The City Learning Trust is consulting on its proposal to open a new specialist music school in Sandwell, West Midlands, in association with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, with ambitions to establish a global centre of excellence for music education.

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is one of the world’s great orchestras, renowned internationally for its distinctive combination of artistic excellence and deep engagement with the local community.  The orchestra performs at the most prestigious international concert halls, as well as in its home venue – Birmingham’s Symphony Hall.

Reflecting its ambition to offer access to world-class musical opportunities for everyone, the CBSO is working with Sandwell Council and the City Learning Trust – one of the most successful multi-academy trusts in the country – to submit a free school application as part of the next wave of applications to the Department for Education (DfE).

Subject to approval from the DfE, the new school would open in Sandwell in September 2020, coinciding with celebrations marking the CBSO’s centenary.  It would cater for students aged 7 to 19, from primary through to secondary and sixth form. In addition to the normal academic curriculum, the school would specialise in classical, instrumental and choral music.  Every child would have the opportunity to learn at least one musical instrument, and students would also benefit from regular projects with CBSO musicians. The school’s most talented young instrumentalists and singers would have access to opportunities through the CBSO’s extensive talent development programme, which includes youth and training orchestras and two youth choruses.

Stephen Maddock OBE, Chief Executive of the CBSO said: “The CBSO is committed to supporting and developing the musical abilities and interests of children and young people from early years groups to university students. We currently do this through an extensive – and internationally admired – programme of opportunities ranging from workshops by individual musicians in schools, through pathways to support and develop outstanding talent, to orchestral concerts for young audiences at Symphony Hall.  Our partnership with the City Learning Trust is a logical extension of this programme, and the proposed new school would give us the opportunity to further use our musical expertise to support young people’s achievement and aspiration.”

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, the CBSO’s acclaimed Music Director added “This school would give young people in Sandwell the chance to be inspired by our musicians throughout their education. I am thrilled that the CBSO is involved with the project”.

Carl Ward, Chief Executive, City Learning Trust, said: “Evidence suggests that regular access to high-quality musical opportunities can have a positive impact on attainment across all areas of the curriculum. Our hope is that, as well as helping young people achieve improved academic results, the proposed music school would also inspire the music teachers and music professionals of the future.

“The CBSO is one of the most vibrant cultural organisations in the UK. We are delighted and proud to be working together on this exciting initiative.”

Councillor Steve Eling, Leader of Sandwell Council commented: "I'm thrilled the CBSO is looking to come to Sandwell. We have so many talented young musicians here who will really benefit from being educated at a school partnered with such a renowned orchestra. If the application is approved we will work with City Learning Trust and the CBSO to find a suitable site for the new free school."

Carl added: “This new school would be well-supported by our established network of local, national and international business partners; we would encourage any businesses and organisations to get in touch if they are interested in supporting our education vision by nominating governors, giving students an insight into businesses and/or providing mentoring and coaching opportunities.”

The CBSO is the second orchestra with which the City Learning Trust has collaborated. Plans for the Hallé Music Free School, which will be based in Stoke-on-Trent, were announced earlier in the year and that school is also due to open in 2020.

Tabor House, Birmingham’s only permanent night shelter, held an official launch on 10 October to coincide with World Homeless Day.

Small groups of invited guests were given tours of the new facility by some of the staff and volunteers. Mairead Shaw, one of Tabor House’s co-ordinators, showed Andy Street around the communal living area and explained how Tabor House will work.

Speaking at the event, the Mayor said, “The wonderful thing about Tabor House is not only does it give accommodation for a number of days or weeks, but during that time the residents will have support to rebuild their lives so they can go into permanent accommodation. It’s that positive approach about rebuilding that’s so special about what we see here today. It is a credit to iShelter and the team of charities that have come together to form this.”

Guests can stay for three nights or for 28 nights. Those who stay for the longer period are matched with a mentor who will provide one-to-one support to help them access services that will help them turn their lives around, moving off the streets and into more permanent accommodation. Tabor House is the first shelter in the country taking a strength-based approach, where volunteers and staff focus on the skills and ambitions of guests, as opposed to the problems or deficits they may have.

Fr Michael White, Chair of Caritas Archdiocese of Birmingham, one of the organisations behind Tabor House, said, “It looks like a dormitory and, in a way, it is. The people we’re dealing with are some of the most vulnerable and destitute people in the city. Some of them are afraid to go to hostels because of the bullying that can take place in hidden spaces. They like the openness of Tabor House. And all through the night we’ll have volunteers here, watching over our guests.”

Guests will be referred to Tabor House by SIFA Fireside or Midland Heart. At the end of their stay nobody will be sent back to the streets – the staff and partner organisations will ensure they have somewhere to go.

Shelter, hot food, a shower and mentoring are some of the practical aspects of Tabor House that guests will benefit from. As well as this, they will be treated with respect and friendship as they take steps to gain control over their lives. Fr Michael said, “Often, one thing that is lacking is warmth and respect in their lives. We hope that they will find that here.”

Organisations from across the paper cup supply chain have signed an agreement with the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE UK) to accelerate UK recycling of PE lined paper cups. The cross-industry collaboration will work towards delivering a long-term, nationwide paper cup recycling solution which complements and builds on the recycling activities achieved so far by the paper cup industry.

The companies signed up to the agreement are: Benders Paper Cups, Bunzl Catering Supplies, Caffe Nero, Costa Coffee, Dart Products Europe, Greggs, Huhtamaki, International Paper, McDonald's UK, Nestlé, Pret A Manger, Seda Group, Starbucks, and Stora Enso.

Using ACE UK's extensive recycling expertise, gained running the beverage carton industry's recycling programme, the fourteen companies will fund an activity programme which will give many more people access to recycling for paper cups. The programme includes:

From 1st January 2018 all ACE UK bring banks will accept paper cups for recycling, delivering an additional 382 recycling points located in 97 local authorities across the UK. With a further 33 recycling points across an additional eight local authorities scheduled during the next phase.

Cups from these recycling points will be processed at ACE UK's recycling facility in Halifax.

Drawing on its experience and existing relationships with local authorities, waste management organisations and recycling bodies, ACE UK will work to include cups in local authority kerbside collections. Currently 66% of local authorities collect beverage cartons at kerbside, in addition to those which collect through bring banks, and it is hoped to achieve similar levels of coverage for cups.

ACE UK has been successfully running the beverage carton industry's recycling programme for the last ten years driving significant increases in carton recycling as part of its role as the UK beverage carton industry trade body. During this time it has worked closely with local authorities and waste management companies so that today 92% of local authorities collect beverage cartons for recycling through either bring banks or kerbside collection.

Commenting on the agreement Richard Hands, CEO of ACE UK said: “The paper cup industry is facing very similar recycling challenges to the ones the beverage carton industry faced when we started our programme ten years ago. Whilst our primary focus will remain on increasing beverage carton recycling, we believe our expertise, experience and existing relationships can help the paper cup industry create a step change in cup recycling. Whilst it is early days, we have a clear measured plan agreed and expect to see significant progress in cup recycling over the next two years and beyond.”

The agreement builds on activities implemented and supported during the last year by the companies involved, such as in-store cup recycling, single site and pilot recycling projects including 'One More Shot' and the 'Square Mile Challenge'.

Neil Whittall Global Category Director of Speciality Coffee at Huhtamaki UK, and chair of the Paper Cup Recycling and Recovery Group (PCRRG) said: “Whilst paper cups are fully recyclable, the industry recognises that many are not being recycled because of a lack of collection facilities. Companies across the industry have been working to address this barrier and increase cup recycling.

“This agreement with ACE UK represents a significant advance in UK recycling infrastructure for paper cups. It will also help us accelerate progress towards the PCRRG's objective of ensuring the majority of the UK population have access to information, schemes and facilities to allow them to recycle their paper cup, as set out in our Paper Cup Manifesto.”

“Furthermore by generating greater volumes of cups for recycling this will create a market for the material, making cups more attractive to waste management companies and creating the potential for more schemes to be introduced to collect cups from a much wider range of locations such as offices and high street locations.”

Mike Turner MD, International Paper Foodservice Europe and chair of European packaging trade body Pack2Go added: “This collaborative agreement, funded entirely by the signatories, is a clear demonstration of the commitment of these organisations, from across the paper cup supply chain, to address the barriers to recycling and deliver practical solutions to maximise recycling of paper cups.”

Dominic Paul, MD of Costa Coffee, said:

Costa is proud to be a part of today's ACE UK announcement, which will give our customers more access to recycling points for their takeaway cups.

Using ACE UK's extensive recycling expertise, which currently allows 92% of local authorities to recover beverage cartons for recycling, the partnership will launch in January 2018.

This ground-breaking agreement will help to further accelerate takeaway cup recycling and compliment the nationwide, in-store recycling scheme we already operate across over 2,200 Costa stores. Since the launch of our in-store recycling in February we have already recovered and are in the process of recycling over 9 million takeaway cups, which includes any competitor cups. We also continue to drive the use of reusable cups and have launched two new multi-purpose cups, offering a 25p discount for customers using any branded reusable cup in store.

Funeral Service In loving memory of Bhai Sewa Singh Mandla Ji OBE 04.01.1927 - 06.10.2017 (90 yrs) on Sunday 15th October 2017 at 8.15am in Prayer Darbar 2 at Gurudwara (Guru’s Abode) served by Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (GNNSJ) 18-20 Soho Road, Birmingham, B21 9BH

Please click here to view the Invitation and for full information about the Funeral

Post Brexit the Midlands needs to wake up to the significant Trade and Business opportunities which Commonwealth nations offer" So says Keith Stokes-Smith, Chairman of the Birmingham Commonwealth Association."A large number of Commonwealth countries outperform European nations in certified world rankings and at a time when Continental Europe is in relative long term economic decline.The Commonwealth should not be seen as a replacement to EU trade. It does however have great potential and working together we can maximise the fulfillment of that potential to the Midlands benefit."

The Birmingham Commonwealth Association are holding a Commonwealth Trade and Business half day Conference on 29th November featuring a number of opportunities in India, Malta and Jamaica.It is hoped to follow this up with missions to these three countries in 2018.

Deal Making in target Commonwealth Countries

An interactive session with representatives of India, Malta and Jamaica

29 November- Birmingham City Centre

The Conference will be of particular interest to those in the Healthcare ( to include medical devices/training of nurses etc), Creative/Digital entertainment and  Electric Motor Vehicle sectors and  who are interested in India and Jamaica as a target market, and to those in the Aviation Support sector (maintenance/management/registration of aircraft/call centres/IT) or ICT or Higher Education sectors in the case of Malta. It must also be noted that post Brexit, as well as being a Commonwealth Country, Malta will remain an EU nation thus a potential gateway to both the EU and Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth presents enormous opportunities particularly given our shared values, legal structures and cultural similarities and post Brexit, with 1 billion potential consumers out there, we in the Midlands need to take advantage of these opportunities.

We are pleased that Sir John Peace, Chairman of the Midlands Engine and representatives of local government the East and West Midlands  will be  speaking.

Light refreshments and lunch are included in the ticket price

Further details can be found on our website:   https://www.birminghamcommonwealthassociation.com

and by going to the Evenbrite link:

        https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-west-midlands-fostering-commonwealth-trade-new-business-development-tickets-38283625354?aff=es2

Ambitious plans for how Sandwell will look in 2030 have been outlined at a special event in West Bromwich.

Sandwell Vision 2030 was officially launched at West Bromwich Town Hall.

Representatives of local businesses, the NHS, voluntary and community organisations and West Midlands Police were among those who attended the event run by Sandwell Council.

Sandwell Vision 2030 sets out 10 ambitions to be delivered by the council and its partners in the next 13 years.

They cover a wide range of topics from living healthy lives to lowering crime and from raising aspirations to improving the quality of schools.

The council carried out extensive consultation with residents and partners from across the borough to create the ambitions.

Leader of Sandwell Council, Councillor Steve Eling, said it was important that as many people as possible got involved with creating a better borough.

“This isn’t just about the council creating a better Sandwell for residents,” he said. “It’s about all of our partners, from schools to businesses and voluntary organisations to emergency services, coming together to deliver the Vision for 2030.

“There is so much we can do together to make a real difference. Everyone has only the very best intentions for Sandwell. By making sure we all pull together and face in the right direction, we can achieve positive outcomes for Sandwell and its residents.”

Councillor Steve Trow, Sandwell’s cabinet member for core council services, said: “By listening to our residents and partners we have created a bold and ambitious vision for Sandwell by the year 2030.

“It will be somewhere people feel safe and choose to bring up their families. Residents will enjoy good health, have rewarding work opportunities and feel connected and valued in their neighbourhoods.

“Yesterday was an important step in delivering these ambitions. It’s now up to us and our many partners to make the Vision a reality and we’re ready for the challenge.”