Community News

Cristiano Ronaldo might not have had the best year on the football pitch. However, Ronaldo’s dwindling football career hasn’t impacted his social media popularity. According to the numbers presented by SafeBettingSites.com, Ronaldo gained 169.8m new followers on his social media accounts during the past year. 

Despite his struggles at club and national levels, Ronaldo was the most famous footballer this past year. According to Football Benchmark data, the Portuguese superstar gained a combined 169.8m followers on his various social media accounts.

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) has appointed leading UK shared transport operator Beryl to deliver the region’s brand new e-scooter hire scheme. The first phase of the scheme will see e-scooters hit the streets of Birmingham in June, with further phases to be rolled out during the rest of 2023 and beyond.

The UK-based operator was awarded the contract following an open tender process. TfWM, which is part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), supports a well-run and regulated e-scooter hire scheme as an affordable and environmentally-friendly alternative to the car for those shorter journeys around towns and cities.

Eilat, the resort city of the State of Israel, is presenting the world's first sunscreen that is scientifically formulated not only to protect the skin from UV rays but to feed and nourish endangered coral reefs. 

Eilat is home to the ecological wonder of the planet's northernmost shallow-water reef and passionate about protecting it and other coral reefs. Coral is facing serious threats from climate change, pollution, and other human activities, with an estimated 14,000 tons of sunscreen ending up in the world's oceans every year. As many as 80% of ordinary sunscreens contain chemicals that contribute to coral bleaching and dying reefs.

Vehicles seized by Birmingham City Council from criminal fly-tippers are being put to life-saving use by West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS).

A number of vehicles, which have no alternative operational or resale value, have been donated for WMFS training exercises. Two of the vans were delivered to Sutton Coldfield fire station, where they were used by firefighters to perfect their life-saving road traffic collision (RTC) rescue skills.

New research has revealed the areas in England and Wales most susceptible to cybercrime, with Greater Manchester coming out on top. The study by cyber security experts CloudTech24 analysed the latest data available from the National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre to see which areas reported the highest levels of cybercrime for every 10,000 people.

WaterSafe, the UK national accreditation body for approved plumbers, has put together its five top tips to help people moving home in The Midlands. The plumbing register asked its members for their top advice for customers moving into a new home.

Elder fraud is where fraudsters target your parents, grandparents and those from the elderly community. Fraudsters often take advantage of those who aren’t tech-savvy, so familiarizing yourself with scams can lead to preventing the fraudsters from being successful.

Cybersecurity expert Brandon King from Home Security Heroes has compiled a list of tips to spot and prevent fraud. Fraudsters target seniors in elder fraud by tricking them into giving sensitive information or offering fake financial benefits.

Readly, the digital magazine and newspaper app, has launched a collection of magazines to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III on Monday 6 May. The collection includes ‘Coronation special’ digital magazine issues from its portfolio of 1200 publishing partners and will be available to subscribers as part of the unlimited digital reading subscription.

After three successful editions in Paris, the most colourful experience of the year is coming to Manchester this May. The exhibition - which is a co-production between Fever and Colors Festival - plunges visitors into an artistic universe of colour, creativity and diversity. The exhibition is making its UK debut at the Regent Retail Park in Manchester with tickets on sale now. 

Are you an eco-preneur with a unique solution to combat climate change? Do you want to compete for a cash prize of $100,000 and showcase your innovative eco-friendly fintech solutions to a panel of expert VCs and judges? Then we have some great news for you - the "Europe's Got Access" pitch battle organized by Money 20/20 is back, and the deadline has been extended to tonight!

For the fifth year in a row, footballers of all ages will take part in the Nick Mowl Cup, in memory of a former Solihull footballer. 41-year-old Nick Mowl was a former Solihull Moors coach and player who took his own life in May 2017.

Nick was a friend of current West Bromwich FC Senior Professional Development Phase Manager, Richard Beale and through football was known by many across the region, having played for Knowle FC, Solihull Borough, now Solihull Moors, as well as Stratford Town and Bedworth United.

St Basils, a youth homeless charity based in the West Midlands, has teamed up with Decision Lab, an award-winning technology company that solves real-world challenges for some of the biggest and most respected businesses in the UK, to work on a project that will help develop their understanding of the factors that influences positive outcomes for the young people they support. 

On Friday (April 21), the Rt Hon. Johnny Mercer, Minister of State for Veterans’ Affairs, attended a kit presentation to a group of Army veterans who are running an ultra-marathon for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity.

On the 20th May, 25 veterans will be taking on the gruelling 110km ultra-marathon across the volcanic island of São Miguel in the Azores, to be completed in two days. Members of the team have done a combined 70 operational tours in war zones including Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

FIJI Water, an artesian water from the Fiji Islands, is furthering its commitment to environmental sustainability with the transition of its best-selling 500 mL and 330 mL bottles to 100% recycled plastic (rPET), excluding caps and labels, in the UK and EU markets starting in Spring 2023. This move is a significant step towards reducing plastic waste and replaces nearly 70% of FIJI Water's bottle volume* worldwide with recycled material. The company is committed to transitioning its entire bottle portfolio to rPET by 2025.

While millions of people across the UK heard an alarm on their phones at 15:00 BST yesterday (Sunday), many others did not. The government was testing an alert that could be used to warn about dangerous situations including fires, flooding or terror attacks.

The alarm lasted for around 10 seconds on 4G and 5G devices, but many people on social media reported that the alert went off one minute earlier or later than planned, when a loud, buzzing alarm rang out and the words "severe alert" flashed up on their phones' screens.

It’s Stalking Awareness Week between 24th and 28th April: a national campaign raising awareness about stalking and the dire effects it can have on victims.

Stalking is when someone carries out a pattern of repeated and persistent unwanted behaviour against you that makes you feel scared and threatened. It is a crime and is not something you should have to put up with. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that 2.5 million people every year experience stalking in England and Wales.