Public Sector Initiatives & Contracts

Initiated and funded by government housing market renewal agency Urban Living, the ''Sense of Place'' event encouraged residents to articulate the changes they would like to see take place in their area – and pledge to make a difference.

The initiative was supported by Birmingham City Council and delivered by a consortium led by arts organisation Multistory.

In the run-up to the event primary school children from Rookery School pulled out all the stops to customise furniture with photographs, postcards and song lyrics which were arranged to create an outdoors ''living room''.

Here, residents pinned ideas for change onto a Soho Road map.

A new community newsletter also got underway with budding journalists being invited to gather stories during a digital technology session at Handsworth Library.

For Nick Corbett, Urban Living''s director of urban design and enterprise, the day was about giving residents the chance to express their hopes and aspirations for the area – as well as having fun.

He said: "January can be a bit of a gloomy month so we wanted to hold a fun-filled free event that will really get people talking and interacting in public space.

"Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and we were delighted to see so many residents showing their support and taking the chance to make positive steps towards improving their area.”