HOST BROADCAST TRAINING INITIATIVE

150 new trainees employed at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

The brief

The aim was to create a training scheme that tackled the lack of diversity in sports production while leaving a meaningful socio-economic legacy from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

It needed to be ambitious, achievable and properly measurable.

THE RESULT

The initiative created real career pathways, not just short-term placements.

Many trainees went on to secure work across the industry, including roles with Timeline, Cloudbass, Gravity Media and Optomen. It was a legacy project with lasting impact.

THE HOW

In the two years leading up to the Games, Sunset+Vine worked with communities, colleges and universities across the West Midlands to identify and train the next generation of television professionals.

The focus was on people who were underrepresented in the industry and might otherwise have struggled to get a first step on the ladder. Training included bootcamps, role-specific mentoring and work experience. At Games time, 150 trainees were employed on the host broadcast, 61% of whom came from underrepresented groups.