The Culture Secretary today announced the Government’s plans to commemorate the Battle of Jutland, which brought together the two most powerful naval forces of the time in the largest naval battle of the First World War. There will be a series of commemorative events in the Orkney Islands  on 31 May 2016.  This will be an opportunity for people in the UK to come together to honour those on both sides who lost their lives during the Battle of Jutland and to  recognise the pivotal role of the Royal Navy in the First World War.  

In 20 years the Hope project has transformed the lives thousands of homeless dog owners growing from just one clinic to over 100 vital services throughout the UK. This week Dogs Trust the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, marks the 20th anniversary of its Hope Project - a unique service which offers support to dogs owners who are homeless or in housing crisis.

City of Wolverhampton Council has been forging links with its European counterparts to produce a best practice booklet for problem solving in city developments. Officers recently completed a European Commission-funded project called ‘Cities of Change’, led by the City of Poznan in Poland. The knowledge exchange involved representatives from 14 cities of 11 EU Member States.

Wolverhampton’s Adult Education Service is marking Black History Month by inviting people to try their hand at a traditional beading technique. Experts will be holding free workshops on Wednesday (14 October, 2015), demonstrating basic techniques and then giving people the chance to make their own bracelets to take away with them. The oldest forms of beads date back some 75,000 years and were made in Africa from shell.

New research by housing charity Shelter has found that over 39,000 private rented homes in the West Midlands equivalent to 1 in 10, have suffered from animal infestations such as mice and cockroaches in the last year alone. The Shelter and YouGov poll of over 3,700 private renters in England revealed that bad living conditions are rife in rented homes, with almost half of renters (46%) in the West Midlands reporting that they had experienced problems with poor conditions or disrepair in the last year.

The youth and student wing of the Green Party is set to hold its largest ever National Convention in Nottingham later this month. Membership of the Young Greens has grown more than tenfold in under two years, and currently stands at over 20,000. The National Convention, an annual event at which training, elections and the Young Greens’ AGM are held, will take place at Nottingham Trent University on 31st October and 1st November.