Today you'll be hearing about the superb city-centre site we've chosen which will allow us to showcase these two sports side-by-side and bring the Games into the heart of Birmingham.

These two sports have a great synergy so it makes complete sense to host them at the same venue and we will create bespoke arenas in which to stage the two competitions. It will be the first time the 3x3 form of basketball has ever featured at a Commonwealth Games and it will be a first appearance for wheelchair basketball in any form. This sport will no doubt be a key part of our integrated Para-sports programme, which, with eight sports in total, is bigger than at any previous edition of the Games.

It will be a second appearance at the Games for beach volleyball and Birmingham, unlike Australia's Gold Coast, is definitely not a location that's well known for its beaches, in fact in England there aren't many places that are further from the coast! However, we truly believe that, like basketball, the sport will bring a festival feel to the Games and that both sports will also appeal to a young and diverse audience – a perfect fit for Birmingham.

Diversity is something which has been in the news recently and we've been under scrutiny as an organisation. Questions have been asked about why the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Board and reflective of the region isn't more diverse, given that the Games will be hosted in the West Midlands, a region that is home to more than 187 different nationalities.

Some fair points have been raised and we know we have work to do in this area and we are determined to make improvements and to make them at speed.

We've always seen the region's diversity as a strength for the Games and it is something we've long talked about highlighting when our moment in the global spotlight comes in two years' time. That will continue to be a key focus for us, but we've also been challenged to ensure our workforce better reflects the region in which we operate and that's something we are definitely looking to achieve as we continue to recruit at pace.

In fact, our workforce will grow tenfold over the next two years as we expect to employ around 1,200 people by the time the Games arrives on 28 July 2022. As the country emerges from lockdown after the COVID-19 pandemic, Birmingham 2022 is bringing hope and opportunity to people and businesses across the West Midlands as, not only are we looking for new staff, but we also have contracts to the value of £330 million ($425 million/€361 million) that we expect to award to companies in and around the region.

Despite the pandemic, the last few months have been hugely productive for us and I've been impressed and grateful for the resilience of my team who have made great progress and adapted extremely well to the new world in which we all find ourselves. We've continued to recruit, to procure, to plan and even to launch new campaigns all from the comfort of our homes.

The pandemic has of course had an impact, as it has for every business across the country, and our two-years-to-go celebrations are now falling on July 28 instead of July 27 after we announced a 24-hour change to our dates last month. This decision was taken after productive conversations with several event organisers and International Federations. It's going to be a sensational summer of sport in 2022 and the Games sits right at the heart of that, but it was important for us to give athletes competing in multiple championships as much time as possible to recover between events.

One of the new campaigns that we have launched during lockdown is our search for the official mascot for the Games and we've called on children aged from five to 15 to get creative, use their imaginations and to send us their designs. We are looking for a mascot that embodies everything the West Midlands stands for: youthfulness, diversity, dynamism and creativity.

The nationwide 'Mascot Makers' campaign, which finishes on 5 August, was launched following the world's first-ever virtual mascot summit, when 50 local school children got the ball rolling by taking part in tasks to help develop what the mascot might look like, as well as what its characteristics and values might be. We are already impressed with the quality of the designs that have been flooding in over the last fortnight and can't wait to see more.

We were also delighted to announce earlier this month that we've appointed Sunset + Vine as our host broadcaster for Birmingham 2022, with a plan to deliver 2,000 hours of coverage to an expected global TV audience of more than 1.5 billion. We are very pleased to be working with such an internationally renowned company.

We are not only confident in their ability to deliver excellent coverage but we're also impressed with their commitment to leaving a positive impact on the West Midlands' media industry through the Host Broadcast Training Initiative that they plan to launch.

With two years to go, we are in a great place and have made some really positive progress. I know that there is lots of hard work to do over the next 730 days but there's so much to look forward to and I'm confident that we will deliver a fantastic edition of the Games. Birmingham 2022 will bring the region and the country together, highlight the vibrancy of the host city and region and it will be a Games that provides athletes from all of the Commonwealth's nations and territories with the perfect platform to showcase their talents.