BMet welcomes first cohort of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games volunteers
April saw BMet opened its doors for the mass volunteer training programme for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Since then, over 10,000 eager volunteers have been put through their paces at four-hour training sessions at Matthew Boulton College, in the heart of the city centre.
Over 14,000 volunteers will be trained in the run up to the opening ceremony, receiving a combined 250,000 hours of training to help get Games ready.
With training sessions running until July, every volunteer will acquire the skills and knowledge needed to ensure spectators have the best experience possible as a million people are expected to enjoy the Games across the city and region this summer.
The training programme that Birmingham 2022 is delivering is multi-faceted with multiple journey touch points. BMet is essential in the delivery of role specific training as part of the college’s agreement to support the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as an Official Further Education College Provider.
The volunteers that join the Commonwealth Collective are the public faces of Birmingham 2022 and play a central role in the Games experience for athletes, officials, spectators and a global audience of over one billion. The Games is the largest sporting and cultural event ever to be held in the West Midlands and the biggest in the UK for a decade.
Ben Gamble, Vice Principal at BMet, said: “We have been thrilled to welcome the volunteers to the college and wish them all the very best of luck. We are sure that the training all 14,000 plus volunteers will receive at the college will stand them in good stead, as they prepare to be part of this extraordinary event that will put the city on the world stage. We are proud that we will be a small part of their story this summer.”
Andrew Newman, Director of Workforce & Volunteering at Birmingham 2022, said: “The facilities provided by BMet, for our thousands of dedicated volunteers, have been superb. Ideally located in the heart of Birmingham, it is providing us with the environment to prepare and train our Commonwealth Collective in advance of the Games and welcoming more than a million visitors to the city this summer.
BMet is a large general further education college with approximately 16,000 learners and three main campuses based in Birmingham: James Watt College at Perry Barr, Matthew Boulton College in central Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield College.
A third of learners are aged 16-18 and are on full-time programmes, with most adult learners on part-time courses and professional development courses.
The broad curriculum offer includes: A Levels and vocational qualifications, apprenticeships, access to higher education, part-time adult professional development, entry level courses, as well as full and part-time degree level study programmes.