Community News

Severn Trent is offering advice this winter to ensure customers can enjoy their festivities without the drama of blocked pipes. The company said that in the last financial year it has cleared over 32,000 blockages, the majority of which were caused by the wrong things being flushed down the toilet or washed down the sink.

A chilled food manufacturer based in Southall, in London, has donated a van to a local charity to help with its distribution of food to those in need. Noon Products Ltd started supporting NishkamSWAT’s community support outreach programme at the time of the Grenfell fire.
Noon provided the charity with microwavable ready meals for people while they were waiting to be re-homed.

Nehemiah Housing Association which has over 1244 properties across the West Midlands has achieved the prestigious Investors in People (IiP) Gold accreditation. Gold accreditation means that you’ve got the policies in place but more than that, it means everyone – from CEO to apprentice takes ownership for making them come to life.

More than 10,000 of a Coventry community’s most vulnerable people have been fed by Foleshill Social Supermarket throughout the height of the pandemic. Since March 2020, the supermarket, set up through Feeding Coventry, has distributed 5,000 bags of shopping to local families.

Essential rail improvement work over Christmas and New Year has been planned to cause the least disruption to passengers travelling between London, the Midlands, North West and Cumbria.

This year the bulk of the £30m bank holiday upgrades will take place on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when traditionally most of the railway shuts down, although passengers are advised there is also work taking place outside those dates. The work includes:

A Birmingham-based charity which helps West Midlands youngsters improve their life chances through sports-themed personal development programmes is celebrating after fundraisers notched up nearly 50,000 minutes of activity in a special challenge.

Sport 4 Life UK staged the R15E UP Challenge to mark its 15th anniversary with a call to participants to complete a sponsored physical activity such as running, cycling, walking or swimming during a 30-day period in October and November this year.

Carers in Wolverhampton are being invited to have their say and help shape a new strategy which aims to ensure the right support and services are in place for them and the people that they look after.

Carers are adults, children and young people who provide unpaid care for a friend, family member, child or neighbour who, due to illness, disability, a mental health need or an addiction, would not be able to cope without their support. It includes people who receive Carers Allowance.

A search has been launched for organisations that can help support a range of activities being developed by Birmingham City Council and Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (BVSC).

The activities, designed bring people together as a result of the city hosting the Commonwealth Games next year, will form part of the Stronger Communities project - which is utilising an allocation of £500,000 from the council’s £6million Commonwealth Games Community Fund.

A new regional Race Equalities Taskforce is being set up by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and recruitment to the Taskforce is now open. It will be led by an independent Chair, Yetunde Dania, who is Partner and Birmingham Head of Office at international law firm Trowers & Hamlins.

The Taskforce will act to improve equality of opportunity for all communities across the West Midlands: concentrating on race and the extent to which people from different ethnic groups (including White British people) have different experiences and challenges.

The city council has set out how it will support those in need using the remainder of the Household Support Fund allocation. In October 2021 the council was awarded £12.791m and immediately used £1.22m for supermarket vouchers for those eligible for free school meals over half-term.

Vouchers will also be provided for two weeks over the Christmas holidays, using an additional £2.5m from the fund. A report to cabinet sets out how the remainder will be distributed to those in need.

Severn Trent has announced a new focus for its Community Fund to celebrate its partnership with Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Starting in January 2022, the Community Fund will be looking to fund local community projects that specifically aim to take care of nature and the environment.

Grants of £5,000, £10,000 and £20,000 will be available for non-profit organisations and local charities with an income of less than £500,000 averaged over three years.

Wolverhampton’s Yo! Christmas is officially launched, offering lots of fun activities and events for the city’s children and young people and their families over the festive season. 

The activities, many of which are free, start on Saturday 18 December, with a packed programme running throughout the Christmas holidays, including sports, clubs, festive fun days, arts and crafts, and more. 

Christmas has arrived at Bullring & Grand Central with the ultimate free Christmas party, Camp as Christmas, taking place on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 December, 12 – 5pm. A selection box of artists will present two afternoons of family entertainment and last-ditch gift ideas.

With everything from Christmas Jumper competitions to Line Dancing classes, expect Festive Fun throughout the weekend.

Birmingham’s pledge to welcome more than 200 Afghan refugees under two Home Office schemes will be discussed by the council’s Cabinet next week. Earlier this year Birmingham, which is a City of Sanctuary and a Mi-Friendly City, welcomed 80 Afghan interpreters and their families under phase one of the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Programme (ARAP), following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.

A report outlining recommendations to accept 110 refugees per year in 2022/23 and 2023/24, from phase two of ARAP and the new Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, is due to be considered by Cabinet on 14 December.

Annual Safety in Beauty Diamond Awards 2021, took place at The Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, with the glittering Gala Ball and Awards Ceremony being attended by 600 Cosmetic, Aesthetic and Beauty Industry guests who gathered to celebrate the great and good of the industry.

The Safety in Beauty Diamond Awards were created in 2014, and are dedicated to recognizing and paying special tribute to the many outstanding businesses, professionals, brands and service providers in the beauty and aesthetics industry.

People in England are being asked to work from home again if possible and face masks will be compulsory in most public places, as part of new rules to limit the spread of Omicron.

Vaccine passports will also become compulsory for entry to nightclubs and large venues from next week. Boris Johnson announced the government was moving to Plan B - its back-up plan of extra Covid rules.