Community News

Christmas comes around just once a year, but by joining in with ActionAid’s brand new fundraising initiative Faux Ho Ho, the festival fun can be doubled while raising money to  help change the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable women and children. 

The RSPCA is searching for the owner of a cat which is thought to have travelled more than 250 miles trapped inside a car engine. The furry stowaway, who has been nicknamed Phileas Mogg, was rescued by the RSPCA and an AA patrol after pitiful mewing was heard from under the bonnet.

Green-fingered council tenants and leaseholders spoke about the joy their gardening gives to their communities, at the annual Birmingham in Bloom awards ceremony at the Council House. Around 50 district winners and their guests attended the ceremony in the Banqueting Suite.  City-wide winners in each category received a trophy, cash prize and gardening tools from the city’s Lord Mayor, Cllr Raymond Hassall.

Housing and homelessness charity Shelter is urgently appealing for support for its helpline, after receiving over 35,000 calls from the West Midlands in the last year alone – equivalent to 96 calls from the region every single day. In the last year, the number of calls to the charity’s free helpline from the West Midlands, which is part-funded by Marks & Spencer, has increased by 5,510.

Last week, Neena Gill MEP (Labour, West Midlands) hosted the European Parliament´s first ever Diwali Event. Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, is observed widely by Indians across the world to celebrate light overcoming darkness. The event commenced with prayers for victims of the recent attacks in Paris, as well as victims in other atrocities across South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Statement by Bhai Sahib, Bhai (Dr) Mohinder Singh OBE Spiritual Leader and Chair of Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (UK) regarding the recent attacks in Paris. As the horrific events of Friday 13^th November in Paris unfold and we get more information about the tragic occurrence, our thoughts and prayers go out to all the loved ones of all who have lost lives and suffered.

Almost 460,000 children in the West Midlands live in families facing cuts to their tax credits, research by The Children’s Society shows. The charity is warning that the cuts, targeted at 230,000 mainly low-paid families across the region, risk pushing many more children into poverty. Last month the House of Lords voted to delay the changes and Chancellor George Osborne agreed to come back with measures to soften the impact on families.

This November, Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice officially launched their Memory Tree- a beautiful piece of artwork situated in the Hospice reception. The wooden structure which is made up of 600 leaves offers a unique and special way for people to keep memories alive. Families can choose either a gold, silver or bronze leaf to inscribe with the name of their loved one; each colour has a different donation value.

Food, glorious food, is central to the Christmas experience but the opportunity for feasting and sharing festive fun and laughter can be thin on the ground for older people who live alone. This year’s Abbeyfield Society Coping at Christmas campaign is putting the spotlight firmly on food and is inviting over-55s who live alone into its 500-plus homes and houses around the UK to share free Christmas meals, cake and of course companionship, laughter and warmth.

Birmingham City Council's latest budget consultation gets underway next month when detailed proposals for 2016 onwards are published. And, even before the formal consultation begins, residents from across the city are already helping to shape the future of council services.

Pope Francis condemned the terrorist attacks in Paris, forcefully condemned the terrorist attacks saying in a telephone call to TV2000, the television station of the Italian Episcopal Conference: “There is no justification for such things, neither religious nor human. This is not human. It is difficult to understand such things, done by human beings.” He said he was praying for the families of the victims, for France “and for all those who suffer.”

Moments Café, which opened this week alongside the LGBT Centre at Holloway Circus, will be serving freshly-made breakfasts and lunches, snacks, cakes and drinks. It is the first business venture for John Taylor Hospice, whose motto every moment matters was the source of inspiration for the café name.

The hospice hosts the event each year, bringing together friends and families from across Birmingham for an evening of readings, music and time for quiet reflection. “Join us in Erdington Central Square on Sunday 13 December from 6pm – everyone is welcome,” said Helen Cotter, spiritual care lead at John Taylor Hospice. “For people who have lost loved ones, times of year that are strongly associated with families and family celebrations can be hard to bear.

The man who locked up the JN Miller Ltd Steam Mill for the last time has welcomed the progress of the Wolverhampton Interchange project after taking a trip down memory lane. Norman Holding, aged 71, joined the Corn Hill-based company in 1960 after leaving school and worked his way up to become General Manager and a board Director.