Community News

Colors: Blue Color

With the big holiday getaway about to kick off, new booking data revealed by Saber shows improved travel confidence and emerging holiday destinations of choice for global travellers. Saber's analysis reveals that booking windows for the holiday period are approaching pre-pandemic levels, while the number of Christmas and New Year bookings have skyrocketed compared to last year.

Children from a Birmingham school visited Edgbaston Stadium to kindly lend their support to the BrumWish Christmas gift appeal.

The pupils from Anglesey Primary School, in Lozells, spent time unboxing and sorting out some of the thousands of presents donated by members of the public, Bears fans and businesses.

Flowers, balloons and soft toys were left by mourners gathering for a vigil after the deaths of three boys who plunged into an icy lake.The three, aged eight, 10 and 11, were pulled from a lake in Babbs Mill Park, Solihull, but later died.

Police said searches of the water would continue throughout Tuesday but have stressed there is no suggestion anybody else is missing.A six-year-old boy who was also rescued remains in hospital.

Dozens gathered for the vigil in Kinshurst.Members of the public and police officers initially went into the water to try to get the children, before the victims were reached by specialist water rescue-trained firefighters who got the group out.A police officer had to punch through the ice to rescue to boys, West Midlands Police said.

Solihull councillor Ian Courts said: "We are completely stunned at what's happened.Clearly our thoughts and prayers have to be with the families in this situation. I can hardly imagine what the families are going through."

At least one of the boys attended St Anthony's Catholic Primary School which shut on Monday after the incident. The school reopened on Tuesday morning.

Chair of governors,Marcus Brain, said: "It's a very, very close-knit community, we've got families that have been here for five generations, everybody knows everybody else.Everybody I've spoken to... are in an utter state of shock."

Mother-of-four Comfort Konfor said she had not been able to sleep and had just kept praying. "The image keeps coming to mind of children," she said.

Pastor Emil Kerekes, from Connection Church Kingshurst, said he wanted the families to know they were here to support them. All the other church leaders and group leaders in the local community, we want to get together and maybe come up with a plan to somehow help them," he said.

Police believe there were a number of witnesses at the lake they are yet to speak to and are urging them to come forward.Supt Harris said the families affected by the tragedy were "absolutely devastated".

He added: "Also this time of year, it's on the run-up to Christmas, so close to the event itself, also adds to that tragedy.The force said they were doing their very best to support the families.

The Phoenix Newspaper sends its condolences to the families of the children involved.

Strikes have disrupted everything from train services to postal deliveries and teaching in schools.

More workers are expected to walk out, as demands grow for improved working conditions and pay increases to keep up with rising prices.According to the Office for National Statistics, in September alone, 205,000 working days were lost to strikes.

Rail workers, border force, ambulance staff,Royal Mail workers, teachers, university staff, baggage handlers, driving examiners, bus drivers, junior doctors (in England), and up to 100,000 civil servants have voted to strike across different government departments.

Nursesare set strike – for the first time in its 106 year history- in England, Wales and Northern Ireland after a meeting between the union and the health secretary ended in deadlock after ministers refusing to discuss pay with the RCN (Royal College of Nursing).

After a meeting with Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, the RCN’s general secretary, Pat Cullen, said there was no more on offer from the government and stressed the distress from the profession at being forced to strike.

“The government was true to its word – they would not talk to me about pay,” Cullen said. “I needed to come out of this meeting with something serious to show nurses why they should not strike this week. Regrettably, they are not getting an extra penny.

“Ministers had too little to say, and I had to speak at length about the unprecedented strength of feeling in the profession. I expressed my deep disappointment at the belligerence – they have closed their books and walked away.”

NHS bosses got people to celebrate the service of nurses every year with a clap on its birthday. It started in 2020 with an applause on the 5 July, the NHS's 72nd birthday following the success of the weekly Clap for Carers, which encouraged people to clap for the NHS and key workers to thank them for their work during the coronavirus pandemic. 

However,followingthe UK’s Brexit in 2020,and the subsequent departure of some 40,365 NHS nurses – equivalent to one in nine–unions say they need to feel valued, respected, and prioritized and want to feel safe and valued in order to best care for their patients and want improved working conditions. 

Migrant healthcare workers, who were the mainstay of the industry,were said to have been forced to return to their countries of origin, after the expiry of visas – leaving their British counterparts doing the work they were doing all the time, during their stay here.

Newly qualified nurses have been offered a pay rise of 8.7%, with experienced nurses set to get uplifts of between £2,450 and £2,751. But, in defiance, theyhave voted to strike over pay, as other health workers are balloted.

Strikes across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are planned for Thursday 15 and Tuesday 20 December. The Scottish government agreed a 7.5% pay deal with the Unite and Unison unions on Monday, which called off their strikes. 

Sources say the industrial action was expected to last for 12 hours on both days – most likely between 8am and 8pm.RCN Scotland is balloting its members on the offer and is due to announce the results next week.

Work in Birmingham to address air pollution and the climate crisis has been highlighted in the Government Chief Medical Officer's annual report.

It says: 'significant work is underway to create spaces for people that encourage exploration of the city via sustainable methods' and highlights a range of projects from the city council and partners.

Thousands of sea cadets around the country are benefitting from new boats and equipment, following a generous donation earlier in the year from the Naval Club and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Officers’ Association (RNVR).

The funding has made it possible for Sea Cadets to purchase four new RS21 training keelboats, whose sleek design is particularly suited for cadets’ team-sailing activities and competitions.

Derby-based James Dean Events, which runs two of the county’s biggest summer festivals, has struck gold at the UK Festival Awards 2022 due to transforming his 15-year-old festival business into the country’s very first drive-through covid testing site during the pandemic.

Recognised for iconic Derby events at Catton Park, the Sausage & Cider Festival and the most nostalgic trip down memory lane, Back 2 Festival, James Dean and his eight-strong team won the award for The Positively Perfect Pivot at the UK Festival Awards 2022.

Wolverhampton has officially thanked dozens of dedicated foster parents for the vital work they do looking after vulnerable children and young people in the city. The City of Wolverhampton Council's Fostering for Wolverhampton team recognised the service of their foster parents at the ‘For the Love of Fostering’ awards evening at Molineux Stadium last week.

Severn Trent is on the lookout for green fingered volunteers to help plant 17,000 trees across two sites at Cole Valley on Wednesday 14 December between 09:00 – 16:00, as the company continues to help leave a carbon neutral legacy for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

As Birmingham 2022’s Official Nature and Carbon Neutral Partner, Severn Trent is creating 2,022 acres of Commonwealth Forest across the West Midlands.

Rail passengers planning travel through Birmingham New Street station during upcoming strike action by multiple rail workers’ unions before and after Christmas are being warned not to get caught out with limited trains running over reduced hours. Members of the RMT, TSSA and Unite unions will all take industrial action next week on 13, 14, 16 and 17 December.

Aston University has teamed up with Midlands-based casthouse technology specialists through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) to develop a suite of energy-efficient aluminium recycling systems that are expected to reduce energy consumption by up to 50%. This new partnership with Mechaterm International Ltd follows the successful completion of the company’s first collaboration with Aston University which resulted in a more intelligent design process for furnaces and ancillary equipment for the global aluminium industry using complex design automation techniques and algorithms.

A giant sculpture was unveiled in Birmingham to create awareness of the campaign to highlight the plight of the homeless this winter.

The 14ft and 2.5 tonnes sculpture, called ‘Homelessness Can’t Be Ignored’ and highlighted a homeless person called Alex, was commissioned by the charity Crisis - which is running the campaign - is displayed outside St Martin in the Bull Ring and shows a homeless person

Marlbrook-based employees from global snack provider, Mondelēz International, have got in the festive spirit and added a touch of Christmas magic to local hospice, St Michael’s Hospice.

A team of 11 employees from the Marlbrook site spent eight hours volunteering at St Michael’s Hospice to install Herefordshire’s most-loved Santa Grotto experience, which included setting up Santa’s giant sleigh, an animatronic reindeer, as well as installing more than 50,000 fairy lights.

Page 122 of 379