There was an unusual visitor to one of Sandwell Council's polling stations Newton Ward last Thursday.  An escaped budgie flew in through the open door in the community room at Hamstead house where voting was taking place. He stayed perched on the polling booth watching over voters for around two hours. He also came over to have a look at the ballot box.

Shop fronts in one of the borough’s most beautiful shopping streets have been restored to their former glory in a project led by Haringey Council and traders. The tired frontages of four ornate buildings in Myddleton Road, Bowes Park, have been stripped back and replaced to the stunning original designs after more than £210,000 funding from the council, Historic England and shopkeepers.

Staff at the Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park are being helped to carry out their daily tasks by Wi-Fi installed as a part of a city-wide Birmingham City Council scheme. The free public Wi-Fi project has seen hotspots created at 200 public buildings in Birmingham – enabling the public to get online, with staff at many also benefiting in the process.

Nominations are now open for the Commonwealth Youth Awards for Excellence in Development Work, which recognise outstanding young people who have had a significant impact on their communities and wider society. Young people aged 15 to 29 years can apply for the awards, which celebrate the achievements of those who lead initiatives to enhance democracy and development, from poverty alleviation to climate change, to peace building.

The school pick up has been deemed the most stressful time of day for nearly half of parents in the UK (45%) with many blaming it on the fact their child is hungry and angry at the same time, new research has revealed. The research, commissioned by malt loaf makers Soreen, found that the average school pick up takes parents 15 minutes, but with a hungry child in tow it can take an average of ten minutes longer.