The journey to help the Commonwealth reverse the human impact of climate change has begun. That’s according to the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland. She was speaking at a two-day brainstorming session at the Commonwealth Secretariat headquarters in London. Climate change experts focused on exploring practical and economically viable solutions to combat decades of harm to the environment.  

Religious leaders from around the world gathered in St Andrews on to sign the ‘Declaration on a Shared Humanity,’ to marks the culmination of the Year of Interfaith Dialogue, an initiative set up to stimulate conversation about the commonalities between the different faiths. Attended by senior members of the Christian Churches and the Catholic Church, members of the Hindu community from the UK and India, leaders of the UK Jewish community, senior Buddhist monks and the representative of the Dalai Lama, the 130-strong religious delegation from 19 countries was joined by 32 school pupils from Fife in the signing.

New figures published today show the number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children supported by Haringey has increased to 46 this week. These include 3 children from Calais who arrived here this week under the ‘Dubs Amendment’. In January 2016 Haringey was supporting 31 unaccompanied asylum seeking children.  Unaccompanied asylum seeking children are under 18 and have no family in the UK. Haringey provides extensive support to these vulnerable children including fostering to give them a secure home and educational support.

The UK’s leading registration body for electricians is urging people to think electrics when they carry out their checks on the elderly this winter. Proportionately, older people suffer more fatal and non-fatal injuries from electrically-related house fires than the rest of the population. People over 65 are particularly at risk because they often live in old or poor-quality housing that contains faulty electrics or old appliances.

Artists, both well-known and, as yet, undiscovered are invited to submit designs for The Big Sleuth’s Sun Bears. Download an artist pack from www.thebigsleuth.co.uk/artists and submit ideas online before midnight on Monday 2 January 2017 to be in with a chance of seeing your Sun Bear design on display in Birmingham and its surrounding areas next summer.

Scott and Brett Bernard are 3,900 meters up Kilimanjaro raising money for The Way Youth Zone in Wolverhampton. Five friends from around the Black Country are trekking six vertical kilometers across seven days as they scale Africa's highest mountain to raise money for the three charities: Promised Dreams, The Way Youth Zone and Birmingham Children's Hospital.