Perry Common

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

Overview

Sources:ONSAI-assistedCivic Atlas

Summary

Perry Common appears to have a concentrated but varied civic infrastructure: community housing, youth work, family support, older people’s activity, faith-based provision, special educational needs and disability support all have evidenced connections to the ward. The strongest pattern is not a single service network but a set of organisations using a small number of local buildings, schools, churches and community venues as practical entry points into civic life.

Context

Based on the evidence currently available, 15 organisations are associated with Perry Common or have reviewed operational evidence of activity there. The ward’s 2019 employment-deprivation score is 20, which indicates a material employment-deprivation challenge but should not be read as a direct unemployment rate. The available evidence gives a useful view of several prominent organisations and sites, but it does not yet show the full civic landscape, resident experience, informal groups or the strength of relationships between organisations.

See observations

Profile

Political power: Reform UK

IMD: 20%

Civic organisations (15)

The Atlas has evidence of 15 organisations operating here.

Show results • 15 of 15 organisations

Discoveries involving organisations in this ward

Observations

Sources:Civic AtlasAI-assisted

  • Witton Lodge Road appears to function as a civic corridor rather than simply a residential street

    Several organisations with distinct roles are located on, or deliver activity from, a short stretch of Witton Lodge Road and nearby Perry Common venues. Witton Lodge Community Association provides housing, employment, health and wellbeing support from Perry Common Community Hall; Urban Devotion Birmingham has youth activity in Perry Common; St Martin’s Social Care Project operates activities for older people and carers from St Martin’s Church; and The Net runs worship, children’s, lunch-club and older people’s activity nearby. The evidence directly shows proximity and complementary provision. It does not show that these organisations coordinate their work, but the concentration suggests an opportunity to understand whether residents experience these sites as a connected local support system.

    Why it matters

    Places with several accessible community anchors can make support easier to find, especially when people’s needs change over time. If relationships between these organisations are limited, there may be unrealised potential for shared referral routes, shared space, volunteering pathways or joint community activity.

    Show evidence

    • Witton Lodge Community Association — Our Venues:
      Perry Common Community Hall is WLCA’s main office and a site from which housing, employment, health and wellbeing staff deliver core support services.

    • St Martin's Social Care Project operational-area evidence:
      Regular community shed, gardening, craft, exercise, social and meal activities are delivered from St Martin’s Church in Perry Common.

    • The Net Perry Common Pentecostal Church — official website and Charity Commission record:
      The church lists regular worship, chat club, lunch club, children’s activity and older people’s friendship activity in Perry Common.

    • Urban Devotion Birmingham — activities page and trustees' report:
      Urban Devotion identifies Perry Common as a distinct engagement area and lists recurring youth and development activity at local venues.

  • Special educational needs provision may be an unusually important local civic node

    Wilson Stuart School appears to attract support from several otherwise distinct organisations. The Wilson Stuart School Fund exists specifically to enhance provision for its pupils; Clara Martineau Charity awarded the school a £15,000 grant in the year ended 31 March 2025; Rotary Club of Wylde Green supported pupils’ participation and school fundraising in 2025; and The Hive College is recorded at the Wilson Stuart School site, providing education for young adults aged 19 to 25 with high needs. This suggests that the school and college site may be more than an education setting: it may be a focal point around which charitable funding, transition support and community relationships gather.

    Why it matters

    The transition from school into adult life is often a point at which families can face fragmented support. Perry Common may have the beginnings of a locally rooted pathway spanning school-age support, post-19 education, charitable enrichment and external community backing. It would be worth exploring whether these connections are experienced as a coherent pathway by young people and families, or remain separate initiatives.

    Show evidence

    • Clara Martineau Charity — Report and Financial Statements for year ended 31 March 2025:
      The charity approved a £15,000 grant to Wilson Stuart as part of grants for residential education and recreational or leisure experiences for young people with special educational needs.

    • Rotary Wylde Green — Working with Wilson Stuart School:
      The club sponsored 24 Wilson Stuart pupils to attend Rotary Fun Day and supported the school’s enterprise project and minibus fundraising in June 2025.

    • The Wilson Stuart School Fund — Charity Commission-derived record:
      The Fund exists to provide or assist educational, recreational and other charitable facilities for pupils of Wilson Stuart School.

    • The Hive College — supplied organisation record:
      The Hive College is based at Wilson Stuart School and provides educational provision for high-needs students aged 19 to 25.

  • Economic inclusion is present across the ward’s civic offer, but its practical pathways are not yet visible

    Perry Common’s employment-deprivation score of 20 makes work, skills and financial resilience an important context. The strongest directly evidenced local response is Witton Lodge Community Association, which delivers employment support alongside housing and wellbeing work. Urban Devotion Birmingham also frames its youth work around personal, social and economic development, while The Hive College aims to support training, employment, volunteering and independent living for disabled young adults. These organisations may represent complementary stages of an economic-inclusion pathway, from early youth development to adult skills, housing stability and employment support. However, the evidence does not show whether people are routinely able to move between these offers.

    Why it matters

    Employment support is likely to be more effective when it connects to the wider conditions that affect people’s ability to participate: confidence, health, disability support, housing security, caring responsibilities and access to local relationships. Perry Common may already contain several parts of this wider system. The unanswered question is whether they are linked strongly enough to create practical routes for residents.

    Show evidence

    • Employment deprivation dataset, Perry Common, 2019:
      Perry Common has an IMD employment-deprivation score of 20.

    • Witton Lodge Community Association — Our Venues:
      WLCA delivers housing, employment, health and wellbeing support from Perry Common Community Hall.

    • Urban Devotion Birmingham — charity activity statement:
      Urban Devotion provides education, activities and mentoring intended to support personal, social and economic development for children, young people, offenders and families.

    • The Hive College — charitable objects:
      The college aims to promote social inclusion through opportunities for training, employment, volunteering and social interaction for people affected by special educational needs, disability or poor skills attainment.

  • Local host venues may be as important as the organisations themselves

    Much of the evidenced activity in Perry Common is delivered through shared or hosted premises: St Martin’s Social Care Project uses St Martin’s Church; Home-Start has used Perry Common Library for Stay and Play; Sportsco identifies North Birmingham Academy as a location; and Urban Devotion uses church and community venues. In contrast, Witton Lodge Community Association has a more substantial local physical estate, including Perry Common Community Hall and Sycamore Court. This suggests that the ward’s civic capacity depends partly on the availability and stability of a relatively small set of accessible venues.

    Why it matters

    Shared venues can create opportunities for organisations to meet residents where they already are, and can make collaboration more feasible. They can also create vulnerability: changes in venue access, affordability, safeguarding arrangements or building management could affect several services at once. Mapping who uses which spaces, when and for whom could reveal both underused capacity and points of dependence.

    Show evidence

    • Home-Start Birmingham North West — Birmingham City Council directory record and 2025 programme:
      Home-Start listed a Thursday Stay and Play or Play and Learn session at Perry Common Library.

    • St Martin's Social Care Project operational-area evidence:
      The project delivers regular activities from St Martin’s Church in Perry Common and is not recorded as owning or leasing land or property.

    • Sportsco Football Club — North Birmingham Academy location page:
      Sportsco identifies North Birmingham Academy as one of its locations.

    • Witton Lodge Community Association — Our Venues:
      WLCA identifies Perry Common Community Hall as its main office and states that it owns Sycamore Court, a 40-apartment independent-living scheme in Perry Common.

    Remaining uncertainties

  • The evidence identifies prominent charities and reviewed operational locations, but it does not yet represent Perry Common’s complete civic landscape. Informal groups, mutual aid, resident-led activity, schools, health services, local businesses and unregistered organisations may be significant but are largely absent.
  • The available evidence does not show the strength of relationships between organisations: co-location, complementary purposes and use of nearby venues should not be assumed to mean active collaboration or shared referral pathways.
  • Several activity records relate to 2025 or earlier. They demonstrate recent practice but do not always confirm that a programme, grant or venue arrangement remains active in August 2026.
  • The coverage information reports 15 organisations associated with the ward but 0% review coverage, despite the presence of operational-area assessments. This inconsistency means the breadth and completeness of the current ward picture should be treated cautiously.
  • There is little evidence about who uses services, which communities are underserved, whether provision is accessible to people facing language, mobility, digital or financial barriers, or how residents themselves describe local strengths and gaps.

    Additional evidence needed

  • A current ward-level map and timetable of regular activities, including venue hosts, delivery organisations, target groups, accessibility information and whether activity is continuing in 2026.
  • Evidence of referral routes and working relationships between Witton Lodge Community Association, schools and colleges, faith organisations, youth organisations, family support and older people’s services.
  • Current outcome and reach data showing which neighbourhoods and population groups use employment, youth, family, SEND and older people’s support, while protecting individual privacy.
  • A local venue-use and capacity assessment covering churches, libraries, schools, community halls and outdoor spaces, including gaps in available space and risks to existing provision.
  • Resident and practitioner insight into which needs are not being met, particularly around transitions between childhood, adulthood, employment, caring and later life.