Community News

Tax credits customers have a month to renew their claim or risk having their payments stopped, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has warned. The annual deadline is 31 July and more than 300,000 customers who received a renewal pack with a red line across the first page and the words ‘reply now’ still need to confirm their circumstances for the current tax year to continue receiving payments.

Rapid electric vehicle charging technology – which enables a car to be charged in just 30 minutes – is now available at Sutton Park as a legacy benefit of the site being a Birmingham 2022 venue.

The charging points have been installed at the car park at Boldmere Gate, upgraded and fitted out with new power infrastructure as part of a £1million investment to enable it to act as the transition area for athletes competing in the Triathlon and Para Triathlon events last summer. In total, ten charging bays have been provided through the scheme, which would not have been as easy to deliver if it were not for the Games coming to the city.

Work on the Camp Hill line in Birmingham is well underway with construction crews busy making progress on all three railway stations. Much of the structural work to prepare the site for building has now been completed at Kings Heath and Pineapple Road and the platforms are taking shape.

Soon contractors will have full access to Moseley Village site, where structural work will begin ahead of platform construction. Reopening of the Camp Hill line to passenger services for the first time since 1941 remains a key infrastructure project for Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), the West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) and partners.

A former barman is closing in on his dream of piloting Apache attack helicopters. Airtrooper Kai Yardley, aged 20, from Solihull, Birmingham, started as a pot washer before moving behind the bar when he turned 18. But as much as he enjoyed the experience, he always had his sights set on his dream career and now, just two years later, his eyes are very much fixed on that prize. 

An Aviation Communication Specialist with 4 Regiment Army Air Corps, based in Wattisham, he recently deployed to Estonia on Exercise Spring Storm. The month-long NATO exercise saw 14,000 land, sea, and air personnel from 11 countries demonstrating interoperability in multi-domain training scenarios.

Meta's new powerful AI speech tool isn't being released yet due to what Meta acknowledges are "potential risks of misuse". The AI tool, known as 'Voicebox', can create a potentially believable chunk of new speech that sounds like whoever was featured in the source clip.

However, Voicebox also looks like a faster and more economical way to create copycat "deepfake" dialogue. As AI grows in popularity, tools used for scams become easier to access, leading to an increase in cybercrime. 

The Kaleidoscope Plus Group, a leading mental health and wellbeing charity, is thrilled to announce its upcoming 50th anniversary Gala dinner, a significant celebration of half a century of dedication to mental health support and awareness. The midlands-based charity’s Gala dinner is set to take place on Saturday 7^th October at The Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, and promises to be an unforgettable evening of reflection, gratitude, and inspiration.

Since their inception in 1973, The Kaleidoscope Plus Group has been committed to promoting positive mental health and wellbeing, providing vital support services and empowering individuals to live fulfilling lives. Over the past five decades, the organisation has touched the lives of countless individuals, families, and communities, raising awareness and challenging stigma surrounding mental health.

On Thursday 29th June, the Shadow Chancellor, Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, will be addressing issues affecting women at work and wider society at the TUC Midlands annual Mary Macarthur Lecture. The Mary Macarthur Lecture is held this year in the week of the Women Chainmakers’ Festival.

The lecture is named after Mary Macarthur, the inspirational trade union leader who led the famous 1910 dispute that secured the first ever minimum wages for the women chain makers of Cradley Heath. The lecture’s aim is to provide a space for leading women to outline their views on the issues facing women today and, crucially, how we go about addressing these challenges to secure greater equality.

Two new breastfeeding support groups have been launched in Wolverhampton. They meet on Mondays at Low Hill Family Hub, Fourth Avenue, and on Fridays from 10am-2pm at Whitmore Reans Strengthening Families Hub, Lansdowne Road, which is due to become a Family Hub next month.

A third group meets at The Children’s Village in Graiseley Lane, Wednesfield, a venue that is also set to become a Family Hub, on Wednesdays from 10.30am-12.30pm. The sessions are run by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust's Health Visiting Service and provide help and support to new mothers, mums-to-be and their partners.

A survey for the Social Market Foundation of more than 2,000 HR managers revealed that 19% said their organisation hired at least one Ukrainian national in 2022. 12% said they had employed a Hong Kong British national, and the same proportion had hired a refugee. 

The survey was carried out for an SMF report (see notes) on immigration and employment that proposes significant simplification to Britain’s migration system, granting work visas simply on the basis of wage levels, not occupation groups. The SMF report on migration and labour shortages in the UK economy was sponsored by Fragomen. The SMF retained full editorial independence. 

The University of Wolverhampton’s National Brownfield Institute dug deep when it hosted the British Society of Soil Science (BSSS) Midlands Soil Discussion Group Meeting recently. 

The National Brownfield Institute (NBI), based at the University’s £120m Springfield Construction Super Campus, is a world-class research centre that provides the facility to develop modern methods of building through innovation and partnership with the construction industry, focusing on the practical application of future brownfield regeneration and remediation through the work of research teams, leading policy development and commercial services. 

Nearly one century has passed since King Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud founded Saudi Arabia after conquering Mecca in 1924, since then a series of rapid developments took place until present day.

King Abdulaziz's first ordered the maintenance of the Grand Mosque of Mecca and the introduction of electricity at the holy site, a vision of continuous improvements that never seized until the Kingdom's very recent third expansion project of Mecca's Grand Mosque with a cost that surpassed 200 billion Saudi riyals.

The Chancellor met the UK's principal mortgage lenders and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to agree support for people struggling with mortgage repayments. The following quotes are a snapshot of their reaction. 

Ian Stuart. Chief Executive Officer, HSBC UK said: “We're firmly focused on supporting our customers in this challenging economic environment, so we welcome the meeting with the Chancellor today, and with the support of the regulators, the concerted efforts across our industry to help customers through these measures.

Londoners are being warned of a widespread network of crash for cash fraudsters on mopeds who are targeting innocent road users, and are thought to have attempted £27 million worth of bogus claims (nearly £40,000 a day).

A multi-agency investigation led by the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB), City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), and several insurers, found an estimated 2,250 people in London were victims of crash for cash moped scams in the past two years. Many of the suspected fraudsters are believed to be couriers delivering items such as take-aways and are predominantly targeting drivers in North London’s most affluent areas.

Councillor Nicky Brennan speaks on how the findings of the Birmingham Pakistani Report are already familiar to her and the citizens of Sparkhill ward – and how the council is working to address them:

“Birmingham is a super-diverse city, home to more than 1.1m people and Sparkhill – the ward I represent – is home to the largest Pakistani population in our city. So it’s fair to say that many of the issues raised in the Birmingham Pakistani Report – a timely report focusing on the needs and wants of this community - are already very familiar to me.

The huge mechanical bull which was the main attraction at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony has been named after Black Sabbath star Ozzy Osbourne.

The 33ft. tall sculpture, which was due to be dismantled at the end of the Games, is now set to have a new permanent home at Birmingham New Street railway station and will be housed under the atrium of the station after a large, ongoing petition – which exceeded over 28,000 public votes - was cast to save and name the sculpture. Previously known informally as Raging Bull it won a reprieve after the public outcry.

A brilliant bunch of students from St Brigid’s Catholic Primary School in Northfield spent the night sleeping out to raise money to support people who have experienced or are at risk of homelessness in Birmingham.

The future fundraisers set out to raise £250 to support SIFA Fireside, but instead beat their target by 600%, bringing their total to £1,500. The group of Year 6 students, led by Millie, set up a JustGiving page, organised the Campout and sought out sponsorship themselves as part of their Sacrament of Confirmation.