This month, B31 Voices will have been serving communities across south west Birmingham for 10 years! Throughout the month we will be sharing memories of the last decade and hosting a few competitions to celebrate!
On the 7th July 2010, we launched ‘B31 Blog’ hoping to record some things that were going on close to our home at Hollymoor, Northfield.
We started off with news, arts, events and more in and around Northfield, Longbridge, Rubery, Frankley, Rednal, Lickey Hills.
in 2011, with a following over a wider area, we changed our name to B31 Voices and launched a new website – this very one!
B31 Voices has evolved over the years, engaging with a much larger following spread over the whole of south west Birmingham – helping to connect communities to businesses, community groups, charities, local government, police, fire and other community stakeholders.
Still run by volunteers, we were hoping to host a physical celebration as well as make some big positive changes to B31 Voices this year – but our plans have gone on hold while we have focused on our COVID-19 response, helping to connect residents, stakeholders and services during these unprecedented times.
Over the past years we have:
• Expanded our reach organically from a small housing estate on the fringes of the city to the majority of the south west corner of Birmingham
• reported on everything from lost or injured animals to murders to elections
• shared crowd-sourced information for features such as #SWBrumSnowWatch (originally #B31SnowWatch) and #SWBrumRainwatch
• supported residents, local groups and businesses with #SWBrumCROWDSOURCE #B31SupportingLocal an events calendar and a directory
• helped local community campaigners
• live-blogged events
• developed invaluable links within the community
• supported local people privately, with help, advice and signposting to relevant services
• grown as a community resource
• assisted community organisations with social media workshops and support
• promoted the positive with #PositiveSWBrum / #PositiveB31
• worked with tens of volunteers who have helped with B31 Voices – from articles to social media
• Registered as a Community Interest Company
None of this would have been possible without YOU!
Every share, like, contribution, mention, retweet, referral, comment, donation, has helped B31 Voices grow into the community and the resource that it is today.
This month, we will be celebrating our big birthday with old memories from our pages, competitions and more!
THANK YOU to every single one of you who is part of this immense community called B31 Voices!
BVoices is committed in supporting communities across south west Birmingham and surrounding by keeping them informed and engaged. Please see the following:
• Community Chat for south west Birmingham • Coronavirus support
• Community Classroom – Resources for parents & carers
• Community Together • Mental Health & Wellbeing through COVID-19
• Community Kindness • Positive acts during the COVID-19 outbreak
• SW Brum Camera Club – for the love of the lens – Photography Birmingham
• SWBrum Jobs Page
• Community Recycle – Repurpose & Reuse – SW Birmingham & Surrounding
