Community News

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.

Multidisciplinary engineering firm adi Group recently took part in St Basils Big Sleepout, an annual event whereby individuals sleep out for a night to raise money for vulnerable young people who are at risk of homelessness. Every year, St Basils supports over 4000 young people across the West Midlands region, helping them to break the ‘cycle of homelessness’ by ensuring they receive the assistance they need to never become at risk of homelessness again.  

Affordable new homes provider Bromford is reassuring West Midlands children that its homes are on Santa’s radar this Christmas. Bromford, which is building new affordable homes in the area, is keen to make sure that Santa stops by all its new developments this festive season.

Catherine Jarrett, Director of Sales and Marketing at Bromford, said: “As the Christmas season is now in full swing, we want to reassure children and their parents who have moved to a Bromford home that Santa has been notified of their new address.

RSPCA Inspector Ben Jones said: “The cats, who we’ve named Gladys and Gertrude, were abandoned in a light blue cat carrier in Watery Lane in Coleshill on November 12. Thankfully they were discovered by a member of the public who kindly helped them to safety.

“They were examined by the team at RSPCA Newbrook Animal Hospital who advised that they are both young adults and have each had a litter of kittens recently. 

More independent recognition has been earned for the city council’s Mobile Household Recycling Centre (MHRC) service – in the form of a prestigious National Recycling Award. At the 2022 edition of awards ceremony, the MHRC initiative, which launched last year, was named as winner in the Local Authority Success category.

The Homebuilding & Renovating Show experts gave their predictions and advice for 2023, with Paul Testa, designer of low-energy homes and director of HEM Architects, saying: "I'm predicting that 2023 will finally be the year that mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) is established as a key element in self-build and retrofit projects. It's the most convincing way to maintain excellent air-quality without increasing heat demand in the home.

The West Midland Combined Authority’s (WMCA) commitment to the environment blossomed further as a partnership with the Woodland Trust was officially launched at Brookvale Park, Birmingham.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, planted the first tree to celebrate the region being a recipient of £300,000 as part of the Trust’s Emergency Tree Fund to help the region reach their environmental targets alongside representatives of the Woodland Trust, Amazon and WMCA’s environment team.