Frankley Great Park

This summary reflects the Atlas' current understanding of the ward based on the evidence analysed so far.

Overview

Sources:ONSAI-assistedCivic Atlas

Summary

Based on the organisations currently reviewed by the Civic Atlas, Frankley Great Park appears to have a small but potentially complementary set of local anchors around early childhood, education and practical household support. The most notable opportunity is not simply the presence of these services, but whether families can move easily between them as their needs change. The evidence is much thinner on wider youth, employment and community support, so this should be treated as an emerging picture rather than a complete account of civic life in the ward.

Context

The available evidence identifies current operational activity in Frankley Great Park by Longbridge Childcare Strategy Group, NewStarts and the King Edward VI Foundation. Birmingham Playcare Network and InUnity also have evidence of activity at Hollymoor Centre or in Frankley, but the supplied material does not conclusively place those activities within the ward. The ward's recorded employment-deprivation score was 20.5% in 2019; this is a useful contextual signal, but it is not recent enough, or comparative enough on its own, to establish the scale or distribution of employment need today.

See observations

Profile

Political power: Reform UK

IMD: 20.5%

Civic organisations (5)

The Atlas has evidence of 5 organisations operating here.

Show results • 5 of 5 organisations

Discoveries involving organisations in this ward

Observations

Sources:Civic AtlasAI-assisted

  • There may be the beginnings of a practical family-support pathway, but the connections between its parts are not yet visible

    The strongest local operational evidence combines early-years childcare and community space at Hollymoor Centre and Frankley Plus Children's Centre with food, furniture, household-goods and resettlement support from NewStarts in New Frankley. These services appear to address different moments in family life: childcare and development for younger children, alongside practical support when households are facing poverty, homelessness or resettlement. Birmingham Playcare Network's Scrapstore and community sessions at Hollymoor Centre may add a further play and family-support dimension, although its precise ward location remains unconfirmed. The available evidence does not show whether these organisations make referrals to one another, share outreach routes or coordinate support for the same families.

    Why it matters

    If these services are connected in practice, Frankley Great Park may have more resilience than a list of separate organisations suggests. If they are not, families experiencing several pressures may still need to navigate multiple systems independently. It would be worth exploring whether Hollymoor Centre, Frankley Plus Children's Centre and NewStarts already function as linked points of support, or could do so.

    Show evidence

    • Longbridge Childcare Strategy Group website and Ofsted provider records:
      LCSG operates the Hollymoor Centre and current childcare settings at Hollymoor Centre and Frankley Plus Children's Centre, both associated with Frankley Great Park.

    • NewStarts official website and Birmingham City Council polling-district review:
      NewStarts has an active New Frankley site with shop, food-bank, furniture-collection and delivery roles; New Frankley in Birmingham is within Frankley Great Park ward.

    • Birmingham Playcare Network website and Birmingham City Council directory entry:
      BPCN operates its Scrapstore and several community sessions from Hollymoor Centre, although the supplied evidence does not directly confirm the ward assignment.

  • A ward-based school belongs to a much larger citywide education system, creating an underexplored bridge into local civic life

    King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy gives the King Edward VI Foundation a confirmed operational presence in Frankley Great Park. However, the Foundation is not a neighbourhood-scale organisation: it provides central services, governance and estate support across twelve Birmingham academies, alongside two independent schools. This means the ward contains one local point within a much wider educational network. The evidence does not show how far that network's wider resources, primary-school partnerships or community-facing activity are accessible through Balaam Wood Academy to local families or other ward organisations.

    Why it matters

    The academy could be more than a school site: it may be a potential connection between ward-level needs and citywide educational capability, relationships and facilities. The absence of visible evidence of local partnership should not be read as evidence that none exists, but it raises a useful question about whether the school is connected to the childcare, play and household-support organisations already identified.

    Show evidence

    • Department for Education, Get Information About Schools: King Edward VI Academy Trust Birmingham:
      The Trust's academy list includes King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy in Frankley, Birmingham.

    • Birmingham City Council postcode directory:
      Council election material places the academy site in Frankley Great Park ward.

    • King Edward VI Foundation 2024/25 annual report and financial statements:
      The Foundation provides executive, finance, personnel, operations and governance services to twelve academies and owns academy land and buildings.

  • Employment need is recorded, but locally evidenced routes into work are unclear

    Frankley Great Park's employment-deprivation score was recorded as 20.5% in 2019. Among the organisations with the clearest confirmed local activity, the visible offer is concentrated on childcare, schooling, food, furniture, household goods and resettlement support. Some organisations have broader employment-related purposes: InUnity includes relieving unemployment in its charitable objects, and NewStarts offers learning and work-experience opportunities. Yet the available evidence does not establish regular employment, skills or work-experience delivery in Frankley Great Park itself. This may indicate a gap in the current evidence, a gap in provision, or both.

    Why it matters

    Practical household support can reduce immediate pressure, while childcare can make participation in work or training more possible. But neither automatically creates a route into employment. Mapping whether local residents can access advice, training, childcare-linked employability support and work experience could reveal an important missing connection between existing strengths.

    Show evidence

    • IMD: Employment - score (%), 2019:
      Frankley Great Park has a recorded employment-deprivation score of 20.5%.

    • NewStarts charity activities and objects:
      NewStarts provides household goods and resettlement support, and describes opportunities for learning and work experience, but its current ward-level employment activity is not specified.

    • InUnity charity objects and Girls Night In project evidence:
      InUnity's objects include relieving unemployment, while the currently evidenced Frankley activity is a monthly girls-only youth club whose ward location is not conclusively confirmed.

    Remaining uncertainties

  • The available organisations do not represent a complete civic map of Frankley Great Park. The evidence is insufficient to conclude that services for particular communities, age groups or needs are absent from the ward.
  • Birmingham Playcare Network's Hollymoor Centre activity and InUnity's Frankley Girls Night In are evidenced as current activity, but the supplied material does not conclusively place them within Frankley Great Park ward.
  • No evidence currently shows whether LCSG, NewStarts, Balaam Wood Academy, BPCN and InUnity collaborate, refer people to one another or reach overlapping households.
  • The employment-deprivation figure is from 2019 and does not show present-day conditions, the reasons for deprivation or variation within the ward.
  • A single operational location within the ward does not establish that an organisation serves all neighbourhoods or residents of Frankley Great Park.

    Additional evidence needed

  • Safeguarding-appropriate information on referral routes, joint projects and shared outreach between local childcare, school, play and household-support organisations.
  • Current service maps or aggregate user data showing which parts of Frankley Great Park are reached, which groups use each service and where unmet demand is reported.
  • A current map of employment, skills, financial-advice, digital-inclusion and work-experience provision accessible to ward residents, including links with childcare.
  • Confirmation of the ward location and current timetable for Birmingham Playcare Network activity at Hollymoor Centre and InUnity's Frankley Girls Night In.
  • Evidence from residents, community groups and frontline practitioners about services they use, services they cannot access and organisations they see as trusted local connectors.