Community News

BBC Gardeners’ World Live has shortlisted three inspiring landscapers for a prestigious national award, celebrating the best in garden design. BBC Gardeners’ World Live - which takes place from 16-19 June at Birmingham’s NEC - is an inspirational day out for gardening enthusiasts and budding designers.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently visited the newly transformed Alexander Stadium to hear about legacy funding for national governing bodies for sport and to meet with volunteers, batonbearers and medal designers who are all part of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Caribbean hospitality employees are invited and encouraged to apply for admission to the Caribbean Hospitality Professional Development Program sponsored by Les Roches Global Hospitality Education, one of the world’s leading hospitality business schools, and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association Education Foundation (CHTAEF).

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games has unveiled the highly-anticipated route that the Queen’s Baton Relay will take through England this summer.

Travelling via land, air and sea, more than 180 communities in England will experience the Queen’s Baton on a route spanning 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometres).

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) has been awarded a £17 million Government grant to boost active travel and make it safer for people to cycle, walk and wheel. It will fund the delivery of 12 schemes which will form part of the Starley Network, including protected cycleways, school streets and safer crossings.

Residents in Stirchley and Moseley are from today being given the opportunity to have their say on names for their new railway stations. Construction work on three new stations on the Camp Hill line in south Birmingham is due to start later this year – but only the name of Kings Heath Station is agreed.

A Jamaican national was awaiting the outcome of his application to remain in the UK when he was unexpectedly swooped upon by seven immigration enforcement officers.

James Matthews, who says he has been wrongly detained ahead of a deportation flight, is launching legal action against the Home Office.

A new study of Brummies aged 65 plus has revealed a list of interior trends for retirees that are IN and the ones that are well and truly OUT. The study, by leading developer of retirement communities, McCarthy Stone, has found that today’s over 65s in Birmingham are after top spec home security systems (a must for 55 percent), electric vehicle charging points (43 percent), Alexa (41 percent) and hive heating (29 percent).

Almost three quarters (71%) of SME businesses are not currently acting to reduce their carbon emissions, as Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance is downgraded and digitalisation, employee wellbeing, cost inflation, and recruitment take priority.

The latest Azets SME Barometer Spring 2022, which surveyed 1,093 SMEs from all sectors in the UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, reveals ESG is on most company radars but specific action lacks urgency, with sharper focus on people, technology, and cost amid economic turbulence.

Residents and businesses in Wolverhampton are encouraged to attend engagement sessions to find out more about the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games event happening in the city.

On Thursday 4 August 2022, the City of Wolverhampton will proudly host the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Cycling Time Trial with the race starting and finishing at our spectacular West Park.

Proposals for a monument to honour Caribbean men and women who have served in Britain's armed forces have been submitted. The National Caribbean Monument Memorial is planned for Staffordshire's National Memorial Arboretum.

The proposals have been drawn up by the National Caribbean Monument Charity. Its application said that the aim was to strengthen the bonds with the UK's Caribbean community, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The Queen's Baton Relay will travel by coracle, barge and on a steam engine around the West Midlands ahead of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. The full route around the UK has been revealed as the baton reaches the region on 18 July.

Other highlights in the West Midlands include a journey on the canal and arriving by helicopter in Shrewsbury. The tour will end at Birmingham's Aston Hall on the day of the opening ceremony, 28 July.

The unhappiness of people living in big cities such as London must be addressed for the Government to deliver on its “levelling up” promises, new research shows. The Social Market Foundation think-tank found that relatively affluent London boroughs such as Islington, Hackney and Camden are falling well below the national average in terms of their residents’ happiness, anxiety, and life satisfaction.

Birmingham’s status a Proud Host City for the 2022 Commonwealth Games is celebrated in the city council’s entry for this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. A mixture of flowers grown at the council’s own nurseries and sporting-themed features make up the eye-catching display, which has an interpretation of the official Games logo as its centrepiece.

Projects, plans and people representing the best of public and private sector town planning from around the West Midlands have been shortlisted in the Royal Town Planning Institute Awards for Planning Excellence. Regional winners will be announced on 30 June at the RTPI West Midlands Summer Ball and Awards. 

A talented artist has scooped £150 after winning a competition to brighten up office space. The Open College Network West Midlands has recently redecorated its offices and training rooms, and while they look clean and smart, they were sorely lacking artwork on the walls.