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Brighten up Brandwood

Brandwood neighbourhoods were connected with FLOWER POWER during the Commonwealth Games 2022

Between May and August 2022 we ran a project to shine a spotlight on all the brilliant places and people who live in the area, brightened up our streets with creativity and wildflower meadows and brought people together at events, workshops and community litter picks.

There were lots of opportunities to be social and ways to get involved. Together we put our little corner of South Birmingham on the map.

The aim was to get people talking, and to give the rest of the city something to talk about!

Thank you to everyone who got involved!

There were four themes to Brighten up Brandwood.

Did you see Yarnbomb-tastic Brandwood!

Brighten up Brandwood was an intergenerational project which promoted social cohesion. The community worked together to create flowers – a shared theme and activity which had the power to unite us all, young and old. Everyone was welcome and invited to get involved. In the end around 1500 people contributed directly by crafting one or more flowers.

12 postboxes were covered in wonderfully woolly flowery creations, three schools displayed artwork outside their gates, Rainbows, Brownines and Guides made flowers for artwork for the venues where they meet and over 70 individual yarn bombs were made by community members and were hung from trees and railings across Brandwood neighbourhoods. They really did brighten up the area!
 

There were so many yarnbomb artworks made, we’ve created a gallery. 

Visit Team Yarntastic's photo gallery

We created a walking trails for people to explore the area and see the artworks too!

See the trails we made

We invited families to contribute to the flower power

We ran family-friendly events to make FLOWER POWER art to display to contribute to the yarn bomb and to take home. This included learning how to make Rangoli flowers working with International  and record-breaking artist Ranbir Kaur,  going yarn-tastic in Dawberry Fields Park and at Colmore School summer fair!

Art competition winners

We made meadows and 'pit stops' for bees

In collaboration with The Patchwork Meadow charity we gave away over 400 packets of wildflower seeds to residents of Brandwood neighbourhoods to sow in their gardens, tubs and baskets. A small team of volunteers were out and about doing some guerrilla gardening – see if you can spot the wildflower blooms on display next spring and summer.  

We cleaned up our streets

We have a few litter-picking superhero-residents who help to keep our streets, green spaces and historic gems free from litter and report fly tipping. We invited more people to get involved! 

The Friends groups of Brandwood End Cemetery, Dawberry Fields Park and Lifford Reservoir, and Kings Heath and Brandwood Litter Pickers all organised events to get Brandwood ‘Games Ready!’

 

A COMMUNITY & TEAM EFFORT!

Big Up Brandwood! Thank you to all the volunteers who supported this project and for doing what you do for our area at other times!

There are friendly people volunteering all over Brandwood and Kings Heath, doing their bit to look after our wonderful green spaces, streets and special historic places, and many more using their skills to make people’s lives a little bit better across the city. 

Volunteers sowed wildflower meadows, led schools craft activities, made up craft resource packs, and shared their skills at craft workshops and events.

 

Volunteers shared their skills at craft workshops and worked with the Our Scene team to coordinate the craft campaign and yarn bomb.

Brandwood-based uniformed groups also made flowers for artworks, including, 2nd Highbury Rainbows, 199st Bede’s Brownies, 202nd (St Mary Magdalen) Brownies and Guides

Volunteers ran a family-friendly event in the summer for everyone to enjoy in their local neighbourhood park and lead litter picks, including family-friendly ones.

Volunteers ran three special community clean up days in Brandwood in the lead up the Games. 

Volunteers helped Our Scene CIC make over 1000 craft packs to give to schools and groups within the area. They also hosted a family yarn flower making activity at their summer fair so we could add more flowers to the yarnbomb.

Volunteers ran a cemetery litter pick over the Jubilee weekend. 

Volunteers stitched wildflower embroidery designs for collaborative artworks which went on display in shop windows around Brandwood during the Games.

Volunteers met to do social litter picks around the Lifford Reservoir and Woodland. 

Volunteers from the over 50s social day which meet at the Centre contributed their time to make flowers for the craft campaign.

The young people at Elim Pentecostal Church in Brandwood, and some of the congregation crafted together to decorate the front of the church.

Children and staff from local schools made over 1000 yarn flowers for the yarn bomb artworks outside their schools.

Find out about ongoing Brandwood-based volunteering opportunities and how to get in touch with the groups on our Brilliant Brandwood page.

TAKE ME THERE

Other projects which helped brighten up Brandwood!

Made in Brandwood

Our Pallet to Planter project started in late February. What a committed team! We have been reclaiming wood and repurposing it to build planters to give away! It’s been so much fun and we’ve all learnt a few new skills along the way!

A huge thank you to our team of planter builders and to Selly Oak Neighbourhood Network scheme for funding this project.

Adopted in Brandwood

We  delivered planters all over the area for residents to adopt and grow small wildflower meadows in their front gardens and driveways (‘pit stops’) – so everyone gets to enjoy the blooms – especially the bees!

A huge thank you to all the adopters!

THANK YOU

Our Scene CIC is hugely grateful to Birmingham City Council for a 'Celebrating Communities' grant which funded us to develop and coordinate this project in collaboration with so many local groups and schools. It has also enabled new resources to be bought and shared with groups which will continue to be used to do good within the Brandwood area.

Thank you also to Selly Oak Neighbourhood Network Scheme for supporting two of the smaller projects contributing to BRIGHTEN UP BRANDWOOD in 2022 and helping us do more.