The Queen’s Baton has finished its visit to England, as part of its tour of the Commonwealth nations ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The Baton arrived in the country by military aeroplane from the Falkland Islands. On the morning of Wednesday 16 August, it was parachuted into RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire before being formally received by Commonwealth Games England Chairman Ian Metcalfe and Commonwealth Games Federation President Louise Martin.

This was the first stop on the Baton’s tour of England on its journey through all Commonwealth nations across, 388 days, ahead of the Opening Ceremony on 4 April 2018. England was the 40th destination on the tour, with the Queen’s Baton now moving on to Scotland as it continues its global journey.

Commonwealth Games England Chief Executive Officer Paul Blanchard said:

“We have thoroughly enjoyed having the Queen’s Baton in England, for what has been a thrilling five days, where we hope to have shared the fantastic sentiment of the Queen’s Baton, and the Commonwealth, around our country.”

Following its arrival at RAF Brize Norton, the Baton travelled to London to be welcomed by the Australian High Commissioner and a number of athletes such as Commonwealth and Olympic champion Max Whitlock at the London Guildhall Gallery and Amphitheatre.

The Queen’s Baton continued, on Thursday, to Stoke Mandeville Stadium, home of the para sport movement, and the Lawn Bowls National Championships in Leamington Spa. Commonwealth and Paralympic champion Ollie Hynd, MBE, supported an open sports day at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, before the Baton was greeted by the nation’s leading Lawn Bowls stars at the Lawn Bowls National Championships in Leamington Spa.

Commonwealth swimming champion Ollie Hynd said:

“It’s not long now until the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and it’s great to see everything, and everyone, coming together with the Baton. I was lucky enough to go to Glasgow, which was a wonderful experience with such a high level of sport and the opportunity to be in that athlete environment with all the different sports – para and able bodied – was fantastic. And I am looking forward to hopefully experience that next year, it will be really special.”

Friday saw the Queen’s Baton head to Manchester, where it was joined by English gymnastics stars Ellie and Rebecca Downie at MediaCityUK, Salford in the morning, and England Basketball stars Georgia Jones and Dominique Allen who offered a ‘come and try’ session on a special basketball court at MediaCityUK.

The Queen’s Baton was then greeted by cricket fans at Old Trafford Cricket Stadium for the Lancashire Lightning V Birmingham Bears T20 Blast fixture, where it proudly undertook a lap of honour before the match.

Commonwealth gymnastics champion Rebecca Downie said:

“It’s been really exciting to see the Queen’s Baton. The Baton is so unique, with all of its different features and how it brings everyone together. It’s starting to feel very real now. The Commonwealth Games is one of those big milestones you want to win a medal in and go to, amongst the likes of the Olympic Games and world championships. The Commonwealth Games is always a special one and being a multi-sport event you get to meet lots of different athletes, and have a lot of fun.”

Saturday and Sunday saw the Baton head to Liverpool and Birmingham, who are both currently bidding to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Saturday’s trip to Liverpool commenced with a visit to Liverpool Parkrun at Princes Park, which saw former team England star Beth Tweddle greet the baton, ahead of heading to Albert Dock, ahead of the Clipper Race, before visiting a community sports day held at Chavasse Park. Following a quick trip on a 'Ferry across the Mersey', the Baton was greeted by over 50,000 football fans at Anfield at half time of the Liverpool V Crystal Palace Premier League fixture.

In Birmingham on Sunday, the Baton was given a grand tour of the city, visiting a number of key landmarks throughout Sunday 20 August, including the Bullring, Library, Edgebaston and Brindley Place. The trip to the city commenced with a trip to the New Testament Church of God Gospel Choir, where it was welcomed by the colourful, vibrant and fun members of the church, with the choir treating the team to uplifting music. The Baton then headed to the Alexander Stadium for the Müller Grand Prix Birmingham. It was on display in the fanzone and completed a lap around the historic athletics track by the men’s 4×100m relay team that won gold at the recent IAAF World Athletics Championships.

The Queen’s Baton Relay is a Commonwealth Games tradition that celebrates the Commonwealth’s diversity, inspires community pride and excites people about the world-class festival of sports and culture to come.

The Queen’s Baton carries a message from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II that calls for athletes to come together in peaceful and friendly competition.

While a significant 63 per cent of the UK admit to being in debt, new research from VoucherCodes’ Annual Cost of Living Life Report reveals that there has been a year on year reduction in the amount of new debt that Brits have accrued since the start of the year, with the average Brit taking out £363 in new debt in 2017, down from £446 in 2016. Despite this, it seems the nation is still struggling to stay on top of their finances, with over a quarter (27 per cent) confessing they are clueless as to just how much debt they are in.

The study over 2,000 UK adults found that while men have borrowed slightly more than women since the start of the year (£389 versus £344), where age is concerned, millennials are seemingly struggling to make ends meet, with 18 to 34’s borrowing more money since January than any other age group in the UK. Perhaps in response to the increasing cost of living and strained disposable incomes for many young people, millennials took out £540 in new debt in 2017, more than double over 55’s average of just £202.

Looking across the UK, those in Plymouth have borrowed the most money nationwide since the start of the year at £997, followed by those in Bristol (£497) and Birmingham (£426), all of which have undergone redevelopment in recent years, with rising property prices and new retail and leisure facilities in the regions pushing up the overall cost of living for many. Despite this, surprisingly, it’s Londoners who are among those who have the worst grips on their finances, with people in London and Northern Ireland being the most in the dark about money matters.

The survey of over 2,000 UK adults found that in line with 2016, student loans are the costliest driver of debt for those that have borrowed money since the start of the year (£5,162), followed by bank loans (£2,886) and credit cards (£1,378). But even in light of this nationwide debt, just 7 per cent of Brits believe they need to get better at money management, with over half of Brits (54 per cent) claiming they are ‘very clear’ on the current state of their personal finances.

A Dudley woman is taking part in Alzheimer’s Society’s Memory Walk in Sutton Park, Birmingham, for her mother whom is living with dementia, raise awareness about dementia and money to combat the condition.

Louise Overton, 32, from Dudley said: “Everyone knows someone who's life has been affected by Dementia and my mum, at the young age of 44 developed dementia. We noticed things weren't quite right, mom was finally diagnosed when she was 50 and since then we have watched the painful process of deterioration. Growing up I have always needed my mom as any girls do, especially when I had children of my own, but I've never had that luxury and never will. My mom is now on complete bed rest and struggling to eat. I'm doing this walk for her, for other women who will need their mom, for the children who will need their nan. Let's all stand together and try and find a cure for this horrible illness.”

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“My mum is now 57, she was diagnosed in 2010 after lots of tests and investigations into her behaviour, deterioration has been slow but has been much more rapid the past year. She has gone from being able to walk about to complete bed rest and very limited movement. It took her speech completely just after diagnosis but she still recognised family until about 3 years ago but now there is nothing. For people going through the same I think they just need people that care around them, to be as strong as they can for them and appreciate that they are in there somewhere, let them feel sun on their faces, let them sit in the fresh air and listen to the birds sing, smile and talk to them like you would anyone else, I cling to the fact that there is a little part of her that can still hear me and feel me holding her, hearing me tell her how much I love her and miss her."

More than 26,000 people over-65 in Birmingham and the Black Country are estimated to be living with dementia and last year’s event at the smaller location of Cannon Hill Park was attended by 5000 people, raising more than £322,000 to help people living with the condition.

Janice Le Tellier, Alzheimer’s Society Operations Manager for Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire said: “Dementia is set to be the 21st century’s biggest killer. We are calling on family, friends – and furry four-legged supporters – to unite against dementia this autumn. Dementia devastates lives. Walk with us at Memory Walk and dementia won’t win. Every pound raised will help Alzheimer’s Society provide information and support, improve care, fund research and create lasting change for people affected by dementia. Alzheimer’s Society is urgently calling on people to register now at memorywalk.org.uk and unite against dementia.”

In:Site Festival returns to Birmingham City Centre for a seventh year this September with recent graduates transforming the outdoor space around the cathedral with unusual craft ‘interventions’ . In:Site, a festival of graduate creativity, organised by Birmingham based arts charity Craftspace, takes place in Cathedral Square from the 4th – 8th September.

The public can get involved with the making of some of the artworks using different techniques; embroidery, casting in concrete, enamelling, manipulating wire and spinning wool. With different artists working each day, at the end of the week visitors can expect to see the space adorned with twelve new art works including a Camera Obscura, a crocheted chandelier, architectural wire sculptures and a textile tribute to historical figures buried in the graveyard echoing the shape of the Cathedral’s stained glass windows.

Craftspace Director, Deirdre Figueiredo said: “A festival of making in this public square draws attention to  Birmingham’s rich heritage in a creative way, encouraging people to slow down and take time to appreciate skills and stories - strangers from all walks of life talk and make together finding surprising ways to connect in an otherwise busy world.”

In a new partnership with Jaguar Land Rover, their clay modellers will collaborate with ceramicist Sarah Christie, showing the versatility and importance of clay as a material which is used expressively by artists and as a sculpting material for design in the car industry.

Ian Callum, Jaguar Director of Design said: “Developed to create sophisticated surfaces that would otherwise be drawn by hand, clay models have been in existence in the car industry since the 1940s and remain a fundamental part of the design process.  Watching the car come to life through the incredible artistic ability of our clay modellers, working together with designers, is still the favourite stage for many designers.”

The festival is supported by Birmingham Cathedral, the Edward Cadbury Trust, the Oakley Trust and Radcliffe Trust.

One in ten UK adults, equivalent to 5.3 million people, intend or would like to write their autobiography, according to new findings from Type & Tell, the leading self-publishing company.

Fuelled by the desire to tell their life story for reasons including self-help, to help others learn from their life lessons, or to pass on a record of their life to younger family members, aspiring authors would like to write their autobiography more than any other genre of book. One in five of those planning to write a book would like to pen their own life story (21 per cent), more than twice the number of any other non-fiction genre and considerably more than any genre of fiction.

Whilst the genre is most popular amongst more experienced would-be authors, with 27 per cent of those aged 55 or over hoping to write one compared to 22 per cent of those aged 35 to 54 and just 14 per cent of those in the 18-34 age group, their reasons for doing so differ significantly between generations.

Life after death, life lessons and self-help: reasons for writing autobiographies

Over half (52 per cent) of would-be autobiographers said they believed their life would make an interesting story to tell. However, this rises to 62 per cent of those planning to commit their life story to paper in the 18-34 age group compared to just 45 per cent of those aged 55 or over. The younger age group may have been inspired by the increase in commercial autobiographies by young sporting stars and musicians.

Possibly influenced by high levels of followers on social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, the younger age group are also far more likely to believe their own life is more interesting than that of most people who publish autobiographies, with 21 per cent of them holding this view compared to just nine per cent of those aged 55 or over.

One in three prospective autobiographers (30 per cent) felt their work could help readers benefit from their life lessons (30 per cent). Perhaps unexpectedly given their relative lack of life experience, the younger age group was more likely to be motivated by this sentiment, with 33 per cent of them expressing it compared to just 23 per cent of those aged 55 or over.

The older age group is more motivated by leaving something behind for other family members, with over half of them (55 per cent) wanting to have a written record of their life for their children or grandchildren compared to just 39 per cent of 18-34 year olds with this motivation.

For many hopeful autobiographers, writing their life story would be self-help, with almost a third (32 per cent) of those planning to write their memoirs doing so for their own wellbeing.  There may be some merit in this reasoning as some psychologists encourage patients to view the events in their life as stories in narrative therapy², a form of counselling which aims to separate individuals from their problems and externalise their issues.

Jon Watt of Type & Tell commented: “In our social media age, we already share large parts of our lives through photos and videos, so the leap to autobiographical writing is not a great one. We are working with writers who want to tell their life stories for a wide variety of reasons. Some want to entertain, other to inform; some are writing very personal memoirs for family and generations to come, others see their story appealing to a global audience. Publishing has changed and it is now possible for us to meet all these authors’ ambitions. The rise of accessible self-publishing platforms has given people the ability to cost-effectively create, publish and print books themselves, and if they want to, sell them around the world.

“For every fascinating and unforgettable autobiography from household names like Nelson Mandela or Barack Obama, there are numerous books recounting everyday stories of hardship, humour, adversity or triumph which fly under the radar but have just as deep an impact on their readers.”

A new £2.2m development of quality but affordable family homes has been unveiled in Stockland Green, thanks to a small group of residents that galvanised itself into action when it saw its community going into decline due to poor quality and absent private landlords.

The construction of 14 family homes at Copeley Hill on Slade Road has totally transformed a site that had been left derelict and abandoned after being bombed during WWII and then cut off from the rest of the community by Spaghetti junction.

Stockland Green Opportunity Housing and Training (SGOHT) is the community-led organisation that inspired the Copeley Hill development of aspirational and quality private rented homes, which will enable local families to stay in the area.  The homes were built by MCE Property with the backing of SGOHT partners, Pioneer Group.

Sarah Kelly (33), son Amari (11) and daughter Ivy (5months) are the first family to receive keys to Copeley Hill.  Erdington born and bred, Sarah moved to Coventry for nine years but wanted to return to Birmingham so she could be around her family and support network.

“When I discovered there was a new development being built in the area, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to move back to my roots and have a fresh start,” said Sarah.  “The houses at Copeley Hill are absolutely fantastic and we can’t wait to get moved in and into our routine back in Birmingham, just minutes away from the people we love.”

Labour MP for Erdington, Jack Dromey said:  “A loving mum, Sarah, and her two delightful children, cannot wait to move into their new home; a good home, at a reasonable rent and with real security for the future.  The SGOHT is to be congratulated for its outstanding initiative in building 14 new badly needed homes.”

Those families renting from SGOHT at Copeley Hill will benefit from living in a modern, spacious home and receiving a quality maintenance and repair service.  In addition, because SGOHT has made a long term commitment to the area, they will also enjoy the peace of mind that comes from certainty of tenure and sustainable and ethical rent levels.

Penny Holbrook, Chair of SGOHT said:  “Stockland Green has always had a rich heritage and vibrant and ethnically diverse community, which was quick to organise itself and meet the challenges head on as the area went into decline.

“We could never have imagined only four years ago what we would be celebrating today, but from small acorns mighty oaks do grow. Copeley Hill was an abandoned part of Stockland Green, an eye-sore that was blighted by fly tipping, but the transformation is remarkable and one that we can all be proud of.

“The ambition and drive of a small group of people disillusioned at the lack of good quality private rented housing, which was driving young families out of Stockland Green and destroying the community, has resulted in a fabulous housing development of three and four bedroom houses that will allow them to stay in the neighbourhood and help the community grow and thrive.”

There are 12 spacious three-bedroom (from £725 per month) and two four-bedroom homes (£850 per month) in the Copeley Hill development, all with master bedroom and ensuite bathroom, modern fitted bathroom and kitchen, cloak rooms, sound-proof windows and rear gardens.

Penny concludes:  “We’ve delivered homes with the same rents as private landlords, but with superior housing and services.  This community-based solution to a lack of quality housing in the area is one that we have committed to and intend to build on.”

As a Pioneer Group partner, SGOHT benefits from its financial support and management resource, but is able to work autonomously in the community it knows inside out and has its own board that shapes future activities and investment in the area.

SGOHT is committed to helping Stockland Green and its people flourish by providing excellent homes and creating development and training opportunities for those living in the community, including working with a local training provider on the refurbishment of its properties.

The new Copeley Hill housing development is the first in a new chapter of regeneration in Stockland Green with SGOHT planning a further 20 houses over the next four years.