A group of young disabled people from Birmingham have enjoyed a supported short break in Gloucestershire, organised by national disability charity Sense. 10 holidaymakers, supported by a team of experienced leaders and volunteers, travelled to Macaroni Wood in the south west of England for a week of active and stimulating indoor and outdoor experiences, including woodland walks, cooking classes, a circus skills workshop, musical sessions and a visit from a travelling zoo.

A new home built to the latest building regulations can cost half as much to heat as a Victorian house of the same size, according to a new report by the NHBC Foundation. The advantages of new homes is based on a survey of 2,000 people who had recently moved into a new home and were asked what they considered the advantages of new homes to be. Many pointed to the energy efficiency benefits of new homes - the better standards of insulation enhanced draught-proofing and improved ‘airtightness’ that help to lower household annual energy bills, and improve levels of comfort.

Opening to the public this Friday 25 November, Christmas at Birmingham Botanical Gardens is a stunning outdoor event that celebrates Chinese heritage and the tradition of handmade lanterns. Visitors will enter through a giant 12-metre wide lantern entrance, before following a stunning trail around the gardens. A visual spectacular never before seen in the region, visitors will see everything from a giant peacock that stands at 12 metres wide and three metres high, to a 12-metre wide lantern scene featuring penguins, snowmen, Christmas trees and baubles.

To coincide with the start of Canine Health Testing Week (21 – 27 November) and to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the Hereditary Eye Disease Scheme, part of the Canine Health Schemes (CHS), run by the British Veterinary Association (BVA) in conjunction with the Kennel Club (KC) and the International Sheep Dog Society (ISDS), free eye examinations are being offered to 50 working dogs and 50 dogs over eight years of age.

The Commonwealth will help member countries access funding and innovative solutions to make the Paris climate agreement a reality, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland will tell delegates at the global climate change conference this week. The Secretary-General will speak at the high level segment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference, COP22, on 17 November.

Housing and homelessness charity Shelter is appealing for help to fund its free helpline after seeing a surge in demand from the West Midlands, with over 39,000 received in the past year alone. In a sign of the deepening housing crisis, the number of calls to the charity’s helpline from the West Midlands - which is part-funded by M&S - has increased by 11% with a call now received every six minutes.  Worryingly, one in five cases in the West Midlands dealt with by the Shelter helpline in the past year were people who were homeless or within 28 days of losing their home.