Young people across a number of schools from Sandwell took part in the council's child’s voice conference held at the Bethel Convention Centre in West Bromwich on 30 November. They were there to shape the services they want to get from the council over the next year. The conference formed part of a series of events that have taken place over the past year as part of the council's SHAPE programme.

As New Year resolutions go, losing weight is a fairly ordinary one. But add to that skydiving and raising funds to support one day of end of life care and something quite extraordinary happens.  In January 2015, John Taylor Hospice CEO Kate Phipps set a sky-scraping personal fundraising target of £14,000 – enough to fund the hospice and all its services for 24 hours.

The arbiters of social etiquette from Debretts may choke on their turkey with the news that millions of Brits planned to use their mobiles at the Christmas dinner table.  New research from Direct Line Home Insurance reveals 9.9 million people planned to use their mobile at the Christmas dinner table, swapping face time with family for games and screen time with faraway friends.

Record numbers of older people worried about being alone over Christmas have already contacted older people’s housing and care charity The Abbeyfield Society as its Coping at Christmas campaign gets into full swing. Since the campaign launch in November, Abbeyfield has handled hundreds of calls from isolated older people who face being alone over the extended Christmas period.

Christmas has come early for children in Sandwell thanks to a new £100,000 play area with lots of new equipment in historic Lightwoods Park. The play area features a giant two-tower climbing wall guaranteed to give youngsters fun during the school holidays. Schoolchildren from Abbey Junior School, local councillors, council parks officers and representatives from Heritage Building and Conservation Ltd attended the launch.

Sandwell Council’s foster carers have received a boost with a donations of toys for all ages from the congregation at Great Barr Methodist Church. Councillor Simon Hackett, Cabinet Member for Childrens Services, received the donations on behalf of Sandwell’s Looked After Children & Young People from Reverend Rachel Frank and members of the church congregation including Dorothy Clive and Hazel Powell.