Community News

Haringey council has made almost £2m in four months from driving penalties in Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) zones.

The north London council handed out more than 60,000 penalty charge notices between September and December 2022.

Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Enki Medical practice, Birmingham: MBE for services of raising the quality of patient care & Healthcare across Birmingham, particularly the Handsworth community.

Paulette Bolton AKA “Birmingham’s Phenomenal Woman” as she is affectionately called, was an extraordinary nurse who single-handedly revolutionised the National Health Service and improved the quality of patient care in Birmingham UK.

Throughout Paulette's long career spanning over 55 years, not to mention her extensive voluntary work; she has become a role-model to countless health professionals, disadvantaged young people & community members. Not only was Paulette the first afro-Caribbean nurse to ever be appointed as a Nurse Representative on the Board of the Ladywood Primary Care Group and the only nurse and female on the PCG Board when she was re-elected. Paulette was also one of the first Nurse Practitioners to qualify in the whole Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Group.

She played a pivotal role in helping to establish Enki Medical Practice from an initial size of 200 patients to well over 5,000 and then went on to become the first Advance nurse practitioner to ever join Enki Medical Practice. She went on to become one of the first ever Nurse Prescribers in Birmingham. She also campaigned tirelessly for the rights of nurses and improved treatment of people who suffered with drug addiction, homelessness and mentally illness.

What makes Paulette’s achievements all the more remarkable is her selfless compassion for others and extra-ordinary strength of character to survive against enormous odds. Paulette was born in West Moreland, Jamaica in 1951 during the year of a great hurricane. She was raised by her grandmother and sadly had to leave school at the tender age of nine to care for her on a full time basis when she became very ill. Following the death of her grandmother when Paulette was just 10 years old she found herself all alone in the world.

To make matters worse, Paulette left Jamaica with very little formal education. However she refused to give up and taught herself to read and write. When she arrived in England as a 15 year old girl during the 1960s she along with many other Caribbean people were met with suspicion, coldness and outright racial hostility. But she did not let this stop her and entered nursing in 1969.

Paulette dedicated her entire working life to drastically improve the quality of patient care within the most deprived areas of the Birmingham community and in 2020 Paulette was awarded an MBE and recognised in the Queen's Honours. Paulette sadly passed away peacefully after a short illness on 23/01/23 and this immeasurable loss is felt by thousands who loved her dearly across Birmingham and beyond.

“Paulette transformed a small general practice troubled by technical operational challenges & professional rivalries into a thriving highly effective new health centre. This health centre continues to flourish today in its primary care initiatives & responsibilities. This is an example of how Paulette was fundamentally able to change health care for the better. She made sure that the community in the area moved from having a sparse threatened service, to that of having the best facilities & health care possible." Dr Hilary Paniagua, Head of Doctoral studies & Research Fellowship

A vintage shop has acquired a collection of historic Valentine's Day cards, dating as far back as 1880. The hand-made paper-lace cards are for sale at Snoopers Paradise in Kensington Gardens, Brighton.

Cards for wives, husbands, secret crushes, boyfriends, girlfriends, children and even an Edwardian baby’s first Valentine can be found at the eccentric store in North Laine. Some have panels which lift to reveal hidden messages of love.

Valentine's Day week provides many opportunities for lovers to show their emotions and love. This week, couples all over the world are celebrating by expressing their love and admiration for the person they admire.

During Valentine's Day week, people exchange gifts to express their love for their lovers, such as chocolates, flowers, or something meaningful.

DateinaDash, London’s most loved speed dating company is back at the top of their game with a truly unique dating game this Valentines. For only £15 a ticket, rock up in the capital and play a non-violent version of the ever-popular Squid Game in real time!

The dystopian South Korean Netflix series is their most-watched show ever which sees people from all walks of life playing deadly games for cash. However, there’s no need to panic.

A statement from Councillor Seema Chandwani, Cabinet Member for Haringey’s ‘Tackling Inequality and Resident Services’ read: “We are calling on Thames Water to permanently fix their mains water system on Crouch Hill. In recent years residents and businesses have become all too familiar with scenes of water flooding down Crouch Hill and have had to endure repeated disruptions to their lives and businesses.

Almost 180 women who are leaders from 25 countries will voyage on two ships to Antarctica in November to ensure the sustainability of the planet.

The women are part of the Homeward Bound global initiative, which was set up to elevate the visibility of women leading with a STEMM background (science, technology, engineering, medicine and maths).

The delivery structures that will enable to the council to best realise the legacy of the Birmingham 2022 Games are set for approval on February 14.

A report to Cabinet Members notes the previously-confirmed opportunity to access underspend from Games time budgets still exists – and a Legacy Portfolio Team within Birmingham City Council is now required to continue to coordinate and drive forward the city’s ambitions, as set out in both the Corporate Strategy and the council’s own Games Legacy Plan.

Network Rail has revealed plans for the Raging Bull, which was the star of the spectacular opening ceremony at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, to be erected at Birmingham New Street station.

The Raging Bull was designed to pay homage to the West Midlands’ contribution to the Industrial Revolution. It stunned crowds at last year’s opening ceremony, and afterwards while it was on display in Birmingham city centre’s Centenary Square.

The installation of the Reverend Kimberly Bohan as the new residentiary Canon of Worcester Cathedral, took place at Evensong on Friday 27 January.

Kimberly will be responsible for the Cathedral’s learning programme and historic Library, working alongside the Director of Learning, Dan Parnell, and Librarian, David Morrison, to promote the Cathedral’s learning programmes and the work of the Library, as essential parts of the Cathedral’s mission.

Severn Trent has funding available for communities who want to boost nature across the region. The water and waste company is inviting individual land managers, community groups and businesses to come forward for funding for projects to improve nature in the local environment.

This offer is available for a limited time to help support nature projects across the region that may have been put on hold because of the cost-of-living crisis.

The Midlands region of Azets, the UK Top 10 accounting firm, has raised £30,000 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, following the announcement of their support for the charity, 18 months ago.

The team have pulled together to do a range of fundraising activities such as abseiling down the Park Regis building in Birmingham, competing in an Inflatable 5k, Wing Walking, cycling from London to Brussels, running marathons and sponsoring the popular Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity Dragon Boat Race. 

A new survey has revealed how the cost-of-living crisis has affected UK adults’ retirement prospects:

The countdown is on for keen runner 33-year-old Manish Patel from West Bromwich after he signed up to take part in this year's London Marathon. Manish is currently hard at work training for the annual 26.2-mile race around the capital to raise money for local mental health charity, the Kaleidoscope Plus Group after the team supported him back in 2020 when he was struggling with his own mental health.

Three leading international journalists will discuss how to transform European media to ensure equality, especially for women of colour, during an online discussion organised by the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity at Birmingham City University.

Sabika Shah Povia (Reuters, La Reppublica), and Riem Higazi (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation) and Djarah Kan (L’Espresso) will join K Biswas (New Statesman, New York Times, Resonance FM) - critic and editor of Representology for the hour-long exchange.

Five people including two girls aged 10 and 11 have been arrested for attacked a black schoolgirl outside a Surrey school on Monday.

The video footage which has gone viral on social media and across WhatsApp shows the girl repeatedly kicked and punched in the head, while her hair is being pulled and an adult is heard shouting to 'kick her in the face'.