Wrapping Birmingham for Christmas
After years of teenage brooding and resentment towards my parents; gifts forgotten both intentionally and unintentionally, I’ve finally reached the point where I want to give something back for all they’ve done for me. But I still don’t understand them as people.
We’ve settled into a pretty regular pattern at this point. Mum gets a cranberry gift set from Body Shop, Dad gets Lindt chocolates. Neither of these things express anything close to the gratitude I owe to them, but we’re too scared of conversations to really understand each other. We love each other, but we’re on opposite sides of the fence. There’s a generation gap between us. The city they grew up in is different to the city I’m living in now.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t see the city in the way I see it. I just have to invite them.
So, this is the Christmas present I’m giving to my parents. A tour of all of the places and people that make Birmingham the city I’ve fallen in love with. I wanted to try and encapsulate the creative energies of the underground arts scene, the entrepreneurialism of the independent sector and something of the old industrial, communal spirit that Birmingham’s brought through to the 21st century.
Here’s the plan:
9:15 am — Get on a train from Solihull (where we live) into Birmingham Moor Street. Spend half an hour sitting in the Grand Central Lounge with a coffee listening to the sound of commuters and locals. Enjoy the architecture.
10:00 am — Walk over to Cherry Reds for a spot of breakfast. Talk to the owners about how long it’s been there, where they think it’s going, and some of the people who’ve played there. Show my parents the corkboard with flyers of local musicians and their gigs. Talk about the support that Birmingham artists show each other
11:00 am — Make our way to Brindley Place, stopping off at as many interesting places as we can. Walk through the new Library & the REP. Talk about the fantastic work both organisations do for the young people of Birmingham.
11:45 am — Pop into the IKON Gallery. Buy a postcard for a distant relative. See the gallery. Talk about art before going downstairs to the canal, and board the infamous Slow Boat that has housed the Ikon Youth Programme for 4 years. Cruise down the canals to Digbeth.
1:00 pm — Visit Impact Hub Birmingham. Talk to everyone not working at a desk. Talk to Immy Kaur about her vision for the space — about the network of Impact Hub, and how Birmingham is slowly rising on the global stage. Talk to Daniel Zastawny about how Impact Hub makes sure global value benefits local people. Be inspired.
2:30 pm — Walk from Oxford Street to the Custard Factory, stopping at as many City of Colours sites along the way as we can. Discover an envelope just as they enter the Custard Factory, with a pair of Independent Birmingham cards inside. Explain the coalition of local independent stores. Explain the Custard Factory’s role in uniting these organisations.
3:15 pm — Eat lunch at the Digbeth Dining Club. Spare no expense. Try everything.
4:00 pm — Walk over to The Anchor, and order a craft beer from local suppliers. Talk in the heated room at the back. Accidentally bump into Sandra and Lee from Friction Arts, two phenomenal community arts practitioners, and ask them to share stories of Digbeth.
5:00 pm — Take the bus back to the city centre. Avoid the Christmas Market until reaching Urban Coffee Co. on Church St. Order great coffee. Sit upstairs and patiently talk about the day so far, and what’s been their favourite part. Eventually reveal that there’s been an artist on the next table over, Louise Byng, who’s been quietly drawing the whole scene for us — and that we can take the art home.
6:00 pm — Beatfreeks start to arrive, and the place slowly fills with young poets budding with energy. Introduce my parents to Anisa Haghdadi, founder and CEO of Beatfreeks, and talk about the explosive growth of social enterprise and young people in the city. Share excited plans for the future.
7:00 pm — Enjoy Poetry Jam. Enthusistically.
9:00 pm — Go home. Relax. Sleep.
Some of this will be quite ambitious and require more budget than I have — but hopefully someday I’ll be able to do this. For a start, maybe just pick out a couple that I’d really like them to see. What would your tour of Birmingham look like?
If you have time, please head over to the Impact Hub Birmingham Kickstarter page and pledge your support. There has been a jump between my parents’ generation and mine. Birmingham is different now. It is growing and accelerating at an unprecedented rate and Impact Hub are some of the people helping fuel that growth, benefit local people and create a truly cross-sector environment to power social change.
Massive credit to Verity Milligan for the background photo
Thanks very much guys,
Carl
