The Birmingham Sports Awards have received support from a huge array of different organisations, including Birmingham City Council.  

The city council has a strong and proud heritage of championing sport; from its work with Birmingham’s premier and community sports clubs, to the staging and hosting of international and world sporting events.  

This has gained Birmingham the valuable status of An International City of Sport and the council now wants to use this strong foundation to go on and achieve even more in sport, reaping the health, social and economic benefits that this brings.

Birmingham City Council is sponsoring the Volunteer of the Year Award, an important category that recognises the many people who give up their own time to promote and support the region’s sporting activity. 

The Sports Awards have been designed to highlight all areas of great sporting achievement and Steve Hollingworth commented on the council’s involvement and their sponsorship of this particular award category:

He said: "We are passionate about sport and appreciate this opportunity to be associated with such a high-profile event. It’s also a great chance to capture the pride and spirit generated by the incredible sporting achievement seen in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, something that inspired a generation to be more involved in sport.

"It is important that we secure a lasting sporting legacy for our city and region and one of the greatest legacies we can have is a growing, highly skilled and motivated sport workforce, hence the importance that we attach to this award.

"Voluntary sports clubs and individuals, who give so much of their time in a wide range of sport volunteering roles, are the lifeblood of sport in Birmingham and throughout the West Midlands as a whole.  It is important that we recognise and celebrate their achievements and maintain their involvement in sport."

Sport is such a large part of a region’s offering, raising its profile and forging an enviable reputation of excellence in this field. The West Midlands and Birmingham in particular, directly contributed to the success of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Mr Hollingworth explained: "Our prestigious sports clubs and major sporting events in the city help to profile Birmingham and the region on the national and international stage; Usain Bolt 'bigging up Birmingham' was a classic example of this.

"Profiling sport and sporting events can help lever inward investment, help develop and maintain international business relationships and profile the city as a visitor destination."