Heartlands

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, Heartlands appears less like a ward defined by a broad network of neighbourhood organisations and more like a place with a significant hospital-centred civic ecosystem. Heartlands Hospital is the clearest shared node: it connects urgent medical logistics, patient wellbeing, neonatal-family support, healthcare education and youth intervention. There are also signs of potential pathways for young people through school-based aspiration work, hospital-based support and inclusive sport, but the evidence does not yet show that these organisations work together.

Context

The available evidence identifies 12 organisations with some connection to Heartlands, although the strength and nature of that connection varies substantially. Several have high-confidence current activity at Heartlands Hospital; others are connected through a match venue, a school, or an administrative or faith-community base with lower confidence. The ward's recorded employment-deprivation score is 21.7% for 2019, but no comparative benchmark is provided, so this figure should not be interpreted here as unusually high or low.

See observations

Profile

Political power: Labour Party

IMD: 21.7%

Civic organisations (12)

The Atlas has evidence of 12 organisations operating here.

Show results • 12 of 12 organisations

Discoveries involving organisations in this ward

The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving organisations in this ward yet.

Observations

Sources:Civic AtlasAI-assisted

  • Heartlands Hospital appears to be a civic connector, not only a healthcare site

    The strongest pattern is the concentration of distinct charitable roles around Heartlands Hospital. The reviewed evidence directly identifies hospital-based or hospital-serving activity from Redthread Youth, Midland Freewheelers, Warwickshire and Solihull Blood Bikes, Shropshire Staffordshire Cheshire Blood Bikes, Birmingham Hospital Broadcasting Network and The Maddie and Noah Foundation. A separate education foundation is also administratively linked to the hospital, though its active local role remains uncertain. Taken together, this suggests that the hospital functions as a point where clinical care, volunteer logistics, emotional support, family support and youth safeguarding meet.

    Why it matters

    This creates an opportunity to understand the hospital as part of Heartlands' civic infrastructure rather than as an institution separate from community life. It may be worth exploring whether organisations working at the same site know about one another's roles, particularly where a patient or family may encounter several forms of support during a single period of care.

    Show evidence

    • Redthread, Our services:
      Redthread identifies Heartlands Hospital as a Birmingham delivery location for emergency-department-based youth work.

    • Midland Freewheelers official website:
      Heartlands Hospital is included in the charity's list of NHS hospitals currently served.

    • The Maddie and Noah Foundation JustGiving profile:
      The foundation states that it covers Heartlands Hospital, providing peer support, mental-health referrals, parent-room food and urgent essential baby items.

    • BHBN Radio, BHBN News:
      BHBN states that it broadcasts directly to bedside media at Heartlands Hospital.

    • Warwickshire and Solihull Blood Bikes Chair's Annual Report for year ending March 2025:
      The report identifies Heartlands Hospital among local NHS partners supported by the charity.

  • There may be an unrecognised overlap in urgent-health transport around the hospital

    Three regional blood-bike organisations have evidence of links to Heartlands Hospital or its public-health laboratory: Midland Freewheelers directly lists Heartlands among hospitals served; Warwickshire and Solihull Blood Bikes named Heartlands in its 2024/25 annual report; and Shropshire Staffordshire Cheshire Blood Bikes has evidence of urgent transport to the Birmingham public-health laboratory at Heartlands. This is notable because the organisations have similar core purposes but different stated regional geographies.

    Why it matters

    The overlap may indicate resilience: different volunteer networks could provide cover for different routes, times or specialist consignments. Equally, it raises a useful question about coordination, handovers and clarity for hospital teams. The evidence does not support a conclusion that services are duplicated or inefficient; it does suggest that the division of roles is worth understanding.

    Show evidence

    • Midland Freewheelers official website:
      The charity lists Heartlands among the NHS hospitals it currently serves.

    • Warwickshire and Solihull Blood Bikes Chair's Annual Report for year ending March 2025:
      The report states that the charity supported local NHS partners including Heartlands Hospital.

    • Shropshire Staffordshire Cheshire Blood Bikes official website and UKHSA Birmingham Public Health Laboratory user handbook:
      The blood-bike organisation describes urgent transport connected to Birmingham's public-health laboratory, while UKHSA confirms that the laboratory is based at Heartlands Hospital.

  • Heartlands contains the beginnings of a youth-support pathway, but not yet an evidenced network

    The reviewed organisations point to support at several very different moments in young people's lives: Birmingham Impact FC uses Saltley Wellbeing Centre for recurring competitive matches; The Access Project has an active school-based relationship with Waverley School; and Redthread works with young people at Heartlands Hospital's emergency department. These activities are complementary rather than interchangeable: sport can offer participation and belonging, school-based support can widen educational options, and hospital-based youth work can engage people at moments of acute vulnerability.

    Why it matters

    A ward with these different entry points may have more potential for preventative and relational support than the organisations' individual descriptions suggest. It would be worth exploring whether young people, schools, sports providers and hospital-based workers have routes to refer, inform or learn from one another. No such connection is currently evidenced, so this should be treated as an opportunity rather than an existing partnership.

    Show evidence

    • Birmingham Impact FC, Our Teams page:
      The club states that all games and matches take place at Saltley Wellbeing Centre on Saturdays every fortnight.

    • The Access Project, Meet the team and Impact report 2026 covering academic year 2024/25:
      The organisation assigns a University Access Officer to Waverley School and identifies Waverley as a West Midlands partner school.

    • Redthread, Our services:
      Redthread identifies Heartlands Hospital as a Birmingham delivery site and describes youth workers based in emergency departments.

  • Faith-based local presence is visible, but its wider civic role remains largely unknown

    The evidence suggests two active faith-community sites associated with Heartlands: Newbridge Baptist Church has regular worship, prayer and a community Christmas meal at its Bordesley Green premises, while Anjuman-E-Naqueb-Ul-Islam has evidence of an active mosque and madrassa. Both organisations describe outreach or wider charitable purposes, but the available material does not show the scale, frequency or geographic reach of non-worship activity.

    Why it matters

    Faith institutions can hold trusted relationships, space, volunteers and informal knowledge that are not easily visible in conventional service maps. In Heartlands, this may be an underexplored source of community capacity, particularly if hospital, school or family-support organisations need locally trusted routes into communities.

    Show evidence

    • Newbridge Baptist Church, Events page and Charity Commission Register:
      The church lists services, prayer and fasting, and a community Christmas meal, while reporting regular services, outreach programmes and missionary activity.

    • Charity Commission Register of Charities, ANJUMAN-E-NAQUEB-UL-ISLAM:
      The charity states that it advances Islam through a mosque, madrassa, prayer meetings and religious literature.

    • Waqt.uk, Masjid Naqeebul Islam prayer timetable:
      The timetable currently lists Masjid Naqeebul Islam and publishes prayer information for the site.

    Remaining uncertainties

  • The available evidence is strongly shaped by organisations connected to Heartlands Hospital. It does not establish that hospital-linked organisations represent the ward's wider civic landscape or the needs and assets of residents away from the hospital site.
  • The evidence does not show whether the hospital-linked charities coordinate with each other, with local voluntary organisations, or with statutory services beyond the operational relationships described.
  • Several organisations have an administrative address, a venue connection or locality name associated with Heartlands without sufficiently precise evidence of ward-wide activity. These should not be treated as evidence that they serve all residents of the ward.
  • There is little current evidence about resident-led groups, tenant and neighbourhood networks, food provision, advice services, employment support, disability support outside hospital settings, or organisations serving older residents in Heartlands.
  • The employment-deprivation figure is from 2019 and is presented without comparator data or more recent local economic evidence.

    Additional evidence needed

  • Current information from Heartlands Hospital and partner charities on referral pathways, coordination arrangements and the distinct roles of hospital-based voluntary organisations.
  • Anonymised service and journey data showing the volume, timing and purpose of blood-bike activity involving Heartlands Hospital and the Birmingham public-health laboratory.
  • Current programme information from Birmingham Impact FC, The Access Project and Redthread identifying participant catchments, referral routes and any existing relationships with schools, families and local community organisations.
  • Current activity reports from Newbridge Baptist Church and Anjuman-E-Naqueb-Ul-Islam describing community services, use of premises, partnerships and the places from which participants travel.
  • Evidence on organisations and informal groups operating beyond the hospital corridor, including resident associations, advice providers, employment support, youth groups, food support and community spaces.