Community News

Star striker and football pundit, Courtney Sweetman-Kirk, is joining forces with England and Premier League legend, David James MBE, as Utilita’s newest cost-of-living champion. As an official Utilita ambassador, Courtney will catapult Utilita’s Football Rebooted movement even further, which aims to get a million pairs of good quality football boots onto the feet of those who need them and away from landfill.

For the first time since Storm Arwen, Worcester Cathedral’s quire organ will be back in action in time for the Organ’s Gala Anniversary Recital, which will take place on 21 January at 7.30pm, having been postponed from October 2022, due to the organ being out of action.

The Cathedral looks forward to welcoming James Lancelot (Canon Emeritus Organist, Durham Cathedral and former Interim Organist and Director of Music, Worcester Cathedral) to give the annual Gala Organ Recital. 

Commercial heating and ventilation specialists, Lord Combustion Services, in Oldbury, has helped Midlands Air Ambulance Charity save lives by collecting £10,500 at a recent Charity Ball.

Last month, the charity welcomed Stuart Smith, managing director of Lord Combustion Services to its airbase at RAF Cosford for a cheque presentation for the funds raised at the 40th Anniversary Ball.

A business traveller has thanked Birmingham Airport (BHX) staff who saved his life when he suffered a seizure and swallowed his tongue. 

Company director, Rob Wilcox, 56, from Evesham, Worcestershire, collapsed moments after getting off a flight back home from Düsseldorf in Germany. The father-of-three was flagging down a taxi when the seizure took place. 

Actions set out at the height of the Covid pandemic to tackle health inequalities across the region have already helped thousands of people improve their fitness and wellbeing.

A meeting of the Health of the Region Roundtable, chaired by Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), has heard how slow but steady progress is being made on delivering a wide-ranging and long-term action plan aimed at closing the region’s health gap.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has apologised after research revealed that the Church of England's investment fund has links to the slave trade. The investigation, initiated by the Church Commissioners, a charity managing the Church's investment portfolio, revealed that for more than 100 years the fund invested large sums of money in a company responsible for transporting slaves.

New homes provider Bromford is sharing its top tips for re-loving, re-using and recycling for the new year. 

Catherine Jarrett, Director of Sales and Marketing at Bromford, said: “At Bromford we care deeply about the environment and making a positive impact. The new year is a great time for making positive changes, particularly following the festive period which we know can come with a lot of waste and excess, and we hope very much that sharing these tips can help others to live a more sustainable life in 2023.” 

Residents at an Edgbaston care home took a trip down memory lane and shared their memories of Birmingham with younger generations as part of a new public exhibition. Created by The Birmingham & Midland Institute (BMI), residents from Care UK’s Edgbaston Manor, on Speedwell Road, shared their memories of growing up in Birmingham and their concerns around climate change with younger generations from across the city as part of a volunteer-led exhibition, titled, ‘Grandbabs’.

A young footballer who had to put his sporting ambitions on hold when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour has received a bravery award.

Aston Barnett, nine, from Wolverhampton was due a visit from Aston Villa talent scouts but instead had to undergo treatment after collapsing in August. The ardent Villa fan said: "Having cancer has changed a lot of things but there's no point in negativity."

What would it be like to immerse yourself in a forest surrounded by a kaleidoscopic array of sights, smells and tastes all from the comfort of your own home? Professional actors, dancers, athletes and musicians from Spectra will bring the woods indoors as part of a series of multi-sensory, immersive digital shows set to take place on Friday 20th January at 1:30 pm and 7 pm plus Saturday 21st January at 11 am and 5:30 pm.

Birmingham organisations awarded grants from the city council’s Stronger Communities fund have unveiled a network of trails navigating the city’s history.

Developed with community groups and local historians, there are now trails covering 20 miles of the city, designed to highlight diverse stories of settlement and unheard histories of these areas.

As the world’s gaze and an estimated 100,000 Catholics descend on St Peter’s Square for the funeral of the former Pope Benedict XVI, the Sikh community of Birmingham pays condolences and fondly remembers the relationship with the Catholic Church.

It is with heavy heart the world bears witness to the passing of Pope Benedict XVI, who created history by being the first Pope to resign in nearly 600 years and, now in death, becomes the first former pontiff in the modern history of the Catholic Church to be buried by an incumbent Pope.

A memorial plaque has been unveiled on Moathouse Lane East shops in Wednesfield in honour of a popular member of the local community.

William ‘Bill’ Jones, who sadly passed away in January, aged 89, was a shopkeeper and business owner in the area between 1960 and 2008.

A long-serving officer and founder member of the WMP Black and Asian Police Association was awarded a King's Police Medal (KPM).

Andrea Reynolds was recognised for her role in policing and wider community in the New Year Honours List. She joined the West Midlands Police force as a PC in the 1990s before retiring earlier this year with a host of achievements behind her.

The January Challenge, a free initiative that uses creative challenges to connect people with their communities, is calling on people across the UK to sign up ahead of its kick-off - on January 1st.

The January Challenge is run by the UK-based non-profit 64 Million Artists. It involves 31 days of quick, fun and free creative challenges – one challenge for each day of the month – that everyone can participate in. The initiative is partly funded by the Arts Council.

Huge queues of people paid their respects to former Pope Benedict XVI at his lying in state in the Vatican.

He died on New Year's Eve at the age of 95, almost a decade after he stood down because of ill health.