Four new appointments complete Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Board

The latest meeting of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee board took place earlier today (21 January 2019) and four new members were welcomed by Chair of the Board, John Crabtree.

Non-Executive Directors, Ellie Simmonds OBE, Lyndsey Jackson and Nick Timothy have all been appointed to the board by Jeremy Wright, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Derrick Anderson CBE has been confirmed as the West Midlands Combined Authority’s nominee. 

  With these four new members joining the existing ten, who were all appointed in 2018, the board for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games is now complete and Chair, John Crabtree, who took up his role in July last year, said:

With the board now finalised I am looking forward to truly ramping up our reach and activity, making the most of the board’s mix of experts from the worlds of sport, culture and business, as well as those who truly know and understand the city and the region. What unites us all is that we are passionate about this once-in-a-lifetime event and we’re focused on working together to deliver the best possible Games.” 

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will be held from 27 July until 7 August 2022 and will feature competition in 17 sports over 11 days in venues across Birmingham, the West Midlands and beyond. The board, who will serve until June 2023, will be tasked with supporting and overseeing the strategic direction of the Organising Committee, to ensure that they deliver an outstanding Games for the athletes, spectators, host city residents, the country and the whole Commonwealth family. 

Jeremy Wright, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said of his new appointments:

I'm very pleased to be able to appoint Ellie, Lyndsey and Nick to the Birmingham 2022 Organising Committee board. I know they'll bring fantastic experience from their respective backgrounds and make a great contribution in helping deliver a brilliant Games that showcases the best of Birmingham, the West Midlands and the UK to the world." 

Ellie, who is originally from Walsall in the West Midlands, is a five-time Paralympic and fourteen-time world champion, said:

It’s a genuine privilege to have been asked to join the board for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Having been fortunate enough to have taken part in three Paralympic Games to date, and numerous other multi and single sport events, I intend to utilise all the experience and knowledge I’ve picked up over the course of the last decade and hopefully contribute to making Birmingham the best Commonwealth Games to date.  

Having been brought up in the West Midlands and having spent much of my life in Birmingham, it truly is an honour to be part of such an esteemed group of people and I fully intend to do everything in my power to make this a special, wholly inclusive and utterly memorable event for everyone not just in Birmingham but the whole of Great Britain."   

Lyndsey Jackson, who is from Birmingham originally but is now based in Edinburgh, where she’s the Deputy Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said:

As a proud Brummie, I am delighted to be appointed to the Organising Committee for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and excited to discover the depth and breadth of the incredible opportunity the Games will offer to the city and its people, in 2022 and beyond."

Newspaper columnist, Nick Timothy, who was also born in the host city, was pleased to have been appointed by the Secretary of State and said:

I’m delighted to be joining the Organising Committee board. I am sure that Birmingham will not only put on a show that impresses the world, but this will be a wonderful opportunity to leave a lasting legacy for the city and the communities around it."

Derrick Anderson, who is currently a member of the University of Birmingham Council and previously Chief Executive of City of Wolverhampton Council, will represent the West Midlands Combined Authority, one of the key partners for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. He brings extensive experience of delivering large scale capital programmes and projects in local authorities and beyond.

WMCA nominee, Derrick Anderson, said:

It's a great honour to be asked to serve on the Birmingham 2022 Organising Committee. The Commonwealth Games is one of the great spectacles in the world of sport and its successful delivery will do fantastic things for the West Midlands and the nation as a whole."

The board, whose 14 members will serve until June 2023, represent the key partners for the Games; Birmingham City Council, the West Midlands Combined Authority, the UK Government, Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games England.

Today’s announcement follows last week’s confirmation that Ian Reid has been appointed Chief Executive for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee. Other senior roles will be confirmed soon and more are set to be advertised in the coming weeks at www.birmingham2022.com/jobs

ENDS