A group of apprentices from Severn Trent have had the opportunity to meet and chat with the Princess Royal. The meeting took place when the Princess Royal opened EEF’s new Technology Hub in Aston which is one of the centres used by Severn Trent’s apprentices for training purposes.

Georgia Brown, one of the Severn Trent apprentices who met the Princess Royal, said: “With more than 100 of our apprentices using EEF’s facilities it was a great opportunity to show off some of the activities they take part in, as well as highlighting the skills that they’re developing.

“We’re by no means alone in using the EEF for training purposes as they’re really great facilities right on our doorstep.”

As part of the event The Princess Royal received a tour of the centre from Neil Withey, EEF’s Director of Training, and Peter Winebloom, EEF’s Technical Director.

She met a number of Severn Trent’s first year apprentices who talked to her about their apprenticeships, the skills they are learning and their future career ambitions.

Other VIP guests at the opening included the Deputy Lieutenant of the West Midlands, the Lord Mayor of Birmingham and Dame Judith Hackitt, Chair of EEF.

The EEF is the voice of UK manufacturing and engineering and a leading provider of business support.

Recognising when a pet is overweight is the top issue vets and vet nurses wish UK pet owners knew about their animals, according to new findings released for National Pet Month (April).

More than one in five of veterinary professionals (23%) said the number one thing they wished their client knew about their pet was diet-related, with suggestions ranging from considering “Am I feeding them the right food?” to “Pets need a lot less food than we think!”, and “We have to protect them from themselves and not give into that 'look', especially where food is concerned!”

Over 500 vets and vet nurses across the UK were polled by the Veterinary Animal Welfare Coalition, which is made up of leading veterinary organisations and vet-led animal charities and aims to help pet owners better understand their pets' five welfare needs.

The answers given fell into 26 different themes, covering a wide variety of pet care issues. The top five most frequently mentioned things veterinary professionals wished all pet owners knew are:

• How to recognise when your animal is overweight
• That flat-faced breeds suffer lots of health and welfare issues
• How to recognise signs that your animal is in pain
• You have a responsibility to care for your pet properly and follow the five animal welfare needs
• That your veterinary team is the best place to go to for advice on all areas of pet care, including what pet may be the most suitable for you

“Every owner loves their pet; however, the vet team often see animals with problems that could be avoided. Vets and vet nurses are invaluable sources for pet care information with years of training and experience under their belts, and will be more than happy to answer any queries or concerns owners may have about their pets.”

Every day throughout National Pet Month, the Veterinary Animal Welfare Coalition – the British Veterinary Association, British Veterinary Nursing Association, British Small Animal Veterinary Association, British Veterinary Zoological Society, Blue Cross, PDSA and RSPCA – will be tweeting the various things vets and vet nurses wished pet owners knew. To find out more, check out their Twitter feeds or follow the hashtag #Wewishyouknew.

Samantha Morgan, President of the British Veterinary Nursing Association, said:

“People bring their pets to the veterinary practice when they are sick, however, what they also do not realise is that the Veterinary team can also provide a lot of advice for keeping pets healthy too. From diet and exercise to flea and worming treatments, veterinary nurses and veterinary surgeons have the knowledge to keep pets happy.”

The Veterinary Animal Welfare Coalition was formed to meet the recommendations in the Vet Futures project and aims to deliver awareness raising and behaviour change communication campaigns, based around responsible pet ownership and the five welfare needs as outlined in the Animal Welfare Acts.

The NEC Group was recognised for its ‘Excellence in People Development’ at the 2017 Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce Awards at the ICC, Birmingham.

The event – which was a sell out with over 1,000 guests in attendance – was hosted by broadcaster Gyles Brandreth and the NEC Group celebrated success against tough opposition including A-Plant, Common Purpose Birmingham, Creative Alliance and Rock Power Connections.

“I am immensely proud of our team,” said Jane Jarvis, NEC Group HR Director. “The success of the NEC Group is entirely down to the excellence of our people and how they support our clients and customers.  Developing our people to realise their potential to be the best they can be in their current role and to prepare for future growth is a key focus of our business strategy. This award is deserved recognition of the team’s efforts across the business to make that happen.”

Russell Jeans, Chief Operating Officer, Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce and Chair of the Judges, said: “Judges were impressed by a vastly professional and structured programme of induction and continued employee development which is tailored to individual roles.  People development is a key pillar within the overall business strategy and creates clear development paths for employees. This includes an in-house Learning and Development team who provide tailored plans for every stage of an employee’s career.”

Completing a successful week for the NEC Group, the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) - the UK’s number one venue - won ‘Best Venue Over 8000sqm’ at the prestigious Exhibition News Awards, also on Thursday 30 March.

The venue was up against key competitors including London’s ExCeL and EventCity (Manchester).

A Birmingham service for children and adults with complex needs received a sneak peak of the new production from leading theatre company Oily Cart. The show, titled ‘Kubla Khan’, has been developed in partnership with the national disability charity Sense, and is aimed at young people with complex disabilities. It is Oily Cart’s first ever production with a version for children and young people who are deafblind; there are also versions tailored to young people on the autism spectrum, and for young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Over 20 people, across two performances, experienced the new show which is inspired by the acclaimed Coleridge poem.  The audience of children and adults were invited into a multi-sensory pleasure dome that they could touch, taste and smell. From the sounds of a sitar to the feel of a flowing river, they experienced the temperatures, textures and aromas of their journey to meet the Emperor.

Stephanie Tyrell, National Arts Manager for Sense, said: “Oily Cart challenge accepted definitions of theatre and audience, to create innovative, multi-sensory and highly interactive productions for young people with complex needs. It was a pleasure to work them and contribute towards a final production, which has special consideration to a deafblind audience.

Kubla Khan is a vivid, multisensory, interactive performance, incorporating touch, taste, smell, sight and sound. The audience today loved it and it will appeal to youngsters with a wide range of abilities.”

Tim Webb MBE, Artistic Director of Oily Cart, said: “One of the key reasons why I chose to work with this text, apart from the fact that it is filled with verbal descriptions crying out for multisensory interpretation, is that it is written in a rich and intricate style, featuring rapidly shifting points of view and characters and situations that defy ready definition. It offers a multitude of facets that can be appreciated both by the brain and the senses and is therefore perfect for deafblind audiences.”

Earlier in the year, Sense and Oily Cart developed a set of workshops with  the production company and some of the people Sense supports, with the learnings and experience contributing to the final production.

Kubla Khan will tour from August.

Birmingham’s Glee Club has announced its charity partner for 2017 is Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity.

A new venture for the multi-award winning city centre comedy venue, The Glee’s vital fundraising activities will include a voluntary £1 donation on all ticket transactions, and a chance to donate more at the venue via secure collection points. There’ll also be a special autumn comedy event, from which all ticket monies will be donated to the hospital.

Tom Hunt, The Glee’s Marketing Manager, said: “We are pleased to be partnering with such a wonderful charity. The work of Birmingham Children’s Hospital changes lives, and we know that every penny our customers can give will go to helping children – and their families – when they need it the most.”

Elinor Eustace, Deputy Director of Fundraising at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “We are incredibly grateful to The Glee Club for selecting us as their chosen charity and can’t wait to work with the team throughout 2017.

“The money they hope to raise will go a long way to making a huge difference to the lives of our brave children and their families, as we continue our plans to improve our facilities – enabling us to treat even more children from Birmingham, the West Midlands and around the country.”

Opened in 1994, The Glee is firmly established as the West Midlands’ leading comedy club. Attracting in the region of 50,000 visitors a year, the Arcadian-based venue has hosted appearances by many of comedy’s biggest names, including Graham Norton, Peter Kay, Jack Whitehall, Jasper Carrott, and Jimmy Carr, as well as such chart-topping music acts as Adele, and Mumford and Sons.

Birmingham Children’s Hospital is a leading UK specialist paediatric centre, offering expert care to over 90,000 children and young people from across the country every year.

Delivering some of the most advanced treatments, complex surgical procedures and cutting edge research and development, the hospital treats one-in-five children from Birmingham, and one-in-eight from the wider West Midlands.

Every patient and family at Birmingham Children’s Hospital will have been touched by the hospital’s charity in some way. As a result it continually strives to do more for the poorly children in its care, whether that’s a newly refurbished playroom or ward, a state-of-the-art piece of equipment, or even a toy at Christmas.

But the impact of fundraising on patient experience is much more than purely financial – it makes a real difference to the services it provides to children and their families during difficult times.