Following the success of the Black Country Chamber Showcase, which saw a sell-out of 37 stands and almost 300 delegates in attendance, the Chamber Annual Exhibition 2017 has just been announced.

Hosted at West Bromwich Albion FC, the Showcase was a fantastic event that featured a Baggies Business Breakfast beforehand, which included an informative talk by Scott-James Eley, Supply Chain Manager – College, Innovation & Culture at HS2 Ltd, who updated the delegates in attendance on the supply chain opportunities available to them. Imran Ishaq, Marketing Analyst at Nant Ltd, commented: “The Showcase event was great value for membership, with amazing networking and lead generation opportunities.”

Following this success, bookings are now being taken for the Black Country Chamber Annual Exhibition, which will be on 28th September at Wolverhampton Racecourse from 9am to 1pm. This is set to be a great event, with more on offer this year, including a manufacturing and international trade section.

Proving itself to the one of the highlights of our annual events calendar, the Exhibition this year will feature approximately 70 stands, nearly 20 more than last year, with the event usually attracting over 500 delegates from the local business community. In essence, it serves as the ideal platform upon which to promote your company and networking with business professional from a variety of sectors.

In addition, this year the Chamber is delighted to have a few more surprises set for the day that will be announced nearer the time.

Following last year’s Exhibition, an exhibitor commented on the quality of the event: “It was a great event to do business and was very well organised. Well done to the Black Country Chamber of Commerce!”

Free health checks are being offered in the City of Wolverhampton as part of Residents Week (April 1-7). Go along and get blood pressure, height, weight, cholesterol and sugar level readings, as well as lifestyle information on smoking, increasing physical activity, reducing alcohol and healthy eating.

The sessions are being run by the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Healthy Lifestyles Team

Councillor Paul Sweet, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, said: “The Healthy Lifestyles Team have a key role to play in improving the health and wellbeing of people living in our city.

“I would encourage anyone who wants to get in shape to take this opportunity to arrange a health check with a member of the Healthy Lifestyles Team and take the first steps towards improving their health and wellbeing.”

Health checks are available on the dates below, at venues across the city:

Friday, April 7 (10am and 2pm) Mander Centre Upper Mall, next to New Look.

Free health advice sessions are also on offer on the dates below at venues across the city:

Tuesday, April 4 (10am and 1pm) Ashmore Park Health Centre, Griffiths Drive.

Tuesday, April 4 (4pm and 7pm) Wolverhampton Racecourse, Gorsebrook Road, WV6 0PE.

Wednesday, April 5 (10am and noon) Bilston Library, Mount Pleasant, WV14 7LU.

Thursday, April 6 (9am and 5pm) New Cross Hospital, East Entrance, Wolverhampton Road, Heath Town, WV10 0QP.

Vying for votes to be the newly formed Metro Mayor of the West Midlands, Labour candidate, Siôn Simon, was busy at his campaign office, the Communication Worker Union office, in Newtown, in Birmingham, to overlook on his campaigners busy on the phone as they gathered his support.

“As Mayor, I will champion our region,” he said. “I would push to take back control-from Westminster-and putting the West Midlands first.”

To make history and be the first ever Mayor, of the region, he said; “There is nowhere in the world that compares to the West Midlands. If we were a nation, we’d be the 58th biggest country in the world and I would bring the united pride in what is the most diverse, multicultural area there is in Britain. And I want to champion that.”

The inaugural Metro Mayor will hold office for three years, with the term length being four years after that. A planned directly elected political post responsible for the metropolitan county – which includes; Birmingham, Wolverhampton Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and Coventry – Simon said; “We have a culture in the West Midlands that is woven with diversity – a key strength here – and as Mayor, I would connect visitors – business and otherwise – to that; whether it be the South East Asian food culture in Ladypool Road for instance, the Chinese Quarter, the newer Eastern European communities, or the number of Caribbean cultural centres that’s away from our central towns and cities. The West Midlands is a fantastic hub for multiculturalism and I for one is hugely proud of that.

"Our region holds an incredibly special place in world; there’s Shakespeare – arguably the most creative figure in history whose body of work is unparalleled - the steam engine - the Lunar men - manufacturers of world-class cars and the spitfire – made in Castle Bromwich, in Birmingham.

The collective geniuses of the West Midlands are game-changers - global and historic leaders. I will see that we celebrate this more.”

A former MP for Birmingham, Erdington, Siôn is one of six candidates for the new post with the election to be held on May 4.

A team of Ophthalmology Consultants at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, including eye doctor Alastair Denniston and his blind brother, Richard Denniston, are ditching their scrubs in favour of cycling vests and helmets to cycle 100 miles in one day at Velo Birmingham, to raise money for the official hospital Charity.

Alastair, an Ophthalmology Consultant who has worked at QEHB for five years, is one of five cycling enthusiasts from the Ophthalmology department who will join QEHB Charity’s team at Velo Birmingham. His career choice was inspired from a young age by his brother, Richard, who has been blind since shortly after birth and who will join Alastair and his colleagues on the ride.

Alastair said: “I have always been very aware of how precious sight is. To train to be an Ophthalmologist is a long road, but it is definitely worth it. I get to help save people’s sight on a daily basis – how good is that!”

The 42-year-old, who lives in Harborne, Birmingham, with his wife Sarah and two sons Arran and Ewan, helps to diagnose disease and provide treatment for patients who have problems with their eye sight.He explained: “Like other parts of medicine, the job is to first be a detective and then to provide the treatment.

We have to ‘join the dots’ connecting the patient’s symptoms with the subtle changes that may be occurring in the eye. Because so much of the eye is transparent, we can see right into it. Thanks to QEHB Charity we now have such high resolution equipment that we can see down to a thousandth of a millimetre within the eye. This state-of-the-art equipment means we can detect disease earlier and treat people with confidence.”

Along with his brother, Alastair will be joined by staff from the Ophthalmology department at QEHB, including Tim Matthews, Andrew Jacks, Simon Dulku and Mike Burdon, who will all join 15,000 thousand others, many of whom are raising money for QEHB Charity, at Velo Birmingham; a 100-mile closed-road bicycle race that is coming to the second city on Saturday 24 September.

Alastair said: “We have a wonderful eye department at QEHB – everyone is very committed. Over the last few years QEHB Charity has helped us buy £300,000 of the most advanced laser and imaging equipment to help us care for patients. We are committed to working with the Charity to raise money so that we can continue to provide world-class treatment here in Birmingham.”

To sponsor the Ophthalmology team, please go to www.justgiving.com/QEHBEyeAppeal

TV star Lorraine Kelly is calling on Britain to get out the aprons, wooden spoons and mixing bowls to help the annual Bake for Heroes campaign smash the million-pound mark.

Supporters of all ages and all around the UK have cooked up more than £850,000 for Help for Heroes (H4H) since the Bake for Heroes fundraiser began in 2009.

Now, as H4H prepares to mark its 10th anniversary in October, Lorraine says this year is the perfect opportunity to rise to the occasion and make the 2017 event the biggest ever.

The ingredients for success are simple – supporters simply sign up for a free fundraising pack through H4H to bake cupcakes, sponges, biscuits, flapjacks or whatever tasty treat they fancy, and sell them off to colleagues, family and friends.

All money raised goes to H4H supporting wounded, injured and sick personnel, veterans and their loved ones.

The Bake for Heroes campaign runs between April 15 and April 30, but supporters can take part whenever it suits them.

Lorraine said: “I’m so proud to be a Patron of Help for Heroes. Every time I sit down and talk to our brave men and women, they tell me how much it means to know the public is behind them and their families throughout their recovery.

I’m determined to help make sure that this vital support is there whenever it is needed. So please join us, it’s very simple to sign up and bake a difference! You could just get some friends together for a cup of tea, have a laugh and have a chat. You really will be helping to rebuild lives and continue the amazing work that Help for Heroes does.”

Bake sales can be as big or small as you want – it could be a tea and cake event at work or school, a coffee and cake morning at the local community centre, or simply an invitation to friends to come round for a slice of cake and a catch-up in return for a donation.

Funds will support the work of Help for Heroes and their four Recovery Centres, which have been purpose-built and support around 4,000 people every year.

Throwing her full support behind Bake for Heroes is Sally Amoore, 62, who lives near Tenby in Wales and has raised around £37,000 for H4H by selling cakes over the past eight years.

Her son, Captain James Amoore, now 32, was seriously injured in Helmand province in Afghanistan after stepping on a Taliban mine in 2009.

James, a platoon commander with 2nd Battalion The Rifles spent four months in hospital, undergoing 15 operations.

With the prospect of more treatment ahead of him, Sally has pledged to do all she can to raise money for H4H.

Sally said: “James should have been a triple amputee, but he somehow managed to keep all of his limbs.

“He is among 66,000 ex-military personnel who will need support to deal with life-changing injuries and illnesses.

“Without charities like Help for Heroes, these brave men and women who we ask so much of would never get the support they deserve and so badly need.

“These men and women look strong and capable, but behind the brave façade, they face daily challenges. For some, the first challenge of the day is to fit their prosthetic legs or arms, for others it may even be battling their anxiety of leaving the house.

“As the public and media focus is no longer on Afghanistan or Iraq, it is critical we maintain support for them for years and years to come.

“I love Bake for Heroes because it’s something that everyone can take part in and do their bit. It’s not a huge effort to bake a cake! It’s just a very friendly and fun way of raising a bit of money for a good cause.”

The Government has announced that the National Living Wage will go up, from £7.20 per hour, to £7.50 with the current National Minimum Wage (NMW) for those under the age of 25 still applies.

Introduced in 2016, the rate, which changes every April, is:

• £7.50 per hour - 25 yrs old and over
• £7.05 per hour - 21-24 yrs old
• £5.60 per hour - 18-20 yrs old
• £4.05 per hour - 16-17 yrs old
• £3.50 for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over who are in the first year of apprenticeship.

For example:

If the Pay Reference Period starts on the 19 March - 19 April- the pay between the 1 April - 18 April will be based on the NMW rates- The allocated pay from the 19 April - 19 May would be at the new NLW rate because this is the first full pay reference period after the 1 April.

The same rules apply when a monthly paid employee reaches the age of 25. For example if the employees birthday falls on the 25 May and the next pay reference period starts on 10 June, the employee is entitled to receive the NLW pay rate on the 10 June and not their birthday.

There are a number of people who are not entitled to the NMW/NLW.

• Self-employed people.
• Volunteers or voluntary workers.
• Company directors.
• Family members, or people who live in the family home of the employer who undertake household tasks.