A scheme which encourages parents who have received help from Children's Services to "champion" the support available to other mums and dads has received a national award.

The City of Wolverhampton Council’s Parent Champion scheme manager Reeta Shemar was named Coordinator of the Year by the Family and Childcare Trust last month – and representatives of the Trust have subsequently visited Wolverhampton to meet local Parent Champions and see the scheme in action.

The Parent Champion scheme recruits local men and women to talk to other parents about their experiences of children's social care services.

The volunteers work to build trust among families, and inform parents about the various opportunities available to them – such as the free childcare for three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds.

They also offer a befriending service, encourage new and prospective mums and dads to get help and support from their local Strengthening Families Hub and elsewhere, and enable parents to have their say on the development of services.

As well as helping others, Parent Champions reap benefits of their own. Becoming a Parent Champion strengthens participants’ employability by developing their skills and confidence – and a number have gone on to secure paid employment or join training programmes thanks to the support they receive in their voluntary role.

Emma Harriott, who started accessing children's services in 2013 when she became a mum for the first time, became a parent champion last year. It gave her the experience and confidence to look for a job working with children, and she was encouraged to apply for a role as a Strengthening Families Worker at one of the City’s Strengthening Families Hubs, a post she secured in July.

She said: “The support and confidence that I gained while volunteering encouraged me to apply for a job that I thought I would never get.

“I have no hesitation in recommending the Parent Champion programme to families as it really does change people’s lives. Now I help families to improve their prospects, just like I did."

Councillor Val Gibson, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: "The Parent Champions scheme is a wonderful initiative which enables mothers and fathers who have had first-hand experience of children's services in Wolverhampton to share their knowledge with others.

"They give a few hours a week to talk to other local parents about the services which are available to them, and because they are parents themselves, they are able to share their own experiences in a relatable, trusted and informal way.

"We have trained up 18 volunteers over the last year or so, and have just recruited a third cohort of nine who will soon be out and about sharing their knowledge with local families.

"Emma is a fantastic example of the benefits of volunteering as a Parent Champion can bring, and I would encourage anyone who is interested in taking on this important role to contact us to find out more.” She added: "I am delighted that the efforts of our Parent Champions, and the fantastic support of the City of Wolverhampton Council, has been recognised on a national stage by the Family and Childcare Trust, particularly as the scheme has only been running in Wolverhampton for 16 months.”

UK games industry charity GamesAid is pleased to announce the launch of a new era of fundraising with the ‘Digital For Good’ initiative.

‘Digital For Good’ offers videogame developers and publishers the opportunity to donate in-game content so it may be monetised and raise funds for the charities GamesAid supports.

Full games, in-game items or DLC can be donated via Steam either in perpetuity or for a specified period of time to help the good causes.

The new initiative launches today with the Cynical Imp Charity DLC for lighthearted dungeon manager War for the Overworld. This variety pack of skins and themes is available at three different donation tiers, with 100% of the proceeds going to GamesAid. As regular supporters of GamesAid, Gamer Network - the world’s leading network of independent video games media - is supporting the launch of of the Cynical Imp Charity DLC. For more information and to purchase the Cynical Imp, please visit the War for the Overworld website. The Cynical Imp is also available on Steam.

To date GamesAid has raised over £2.5million and it is hoped that this new initiative will enable the charity to leverage its greatest asset in the industry to benefit those who need it most.

Last year Access Sport, Accuro, Action For Kids, Aidis Trust, Blackpool Carers Centre, The Clock Tower Sanctuary, Lifelites, MAPS, Solving Kids’ Cancer, and Special Effect all received cheques for £95,400 each during a special ceremony held at Warner House, London. It’s hoped that this new initiative will help increase that number for 2017 and beyond.

"The industry is evolving and with it so are the options to raise funds for the charities that GamesAid supports,” commented GamesAid Chair Ian Chambers. “This initiative offers game developers and publishers a straightforward and impactful way through which to raise funds from their content."

Sympathetic restoration work to a Grade II listed Sandwell house has been recognised in a building excellence award.

The Lightwoods House restoration scheme picked up the Best Public Building title in the West Midlands Building Excellence Awards.

The house and park have undergone a transformation under the £5.2 million Lightwoods Park and House restoration project, with £3.6 million secured from Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Big Lottery Fund (BIG).

As part of the project the Grade II listed house, built in 1791, has been lovingly restored back to its former glory and is now a high-quality venue for a wide range of community activities as well as public and private events.

Now there is a tea room, community rooms for training, classes and exhibitions, a children’s centre, a large function room for events such as wedding ceremonies, receptions and conferences as well as numerous office spaces to let.

The building’s many original features have been carefully restored by the contractors, Conservation Heritage Building & Conservation (Staffordshire) Ltd, working alongside architects from Sandwell Council’s Urban Design team.

Nominations for the prestigious awards are made by building control teams from councils across the West Midlands metropolitan region and were presented to winners at an event held at Birmingham’s ICC on Friday (April 28).

Sandwell’s other winner was a new self-build in Corngreaves Road, Cradley Heath which picked up the Best Individual Home award.

The private self-build project beat far bigger and more expensive new builds because of the combination quality of build achieved, the complexity of the engineering works required to address the requirements, the difficult location and the fact that the design and almost all of the physical work was carried out by the owner himself.

Accord’s striking Eastern Gateway Phase 3 building on West Bromwich High Street and the small housing development at Holly Lane Smethwick by Devan Homes were also Highly Commended in the awards.

Andy Street, the former John Lewis boss, and the Conservative candidate for West Midlands Mayor, surprised many when he won the mayoral election on Thursday 4^th May. Mr Street won the election on the back of making several promises to bring change and improvement to the West Midlands, and to ensure that the region was not left behind, in these changing times. The West Midlands Mayor will have control over transport, housing and jobs.

For our readers, here’s a refresher for what we at The Phoenix Newspaper believe are his key policies.

During the campaign, Andy Street highlighted the importance of developing a proper transport network within the West Midlands to ensure that people could get to work on time, and to do the things they wished to in their spare time. To this end, he proposed opening several new tram and train lines between Birmingham City Centre and various other areas of Birmingham, such as King’s Heath and Moseley. Mr Street has also discussed improving the car parks in Birmingham and other areas in the West Midlands to ensure better security for citizens and their cars.

Mr Street highlighted the importance of ensuring that people were given the tools to get back into work during the campaign as well. He focused on ensuring that apprenticeships were rolled out for the people, including digital apprenticeships, to ensure that the people of the West Midlands had the skills needed to succeed in an increasingly competitive and changing world. Mr Street focused particularly on increasing youth employment through his digital apprenticeship scheme, and through ensuring that they were put through an employment boot camp to properly equip them for the world of work.

Housing was highlighted throughout the mayoral campaign as a serious issue for the people of the West Midlands. The candidates all expressed the ways in which they hoped to address this issue, Mr Street amongst them. Mr Street proposed building new houses on allotments of green belt, as well as on brown belt. This, he argued during the campaign would spread the balance of housing development, whilst also preserving valuable patches of green belt for conservation. He proposed that this method would help see 25,000 houses built in the West Midlands over three years.

Now that he has been elected mayor, Mr Street will have a tough task ahead of him. It will be interesting to see whether he is fit for the challenge!

Duchy Originals, founded by HRH The Prince of Wales, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year as sales for the brand surpass £200 million for the first time.

The brand was created by The Prince to champion organic farming and is known today as Waitrose Duchy Organic, following a groundbreaking partnership established between Duchy Originals and Waitrose in 2009.

The brand has come a long way in 25 years since the first product, the ever-popular oaten biscuit, went on sale. Waitrose Duchy Organic is now the UK's largest own-label organic brand and the second largest UK organic brand overall.

To celebrate its success, Waitrose is launching a competition this week inviting customers to submit their ideas for a main course featuring the organic brand's ingredients. The winner will be invited to a celebratory banquet at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland where their winning dish will be served at a dinner hosted by The Prince of Wales.  Details for the competition can be found in Waitrose Weekend, the supermarket's weekly newspaper, from this Thursday.

Rob Collins, Managing Director, Waitrose, says:

"This 25th anniversary highlights the extraordinary vision of The Prince of Wales. In creating the Duchy brand, he has encouraged more sustainable agriculture and expanded the market for organic food in the UK and around the world. We are honoured to be the custodians of the brand and delighted to have achieved the significant milestone of £200m in annual sales."

A donation from the sale of Waitrose Duchy Organic products is also given to The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation. So far, just over £17 million has been donated to charitable causes, including the Duchy Future Farming Programme, which helps farmers develop more sustainable farming practices and The Prince's Countryside Fund, which works to secure a brighter future for those who live and work in the British countryside.

Based on the core values of 'Tastes Good, Is Good, Does Good', the food is produced without the use of artificial fertilisers and to high standards of animal husbandry.  The use of pesticides and antibiotics is very much restricted.

The current range of Waitrose Duchy Organics available in the UK has grown to 300 products, from bacon to fresh fruit and vegetables to beer. The brand has also proved popular overseas. Products are exported to over 30 countries worldwide, including Japan, Germany, USA, Australia, Dubai and Taiwan.  The biggest selling category internationally is shortbread biscuits.