As many of you will be aware, BVSC’s current building at 138 Digbeth is situated in the long-planned site for the city’s Beorma Quarter - a 2.2 acre site which is being redeveloped to provide office accommodation, apartments, and 15,000 square feet of retail and leisure space set around a centralised courtyard. 

Well - after 42 years at 138 Digbeth, and close to 14 years of negotiations - BVSC’s board of trustees has recently agreed an exciting deal with the site’s developer to sell 138 Digbeth, and the charity will soon be on the move to new premises; and an opportunity to co-create a brand new city centre hub for community and voluntary action in Birmingham. 

We are very excited by this news, and see it as a huge opportunity both for BVSC and for the city’s voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sectors. We can’t wait to work with you all on making the most of this it! We’ll be vacating 138 Digbeth by the end of May this year.  

So - what's next for BVSC? Well, we’ll be continuing to work in a hybrid physical/virtual way and will be relocating to interim premises in the short-term (details coming soon) before working closely and intensively with our members, partners and funders to identify and develop a longer-term city centre base. Many of you have been involved recently in helping us scope out what will be needed in such a base, and we look forward to collaborating with you further to ensure that BVSC’s new building offers the city’s community and voluntary sector the best possible of options in terms of building access and co-working space for community groups and active citizens.  

Keep an eye out for further news, including information on how you can get involved in helping shape BVSC’s new building offer.  

Until then, it’s very much ‘business as usual’ for BVSC - and you can expect to see just as much (if not more) of us via our communications channels; our regular business development and funding webinars; our volunteering and community action noticeboards; our Engage for Good sector networks; our back-office support services (including our payroll bureau, finance/accountancy and HR support services); our community grant-making activities; our research projects and academic partnerships; and our efforts to ensure the sector is fully engaged in key city initiatives, including the City Partnership; the Commonwealth Games; help for Ukraine; the development of the Integrated Care Service; Early Help activities; and the further development of the city’s Prevention and Early Intervention approach. 

If you have any questions, or if you’d like to register your interest in helping us shape our new building and the opportunities it offers, please email [email protected].