Director of legacy appointed for Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games has announced the appointment of a director of legacy.

Nicola Turner started the new partnership role last month and will lead the planning and delivery of all legacy programmes associated with the largest sports and culture event ever to be staged in the West Midlands.

Joining the Birmingham 2022 partnership from the Universities’ regulator, the Office for Students, where she was head of access and participation, Turner previously led a £70m portfolio of policy initiatives, to improve jobs and skills, access to and participation in higher education, and equalities, diversity and inclusion.

In 2015 she received an MBE for services to the West Midlands, following her work on SME growth and graduate retention.

She said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be taking up the director of legacy role for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. I want local people and businesses to look back on the event with pride and to be able to point to the positive changes that it brought to Birmingham and the region. I’m looking forward to working with all the Games partners, whose commitment to delivering a fantastic event, with a strong legacy, has impressed me.”

Building on work already done by the key partners leading on this area of the Games, including Birmingham 2022, the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Birmingham City Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority, Turner will be responsible for galvanising the partnership.

She will also ensure that legacy is properly resourced and prioritised throughout the planning of the Games, to allow the city and region to maximise the huge opportunity provided by staging the biggest event to be held in the UK for ten years.

Turner will also be working closely with the Legacy and Benefits committee (LAB Committee). Chaired by John Crabtree, this committee was expanded earlier this year to incorporate five community representatives.

Crabtree, who is also Chairman of the Birmingham 2022 board, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Nicola into the team. In Nicola we have appointed someone with a great deal of experience of leading programmes that have delivered national and regional impact, and she has a great track record of working on complex partnerships.

“We’ve known for a long time that this would be a crucial role, but it has taken on a renewed importance in recent months. Birmingham 2022 has a key part to play in the recovery plan for the West Midlands over the next couple of years, as well as being an obvious way that we can support local people across the region and bring communities together following the devastating global pandemic.”

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