Community News

Colors: Blue Color

On Friday (April 21), the Rt Hon. Johnny Mercer, Minister of State for Veterans’ Affairs, attended a kit presentation to a group of Army veterans who are running an ultra-marathon for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity.

On the 20th May, 25 veterans will be taking on the gruelling 110km ultra-marathon across the volcanic island of São Miguel in the Azores, to be completed in two days. Members of the team have done a combined 70 operational tours in war zones including Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

FIJI Water, an artesian water from the Fiji Islands, is furthering its commitment to environmental sustainability with the transition of its best-selling 500 mL and 330 mL bottles to 100% recycled plastic (rPET), excluding caps and labels, in the UK and EU markets starting in Spring 2023. This move is a significant step towards reducing plastic waste and replaces nearly 70% of FIJI Water's bottle volume* worldwide with recycled material. The company is committed to transitioning its entire bottle portfolio to rPET by 2025.

While millions of people across the UK heard an alarm on their phones at 15:00 BST yesterday (Sunday), many others did not. The government was testing an alert that could be used to warn about dangerous situations including fires, flooding or terror attacks.

The alarm lasted for around 10 seconds on 4G and 5G devices, but many people on social media reported that the alert went off one minute earlier or later than planned, when a loud, buzzing alarm rang out and the words "severe alert" flashed up on their phones' screens.

It’s Stalking Awareness Week between 24th and 28th April: a national campaign raising awareness about stalking and the dire effects it can have on victims.

Stalking is when someone carries out a pattern of repeated and persistent unwanted behaviour against you that makes you feel scared and threatened. It is a crime and is not something you should have to put up with. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that 2.5 million people every year experience stalking in England and Wales.

Stephen Lawrence's mother, Baroness Lawrence, says her son's story "remains as important and relevant as ever" on the 30th anniversary of his murder. The 18-year-old was stabbed in a racist attack by a gang of white youths as he waited for a bus in Eltham, south-east London, on 22 April 1993.

A report into the failed investigation found "institutional racism" in the Met Police. A private memorial service earlier took place to mark the anniversary.

St George's Day will be marked across England today, as the annual celebration of the country's patron saint – mythologised as a dragon-slaying knight – commemorates the anniversary of his death in 303 AD.

St George's Day was declared a national feast day and holiday in 1415, following England's victory at the Battle of Agincourt, a key battle in the Hundred Years' War. It took on less significance when England unified with Scotland in 1707 – leading to the creation of the UK – and is no longer marked as a national holiday.

Academics advising the Jamaican government on plans to reinstate its disused railway network have visited Birmingham on a fact-finding mission to meet rail industry experts and view progress on the construction of new stations.

The team from the University of Technology, Jamaica are collaborating with the Ministry of Transport and Mining to restore the island’s previous network, which includes plans to upgrade Kingston Railway Station and a three-and-a-half mile route through the city. The station has been mothballed since services stopped in 1992.

Some of the country’s busiest railway stations, including Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly and Birmingham New Street, now have British Sign Language travel announcements.

From the start of April, touchscreens have gone live for deaf passengers at eight Network Rail managed stations* showing signed travel information of the latest advice for travellers. Euston station was the first to pilot the technology in 2021, and now all four stations in Network Rail’s North West and Central region have installed the screens – the first region to achieve the milestone.

On April 16, 110 countries across the globe participated in International Good Deeds Day 2023, including U.S.A., Zambia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Zanzibar, Finland, Mexico, Congo, Armenia, Poland, Italy, UK, Uruguay, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Tanzania, and more.

Enthusiasm around this international event of good increases every year, with millions of people joining in to volunteer and do something positive for others on Good Deeds Day, which was launched 17 years ago in Israel and has since crossed borders to become an internationally unifying day of good.

Millions of people across the West Midlands are being reminded they will receive a test message from the Government’s new emergency alert system this Sunday (April 23). A loud, siren-like sound and vibration accompanied by a text message will be sent to compatible mobile devices at 3pm as part of a nationwide test of the system which has been introduced to alert the public to life-threatening situations.

A unique emblem created to commemorate the upcoming coronation of King Charles III features on an exclusive range of newly released gold sovereigns - the first range in history created in honour of a British monarch's coronation. As the first British monarch to be crowned in the 21st century, The King Charles III Coronation Gold Sovereign Range released by gold sovereign specialists Hattons of London, will be the first in history to carry the ‘Coronation Emblem’ - a completely new design created specially to celebrate this significant moment in British history.

The RSPCA - the country’s oldest and largest animal welfare charity - is recruiting for 11 new animal rescue officers (ARO’s). The charity’s animal rescue officers are frontline workers who respond to reports of cruelty, neglect and injury, deal with complaints and collect and rescue sick, injured and trapped animals.

ARO’s carry out some of the vital work of the RSPCA and play their part alongside the charity’s inspectors in making a real difference to the lives of animals. It is an extremely rewarding, but challenging role as animal rescue officers have to deal with difficult situations where they need to stay calm and professional and show great resilience.

Outbound flight bookings from the GCC states for the three weeks running up to Eid Al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, were 38% behind. According to travel industry analysts, Ramadan travel this year is still far behind the heights it reached before the pandemic in 2019.

However, a major factor in assessing the recovery of Ramadan travel are the dates when the festival falls due. In 2019 Eid al-Fitr was in June, a much better time of the year to travel, as the end of Ramadan was close to the start of the long summer school holidays in Saudi Arabia.

Love was well and truly in the air at a Tettenhall care home when two residents celebrated a very special milestone. Gordon Farquhar, aged 92, and his wife Kathleen, aged 96, toasted their 70th wedding anniversary at Care UK’s Foxland Grange in the West Midlands town, on the 4th April. 

The pair met at their local church one Sunday afternoon. Although both admitted it wasn’t love at first sight, the couple grew fond of one another on their weekly visits, where they would often sit next to each other. 

One of the UK’s longest serving engineers celebrated 76 years working in industry this week and insisted he wants to carry on until he is 100. Vic Sutton, a Calibration Engineer at harness and wiring looms specialist Teepee Electrical in Bloxwich, in the West Midlands, turned 90 on Tuesday and spent his big birthday playing a role in daily production and enjoying a surprise party with colleagues he openly calls ‘family’.

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