City council backs awards that celebrate unsung heroes and champions diversity

Britain’s Multicultural Business & Community Champion (MBCC) Awards are returning in November to honour the nation’s unsung heroes with a new exclusive headline sponsor for 2022, Birmingham City Council. The largest local authority in Europe has decided to back the MBCC Awards that brings a star-studded line-up of judges and three brand-new categories to recognise champions in health & wellbeing and a commitment to promote diversity & inclusion.

Taking place on 5 November 2022, the MBCC Awards will crown 14 victors who have gone the extra mile, either in the corporate world or for their local community. Nominations were open to all across the country, with organisers on the search to celebrate the wonderful deeds primarily from diverse communities that might otherwise go unnoticed.

This includes three award categories that have also been added for the very first time: ‘Health & Wellbeing Champion, Employee of the Year and Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion dedicated to those companies and people who excel in demonstrating exemplary D&I practice and has made a significant impact.

Birmingham City Council has backed the awards for the first time as the exclusive Headline Sponsor. Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the city of Birmingham and is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom. Birmingham City Council is joined by returning partners Aston University, Pertemps, Gleeson Recruitment, Merlin Entertainment, McDonald's, Motorserve, West Midlands Police Crime Commissioners, COAL, Bootcamp Media and brand new partners West Midlands Growth Company, Birmingham City Football Club and NIYO Group.

Cllr Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: Working with MBCC Awards is about celebrating our diverse role models and champions in neighbourhoods and communities right across Birmingham and beyond. Our community partnerships have been key to responding to the Covid pandemic and to our ongoing work throughout the city and we're delighted to be working with MBCC Awards to celebrate the unsung heroes.

The MBCC Awards are headed up by Dr Tru Powell, Multi Award Winning Entrepreneur, who is excited about the partnership. Tru comments: It’s a fantastic feeling to be gearing up to deliver the MBCC Awards again and to partner with Birmingham City Council is exciting. It's great to have the council's support on this much-needed event that celebrates our unsung heroes and champions diversity. It's incredibly important we recognise the good efforts from those from marginalised communities who don’t otherwise get celebrated. I am pleased Birmingham City Council amongst our other partners have recognised its importance and has pledged to support the awards for 2022.

Nominations have now closed and a round of public votes will decide the finalists for each category. From these, the deserving winners will be selected by famous faces from across both the entertainment and business worlds.

The judging panel boasts household names from Adil Ray OBE and David Whitely, to Jamelia, and new judge Marverine Cole, who will sit alongside business titans including The Football Association’s Dal Dorrach, The Prince’s Trust’s Jonathan Townsend, The Business Desk’s Lee-J Walker Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce's Chief Executive Officer, Henrietta Brealey, Dr Carmen Watson from Pertemps and newly appointed Director of Communications at the LEP, Satnam Rana. Also joining them are award-winning entrepreneurs Cordell Jeffers, Jodie Cook, and Justice Williams MBE, as well as industry & community leaders Keith Shayaam-Smith and Prof Monder Ram OBE.

The nominations we’ve received have blown me away, with the kindness, compassion, and generosity of people across the country. The public and the judges certainly have a tough job ahead of them deciding the winners, and I can’t wait to see who they choose! concluded Tru.

Tickets for the ceremony go on sale on August 15th 2022. Please visit https://mbccawards.com/.