Community News

A significantly reduced train service will be running across the West Midlands during nationwide strikes next week, a rail operator has said. More than 40,000 RMT union members, from Network Rail and 13 train firms, plan to walk out in the "biggest rail strike in modern history".

West Midlands Railway (WMR), Avanti West Coast and Transport for Wales will all be hit on 21, 23 and 25 June.

A new initiative that is already helping more than 1000 people access affordable food in Wolverhampton officially opened yesterday

Wolverhampton Council Leader Ian Brookfield cut the ribbon at Big Venture’s Community Shop and encouraged people from across the city to take advantage of what is proving to be an ‘essential local service’.

Bromsgrove, in Worcestershire, in the UK, is set to be as hot as Jamaica by the end of this week as a mini-heatwave is set to arrive in the UK.

Forecasters are predicting that Friday, June 17 could be the hottest day of the year, trumping the record of 27.5 degrees in May. Bromsgrove is set to bask in 29-degree heat according to the Met Office with a peak around 4 pm – that's the same temperature as tropical holiday destination Jamaica.

A last-minute legal battle was under way over the UK government's first flight transporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said that it has blocked the removal of one of seven passengers saying he could come to serious harm.

New research from Direct Line Cycling Insurance reveals that commuters are being increasingly discouraged from cycling into work by a number of factors, and those who do ride in face a dilemma on where to store their bike. While an estimated £1 billion worth of bikes are used to commute every day across the UK, the research suggests that as many as 1.5 million cyclists are deterred by the lack of bike storage facilities at their workplace.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Safe and Legal Migration), Kevin Foster MP, this week visited West Midlands based Nehemiah Housing Association and met with a delegation from the RAFFA International Development Agency including Chief Executive Angela Clarke and RAFFA Vice Chair and Nehemiah CEO Llewellyn Graham to discuss the work RAFFA has been doing to raise awareness of the Windrush Compensation Scheme across the West Midlands.

The Birmingham 2022 Queen’s Baton Relay will visit all ten of the city’s Parliamentary constituencies during the final two days of its 294-day journey. Birmingham 2022 is hosting the 16^th official Queen’s Baton Relay – a journey which brings together and celebrates communities across the Commonwealth during the build up to the Games.

London animal welfare charity, Mayhew, has seen its highest ever weekly intake of abandoned kittens in May, having had 30 unwanted tiny felines left at their Kensal Green headquarters in one week alone from 16th to 23rd May 2022 - a 50% increase compared to the same period in 2021.

The RSPCA has published a collection of essays from global thought leaders to kick off a mission to reposition animal welfare from a niche to a more mainstream policy position. The collection; ‘What Have Animals Ever Done for Us?’ sees 19 essayists explore a diverse array of topics - including animals in religion, the economic value of the natural world, what technology can teach us about our feelings towards animals, and how animals have shaped the legal system over the last 200 years. 

Birmingham City Council has launched an exciting new digital crowdfunding initiative, Be Bold Crowdfunding, to enable community-led ideas that matter to local people and local communities.

Working in partnership with Spacehive, the UK’s leading civic crowdfunding platform, Be Bold Crowdfunding is an initiative that will give local residents with an idea to improve their community the opportunity to gain funding via Spacehive’s crowdfunding platform.

In honour of Child Safety Week, which is running from Monday 6th to Sunday 12th June, housing association Bromford is sharing its top tips for safely moving house with children.

Catherine Jarrett, Director of Sales and Marketing at Bromford, said: “Moving home is an incredibly stressful time for both parents and children.

Tyres, carpets and suitcases were among the items collected by Shakespeare Martineau’s lawyers as part of a litter pick along the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal towpath.

An entire barge was filled with rubbish by the law firm’s Birmingham-based corporate team, who gave up their time on Tuesday (31 May) to take part in the volunteering day, which was organised by the Canal and River Trust.

A resident at a care home in Solihull has shared the secret for living a long and happy life on her 101st birthday. A very special birthday celebration took place at Care UK’s Blossomfield Grange, on Worcester Way, when resident Beryl Mills, known as Millie Mills, turned 101 years ‘young’.

The West Midland’s commitment to the environment has reached another major milestone as over 200,000 trees have now been planted and registered on the Virtual Forest by organisations and individuals across the region. Since January 2020, West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has been encouraging residents and businesses to get involved in tree planting through its Virtual Forest initiative.

As the country goes into full-on celebration mode for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, spare a thought for the people who are going to be clearing up after all those street parties.

One British waste and recycling company has been crunching the numbers, and expects the country to get through enough beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks for the empties to stretch right around the planet.

Air quality in central Birmingham has improved since the Clean Air Zone was implemented a year ago and has seen a significant fall in the percentage of most polluting vehicles entering the city centre. This reduction in the most polluting traffic – falling from 18.7 per cent on 1 June 2021 to 9.2 per cent in April 2022 – has contributed to an overall reduction in the levels of nitrogen dioxide by 13 per cent in the first six months of the scheme.