The tournaments are run in an open format, which means that anyone can attend, whether total beginner, bedroom champion or a seasoned professional, everyone has a chance to compete for a coveted trophy and cash prizes.

The day ran from Friday 19th – Sunday 21st August 2022 at Millennium Point, the much-anticipated event returned and took over the whole building, welcoming hundreds of visitors, and gamers throughout the weekend.

VSFighting back at Millennium Point

The last time the event took place at Millennium Point was 2019 before the pandemic, therefore Millennium Point had to pull out all the stops to ensure the event was a success.

Previously, VSFighting has taken over our building 3 times in the past. Now back, bigger and better than ever and enjoying the latest AV tech, upgraded Auditorium and everything else Millennium Point had to offer.

A wide range of games for every player

Throughout the day there was a range of games to compete in, along this was a selection of community games that had a more relaxed affair.

Competing games included:

Community games included:

The additional community gamed were facilitated by 3rd parties from the community.

Why Millennium Point for VSFighting?

With various games, activities, and categories VSFighting needed a space that could accommodate the various battles going on. It needed to have many power outlets, good Wi-Fi and accessibility. Not forgetting a giant screen for the final ‘boss’ battles.

Millennium Point were able to provide multiple event spaces that were equipped with everything that was needed.

One of the key requirements for an esports tournament is a stable and robust power system. We have invested heavily in our power infrastructure which can support an abundance of PCs and consoles, AV equipment and peripherals.

VSFighting used spaces such as Connect, Platform, and Auditorium are all equipped with AV built in. We have an onsite dedicated AV team, who are experienced in delivering tech0heavy events who were on-site to support everyone and ensured seamless integration and stability throughout the event.

Millennium Point has super-fast internet in all our spaces with a mix of private and public networks to ensure no packet loss, and to provide dedicated connections for operations team and athletes, while fans and exhibitors enjoyed the robust public Wi-Fi for their own needs.

Why host your corporate event at Millennium Point?

Millennium Point is an award-winning Birmingham landmark in the heart of Eastside and features 11 venue spaces to host your corporate event.

From purpose built meeting suites to a giant screen auditorium with a stage, we have the flexibility to ensure each room works for you. We provide additional services including catering, so that you can rest assured your event will run smoothly.

We have onsite parking and excellent transport links to New Street Station, Midland Metro, Moor Street Station and Digbeth Coach Station.

Browse our event spaces today or get in touch with Millennium Point’s event management team today.

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. 

We have kicked off the festive season here at Millennium Point. Our impressive 39ft Christmas tree is back by popular demand. 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 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 is over 23,000 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. The tree is accompanied by two nutcrackers and a pack of huskies, giving visitors plenty of opportunities to snap a festive selfie.

Plenty to do at Millennium Point this Christmas

Along with the decorations, a festive schedule brimming with fun activities is planned through the next two months for everyone to enjoy.

Feel Christmas all around you with our Love Actually Bottomless Brunch

Date and Time: 3rd December, 1pm

Price: £35 per person

Millennium Point Events presents a bottomless brunch, and a special screening of Richard Curtis’ seminal festive event will have a delicious brunch, 90 minutes of bottomless prosecco and a screening of the film.

Book now to secure your ticket

It’s a Wonderful Life when there’s wine

Date and Time: 4th December, 4pm

Price: £31.95 plus fees per person

Who doesn’t love a festive film classic? Throw in some themed wines and Millennium Point is your place to be this Christmas! Teaming up once again with our good friends at The Wine Events Company, experience it’s a Wonderful Life on our giant screen, paused at various points to serve you your next glass of festive cheer.

Book now to secure your ticket

Rock around the Christmas tree at our Festive Silent Disco

Date and Time: 17th December, 7:30pm

Price: £10 plus fees per person

Grab your dancing shoes, put your Santa hats on, and prepare to watch 3 DJs battle it out around the best Christmas tree in tinsel town.

Back by popular demand, our Silent Disco night will be a night to remember, grab your friends, hit the dancefloor, and enjoy everything Millennium Point has to offer.

We have teamed up with silent disco experts Silent Noize, to give you the best music throughout the night, playing fan favourite songs from genres such as:

– Chart, Party & Dance

– RnB, Hip Hop & Old Skool

– Rock, Indie & Power Ballads

And all your favourite Christmas songs too!

Although sold out, you can join the waiting list to be the first to hear about any extra tickets that become available! Join the waitlist.

Organising a last-minute Christmas event?

No problem, we have you covered! At Millennium Point we are hosting some fantastic Christmas Parties this year including shared and exclusive events to suit all budgets.

With a choice between our exclusive or shared parties, there is something for everyone this Christmas!

Find out more information here.

Imagine, your event and our Christmas tree

With 11 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 here to explore our award-winning event spaces.

St Basils are back planning the oldest and biggest sleepout in the UK in Birmingham. On Friday 25th November, St Basils will host their annual big sleepout at Millennium Point in Birmingham to raise vital funds to support young people experiencing homelessness in the West Midlands.

St Basils are a homelessness charity based in the West Midlands that have been supporting young people in in fear of losing their home since 1972.

St Basils are not charging for this event, it is FREE! But get involved and raise as much as you can by having people sponsor you. Free vegan curry and hot drinks will also be served by Langar Aid on the night!

You can register for the event here.

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.

Abbie Vlahakis, CEO of Millennium point, said “We are delighted to offer our venue and support once more to the St Basils team, whose commitment to improving the lives of young vulnerable people aligns to our own charitable mission.

While a sleepout is challenging, a night without home comforts pales in comparison to the true horror more than 8,500 young people in the West Midlands alone are experiencing every single night without a home or place of safety.

We urge as many people and businesses as possible to sign up and join us at the sleepout. Together we can raise a record amount of funds so St Basils can continue to provide life changing support to young people in dire need throughout our communities”.

Challenge yourself and make a difference with St Basils Big Sleepout

The Big Sleepout sees hundreds of people from companies, families and groups taking part by challenging themselves, raising money and having fun; particularly in the much coveted ‘creative shelter competition’.

Barrie Hodge, Head of Fundraising and Marketing at St Basils said “Most of our young people who need support are either in full time education or working part-time and sometimes have more than one job yet are already struggling to survive on a very low income. This year St Basils celebrates its 50th anniversary and with the soaring costs young people are experiencing, we are needed more than ever.  We welcome people from across the region to come along, sleepout for the night and help us raise money to support those who need it the most”.

Can’t make it to Millennium Point, you can still make a difference

St Basils will also be running ‘The Big Sleepout from Home’ at the same time. So, if you can’t make it to Millennium Point, you can still get involved in your back garden, office, community hall or ‘sofa surfing’ at home.

You can find out more and apply for your Big Sleepout pack by emailing [email protected].

Supporters can also make one off donations here, it costs £5 a day to support a young person and keep them at a St Basils project.

Want to book an event space with Millennium Point?

The multi-award-winning Millennium Point has 11 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.

Bader Media Entertainment CIC is a production company with a combined passion for filmmaking and protecting the environment. Profits made from projects fun own community interest activities and external charities that focus on combatting litter worldwide. Based in the UK, they produce high-quality creative content for entertainment, community interest and to promote their mission to protect the environment.

Aim of the event

The objective for Bader Media Entertainment CIC was to host a film premiere for their latest feature ‘The Shimian’. The clients were keen on making the evening a great experience for their guests and one that would make them feel the glitz and glamour of a Hollywood premiere.

Why Millennium Point for The Shimian World Premiere?

Our clients are local filmmakers to the Birmingham area and had previously visited Millennium Point’s Auditorium for film screenings. They chose Millennium Point to show The Shimian because the Director had been impressed with the size of the screen and the condition of the Auditorium, as well as the space available below on event space Platform.

Another reason was location, Millennium Point is close to Birmingham City Centre and central train stations such as New Street Station, a bonus for guests arriving from other cities.

Challenges and Solutions

The challenge for Bader Media Entertainment CIC was to find a venue that also were event organisers to ensure the event was a success. The events team were on hand to help with the organisation before and after the event.

Our team developed an events plan that would make the evening an exciting experience for our client’s guests. We suggested ideas along the way how the team could help, and what to do with the space to make it atmospheric and professional.

Particularly, our in-house AV team, which comes standard with most bookings, worked closely with theirs to ensure the best visual and audio experience for the premiere.

AV Equipment and Service

As it was a film premiere it was vital that the screen and sound for the film was perfect. Our AV team worked closely with the client to test visuals and sound to ensure it met expectations and needs. This was through screening tests and run throughs so changes could be made to really give the film the wow factor on the Auditorium screen.

Bader Media Entertainment CIC have received feedback since the premiere on how good the sound and visuals were.

Working with the Millennium Point Team

Our events team had received positive reviews from working with Bader Media Entertainment CIC. The Event Operations team were professional, pleasant & friendly on the night so guests could enjoy their evening. Behind the scenes, the Events team ensured the planning, organisation and communication was all sorted throughout so the event could really give the wow factor. Along with this Marketing worked with the Director to promote the event and film to give it the limelight the film deserved.

How was the client’s experience of Millennium Point?

James Peakman, Director of Bader Media Entertainment CIC said

‘It was an absolute pleasure working with Millennium Point, and I literally can’t fault the staff or place itself. They were so accommodating and gave us attention to detail that I would struggle to find at another venue. The premiere itself was a huge success for us and has opened doors for further movies. The feedback from the guests about the event has been excellent. I would like to say a massive thank you to all the staff at Millennium Point for being so professional and welcoming, and now we will have to make another movie so we can host another premiere at Millennium Point’.

Book our Auditorium for a test today!

Our friendly events team is always happy to help. Get in touch today to discuss your event needs, and bring a sample of your work with you, we guarantee that you will be blown away when you see your content on our giant screen for the first time.

We can’t wait to talk to you!

 

We’re excited to say applications for the next round of funding for projects is now open!

A project to build a fully operational light aircraft, STEM training toolkits for schools and a car engineering workshop for girls are just some of the exciting projects amongst the successful applicants in The Millennium Point Charitable Trust’s Small Grants Programme.

Grants up to £20,000 can be applied for here, you have until the 2nd December to apply, good luck!

Endless possibilities 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. Millennium Point Charitable Trust has previously seen the rewarding outcome of past projects such as ‘Breaking the Barriers to STEM’ with a fantastic STEM garden. Ahead Partnership engaged students at their Digitech Festival with inspiring guest speeches and activities from STEM industries. Ark Tindall Primary transformed an outside space into a Science Area to enhance their STEM curriculum.

Last year Millennium Point Trust saw 100 applications from schools and not-for-profit organisations all aiming to recieve a share of the grant money to better STEM education in the region.

Vanessa Currie, Head of People, Learning and Development at Millennium Point comments:

“We are pleased to announce the latest round of grant funding from the Millennium Point Charitable Trust.

The West Midlands is the largest hub for science and innovation outside of London, with the youngest population in Europe and one of the highest percentiles of STEM graduates in the UK.

With many schools being forced to cut costs and resources to deliver their curriculums, we risk seeing the skills gap widen as less children are engaged in STEM, which is why this initiative is crucial now, more than ever.”

Award-winning charity in the heart of Birmingham

All funding given by Millennium Point Charitable Trust is made possible by the commercial activity that takes place in the landmark Millennium Point building. It all feeds back into the charitable trust, enabling to be donated and invested in STEM-related organisations, projects, and initiatives.

When booking events with Millennium Point you are widening your CSR and supporting the local region. Find out how and more about our unique event spaces here.

Apply for a grant today and support the future of STEM 

At Millennium Point we believe that STEM is important for the future of the region, so we are excited to see what this year’s applications bring.

The next round of applications for the 2023 grant are now open and close at 5pm on 2nd December 2022.

Since its launch in 2018, Millennium Point Charitable Trust has provided almost £400k to more than 100 projects across education, STEM-focused charities, sporting charities, and museums.

You can apply for a grant on our website here, if you need any help look at our frequently asked questions page or speak to one of our friendly Trust team.

Planning a corporate event takes skill, time and planning. From coming up with an engaging idea, to finding a date that works for everyone, inviting guests, and finding a venue that ticks all of the boxes, there’s a lot of leg work that goes into it. 

The corporate events team at Millennium Point have worked with businesses across the globe to orchestrate corporate events for over 20 years, so we know exactly what it takes for an event to go off without a hitch.  This is why we’ve pulled together a guide to help you plan a business event to remember!

In this guide, you’ll learn: 

What is a corporate event? 

A corporate event is quite simply a private event that is paid for by an organisation for its clients and/or employees. From offering networking opportunities to educating colleagues or clients, launching new products or services and even Christmas parties, there are a number of reasons for a company to host a corporate event. 

The benefits of corporate events 

It is no secret that corporate events cost time and money, so understanding the benefits before investing is vital. 

Create additional revenue streams 

When event planning is done properly, you can sell ad space, VIP tickets, branded merchandise and event sponsorship, meaning you can earn back what’s been spent, and maybe even make profits from it. 

Strengthen team collaboration 

Hybrid working is here to stay, with 38% of working adults stating they worked from home in Spring 2022 (ONS). Whilst hybrid working offers a range of work life balance benefits, building a positive workplace culture isn’t always easy. However, when you plan an event, you’ve got all your team in one place. 

Educate clients and employees

If you’re launching a new product or service, or you’re revealing a rebrand, a corporate event is a great way to educate your team and customers. 

Enhance your marketing efforts 

As well as launching new products and services, events serve a brilliant way to market this. When there’s a memorable event, it creates a positive experience that will be associated with your brand in the long term. 

Get more insights into your target audience

Corporate events are a great way to get more face to face time with existing and prospective customers, which helps you build rapports. It is also a brilliant way to understand their thoughts and insights on your company and surrounding markets. You can also collect personal details that aren’t always attainable through other marketing efforts. 

The different types of corporate events 

Event planning checklist 

6 months ahead 

3 months ahead 

1 month ahead 

1 week ahead 

1 day before the event 

Day of event 

Enjoy! 

Choosing the right venue for your corporate event 

A lot of components go into finding the perfect location and venue for your event. When looking for a venue, you should do the following: 

Why host your corporate event at Millennium Point? 

Millennium Point is an award-winning Birmingham landmark in the heart of Eastside and features 11 venue spaces to host your corporate event. 

From purpose built meeting suites to a giant screen auditorium with a stage, we have the flexibility to ensure each room works for you. We provide additional services including catering, so that you can rest assured your event will run smoothly. 

We have onsite parking and excellent transport links to New Street Station, Midland Metro, Moor Street Station and Digbeth Coach Station. 

We’ve had another rewarding year for Millennium Point Charitable Trust’s STEM Grants Programme. Each year we grant organisations and educators in the local region funds for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) projects and better teaching materials. We received 100 applications this year with lots of creative and innovative STEM projects put forward to receive funding.

Meet the recipients

We would like to give a big congratulations to our latest recipients of a Millennium Point Charitable Trust STEM grant:

Helping education and communities across Birmingham and the wider region

As we wish to maximise the impact of our grants, we encourage grant applicants to apply for smaller grants of between £1,000 and £5,000. This will mean that we can potentially help more organisations. There will still be the opportunity for a few larger grants (of up to £20,000) to be given but in the main we will be concentrating on helping the wider community with smaller grants.

Along with the grants scheme there is also the Millennium Point Trust Scholarship which funds one young person’s undergraduate degree each year at Birmingham City University. You can find out more about our scholarships here.

Interested in receiving a grant for STEM projects? Get in touch

To find out more information get in contact with our team or on our website here.

We have continued to put employee’s wellbeing first by completing the Thrive at Workplace Wellbeing Bronze 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 the 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 at work.

Working towards healthy wellbeing

Our organisation will continue to build on the well-being of staff. The Thrive team are already working towards the silver accreditation, with the aim to complete it next year.

Vanessa Currie, Head of People, Learning and Development said ‘We are extremely proud to have been awarded the Bronze level of the Thrive at Work certification. As an employer, we recognise the immense importance of ensuring that all team members can define what support they need or want for their own health and well-being. Our Thrive team here at Millennium Point have worked hard to ensure that the focus on health and well-being is at the heart of our culture and a part of our everyday life.’

We are now also starting to work on the Silver level of the Thrive at Work accreditation. We would strongly recommend this programme to other organisations and if you would like to find out more, please click here for more detail on the programme.

Our work to achieve the Thrive Bronze award

The Thrive team had to ensure the criteria was met before being awarded, this included:

-Surveying team members on what they wanted the Thrive team to focus on and then delivering what was requested.

-Providing health and wellbeing information for team members on a variety of topics – alcohol awareness/ smoking cessation/ healthy eating/ exercise.

-Running a series of planned campaigns including one on muscular skeletal awareness with an on-site physio providing bespoke exercises for individuals.

-Updating policies and introducing new ones that support health and wellbeing and sharing these with all team members.

-Running master classes on mental health awareness and supporting flexible working and attendance for line managers.

-Training team members as mental first aiders and domestic abuse champions.

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 out latest news in our blog 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. 

To celebrate Christmas in July, we’ve got some very festive announcements! Christmas in summer? You might think we’re mad, but trust us when we say it’s the best time to start planning your Christmas activities. Whether you’re looking to book a Christmas party at our award-winning venue or attend one of our public events, we’ve got everything festive you need all under one roof.

Exclusive Party Night (from £40.00 per person)

Give your guests a VIP experience this Christmas with our Exclusive Party Night. This package gives businesses an exclusive hire of our Platform space, which includes an arrival drink under our 39ft Christmas tree, a two-or-three-course traditional Christmas dinner and a DJ and dancefloor until midnight. The package also includes exclusive use of the fully licenced bar and features branded up-lighters, table crackers and novelties.

Fancy further enhancing your guests experience? Why not customise this package to include our spectacular Auditorium. Formerly the first IMAX in the West Midlands, our Auditorium is perfect for awards, speeches or playing a Christmas film on the giant screen.

Shared Party Night (from £40.00 per person)

Ideal for smaller businesses who still want the big office party experience, our Shared Party Night gives you the same benefits as the exclusive package, but is shared with other businesses.

Get more when you book with us

How does extra prosecco sound? Take advantage of our early incentive and get your package upgraded to include complimentary prosecco for every table when you confirm your booking before Friday 29th July. In addition to this, the person that makes the booking will be entered into a prize draw to win a £100 Amazon voucher. This offer applies to both the exclusive and shared party nights.

Our special offers don’t stop there! Other bookings outside of the Christmas packages, will receive a 10% off drinks receptions under our Christmas tree in November and December.

What’s On at Millennium Point this Christmas

Rock around the Christmas Tree, Silent Disco style! Our Silent Disco night is back by popular demand – and this time full of festive fun! Get your dancing shoes ready, put your Santa hats on and pull off your best moves around our spectacular 39ft Christmas tree.

Priced at £10 per person, the night will feature three DJs and an assortment of genres from current chart toppers, RnB, and Hip Hop to Old Skool, Rock, Indie and Power Ballads alongside all of the Christmas classics. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by clicking below.

Who doesn’t love a festive film classic? Throw in some themed wines and Millennium Point is your place to be this Christmas! Teaming up once again with our good friends at The Wine Events Company, experience It’s a Wonderful Life on our giant screen, paused at various points to serve you your next glass of festive cheer.

We’re transforming into a Winter Wonderland

A Winter Wonderland is heading to our corner of Birmingham this year and it’s not one you’ll want to miss. Our spectacular 39ft Christmas tree (which makes the perfect backdrop for that festive selfie snapshot) is just the start. We’ve got a heap of decorations arriving, including colourful lighting, Nutcrackers and two of Santa’s Reindeers, that might even be happy to grab a photo with you.

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.