A Qatar Airways Cargo Airbus A330 freighter touched down at London’s Heathrow Airport yesterday, marking the start of freighter services to the carrier’s second airport in London.

Qatar Airways Cargo currently operates freighters to London’s Stansted Airport and also transports cargo on passenger flights to and from Birmingham, Edinburgh, London Heathrow and Manchester. With the new freighter service, the carrier’s total cargo capacity out of the United Kingdom increases to more than 1,500 tonnes each week. The new freighter service departs weekly from Doha on Saturdays and returns via Basel.

Mr. Ulrich Ogiermann, Qatar Airways Chief Officer Cargo, said: “The commencement of the freighter services to London Heathrow marks our sixth new freighter destination for 2017 and boosts our current belly-hold capacity available on 72 passenger flights to the United Kingdom every week. We are expanding our network globally, offering customers direct access to major trade markets such as the United Kingdom via our state-of-the-art fully-automated hub in Doha.”

The cargo carrier offers air freight services to the principal industries in the United Kingdom, including electronics and telecoms, vehicles and auto parts, engineering, information technology, pharmaceuticals, biotech and health, and perishables, providing speed of delivery, flexibility and security for high-value products. Customers globally will benefit from more capacity to transport their cargo to London.

Qatar Airways Cargo recently commenced five new freighter destinations to the Americas and Asia: Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Quito, Miami and Phnom Penh, while also increasing frequencies to Brussels, Basel and Hong Kong in response to growing air freight demand in these regions. The cargo carrier has seen a 21 per cent increase in tonnage from 2015 to 2016, despite the air cargo industry remaining competitive due to an underperforming economy.

In February this year, Qatar Airways Cargo was awarded the highly-acclaimed ‘Global Cargo Airline of the Year’ award at the Air Cargo Africa event, recognising its continuous growth and emphasis on delivering the highest level of service within the air cargo industry. The carrier has made significant investments in fleet, network, and its hub and products, as part of its strategy and commitment to improve and enhance its product offering for the benefit of customers globally.

A Birmingham volunteer has been praised for supporting a children’s charity for 30 years. Sylvia Hetherington has been working at the Barnardo’s store in Chelmsley Wood since 1987.

The 73-year-old started volunteering to help her search for employment but continued to help even after she found a job. Now she is sharing her story as part of national Volunteers’ Week which runs from June 1-7.

She has also been presented with a series of gifts from colleagues, including an engraved wooden long-service award in the shape of a 'B' for Barnardo's. Barnardo’s manager Robyn Phillips said: “Sylvia is one of the charity’s longest-serving volunteers in the region.

“It’s amazing that someone would donate so much of their own time over so many years. Few people stay in paid employment for that long, which makes it all the more remarkable that she has done it without any financial reward. She’s fantastic. She’s brilliant with the customers and we love having her as a member of our team.”

Sylvia, a mother-of-two, had never worked until she started at the Chelmsley Wood store.

She said: “In the old days the women were often expected to stay at home and look after the children, so I suffered from a lack of work experience when I needed to start looking for a job.

“The job centre suggested that volunteering would help so I joined Barnardo’s and found that it really boosted my self-confidence. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I decided to carry on supporting them even after I found part-time employment.

“Everyone is really friendly and I like meeting people, and it’s nice to know that I’m helping such a good cause.”

Trading Standards officers in Wolverhampton will be out and about throughout Child Safety Week (5-11 June, 2017) to warn parents and carers about some of the hidden dangers lurking in the home.

Members of the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Trading Standards team will be at various locations in Wolverhampton from Monday to Friday, sharing information and top tips on all aspects of child safety and handing out action packs to parents and carers.

Children will be able to get their hands on their own activity packs, as well as meeting Trading Standards Ted and taking away a sticker, fridge magnet and balloon to remember him by.

Among the issues the team will be highlighting are the risks posed by looped blind and window cords, which can lead to strangulation, and the danger presented by button cell batteries found in toys, musical books, key fobs and other small electronic devices which, if swallowed, can get stuck in the throat or cause severe burns and even death.

They will also identify other products found in the home which pose a risk to young children, and highlight some of the simple steps parents and carers should take to keep family members safe.

The Trading Standards team will be at Wolverhampton's Central Library on Monday 5 June, Waitrose on Penn Road on Tuesday 6 June, Wolverhampton Swimming and Fitness Centre, Wednesfield, on Wednesday 7 June and at the Crafty Kids Café, Springhill Lane, Penn on Thursday and Friday 8 and 9 June. They will be at each location from 9.30am, and will also be calling into WV Active Bilston-Bert Williams on Wednesday 14 June.

Run by the Child Accident Prevention Trust, Child Safety Week takes place from Monday 5 June to Sunday 11 June and seeks to raise awareness of the risks of child accidents and how they can be prevented.

The theme of this year's campaign is Safe Children: Sharing is Caring, with the Child Accident Prevention Trust asking families, communities and professionals to share their experience and knowledge of keeping children safe – not just about the horrors of accidents, but also the practical, simple things they do to prevent them.

National estate agents Leaders raised £15,000 for its charity partner Together for Short Lives during the recent Children’s Hospice Week.

Staff from all of 124 Leaders branches across the UK took part in a variety of fundraising activities, including cake sales, coffee mornings, raffles, car washes, cycling challenges, marathons, sponsored walks, games, competitions and a sponsored silence.

Leaders also invited its landlords to donate a day’s rent in support of Together for Short Lives and hundreds did so, raising thousands more for the charity.

The £15,000 raised in just seven days from 22nd-29th May will contribute to the company’s fundraising total for the year, when it is aiming to raise £50,000 just as it did in 2016.

Allison Thompson, managing director at Leaders, says: “Hundreds of our staff combined imagination and hard work to hold a plethora of fundraising events during Children’s Hospice Week, raising more than £15,000 in the process.

“Having worked with Together for Short Lives since 2015, we know exactly how important this money is and the difference it will make. The charity supports children with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions and we are delighted to be able to help.

“All of the money raised by our branches will go to their local children’s hospice service, so people know they have had a positive impact helping seriously ill young people and their families in their home county

“We would also like to thank everybody who attended our fundraising events and contributed to our appeals.

Together for Short Lives is an umbrella charity for all 54 children’s hospices in the UK. Each Leaders branch is paired with its local hospice and raises money on its behalf.

Nick Appleby, Head of Corporate Partnerships at Together for Short Lives, said: “The incredible support shown by Leaders, their staff and customers during Children’s Hospice Week has been truly inspirational!

“We were really delighted to hear about all the fundraising activities that took place and we want to say a massive thank you to everyone involved. The money raised will make a huge difference to the local children’s hospices and the lifeline services they provide for seriously ill children and their families.”

World-renowned cellist Jian Wang has taken up a new role at Birmingham Conservatoire as International Chair in Cello.

Born in Xi’an, China, and today splitting his time between Shanghai and London, Jian Wang has an international career that has seen him perform with many of the world's leading orchestras.

On taking up his new position as International Chair of Cello at Birmingham Conservatoire, Jian Wang said:

“Birmingham Conservatoire is one of the leading institutions in the world for learning music and it attracts many talented students and wonderful teachers.

“The UK is one of the most vibrant centres for music and I am very excited and looking forward to working with the cello students at Birmingham Conservatoire, and to collaborating with and learning from my colleagues.”

The appointment will see Jian visit Birmingham Conservatoire on a regular basis, where he will lead a class of both undergraduate and postgraduate students, as they seek to lead the next generation of great cellists.

Professor Julian Lloyd Webber, Principal, Birmingham Conservatoire, noted:

“I am delighted to welcome Jian Wang to Birmingham Conservatoire as our International Chair in Cello. Jian Wang is one of the finest solo cellists in the world today and he will be a great inspiration to all our students.

“Jian’s appointment is another step on our journey as we head towards opening the first purpose-built conservatoire in a generation in September!”

Part of Birmingham City University, the new Birmingham Conservatoire will be a unique contemporary building, incorporating five public performance spaces including a new 500 seat concert hall for orchestral training and performance, private rehearsal and practice rooms, and teaching spaces for musicians from a variety of disciplines.

Furthermore, as the first purpose built conservatoire in the UK since 1987, it will be the only one of its kind in the country designed for the demands of the digital age.

Following the news of Jian Wang’s appointment, Dr Louise Lansdown, Head of Strings, Birmingham Conservatoire, commented:

”We are thrilled to welcome the iconic cellist Jian Wang to our staff and cannot wait for him to begin work with our cellists just in time for our new Conservatoire opening later this year!”