Just weeks ahead of Birmingham’s largest arts festival, Birmingham Weekender (from 22 – 24 September), the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games bid team unveils its cultural programme for the Games.

Comprising a dazzling blend of traditional and contemporary arts from the region and the wider Commonwealth, the cultural programme will showcase Birmingham 2022’s urban, contemporary and digital vision through movement, dance, hip hop, urban sports, music, food, film and photography.

The cultural programme will be inspired by collaborations between the city’s internationally-renowned resident artists and the huge talent that exists across all of the region’s communities. They will work with a diverse range of community and international partners to create artistic works ranging from: major commissions; to hundreds of performances on the Victoria Square basketball stage; to showcases in local parks and streets. The programme will embrace all Commonwealth cultures and Birmingham will be reaching out to the 71 competing nations to incorporate cultural strands from across the Commonwealth.

“We have taken Birmingham Weekender as our cultural blueprint.” explained Gary Topp, Chief executive of Culture Central, “At Birmingham Weekender we encourage the city to dance together in Victoria Square; to experience Birmingham Royal Ballet in the Bullring and classical music in a car park and see the city’s artists and communities perform on the Culture Catwalk in the city centre.  We welcome world famous Sufi singer, Hans Raj Hans to the Town Hall on Sunday and our major community parade will feature Harminder, a moving mechanical elephant. Clash of Drums, a night time feast of sound and spectacular fireworks will bring Eastside Park alive on Saturday night.”

Co-ordinated by Culture Central, in cooperation with institutions including Birmingham Museums, Birmingham Hippodrome, Sampad South Asian Arts Organisation and DanceXchange, and working with arts and communities organisations from across the city the Birmingham 2022 programme will be centred on the city’s four principal squares, with a satellite hub at the NEC and the Urban Street Festival providing a bridge between sports and culture.

The beating heart of Birmingham

Festival Squares will provide the beating heart of Birmingham in Victoria Square, Centenary Square, Chamberlain Square and Brindleyplace. These buzzing locations are surrounded by major cultural institutions such as the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Town Hall, Symphony Hall, Library of Birmingham and the world-famous REP Theatre that will all be engaged in hosting the cultural programme.

During Games time, the Squares will be the physical and spiritual heart of Birmingham, as they come alive with activities including: Sport in the Squares based around 3x3 basketball in Victoria Square; the start and finish of the Marathon and Road Cycling; the Urban Street Festival with demonstrations of skateboarding and BMX; live sites with giant screens of the sporting action with stages hosting live acts and a Culture Catwalk curated by young community leaders.

Fans, spectators and visitors will experience a carnival atmosphere with a ‘hub and spoke’ approach incorporating the main pedestrian arteries that interconnect the squares, which will help generate energy and passion across the city throughout the Games.

They turned out in their droves to celebrate the 10^th Anniversary of the Love of Christ Cherubim and Seraphim Church as hundreds of followers brought a kaleidoscope of colour, music and worship to its south London HQ venue.

With a high profile list of distinguished guests and speakers – from home and abroad - on view, which included the church's founder, Reverend Mother Esther Ajayi, it was like a home-from-home for people of the Nigerian Diaspora it attracted.

An endless array of ‘typically Nigerian’ cuisine, including; jollof rice, moi-moi, pounded yam and fried rice, followed with tuwo shinkafa, amala and ikokore provided the ideal back-drop for all.

In her address to her audience, Reverend Ajayi talked of what it means to have faith, saying: "No matter how deep your debt, the Lord can free you from it but you have to give. My family and I used to be so broke that our slogan was ‘give us this day our daily bread’ as we only knew what we will eat and where we would sleep today.”

Renowned for her endless acts of charity, she, with great verve and excitement, highlighted the troughs and eventual peaks of her life story in a sermon filled with passion and unreserved belief; "We became debt-free when I understood the act of giving with expectation from the Lord,” she said.

“I started giving out the little I had and then the more I gave the more I got. The Lord wants you today to have faith in Him and let go of the little in your hands."

After praying for the hordes of worshipers present at the Clapham-based church, a Thanks Giving service took place before a huge celebration of music and dancing marked the end of what was a historic day for all concerned.

Mount Cinnamon Resort & Beach Club is a relaxed, high-end resort set in tropical gardens around a central clubhouse on Grand Anse Beach in Grenada.

This year marks the fourth year of Green Globe certification for the property. Pursuing sustainable goals has not only been a fulfilling journey for staff, it has resulted in successful achievements that go beyond the resort’s original action plan.

“Green Globe has definitely helped to guide and tailor our efforts, enabling us to formalize our intentions and increase our marketing through a commitment to the global community,” said Jonnel Edwards, Marine Biologist & Environmental Sustainability Consultant at the resort.

The island of Grenada is populated by just under 100,000 people, fostering a close community spirit. As a British-owned property, Mount Cinnamon appreciates the opportunity to make a difference in the small town of Grand Anse. The resort supports local farmers, tradesmen and businesses and is also actively involved in local community projects. In June this year, the Green Team visited the Queen Elizabeth Home for Children delivering food, toiletries, and other much needed items to twenty-five children. In 2018, the resort aims to make community initiatives a top priority with a focus on charity events, beach clean-ups and a strong supporting presence in local schools.

Resource management including the conservation of water is an ongoing challenge for the property and dive shop staff have devised an innovative method to significantly reduce water consumption. Glass juice bottles are recycled, filled with sand and placed in toilet tanks. Over 1,000 gallons of water is saved per year using this simple technique which displaces and decreases the amount of water used per flush.

Environmental planning at the resort is carefully undertaken to ensure natural surroundings are protected. Native fruit trees dot the property providing fresh fruit for guests. The trees also serve as a food source for animals and birds thereby supporting biodiversity. Valuable ecological and gardening knowledge is also gained from the cultivation of these trees.