Community News

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games has launched free online learning resources for primary schools, themed around Queen’s Baton Relay.

The Queen’s Baton Relay is a tradition that celebrates, connects and excites communities from across the Commonwealth during the build up to the Games.

A heartbroken family who lost their youngest daughter to deadly meningitis have launched a national charity’s Christmas Ribbon Appeal.

Eilidh Neave, from Kinross in Scotland, was just 8 when she became ill and died from meningitis whilst on a family holiday in France in July 2019. Now her parents Ann Marie and Stuart, and sister Zoë, are supporting charity Meningitis Now’s annual ribbon appeal, which offers everyone the chance to remember their loved ones at Christmas and donate to fight back against the devastating disease.

Thirteen-year-old Olivia Rudge, from Cradley Heath in the West Midlands, has been shortlisted for an award by the national disability charity, Sense. The nomination recognises the challenges she has overcome since the Covid pandemic and the progress she has made with her development.

Olivia, who is non-verbal and has multiple disabilities, has been shortlisted for the ‘Young Person of the Year’ award at the annual Sense Awards.

With forecasters predicting significant snowfall over higher ground by the end of the week, William Hill made Manchester 8-1 favourite for Bonfire Night snowfall.

Forecasters have been warning of snow flurries and an impending arctic plume in November for the last few weeks, but as the sky lights up with colourful fireworks on Saturday and Sunday, there could now be significant snowfall at higher levels and an early taste of wintry conditions in parts of Northern England and Scotland.

With Covid-19 continuing to spread in Wolverhampton, people who are meeting up with friends and family to celebrate Bonfire Night or Diwali this week are being encouraged to do so safely.

Residents are reminded that meeting outdoors is safer, and if they do meet indoors, they should try and let as much fresh air in as possible.

This year Covent Garden will be bringing the Christmas Magic once again to Central London. The central London neighbourhood is one of the best places in the city - and the UK - to experience the Christmas Magic, where families come together to enjoy the best shopping, dining and exciting offers.  

On Friday October 29, London's Covent Garden felled its famous Christmas Tree, London's tallest hand-picked Christmas tree, from Woods Farm in Solihull, in the West Midlands - which also supplies Downing Street and Windsor Castle.

A 3.5m tall puppet of a 9-year-old Syrian refugee named Little Amal was welcomed by hundreds of Erdington residents as part of her 8,000km journey, The Walk produced by Good Chance Theatre in association with Handspring Puppet Company

Hundreds of Erdington residents lined the high-street to welcome Little Amal to Birmingham. The 3.5m tall puppet of a 9-year-old Syrian refugee made a visit to Birmingham as a part of her 8,000km journey titled The Walk that began in Turkey on 27 July and will end in Manchester on 3 November.

A Smethwick man has raised over £4,000 for Parkinson’s UK through sales of his book.

Mark Lanyon, 58, from Bearwood, donated his June and July earnings from the Amazon sales of ‘Who Stole Grandma?’ - the story of his time with his mum Geraldine after learning she had Parkinson’s. 

Archaeologists in Buckinghamshire working on the HS2 project have uncovered a set of incredible rare Roman statues whilst excavating a Norman Church in Stoke Mandeville.

In the final stages of the excavation at the site of the old St Mary’s Norman church in Stoke Mandeville, archaeologists were excavating a circular ditch around what was thought to be the foundations of an Anglo-Saxon tower.

A landowner has been found guilty of breaching a Community Protection Notice over land at Goldthorn Hill, which was left in a completely unacceptable condition.

Mr Primpal Jangra, of Lea Road, Wolverhampton, was served with the Community Protection Notice and a deadline to clear the land after he repeatedly ignored council officers’ requests to clear waste at the former residential property.

A new consumer behaviour change campaign is calling on 13 million UK households not to heat their homes any higher than 21 degrees and consider other ways to get cosy instead.

The ‘Wear Warm’ campaign was launched after research undertaken by Utilita Energy - the only energy company created to help households use less energy - revealed that almost half of the nation’s homes are heated to 24 degrees centigrade for half the year - the same temperature as Barbados.

A protest held outside a police station after allegations a police officer "forcibly removed" the turban of a Sikh man in custody.

West Midlands Police denied it happened or that the turban was stamped on and said images shared on social media were misleading. The man has been charged with obstructing a police officer and driving offences.

Community groups joined forces to host a Diwali celebration for local residents at the Graiseley Strengthening Families Hub. 

It was organised by Hit the Dhol and supported by the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Parent Champion volunteers and the YMCA. The event showcased how communities came together to celebrate the festival of light and proved how important it is to celebrate diversity through true partnership working with voluntary groups.  

In a month where news headlines have sadly been full of harrowing stories of violence and sexual abuse against women, a powerful art project is being launched to empower women to share their own experiences of trauma using blank postcards as a canvas.

The Let Her project provides a platform where women can freely and safely share their stories via art on a postcard and submit it anonymously.

The latest and final venue for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games has been confirmed, with Victoria Square in Birmingham city centre revealed as the official finish area for the Marathon which will be held on Saturday 30 July 2022.

The square will be a welcome sight for the finishers in all four races that will be held on the first Saturday of the Games, with the men’s marathon, women’s marathon and the men’s and women’s T53/T54 events all taking place on the same course which will start at Smithfield, another Birmingham city centre venue that has previously been announced as the home of beach volleyball and basketball 3x3 and wheelchair basketball 3x3 during the Games.

New research has found that Stoke-on-Trent is the most garden friendly city in the UK with 94.4% of addresses having access to private outdoor space.  

The study by home cleaning and maintenance service company Fantastic Services analysed ONS data on private outdoor space in more than fifty of the biggest areas of the UK to determine the city where a property is most likely to have a garden.