Community News

The Datai Pledge, the wide-reaching sustainability, conservation, and community support programme of iconic Malaysian resort The Datai Langkawi, has published its third annual Impact Report. Covering the year 2022, the report has been released following meticulous monitoring and documentation.  It details key successes in various projects across all four pillars of The Datai Pledge. 

These aim to support marine life, terrestrial wildlife, and local youth and the community, as well as make the resort’s business operations more sustainable.  

Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, has delivered its first UK Work Insights Programme to school and college students from Birmingham and the surrounding areas. Aon’s Colmore Gate office in Colmore Street welcomed 29 students from a diverse range of socio-economic backgrounds onto the new programme, which aims to enhance career opportunities and social mobility.

A new study has revealed that Norwich is the UK's most social media-obsessed city, with its population searching the most for social media-related terms over every other city in the UK. The research conducted by entertainment experts at PlayOJO analysed the number of Google searches for various social media platforms over the past year, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit and Linkedin. 

Norwich is the top city in the UK with the highest number of searches for social media-related terms; the city sweeps in at over 215,000 searches per 100,000 people and has a population of over 143,000. Wrexham is the second most social media-obsessed city, with over 65,000 people searching for all social media platforms, equating to over 209,000 times per 100,000 people. 

The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) has adopted theClean Energy Marine Hubs Initiative (CEM-Hubs) at a summit in Goa, India. The first-of-its-kind platform brings together the private sector and governments across the energy-maritime value chain to transform maritime transportation and production hubs for future low-carbon fuels. 

The CEM-Hubs initiative is initially backed by Canada, Norway, Panama, Uruguay and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in partnership with the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), and the International Association of Ports & Harbors (IAPH). The CEM Hubs initiative is a partnership that's jointly led by private sector and governments working in close collaboration.

YMCA, a national charity committed to supporting young people in their time of need, is thrilled to announce a ground-breaking new partnership with Cadent, the UK’s largest gas distribution network. Cadent is investing £300,000 to both fund the new ‘Safe and Well Communities’ project and provide experts to train the YMCA team.

As part of its commitment to tackling fuel poverty and supporting the most vulnerable in the West Midlands, the gas networks ‘Safe and Well Communities Project’ aims to enhance YMCA’s existing support for young people and families. The initiative will see Cadent training YMCA Housing Workers that support young people at YMCA Black Country Group, YMCA Heart of England and YMCA Wellington and District and YMCA Worcestershire; to provide practical advice on energy efficiency, financial management, and safety during the transition from YMCA-supported housing to independent living.

One of the most important pioneers of UK Black music in Britain is to be honoured with a blue plaque on his 91st birthday. The late great Sonny Roberts opened the very first Black recording studio in Britain – Planetone. This was the catalyst from which Chris Blackwell created Island Records, and Lee Gopthal created Trojan Records. Artists such as Millie Small did occasional practice sessions at the studio, and it is now synonymous with these two labels.

Born on 26th July 1931 in Jamaica, Sonny emigrated to London in 1958 10 years after the arrival of the Empire Windrush.

Animated film productions in the UK are set for a boost as the government reveals increased tax relief, to take effect from 1 January 2024.

The creative industry has grown at more than 1.5 times the rate of the wider economy over the past decade, making it an important sector for the Chancellor’s plan to grow the economy. The new tax changes announced today are expected to be worth £5 million each year to business and come alongside the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit which was uplifted at budget from 33.33% to 39%.

The Midlands’ two biggest taxi operators have stepped up to offer a vital service to Midlands Air Ambulance Charity (MAAC). Go Carz and A2B Radio Cars have set up an account for the air ambulance crew, offering a free taxi service for them to get back from hospital when they have travelled by land ambulance or if the aircraft has needed to return due to night time and low visibility.

Amid reports that July and August are the busiest months for Brits to go on holiday, experts at Scams.info have provided expert tips on how to avoid the most widespread scams targeting tourists abroad.

Transport - When taking trips abroad, it’s vital to consider how you will travel throughout the country beforehand. Unregulated airport taxis could take advantage of the fact that you aren't local and may be uneducated on typical fares. As a result, you could be charged extremely high rates or taken to the incorrect destination which pay the taxi a finder's fee, rather than the hotel, restaurant or particular business you requested.

Virgin Galactic has announced the flight window for the ‘Galactic 02’ flight mission. This mission will be Virgin Galactic’s seventh spaceflight, second commercial space light and third spaceflight this year; flying three private passengers to space. The flight window will open on August 10, 2023, continuing the company’s cadence of spaceflights,

Details of the flight manifest, including the crew and pilots, will be released at a later date. The dynamic and inspiring crew will showcase the importance of removing the barriers of entry to human spaceflight.

Feedback is being invited on early proposals to transform Perry Park and deliver further enhancements to the Alexander Stadium following last summer's Commonwealth Games. The latest ideas have been shaped to support the aspirations of the Perry Barr 2040 Masterplan – to deliver a true legacy asset in the form of an improved park and a multi-purpose stadium with a year-round relevance for the local community and other users.

Parents should ensure they get written consent before taking their children outside the jurisdiction of England and Wales, an expert family solicitor from law firm Shakespeare Martineau has warned.

Stephanie Kyriacou, family associate at Shakespeare Martineau, said: “You must get permission of everyone with parental responsibility for a child or from a court before taking the child abroad, especially if there is a possibility that verbal permission could be withdrawn before travel.

It was announced that Jill Stewart, the wife for 14 years of Adam (Stewart), the Executive Chair of Sandals Resorts in Jamaica, and the Appliance Traders Group, passed away surrounded by love. Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holnes, the Hon. Minister Bartlett , the Sandals Resort Family, and so many in our wonderful global travel and tourism industry community to express our sincere condolences to a friend, leader and mentor of our industry, Mr. Adam Stewart, Executive Chairman Sandals Resorts.

Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) have announced that they have entered into a commercial agreement to use Starlink, SpaceX's constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit, to connect AMN's mobile network base stations with high-speed, low-latency broadband services, to serve even in the most remote and rural communities around the world.

AMN is committed to its vision of a fully connected world, where no community of any significant size is without telecommunication services for the social, educational and economic benefit of the population.

Transport for Wales (TfW) is one of nearly 200 organisations which have been recognised by the UK Government for supporting the Armed Forces community, a record high since the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme launched in 2013. The Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award, the highest badge of honour, recognises the positive role that employers play in supporting the Armed Forces community.

In June, the United Nations approved a landmark treaty to preserve ocean biodiversity, seeming to augur a transformation in how countries and corporations do business on the high seas. But as the U.N.-affiliated International Seabed Authority (ISA) meets in Kingston, Jamaica, this week, it will be writing rules for deep sea mining that threatens the very ecosystems in need of preservation.