Key Partners

Aston Villa Football Club

Aston University and Aston Villa FC share a name and a commitment to promote education, health and wellbeing and opportunities for all in the community in which we serve. We’re both iconic institutions with a proud history, rooted in our city. We’re ambitious for the future of our city, and the people who make it what it is. We share Aston Villa’s dedication to equality and inclusion and aspire to see women reach the top of their profession. Football, like education, can help improve confidence and bring people together from diverse communities and backgrounds.

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Birmingham Anchor Network

We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Birmingham Anchor Network members in July 2023. The Birmingham Anchor Network consists of six anchor institutions across Birmingham: Aston University, Birmingham City Council, Bournville Village Trust, The Pioneer Group, University Hospitals Birmingham, and University of Birmingham. With combined budgets of over £4bn and a workforce of over 40,000, the Network aims to maximise the impact of their employment, spend and physical assets on the Birmingham economy, using a community wealth building framework, particularly in the city’s neighbourhoods of significant disadvantage.

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 

We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BCHC) in August 2021. We pledged to work together to co-develop preventative health initiatives and the community workforce of the future to deliver them. BCHC provide high quality community and specialist healthcare services within Birmingham and the West Midlands. 

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Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust (BWCH) provides world-leading specialist healthcare services to children and adults. We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BWCH in July 2022, joining forces to develop world-leading healthcare provision. Our collaborative partnership will support research, clinical provision and innovation in the field of healthcare provision. 

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Citizens UK

Citizens UK is an alliance of member civil society institutions acting together for the common good & social justice. All members of Citizens UK sign up to support each other. This gives us access to feedback from a diverse group of people on a range of issues that matter to them, as well as a route to engagement for projects that are supported by the lead organiser of Citizens UK’s Birmingham chapter.

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City of Birmingham Rockets 

We’re the headline sponsor of the City of Birmingham Rockets secondary school community programme. The partnership enables the University to support the basketball team’s school activity with children in years 9-11, which is crucial to the side’s continued efforts to expand its offering to the young people of Birmingham. The programme enables primary and secondary schools across the region to experience sessions during curriculum time and after school, delivered by dedicated Rockets Community Coaches. City of Birmingham Rockets will also offer exclusive employment opportunities to Aston University students and graduates. 

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Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce

We’ve been a patron of the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce for many years, and this close involvement reflects the our respect for its membership base of local businesses. The direct contract that the University enjoys through the branches of the Chamber helps us design service and research activity relevant to the immediate needs of business. Together, Aston, the Chamber, and its other patrons work to create a 21st Century business ecosystem.

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Midlands Innovation 

Midlands Innovation is a partnership of eight universities based in the Midlands with a strong focus on research – particularly in the areas of health, transport, energy and inclusive transformation. Our critical mass of academics, research income and expertise provide a strong platform for collaborative projects such as MICRA, TALENT, Doctoral Training Partnerships, and Energy Research Accelerator. We recently co-founded Midlands Mindforge, a £250million investment vehicle established to accelerate University spinouts in the Midlands and to help address the significant funding deficit for early-stage technology businesses in the region. 

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The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust

We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust in September 2022. The main objectives of the partnership are to promote research, teaching and education between the partners. The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust is based in the heart of the Black Country and is the main provider of hospital and adult community services to the populations of Dudley, significant parts of the Sandwell borough and communities in South Staffordshire and Wyre Forest.

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust

West Midlands Growth Company

We are a stakeholder in West Midlands Growth Company and plays a key role in collaborating to promote the region as a place to invest, meet and visit. 

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