Community News

The cost-of-living crisis is well and truly upon us, and with inflation higher than it’s been for decades and energy bills set to rise again in October, the future appears worrying. As a result, Brits across the country are looking to rebalance the books and prepare for what’s to come.

A survey of 4,909 renters, carried out by leading flatshare site SpareRoom, shows an increase in bills over the last three months for 92% of renters whose rent doesn’t include bills.

In the midst of very heavy rain, the Accession Proclamation ceremony went ahead with a reading at Hillsborough Castle in County Down - one of the three senior officers of arms at the College of Arms in London, the heraldic authority for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and parts of the Commonwealth - at the same time as ceremonies in Edinburgh and Cardiff.

The Queen will lie in state for four days before her funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday, 19 September. The public will be allowed to view the coffin during that time.

Before this, the Queen will be at rest in St Giles Cathedral Edinburgh, for 24 hours from tomorrow (Monday 12 September), with people able to pay their respects.

Arrangements are being made for the people of Birmingham to pay their respects following the death of The Queen on Thursday 8 September 2022. The book of condolence that will be held by the Royal household is being kept electronically, so anyone wanting to contribute to that should visit: www.royal.uk

Following the news of the death of the UKs longest serving monarch Her Majesty The Queen, and after careful consideration, from Friday 9 September, events at Heritage Open Days (HODs) will continue until Sunday 18 September. As England’s largest festival of history and culture, HODs will offer people a chance to come together and mark all that is good about their communities.

Books of condolence have been opened in Wolverhampton to enable people to pay their respects to Her Majesty The Queen, who sadly passed away yesterday afternoon. There are four books of condolence, available at:

·         The Civic Centre, St Peters Square, Wolverhampton WV1 1SH, open Monday to Thursday 8.30am-5pm and Friday from 8.30am-4.30pm (please arrive at least 15 minutes before closing time).

"For many of us Her Majesty Queen Elizbeth II has been a constant in our whole lives. Our longest serving Monarch gave our Country a life of service to us all. Overseeing a huge period of change Her Majesty saw the modernisation of the Monarchy and the championing and growth of the Commonwealth to become the family of nations we all know today. 

The glitzy and not so glitzy nightlife of Westside and Birmingham’s wider city centre in the 1970s has been unveiled in a new book by rock impresario Jim Simpson.

The decade is chronicled as never before in Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1970s Birmingham, researched and written by Jim and his brother Ron Simpson.

A Midlands mosque is hoping to raise £10,000 to help people affected by flooding in Pakistan.

Flash floods and landslides along the Indus and Kabul rivers have left more than 1,100 dead, 1,600 injured and millions homeless.

A survey out today from Project Solar UK found that 36% of respondents living in and around Birmingham said they would take fewer showers and 26% would choose to take cold showers when asked what they would consider doing to lower energy costs. Fifteen per cent would install solar panels in their home and 4% would move house to a place with solar panels already installed in an effort to reduce outgoings on energy bills. 

The National Trust and national disability charity Sense have joined forces to welcome people with complex disabilities in September to experience and explore heritage and horticulture at National Trust properties in the West Midlands.

Wightwick Manor in Wolverhampton and Croome in Worcestershire have been working with Sense to welcome people with complex disabilities to experience their gardens like never before.

Nearly half the UK tuned in or turned up to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, new polling shows, with eight in 10 people saying it gave the country the chance to celebrate.

The findings, in a survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of DCMS, means the Games - delivered in record time - drew an estimated overall UK audience on TV, online and in person of more than 20 million.

A milestone thousandth visit to Birmingham’s neighbourhoods was made by the city council’s Mobile Household Recycling Centre (MHRC) service. Launched in the summer of 2021, the service offers residents a simple and convenient way to dispose of waste and unwanted items – and an alternative option to the city’s bricks and mortar HRCs.

Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families have been enjoying an action-packed school holiday through Wolverhampton's Yo! Summer programme.

Thanks to funding from the City of Wolverhampton Council and the Department for Education Holiday and Food (HAF) programme, the Let Us Play charity has provided a huge range of activities over the holidays for five to 19-year-olds with SEND.

Anyone wanting to catch a final glimpse of the Birmingham 2022 Countdown Clock in Birmingham city centre has until 5 September to do so.

The iconic structure, unveiled in Centenary Square in March 2020, is being removed and temporarily placed into storage before a planned relocation to the grounds of the Alexander Stadium – so there are just six days left for people wishing to take a selfie with the Library of Birmingham as a backdrop.

As part of the charity’s Cancel Out Cruelty campaign, the RSPCA has revealed it received more than 100 reports of animals being abandoned every single day throughout 2021 and sadly these figures are on the rise this year. A total of 38,087 abandonment reports were made to the charity’s cruelty line last year - an average of over 3,000 reports a month, 104 a day or four abandoned animals every hour.