West Midlands regeneration successes make a capital appearance thanks to RegenWM

The best in West Midlands’ regeneration was on show in London yesterday when RegenWM led a delegation of MPs, including Gisela Stuart, Joan Walley and Richard Burden, to a parliamentary reception at the House of Commons.

Hosted by Regional Minister Ian Austin MP, the event was designed to recognise and celebrate a host of best practice regeneration initiatives currently being delivered in the region, including Fort Dunlop, the University Quarter in Stoke-on-Trent, the restoration of the Stourport Canal Basins and ‘The Think Local Campaign’ aimed at increasing trade in Staffordshire.

Chief Executive Adrian Passmore also used the reception to urge the group to continue their support for bringing new projects forward in a difficult economic environment and insisted that regeneration continues to offer the area the best chance of safeguarding and creating new jobs.

“This event was a perfect opportunity to share some of the West Midlands’ recent success stories under one roof and to give MPs an idea of what is working in their constituencies and beyond,” explained Adrian.

“Holding it in London meant we were able to showcase some of our work to a wider audience and illustrate how the region is coming to terms with the current challenges and, through innovation and good ‘old fashioned’ partnership working, is still making ‘change happen’.”

He continued: “It was also good to look forward and assess the capacity and ability of the existing regeneration community to deliver impact over the next five years.”

Established six years ago, RegenWM promotes and develops regeneration excellence in the West Midlands by improving the skills of those involved in the sector and providing information and intelligence.

The organisation, now seen by many as a UK leader in its field, also works with partners and providers to match training programmes, needs and opportunities. This is none more evident that through its Regeneration Placement Service that has so far brokered over 130 positions, helping improve graduate retention considerably.

Regional Minister Ian Austin added his support:

“I was delighted to be able to lead this delegation and to recognise the outstanding regeneration work taking place in the West Midlands.

“It was also important to tackle some of the key issues around taking the region forward and it was reassuring to see the determination from all MPs to help instigate positive change in the area.”

RegenWM Prizes, the regeneration awards for the West Midlands, will be announced next Tuesday with a record-breaking 90 entries set to compete for the five prestigious titles, including Best Regeneration Team, Successful Community Engagement and Creating Outstanding Places.