Community News

To commemorate the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, the First World War Centenary Partnership, led by Imperial War Museums (IWM), will be screening the 1916 documentary film The Battle of the Somme across the globe throughout the year. The Somme lasted for 141 days, and more than one million men from both sides were killed, wounded or captured. The Battle of the Somme film was released on August 21 1916 and recorded the early stages of the battle.

Due to booming bar prices abroad, a family of four can now travel to Europe for less than the cost of the beverages they will drink during their stay, according to new research by Direct Line Travel Insurance. The study reveals that families holidaying in France will spend an average of £307 on drinks, while flights from London to Paris cost as little as £209. A gin and tonic will set travellers back a cool £9.19 when visiting our neighbours across the channel and as much as, £3.95 for a pint of Coke for the kids.

West Midlands residents throw away over £47K worth of broken or unwanted household items in their lifetime, according to new research. And skimping on quality is costing us a small fortune, with the average West Midlands respondent chucking out almost £780-worth of household items every year. From toasters to TVs, microwaves to mobile phones, the survey of 2,000 UK adults shows two thirds of modern purchases are simply NOT ‘built to last’.

Almost a third of pensioners (31%) admit that most days for them are ‘No Spend Days’ when they don’t spend any money on themselves. And three in ten (30%) say they spend less than £10 a week on themselves, with more than half spending less than £20, according to a poll by equity release specialist Responsible Equity Release.

Wishing everybody taking part in the Birmingham Color Run at the NEC today good luck, and hopefully the weather will cooperate!

Giving blood saves lives and during this year’s National Blood Week, Britons will be reminded that the UK needs approximately 200,000 new donors each year to meet patient demands. In England alone, 6,000 blood donations are needed every day to treat patients. Yet, a less familiar reminder is the need to provide donations for pets too. For those considering whether their pet could become a donor, MedicAnimal, the UK’s leading online pet healthcare retailer, has put together some useful tips on what owners need to know.

Sandwell residents are urged to look out for a form in the post to check they’re registered to vote in elections and referendums. The council’s elections team has sent forms to every household in Sandwell. The council has to do this by law – and all people need to do is confirm the details for their household are correct or update them. This can easily be done online, by phone, by text or by post – just follow the instructions on the form.

Digbeth, which is increasingly referred to as 'Birmingham's Shoreditch', is an area on the up. Hip bars and arty coffee shops rub shoulders with independent stores and some of the funkiest clubs in the UK's second city. Young, creative professionals work in huge, converted warehouses where businesses ranging from performing arts companies to new media hubs feel right at home. Art meets culture meets creativity, all with a good-sized helping of retail therapy and top restaurants thrown in for good measure.

Exactly half of Brits will return a child’s lost teddy bear, according to a social experiment recently conducted in towns and cities throughout the UK. 500 teddy bears were intentionally lost in 25 major towns and cities, each in a different location, such as a café, gym or park bench, between May to June this year. All had nametags with a child’s name and contact number, to see which places and type of person were most likely to return a lost bear.

Health regulators have praised Birmingham’s John Taylor Hospice, stating its staff treat people with ‘kindness, compassion and respect’. Care Quality Commissioners, who visited the hospice unannounced, found the hospice to be ‘good’ in all categories and highlighted the caring attitude of staff and volunteers. The commissioners, who visited on May 25, said staff were ‘kind, empathetic, responsive, creative and proactive in providing care and ensuring dignity for patients’.

To mark the official opening ceremony of this summer’s major sporting event, Victorian Arcade in Walsall hosted its very own carnival celebrations. The event brought true Brazilian style to the town as the centre played host to a variety of colourful salsa stilt walkers who entertained shoppers with their impressive circus skills. The shopping centre also supplied an all-round entertainer as well as a full steel band and face painter to help bring some South American sunshine to Walsall.

Over a third of working families in the West Midlands could not afford to pay their rent or mortgage for more than a month if they lost their job, new figures from Shelter reveal today. With little or no personal savings to fall back on, the Shelter and YouGov study found that this means a staggering 313,000 working families in the region could be just one paycheque away from losing their home.

It stands to reason in the digital age that people would prefer to read on a Kindle, smartphone or tablet when on holiday, saving space in their suitcase and taking advantage of cut-price deals on books. But a survey undertaken by RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) has revealed that almost half (46 per cent) of Birmingham residents prefer to stick to the old-fashioned way, choosing to read paperbacks or hardbacks on holiday.

British dogs are increasingly well travelled, with one-in-10 (10 per cent) owners taking their pet abroad, according to new research from Direct Line Pet Insurance.  Over a third (38 per cent) of British vets have reported an increase in demand for pet passports over the last 12 months, handing out an average 26 dog passports and an average six cat passports in the last 12 months.

Over one hundred giant bear sculptures will be leaving their paw prints all over Birmingham next summer, as the city gets set to be known as Bear-mingham in 2017. Following the flying success of The Big Hoot, Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity and creative producers Wild in Art have announced that a second trail is planned for summer 2017, but this time the colourful characters will be sun bears instead of owls.

It is not too late for rural communities across the UK to apply to have reliable, indoor 3G mobile coverage and internet access from Vodafone installed at their local community centre. Whether it is for an independent or community run pub and shop, village hall, scout hut, doctor’s surgeries or visitor centre, mobile coverage is provided through Vodafone’s Community Indoor Sure Signal (CISS) programme and is open to up to 100 rural community hubs.