University in line for 20,000 visitors a day

Vibrant campus: Cathy Gilbert

By Jessica Brookes

One of Birmingham’s most historic and iconic institutions could welcome 20,000 visitors a day during the Commonwealth Games.

The University of Birmingham (UoB) is set to host 11 days of fastpaced hockey and squash competition as part of the Games, and reinforced its support of the Games by signing up as an official partner.

Last September, the University of Birmingham announced that it is an official partner of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and Birmingham 2022 Queen’s Baton Relay – International Leg.

The partnership, dubbed one of the “most comprehensive university partnership agreements in Commonwealth Games history” means more than 3,000 athletes being hosted at the university’s world-class sporting facilities. And Birmingham 2022, working closely with the university, is to offer volunteering opportunities for staff and students.

The idyllic and expansive campus will be a buzz of activity at Games time, with the university being told to expect 20,000 visitors to different hockey and squash events each day.

Cathy Gilbert, director of external relations and university lead for Commonwealth Games at the UoB, explained: “We’re expecting the university campus to be vibrant and alive.

‘We will have 3,000 athletes that we need to feed, operate the transport hub and get them where they need to be on time’

“Nearly 50 per cent of our graduates stay in the region and over a quarter of our students come from within the region. They will still be around in the Birmingham area during the Commonwealth Games, we don’t have a mass exodus of students.

“The campus is alive and working all the way through the summer, so we expect it to be a real hub of activity.

“We’ve been told to expect about 20,000 visitors to the different hockey and squash events everyday, so logistically that will be really interesting, but it will be great to have that many visitors to showcase our really beautiful campus.

“We will have 3,000 athletes that we need to feed, operate the transport hub and get them where they need to be on time and in their top performance so that there is no hassle for them. In addition to that, the campus will be open. The campus is always open to the public, we’ve got great cultural assets and we are anticipating high visitor numbers for that.”

As well as the huge number of visitors that will visit the campus and other Games venues across the region, Cathy says that the Games is an opportunity to showcase the university, and the city, at its very best.

She said: “As a global university being part of a really vibrant, dynamic, successful city is important to us, the growth in inward investment this should bring and our ability to deliver to that skills and jobs agenda, to help support that, is really important.

“As well as having the leading academics who are bringing thought leadership, world leading research - and we’ve seen that through our Covid research - make it really important for us to be part of the Commonwealth Games.

“It is for many people in the region a once-in-a-lifetime, and I think something that we’re really proud to be involved in and contribute to, not just for an individual’s own personal agenda, but in terms of what we’re doing to showcase the city at its very best.”