Improvement work at the Dolphin Centre in Ward End, Birmingham, is well underway and is scheduled for completion in March 2023.

The £2 million project is being delivered for Birmingham City Council by Building Services Now Limited and will bring a wide range of improvements to the facility, including:

The extension and retrofitting of the main building in Ward End Park with green energy and carbon reducing technologies;

The provision and equipping of space within the building for a Youth Hub where a Jobcentre Plus Youth Employability Coach will provide intensive support to young people from the local community;

The installation of a lift to provide disabled access to the middle and lower floors of the building;

The creation of a café, which will provide opportunities for local unemployed women to gain work experience;

The installation of upgraded digital connectivity including secure closed Wi-Fi for the Youth Employability Coach and a free public hotspot for the use of the community.


Funding for the scheme is being provided by a range of organisations. The European Regional Development Fund has contributed £510,576 for the building fabric extension and green energy retrofit, with £315,000 supplied by the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) from its Growing Places Fund for fit out including the kitchen and lift.

The East Birmingham Programme, established to deliver the East Birmingham Inclusive Growth Strategy, has provided £280,000, HS2 Community & Environment Fund a further £75,000 and the National Lottery Community Fund has contributed £48,000 through a grant to Norton Hall Family and Children Centre who lease the Dolphin Centre. The remainder of £793,285 is being supplied by the council from Community Infrastructure Levy funds.

Extensive consultation on the development of the Dolphin Centre and Ward End Park has been carried out by Norton Hall Children and Family Centre over the last five years, and it is the responses from the local community that helped shape a vision for the venue and the services the charity delivers.

The work to the Dolphin Centre is an integral part of the wider Ward End Park Lakeside Renewal Project, which has and will also see improvements to the lake, the Wash Brook, the woodland area, increased and enhanced public access and the creation of a lowland heath to encourage a greater diversity of plants and pollinator insects for people to see and enjoy as they walk around the park. Through the East Birmingham Programme the project will also be tied in with wider regeneration initiatives in the area, including planned improvements to the historic Ward End Park House.

The East Birmingham Ward Members Forum and the East Birmingham Board, representing a number of local and regional stakeholders, were consulted about the Dolphin Centre proposals ahead of the work starting.