Small Heath

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

Overview

Sources:ONSAI-assistedCivic Atlas

Summary

Small Heath appears, based on the organisations currently reviewed by the Civic Atlas, to have a dense civic infrastructure rooted in faith, education and community venues. Its distinctive strength is not simply the number of organisations with local addresses, but the number of places that combine worship, learning, advice, youth activity, welfare and meeting space. At the same time, the evidence suggests that some of the ward's most important support is delivered through overlapping organisations and visiting citywide providers, making relationships between institutions as important as the institutions themselves.

Context

The available evidence identifies 45 organisations associated with the ward, alongside reviewed operational geography for a substantial subset. This is not a complete map of civic life: several records rely on administrative addresses, older accounts or broad citywide operating declarations rather than confirmed current local delivery. Small Heath's 2019 employment-deprivation score is 18.5%; this is useful context for the kinds of support that may matter locally, but it is not evidence of current employment conditions.

See observations

Profile

Political power: Liberal Democrats

IMD: 18.5%

Civic organisations (45)

The Atlas has evidence of 45 organisations operating here.

Show results • 45 of 45 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

  • Faith buildings appear to function as much more than places of worship

    Small Heath has an unusually visible cluster of faith-based institutions that also describe themselves as education, welfare, advice, youth and community venues. Green Lane Masjid, Jami Mosque, Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif, Surma Masjid, Al-Hijrah, All Saints, Small Heath Baptist Church and Trinity Christian Centre all have reviewed evidence of active local sites or regular activity. This suggests that much of the ward's everyday civic infrastructure may be organised through trusted congregational buildings rather than through standalone secular service centres. The important question is not whether these organisations are similar in belief, but whether their practical facilities, referral routes and community knowledge are connected.

    Why it matters

    These sites may be among the ward's most accessible places for residents seeking learning, food support, advice, recreation, pastoral support or somewhere to meet. They could also form a distributed neighbourhood infrastructure during periods of hardship. However, the same pattern may leave services fragmented if people can only access support through the institution they already know.

    Show evidence

    • Green Lane Masjid and Community Centre reviewed operational geography:
      The reviewed evidence identifies an active Small Heath mosque and community-centre hub with worship, education, welfare, counselling, food support and winter-shelter activity.

    • Jami Mosque and Islamic Centre reviewed operational geography:
      The organisation's Small Heath complex is evidenced as providing worship, education, counselling, funeral and marriage services, food-bank support, classrooms and meeting facilities.

    • All Saints Small Heath reviewed operational geography:
      The church is evidenced as an active Small Heath site for worship, outreach and community-café activity including meals, activities and support.

    • Small Heath Baptist Church reviewed operational geography:
      The church identifies its building and regular activities as a local community resource, and Gilgal Birmingham uses it for a recurring domestic-abuse support drop-in.

  • Small Heath seems to be a delivery ground for citywide organisations, not only a neighbourhood served by its own groups

    Several organisations whose overall reach extends across Birmingham have confirmed activity in Small Heath: Birmingham Mind manages supported accommodation there; BEEAS runs a class at Marlborough Primary School; Gilgal holds a recurring domestic-abuse drop-in at Small Heath Baptist Church; Birmingham City FC Foundation delivers activity through Ark Victoria Academy; and the Warwickshire Cricket Foundation runs a Street Cricket session at the same school. This points to a potentially important local pattern: schools and community buildings may act as gateways through which specialist, citywide provision reaches residents.

    Why it matters

    This creates opportunities for stronger local referral pathways. A resident encountering a school-based sports programme, a faith-based community venue, an ESOL class or a domestic-abuse drop-in may have needs that require support from another part of this network. It would be worth exploring whether host venues and visiting providers share practical referral knowledge, particularly for mental health, language support, safeguarding and family support.

    Show evidence

    • Birmingham Mind reviewed operational geography:
      The current supported-accommodation portfolio explicitly includes a Birmingham Mind-managed property in Small Heath.

    • BEEAS reviewed operational geography:
      The 2025-2026 timetable lists a regular Entry 1-3 class at Marlborough Primary School in Small Heath.

    • Gilgal Birmingham reviewed operational geography:
      Gilgal advertises a recurring staff-led domestic-abuse support drop-in at Small Heath Baptist Church.

    • Birmingham City FC Foundation and Warwickshire Cricket Foundation reviewed operational geography:
      Ark Victoria Academy in Small Heath is evidenced as a Birmingham City FC Foundation partnership school and as a venue for a recurring Warwickshire Cricket Foundation young-adult Street Cricket session.

  • There may be a gap between abundant learning and activity provision and clearly evidenced routes into employment

    The ward has substantial evidence of education, language learning, youth activities, sports, advice and community participation. BEEAS provides ESOL locally; several mosques and churches provide children’s, adult or supplementary education; sports foundations use local schools; and the Small Heath Community Forum provides advice and volunteering activity. Yet, despite the 2019 employment-deprivation score of 18.5%, relatively little of the reviewed local evidence identifies a current, place-based pathway from these activities into employment, accredited progression, enterprise support or sustained job brokerage. Some organisations state employment-related aims, but their current Small Heath delivery is not consistently evidenced.

    Why it matters

    This may be less a lack of capability than a connection problem. The ward appears to contain settings that can build trust, language confidence, social networks, digital familiarity and young people's participation—foundations that could complement employment support. A useful next question is whether residents can move easily from ESOL, youth provision, advice or faith-based learning into recognised qualifications, work experience, enterprise support or jobs.

    Show evidence

    • Employment deprivation dataset:
      Small Heath's IMD Employment score is 18.5% for 2019.

    • BEEAS reviewed operational geography:
      BEEAS has a confirmed Small Heath class at Marlborough Primary School and describes provision of education, guidance and employment opportunities for refugees, migrants and ethnically diverse communities.

    • The Small Heath Community Forum reviewed operational geography:
      The Forum provides advice at the Khidmat Centre, legal-advice access for Small Heath residents, volunteering opportunities and local park and cycle-hub activity.

    • Zawiya Trust and Al-Sunnah Community Education and Recreation Centre organisation records:
      Both state employment, unemployment relief or enterprise-related charitable aims, but the available reviewed evidence does not confirm current Small Heath employment programmes or venues.

  • The ward's civic map contains overlapping institutions and uncertain organisational continuity

    Some of Small Heath's most visible sites are associated with more than one charity or legal entity. Green Lane Masjid and Community Centre, GLM Educational Trust and Re-Enlighten are closely linked through address, governance or reported delivery. Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif CIO and Dar Ul Uloom Islamia Rizwia share a site and predecessor relationship, while their current operational roles are not fully separated in the evidence. BEEAS also appears in both an older trust and a newer CIO. This may reflect sensible organisational evolution, but it makes it harder to understand who currently delivers which service, controls which assets and holds which relationships.

    Why it matters

    For residents and potential partners, organisational complexity can obscure practical routes into help. It may also conceal opportunities: organisations that appear separate may already share facilities, staff, audiences or governance, while organisations working alongside one another may not have a visible shared offer. Clarifying these relationships could produce a more useful civic map than simply adding more organisation records.

    Show evidence

    • GLM Educational Trust reviewed operational geography:
      Green Lane Masjid and Community Centre is identified as the trust's person with significant control, while the trust shares its Small Heath address and has uncertain current school activity.

    • Re-Enlighten reviewed operational geography:
      Its 2024 report records one-to-one lessons, educational sponsorship and Eid gatherings with Green Lane Masjid, and reports that Green Lane Masjid and Community Centre paid a substantial portion of Re-Enlighten wages.

    • Dar Ul Uloom Islamia Rizwia and Central Jamia Mosque Ghamkol Sharif reviewed operational geography:
      The evidence records a shared Small Heath location and a predecessor relationship, but does not clearly separate which current activities are delivered by each legal entity.

    • BEEAS reviewed operational geography:
      The evidence identifies both charity 515098 and a newer CIO, charity 1211842, and notes that the precise transfer of operations is not established.

    Remaining uncertainties

  • The coverage metadata states that no organisations have been counted as reviewed, despite operational-geography assessments being available for many organisations. The available assessments should therefore be treated as useful but incomplete evidence rather than a complete account of the ward.
  • Several organisations associated with Small Heath have only an administrative or contact address evidenced; this does not establish that they currently provide services from that address.
  • Some local charities have overdue reporting, old financial records, zero recorded activity or limited current public information. This is especially relevant when interpreting the present role of smaller or longstanding organisations.
  • There is little current evidence showing how residents move between local faith institutions, schools, advice services, specialist providers and employment-related support.
  • The evidence identifies service locations, not the geographic distribution of beneficiaries. A Small Heath venue may serve people from elsewhere, and a Birmingham-wide organisation may have only a small amount of activity in the ward.

    Additional evidence needed

  • A current, ward-level service map showing regular sessions, host venues, opening times, referral routes and the organisations responsible for delivery.
  • A practical directory of partnership and referral relationships between faith institutions, schools, community centres, specialist support providers and employment or skills agencies.
  • Current programme and outcome data on employment, accredited learning, volunteering, enterprise and progression routes available to Small Heath residents.
  • Clarification from linked charities sharing sites, governance or predecessor relationships about their present operational roles, services and facilities.
  • Updated annual reports, service timetables or direct confirmations from organisations whose reporting is overdue or whose current activity cannot be verified from available evidence.