Christmas is the season of giving, and with so many fantastic charities to support this year, we’ve listed 5 below that are worth the charity spotlight this festive season.
UK Sepsis Trust & Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation
UK Sepsis Trust and Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation have decided to extend their Sepsis savvy awareness campaign to schools at the Schools and Academies Show in Birmingham. Developed in collaboration with education professionals, the new resources for all key stages, intended to help protect students and their families against this life-threatening condition associated with 1 in 5 deaths worldwide (11 million people – that’s 1 life every 3 seconds).
Carefully curated to each appropriate age group, the comprehensive Sepsis Savvy Schools lesson plans are informative and interactive, and include educational videos, teaching resources and an animation narrated by UKST’s ambassador, Harry Potter and Star Wars actor, Warwick Davis. The campaign is also supported by TV medic, Paediatrician and UKST Ambassador Dr Ranj.
St Basils
St Basils is a charity that work with young people ages 16-25 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, to enable them to find and keep a home, grow their confidence, develop their skills, increase opportunities, and prevent homelessness.
This year St Basils planned their oldest and biggest sleepout in the UK in Birmingham. On Friday 3rd December, the event was held at a new venue, the versatile event space Millennium Point. Previously held at Birmingham Cathedral, the organisers hoped to fill it to capacity this year.
Due to last year and the pandemic, 2020’s sleepout was cancelled. Usually, the event raises over £100,000 so the organisers are hoping that this year’s is the bigger than ever. The aim was to appeal not only to the adventurous nature of people. But also, to their willingness to support young people with additional challenges of homelessness through these difficult times. You can find out more on this year’s event here.
Millennium Point Charitable Trust
Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning conference and events venue in the east side of Birmingham city centre. The charity use profits made by commercial activity being invested in projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) in Birmingham and the wider region.
Over the past 6 years MPT have given more than £25m back into the local region. They have previously seen the rewarding outcome of past projects such as Bishop Vesey Grammar School – STEM Robotics Club. South Bromsgrove High School had an insightful and imaginative project with their Automatic Weather Station. Millennium Point also saw a fantastic Sensory Garden achieved by City Road Primary School.
Millennium Point Trust are always looking for new partnerships to support STEM in the region.
Birmingham Women’s Hospital Charity
Birmingham Women’s Hospital Charity are passionate about improving patient experience for all the women and families at their hospital.
They are a centre of excellence, offering a rage of services to thousands of women, babies, and families every year. The hospital provides specialise care in five key areas: fertility, genetics, gynaecology, maternity, and neonatal.
They’re currently raising money for the Woodland House Appeal, they’re hospital cares for over 2,000 grieving mums and dads every year who have lost a baby. News is delivered in cramped ‘quiet’ rooms, often on the maternity ward or in a busy outpatient areas/ Woodland House would change this. It will be a brand new, purpose-built, centre away from the hustle and bustle of the main hospital. They have just £1 million left to raise, to make this a reality.
Aston Villa Foundation
Working alongside key local and national stakeholders, Aston Villa Foundation delivers projects, initiatives and provides opportunities to achieve its mission of ‘Working Together to Enrich Lives’.
The Foundation and its partners work with people from a variety of backgrounds in Birmingham as well as supporting the wider ‘Aston Villa family’ through several departments including schools, football in the community, disability, health and wellbeing, education, interventions, and community relations.
Applications for our Charitable Trust STEM Grants programme close this Friday so don’t miss out on funding for your next STEM project.
Have a STEM project plan that needs funding? Our small grants are available from £1,000 to £20,000 to individual applicants to support science, technology, engineering & maths (STEM) education in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. Applications close at 5pm this Friday, meaning you don’t have long to get your application submitted!
An example of the type of projects we fund is detailed in the video below.
You can start your application by clicking here.
Endless possibilities with STEM
Over the past five years, the Millennium Point Charitable Trust has awarded over £2 million to charities, not-for-profits, community groups and schools to further STEM education. Millennium Point Charitable Trust has previously seen the rewarding outcome of past projects such as the science area at Ark Tindal Primary and Sensational Science at Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The latest round of funding in 2021 saw a wide range of successful applications – from a proposal to build a fully operational light aircraft, STEM training toolkits for schools and a car engineering workshop for girls.
Last year Millennium Point saw 70 applications from not-for-profit organisations in aim of receiving a share of the grant money.
Abbie Vlahakis, CEO of Millennium Point said. “Along with our hugely popular degree scholarship, the Small Grants Programme is why we do what we do. To promote STEM education across the region and increase the opportunities for the next generation via some of the most exciting career paths available.
“Every year the quality and volume of applications that the Millennium Point Charitable Trust receives is fantastic. I have no doubt that will be the case again – I can’t wait to see them.”
Read more about our fantastic case studies here.
Top tips for writing your application
We understand writing an application can be tricky, but we don’t want you to feel overwhelmed. We’ve created a blog that lays out some of our most useful tips and advice using our many years of experience with the grants programme, making your application as easy and quickly as possible.
To read more please click here.
Book with Millennium Point and help support the future of STEM
Everything Millennium Point Charitable Trust achieves is made possible by the commercial activity that takes place in our landmark building. It all feeds back into the charitable trust, enabling it to donate and invest in STEM-related organisations, projects, and initiatives.
When booking events with Millennium Point you are widening your CSR and supporting the local region. Find out how and more about our 17 unique event spaces here.
Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint. Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.
With awareness on the environment ever increasing, it is no surprise that people are now looking at ways to be more sustainable at Christmas.
From Christmas tree choices, to making your own advent calendar, we look at ways you can be more eco-friendly without ruining the festivities this season.
Rent a real tree for the festive season
A tree shouldn’t just be for Christmas, GWP found that as many as 8 million Christmas trees are thrown away each year. This includes 14 per cent of people who will even be binning their fake Christmas tree. Fake Christmas trees are made up of plastic and metals, therefore often can’t be recycled.
For next year, if your fake Christmas tree is in good condition, why not donate it to a charity shop and opt for a real tree instead? Simply Plants and Love a Christmas Tree, both offer tree renting services, enjoy the tree for Christmas and after, it gets planted back in the ground for Spring.
If you have bought a real Christmas tree this season, don’t worry, Birmingham City Council offer tree recycling which is free. Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice Treecycling also offer the service, although free, a donation of £10 is recommended, with all proceeds going to St Mary’s Hospice.
Make your home merry and bright with LED lights
Being sustainable doesn’t mean your home has to be dark and gloomy this Christmas. Choose LED lights to hang on your tree, LED lights use 80-90% less energy than non-LED, the cost of powering them is less too.
There’s lots of LED light options to choose from this Christmas, so you’ll be spoilt for choice!
Get creative with your wrapping paper
The amount of wrapping paper thrown away at Christmas in the UK alone would stretch to the moon, according to estimates by recycling advisors WRAP. That’s 225,623 miles of wrapping paper!
The problem with wrapping paper is often due to the foils, dyes, and paper it’s printed on which makes it unable to be recycled. There is alternative paper that can be used such as kraft paper, although brown, why not customise it with reusable ribbons and patterned biodegradable zero plastic Sellotape.
Replace your throwaway advent calendar for a reusable one
Advent calendars and selection boxes add to the three million tonnes of extra plastic waste created every year during the festive period in the UK.
There are lots of ways to get a reusable advent calendar, support independent businesses and find one on Etsy. Or if creativity is your thing, upcycle old items to make your very own. You can fill it with chocolates, make-up, whatever you want!
Eat sustainably without cutting out on quality
During Christmas, 2 million turkeys, 5 million Christmas puddings, and 74 million mince pies get disposed while still edible, causing almost 270,000 tons of food waste in total during the festive season.
Earlier this year we wrote a blog about sustainable supermarkets to try in Greater Birmingham. There are also lots of other ways to eat more sustainable this Christmas.
Try planning your shopping for the winter break to avoid over buying and only buy what you plan to eat. Organise your fridge so you can store food properly, so it will last longer and not get spoilt. If you have leftover untouched food and it’s in date, look for a food bank to donate it to during the Winter to help others.
Millennium Point and sustainability
This Christmas we have looked at how we can enjoy a sustainable Christmas, continuing our journey to be more eco-friendly. For example, our 39ft Christmas tree, which is rented, is fitted out with LED lights.
We have also placed a range of processes to ensure we’re not adding to our carbon footprint. Energy management and the journey to net zero carbon are at the heart of all our decisions. We try not to create waste but where we do, we segregate and recycle as much as we can. Lastly, we encourage staff, tenants, and visitors to make green travel choices when visiting us.
Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint. Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.
With Christmas Day just over a month away, we just can’t stop talking about our spectacular 39ft tree! That’s why we’ve put together some fir-tastic facts together about our decorations.
The Christmas tree is based in our event space Atrium for everyone to enjoy as soon as they walk into our landmark building.
It’s starting to look a lot like CHRISTMAS
The tree built was put together by Christmas experts The Christmas Decorators. It takes a team of 5 installers and a team of 7 decorators, to prepare the branches and baubles. The Christmas tree takes around 10 hours to complete. With good reason too as there are over 21,000 lights and 1,500 baubles to set up!
Where do you even get a 39ft tree from you ask? We’ll let you in on a secret, it’s not actually a real tree! The Christmas tree is made up of a metal frame with each individual branch attached separately each with their own power source.
As far as we know we are the biggest indoor tree in Birmingham at 12 metres tall. It’s also accompanied by two nutcrackers and a (currently) nameless bear giving visitors lot of opportunities to snap a festive selfie.
Excited to share the Christmas Tree with everyone
We wanted everyone to enjoy our Christmas Tree, and with last year, we realise how important this Christmas is. In November we invited our industry friends and colleagues to have a catch up at our festive meet-up under our Christmas Tree. The event was well received by everyone, and we enjoyed catching up after a long time away from face to face events.
Feel Christmas all around you with themed wine and Love Actually
Feel the love this Christmas with a screening and themed wine tasting experience of the seminal 2003 festive rom com, Love Actually. Millennium Point have once again teamed up with movie geeks The Wine Events Company for a fun and unique wine tasting. This festive event will include five themed wines and a very big screen, all for the price of £31.95 (plus fees). The event takes place on Sunday 5th December at 5pm. Tickets can be purchased by clicking below.
Imagine, your event and our Christmas tree
With 17 versatile event spaces to choose from, make Millennium Point your venue of choice this Christmas. Contact our friendly events team on 0121 202 2200 or click below to explore our award-winning event spaces.
Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint. Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.
On Friday 3rd December St Basils hosted their big sleepout at Millennium Point with the aim to raise funds to help end youth homelessness. The event previously hosted at Birmingham Cathedral moved to versatile event venue Millennium Point. Approximately 300 people joined up to do the sleepout to fundraise for the charity.
Due to last year and the pandemic, 2020’s sleepout was cancelled. Usually, the event raises over £100,000 so the organisers hope that this year’s is the bigger than ever. The event tries to appeal not only to the adventurous nature of people. But also, to their willingness to support young people with additional challenges of homelessness through these difficult times.
Homelessness shouldn’t be part of growing up
St Basils work with young people ages 16-25 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, to enable them to find and keep a home, grow their confidence, develop their skills, increase opportunities, and prevent homelessness.
During April 2020 – March 2021, St Basils has been able to provide 3,860 young people with advice and support, 590 young people stayed with them every night. Not only this 92% of young people that stayed with St Basils moved on in a planned positive way.
A wealth of support to make the event a success
The event was also supported by projects and companies that made the evening a success.
Langar Aid, a project that that focuses on fighting hunger worldwide and provides vital food and water in emergencies, supplied curry and samosas to guests to warm up. The Band of the West Midlands Fire Service rose spirits by providing some tunes in a festive way. Salvation Army Cradley Heath knitted hats for the outreach team to give out, Campanile Hotels also donated thermal hats.
A team from Squire Patton Boggs, a global law firm, had the important role of handing out the cardboard boxes to guests. The boxes were kindly provided by the packaging manufactures Schumacher.
And of course, everyone that helped raise money and took part in sleeping rough for one night, so young people don’t have to.
As a charity ourselves, we were thrilled to be involved
Supporting young people improves the chances they have for their future. Helping provide a safe space, education and resources allows them to build better foundations for later life. As a strong supporter for education for STEM, Millennium Point wanted to take part.
A team from Millennium Point including CEO Abbie Vlahakis took part in the sleepout to help raise money for the life-changing charity St Basils.
So far Millennium Point have raised over £1,500, however we’re not finished yet! There’s still time to donate.
Couldn’t make it to the sleepout? You can still make a difference
It costs £5 a day to support a young person and keep them at a St Basils project. Supporters can make a one-off donation here. Help change a young person’s life for the better today.
Want to book an event space with Millennium Point?
The multi-award-winning Millennium Point has 17 versatile event spaces to choose from and an excellent events team to help you with your event.
For further information about the event, charity, or venue you can get in contact with our team.
Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint. Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.
Originally set to close on Friday 3rd December 2021, the STEM Grants application is now officially extended to Friday 17th December 2021 to give everyone a chance to apply this year. Over the last five years, the Millennium Point Charitable Trust has awarded over £2 million to charities, not-for-profits, community groups and schooled to further STEM education.
Millennium Point STEM Grants are available from £1,000 to £20,000 to individual applicants to support science, technology, engineering & maths (STEM) education in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands.
You can apply here.
Robots, Sensory Gardens, and an Automatic Weather Station
With STEM the possibilities are endless! Millennium Point Charitable Trust has previously seen the rewarding outcome of past projects such as Bishop Vesey Grammar School – STEM Robotics Club. South Bromsgrove High School had an insightful and imaginative project with their Automatic Weather Station. Millennium Point also saw a fantastic Sensory Garden achieved by City Road Primary School.
You can read more about our fantastic case studies here.
Need some help applying?
We want everyone applying to have the best chances of success. That’s why our fantastic Trust Team have put together some useful information on our website. If you have any questions have a look at our frequently asked questions page, you can always contact our team with any other queries. You will also find our STEM Grant Applicant Guidance there too. The guidance intended to assist organisations in applying for funding from the Millennium Point Trust’s STEM grants programme.
Anyone applying can also look at our latest blog with tips on applying for the Millennium Point STEM Grants.
Book with Millennium Point and help support the future of STEM
Everything Millennium Point Charitable Trust achieves is made possible by the commercial activity that takes place in our landmark building. It all feeds back into the Charitable Trust, enabling it to donate and invest in STEM-related organisations, projects, and initiatives.
When booking events with Millennium Point you are widening your CSR and supporting the local region. Find our how and more about our 17 unique event spaces here.
Don’t Delay, apply for our STEM Grant today!
The deadline is now extended to Friday 17th December 2021, you can apply via our easy to download form on our website.
Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint. Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.
What’s ‘worse than the total agony of being in love’? … potentially not getting a ticket to Love Actually with wine!
There is only a few days left to buy tickets for this festive treat on Sunday 5th December at our award-winning venue. Millennium Point have once again teamed up with the charming movie geeks The Wine Events Company for a fun and unique wine tasting. This festive event will include five themed wines and a very big screen, all for the price of £31.95 (plus fees).
You can book your ticket here.
Love Actually – several modern love stories in one classic film
Nine intertwined stories examine the complexities of the one emotion that connects us all: love. Among the characters explored are David (Hugh Grant), the handsome newly elected British prime minister who falls for a young junior staffer (Martine McCutcheon), Sarah (Laura Linney), a graphic designer whose devotion to her mentally ill brother complicates her love life, and Harry (Alan Rickman), a married man tempted by his attractive new secretary.
Featuring: Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman
Certificate: 15|Running Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
‘To me, you are perfect’- You to the wine… probably
The ‘new classic’ Christmas movie will be paused to pour you a glass of festive cheer as The Wine Events Company shares with you their five perfect wines. The film and wine connoisseurs will also pause the film at appropriate moments to share some fun movie trivia. For example, did you know that Love Actually was the most rented DVD in the UK in 2004, it must be good!
The event will be a safe, fun, and interactive ‘wines and movie’ event in our multi-award-winning venue with one of Birmingham’s biggest screens.
The film is showing on the Sunday 5th December, the doors will open at 4:00pm with the event starting at 5:00pm. There are limited tickets available so make your you secure your ticket for this fantastic festival event.
Our movie + drinks nights are not to be missed
Our movie + drinks nights have been hugely successful with fans and are not to be missed. Want to get a feeling of what to expect? Check out our screening of the eighties classic Dirty Dancing below. Guests had the time of their lives with a live band, themed cocktails, and movie trivia from the film geeks at The Wine Events Company.
We pride ourselves on our outstanding hospitality, with a wide range of events there is something for everyone. You can keep up to date with all our events on our refurbished website here.
Getting to Millennium Point
Millennium Point is in the Eastside of Birmingham City Centre just 5-minutes’ walk from Moor Street and 15-minutes from Grand Central and the tram. There is also limited parking on-site which means we’re easy to find regardless of how you travel. For more information please click here.
Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint. Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.
Applications for our Charitable Trust STEM Grants programme close in just under a month!
Our small grants are available from £1,000 to £20,000 to individual applicants to support science technology, engineering & maths (STEM) education in Birmingham and in the wider region. Applications close at 5pm on Friday 17th December 2021, meaning you have got just under a month to apply. You can apply here.
We want everyone to have the best chance of success. That’s why we have put some helpful tips below.
A good plan is half the work done
To get started, complete the form that can be easily downloaded from our website. Have a read through all the sections and start to complete them in as much detail as you can as this will help us when our team begin to shortlist applications.
Clearly plan what the aims of the project and how those aims will be achieved. Don’t forget to include details on how the success of the project will be measured. This is where using ‘SMART’ objectives will be useful –
Make sure your application is detailed with what activities will take place, when, and where they will be carried out will also help chances of being successful. Have a look through your budget plan and ensure it contained the correct pricing and quantities for everything you need achieve your project.
When talking about your project look at the link between the project and the selected category choice. Make sure the connection is clear to show why you’re doing the project and how it will benefit your chosen group. Also plan about the duration of the project, will it be throughout the year, or could the project be done in a day? Can the project be repeated with the resources bought, or is it a one-off project?
For extra help the guidance and F&Qs pages will help you with your application, you can always contact our friendly Trust team too [email protected].
Submitting your application for grants
Have a read through your final application, ensure that it’s clear, precise and explains all about the exciting project you have planned.
After you have decided you’re happy with your application, submit it to us by email – [email protected]. Make sure you send it on or before the 17th December 2021. We prefer applications to be submitted by email, good luck!
What happens next?
Once it’s sent over, our fantastic Trust team will send you an email acknowledging receipt, you won’t hear from us again until a decision has been made. All applications will be read through by the small grants team and then moderated by a separate panel. It will finally be presented to our Trustees who will make the final decision on the successful applicants. At this stage you don’t have to do anything but wait for the good news!
Our grants help make STEM happen!
Over the past five years, the Millennium Point Charitable Trust has awarded over £2 million to charities, not-for-profits, community groups and schools to further STEM education. Millennium Point Charitable Trust has previously seen the rewarding outcome of past projects such as the Science Area at Ark Tindal Primary and Sensational Science at Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The latest round of funding in 2021 saw a wide range of successful applications – from a proposal to build a fully operational light aircraft, STEM training toolkits for schools and a car engineering workshop for girls.
Last year Millennium Point Trust saw 70 applications from not-for-profit organisations in aim of receiving a share of the grant money.
Apply Now
With less than a month till the deadline, there is still time to apply for a Millennium Point Charitable Trust small grant.
Applications for our Charitable Trust STEM Grants programme close in just under a month!
Have a STEM project plan that needs funding? Our small grants are available from £1,000 to £20,000 to individual applicants to support science, technology, engineering & maths (STEM) education in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. Applications close at 5pm on Friday 3rd December 2021, meaning you have got just under a month to apply.
You can apply here.
Endless possibilities with STEM
Over the past five years, the Millennium Point Charitable Trust has awarded over £2 million to charities, not-for-profits, community groups and schools to further STEM education. Millennium Point Charitable Trust has previously seen the rewarding outcome of past projects such as the science area at Ark Tindal Primary and Sensational Science at Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The latest round of funding in 2021 saw a wide range of successful applications – from a proposal to build a fully operational light aircraft, STEM training toolkits for schools and a car engineering workshop for girls.
Last year Millennium Point saw 70 applications from not-for-profit organisations in aim of receiving a share of the grant money.
Abbie Vlahakis, CEO of Millennium Point said. “Along with our hugely popular degree scholarship, the Small Grants Programme is why we do what we do. To promote STEM education across the region and increase the opportunities for the next generation via some of the most exciting career paths available.
“Every year the quality and volume of applications that the Millennium Point Charitable Trust receives is fantastic. I have no doubt that will be the case again – I can’t wait to see them.”
Read more about our fantastic case studies here.
Book with Millennium Point and help support the future of STEM
Everything Millennium Point Charitable Trust achieves is made possible by the commercial activity that takes place in our landmark building. It all feeds back into the charitable trust, enabling it to donate and invest in STEM-related organisations, projects, and initiatives.
When booking events with Millennium Point you are widening your CSR and supporting the local region. Find out how and more about our 17 unique event spaces here.
Champion STEM with a grant from Millennium Point
At Millennium Point we believe that STEM is important for the future of the region. We are excited to see what this year’s applications bring.
The next round of applications for the 2022 grant are now open and close at 5pm on 3rd December 2021.
If you need any help, you can always contact our friendly team who will be happy to assist here.
Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint. Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.
Experience Earth like never before at Birmingham’s landmark city centre venue with Luke Jerram’s breath-taking Gaia. Millennium Point are delighted to be able to host the spectacular live art installation. Showing from 1st February to 28th March 2022 the unmissable sight will also be accompanied with a schedule bursting with exciting activities.
This 8-week installation of Luke Jerram’s Gaia artwork is our latest initiative to help entertain, educate, and inspire local communities.
An unimaginable view amongst the stars, all from the comfort of Earth
Luke Jerram is a British artist that creates sculptures, installations, and live art projects. Having more than 600 exhibitions in 44 countries, he is now known globally for his innovative arts practice and large-scale public artworks.
Luke Jerram’s Gaia aims to create the Overview Effect, but for people standing on Earth. First coined by author Frank White it features the experience that astronauts feel in space. Feelings of awe, an understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.
Hoping that it engages and starts the conversation on what we can do to protect our fragile blue planet, the travelling artwork also acts as a mirror to major events in society. Throughout the current COVID-19 pandemic, and after lockdown there has been a renewed respect for nature. Viewers may also gain a new perspective from Gaia, that everyone is all interconnected and have a responsibility toward one another.
The 7m in diameter artwork is 1.8 million times smaller than the real Earth with each centimetre of the internally lit sculpture describing 18km of the Earth’s surface. By standing 211m away from Gaia, the public will be able to see the Earth as it appears from the moon. Gaia will slowly revolve and be accompanied by a specially created composition by BAFTA award winning composer Dan Jones.
Sustainability is a journey not a destination
As an award-winning landmark building, it is vital to do our part to aim to be as sustainable as possible. As times have changed, Millennium Point have adapted to try and become greener to protect are planet and promote the importance of sustainability. Having Gaia at Millennium Point we hope it transfers the same thought-provoking action that is needed to make a change.
You can find out more about our sustainability pledge here.
Make your event stand out with Gaia
Luke Jerram’s Gaia will be at Millennium Point for 8-weeks from Tuesday 1st February until Monday 28th March 2022, giving plenty of time for all to enjoy. Take advantage by hosting your event at Millennium Point during this period to give your guests a wow factor at no additional cost. Gaia is a unique piece that is sure to drive attendee numbers and spark conversations, while making your event one to remember. There is also an opportunity to upgrade your booking to include a welcome reception under Gaia, to greet guests in a way that is literally out of this world!
Discover more about our versatile spaces that are suitable for both public and private events here.
The Gaia exhibition is free and open to the public during standard Millennium Point opening hours from 2nd February to 28th March. More details on our exciting programme will be released in early 2022. You can keep up to date on the latest Gaia news with by signing up to our mailing list.
Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint. Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.
