Youth agency Beatfreeks and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) West Midlands are running free heritage tours of the city as part of their Routes2Roots campaign, which aims to inspire and challenge young people to explore heritage, culture and identity. Young people, heritage groups and youth workers will have a chance to mingle, share ideas and explore the fascinating heritage of Birmingham from an open-top bus.

The Routes2Roots On the Road tours will hit five incredible spaces in Birmingham, from listening to spoken word inspired by the city to seeing how City of Colours express themselves through graffiti to Coffin Works, where Winston Churchill's coffin parts were made – yes, in Birmingham! 

Chair of HLF, Sir Peter Luff will be joining the tour, and said: “I’m delighted to have the chance to explore Birmingham’s hidden heritage in the company of such passionate and enthusiastic guides. Young people will look after our important heritage in the future so it’s vital that we help them discover why and how it matters now.”

HLF has grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 available as part of its Young Roots programme to help 11-25 year olds lead heritage projects; find out more and apply on the Young Roots page.

There are plenty of opportunities to get involved and find out more - follow Routes2Roots on Twitter for meet-ups, content and videos!

Further information

• HLF Communications Manager, Felix Gott via email: felixg@hlf.org.uk or on tel: 020 7591 6138
• Beatfreeks, Amerah Saleh via email: amerah@beatfreeks.com or on tel: 07887 486 788