Community News

The Giant Wiggle encourages children to get active and have fun Leading charity Action for Children and The World of Eric Carle™ are encouraging children’s centres, nurseries and groups for under-fives in West Midlands to host a ‘Giant Wiggle’ during the week of 21-27 March to celebrate the UK’s best-selling children’s book, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar™’.

Dozens were killed and buildings were destroyed as bombs rained down on the Black Country during the First World War 100 years ago. And this weekend, civic leaders, historians and the local community will hold a series of events to commemorate all those who lost their lives in the Zeppelin bomb raids on Tipton, Wednesbury, Bilston and Walsall.

Ethical pet retailer Pets Corner is to provide the first ever pet and human first aid training course to their team of 600 shop floor staff. The family run pet shop, which has over 100 stores across the UK, has teamed up with First Aid Support Training and The Canine First Aid Company to develop the specially tailored course, which will be rolled out across the company from January.

WATCH (Working Actively To Change Hillfields) a Coventry-based charity that provides support and resources to some of the most disadvantaged individual’s in today’s society has received funding of £33,328 from People’s Health Trust, using money raised through The Health Lottery. This funding will enable WATCH to deliver a Community Action Project in Hillfields until July 2017.

Work has started on the on-road improvements being delivered as part of the Birmingham Cycle Revolution scheme with the aim of making cycling an everyday way to travel in the city. When complete, the current package of work on the Lichfield Road ‘main corridor’ will comprise mainly of cycling facilities within existing bus lanes, following the A5127 from the City Centre to Erdington via Lancaster Circus, Corporation Street, Dartmouth Circus, Aston Road, Lichfield Road and Salford Circus.

Green-fingered citizens are being reminded it is still not too late to sign up for Birmingham’s garden waste recycling service – and earn a £2 discount in the process. Anyone who subscribes online for the 2016 season will have to pay just £33 for the service, which offers 20 fortnightly collections between February and November, rather than the £35 for anyone booking via the council contact centre.

MedicAnimal, the UK’s largest online pet healthcare retailer, is warning pet owners to take action against pet obesity this January. Pet obesity is on the rise. A Pet Food Manufacturer’s Association’s (PFMA) 2015 report found that 73% of vets believe the problem of obesity is getting worse and pet owners are seemingly unaware of the life-limiting effects of obesity. The main cause of obesity in pets is generally too much food and too little exercise.

Over 20 Action for Children inclusion champions from across the UK Action for Children have taken part in innovative anti-discrimination training at Cape Hill Children’s Centre in Birmingham.  The day included a workshop delivered by the Anthony Walker Foundation which was set up by the family of Anthony Walker following his racially motivated murder in 2005. 

Her Majesty The Queen celebrates her 90^th birthday later this year and City of Wolverhampton Council has given residents an extra reason to celebrate. The council is believed to be the first in the country to waive costly licence fees if people apply for a road closure to be able hold a street party. The move will save party organisers up to £690 and the council hopes it will encourage as many people as possible to organise a knees-up for the Queen.

Sri Lanka made history once again, with the signing of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation's Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (GCET) by premier hospitality brand Jetwing. The ceremony took place in Paris, France and is the first company in Sri Lanka to sign the Code of Ethics.

Today, TV favourite Gabby Logan launches ‘Britain Has Spirit’, a new campaign searching for Britain’s best individual and group volunteers. Gabby is calling on the British public to nominate their local shining stars, who selflessly give up time volunteering for nothing in return.

The Woodland Trust is leading 47* organisations in a campaign to celebrate the value of our trees and woods and secure their future by creating a new Charter for Trees, Woods and People. The charity is asking people to share their stories about woods, trees and nature to help kick-start the campaign.

Over a third (38%) of Brits cannot name a local charity in their area, and one in 10 (13%) have never donated to any charity, local or otherwise, new research by TSB has revealed. Half of adults (52%) say they feel local charities play an important role in their community, yet only one in 10 (13%) people can name at least two local charities in their area, and only one in 10 (14%) help their local community by fundraising for local causes.

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham and the Mayor of Sandwell will lead Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations on Sunday, January 24. Holocaust Memorial Day commemorates the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi persecutions, as well as other genocides around the world.

Relatives of a woman who passed away recently are being asked to get in touch with the City of Wolverhampton Council. May Morgan, who lived in the Wolverhampton area, died in November 2015 aged 88. The council's Court of Protection team is trying to trace her relatives so that her funeral can be arranged.