Community News

Perry the mascot has been having a brilliant time at the Games. You may have spotted him cheering on athletes, meeting fans, high fiving volunteers and dancing at our Festival sites.  

From star appearances on live TV from Victoria Square and Centenary Square, to Netball, Hockey, Beach Volleyball, Lawn Bowls and much much more, our brilliant Brummie bull has been popping up across the city, racking up a whopping 100 appearances in the first few days of the Games.

New wider platforms at the busy University station have been used for the first time this week as the major redevelopment project reached another key milestone.

Spectators heading for the Birmingham 2022 hockey and squash competitions were among those to benefit from the extra space and new shelters on the wider platforms.

Community centre Saathi House in Aston is set to unveil a large mural this week to celebrate its 45th anniversary, coinciding with South Asian Heritage Month. The anchor organisation, which has served the Birmingham community for over four decades, has enlisted international artist Katie O to create the stunning artwork, which measures over 31ft (9.6m) and celebrates the local community.

Wulfrunian and Olivier award-nominated actress Frances Barber will narrate the story of textiles in Wolverhampton as the immersive storytelling experience StoryTrails arrives in the city this weekend.

She narrates an augmented reality trail through the city centre which explores Wolverhampton’s role in the textile industry and fashion glamour, from Courthaulds Textile Works to department store Beatties and the town centre of the 1960s.

Community celebrates as planning application betting shop in former HSBC building, Erdington High Street rejected!

Local residents, members from Erdington Litter Busters and Erdington Councillor Robert Alden, who has been leading the campaign to stop the betting shop, held a second protest this morning at the Birmingham City Council Planning Committee who met to determine the planning application. 

The National Trust has installed more than 70 young trees at the Smithfield Festival Site in Birmingham city centre and revealed a specially commissioned animation to celebrate blossom in urban places.

Part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival and the conservation charity’s Blossom Together programme, the temporary garden is open to the public and is free to visit.

The Cost-of-Living Crisis is affecting everyone and the Leader of the City of Wolverhampton Council laid out exactly how the city is fighting back.

Councillor Ian Brookfield launched the city’s Financial Wellbeing Strategy with key stakeholders and partners at the city’s Light House venue in The Chubb Buildings.

Following the news that MPs are calling for women to get greater rights in the workplace when going through menopause, Philip Richardson, a partner and head of employment law at Stephensons, commented: “Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for many people experiencing the menopause to feel unsupported and stigmatised in the workplace.

The period between January and June this year was the driest in England since 1976, the Met Office has said. With water levels running low, the National Drought Group met to discuss how to cope with conditions.

The group stopped short of declaring a drought but water companies have been putting the early stages of their drought plans into action by urging people to save water. It comes after the UK's record temperature was broken last week.

Social media is quickly turning into a primary security weak point. A single data breach within one of the major social media networks can result in millions of records being stolen.

Within the past few years, we have seen multiple large-scale data breaches involving companies like Facebook and Twitter. Yet, we rarely see the bigger picture.

Fifteen parks and open spaces maintained by Birmingham City Council and supported by ‘Friends Of’ parks groups have once again been named as Green Flag Award winners for 2022.

The scheme, operated by Keep Britain Tidy, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for their management across the United Kingdom and around the world.

Passengers on board the West Midlands Metro will be able to travel back in time from today thanks to a new 360 mobile experience.

Specially created for the Birmingham 2022 Festival, and in time for the start of the Commonwealth Games, Time Travel Tram uses cutting edge technology to transform an everyday tram journey into an exciting, shared experience that can be enjoyed by anyone with a smartphone and headphones on any West Midlands Metro tram between Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

Pride House Birmingham opened on Friday (22 July) and will have the biggest presence to date by a Pride House at a Commonwealth Games.

Pride Houses are venues dedicated to LGBTIQ+ inclusion, diversity and culture that are established at major sporting events. All visitors are welcome to support and enjoy the various activities, performances and talks, which are supplemented by viewing opportunities of live sport.

Music is in the air at Haringey libraries. All Haringey residents and library users will now have access to high quality musical instruments after the council installed premium digital hybrid pianos in all nine of the borough’s libraries.

All of the libraries will now be home to a Casio GP-310 - a model that was selected for its high sound quality and weighted, wooden touch-sensitive keys that make it as close as possible to playing a traditional concert piano.

The transformative power of the Commonwealth Games was observed by CGF President Dame Louise Martin during a visit to Perry Barr. The area, a suburb in the north-west of the Proud Host City for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, is receiving in excess of £700million of investment - with the event acting as a catalyst for the improvement of the area.

With the cost of living crisis really starting to bite, struggling households across Birmingham are being urged to check if they are missing out on the benefits they are entitled to.

As prices continue to rise, with UK inflation at a 40-year high, organisations across the city are joining forces to offer support and highlight the help available to residents.