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A senior leader, a political economist, and a construction and manufacturing industry expert at Birmingham City University have reacted to today’s Budget announcement from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

Professor Julian Beer, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Birmingham City University, said: It is really great news that the West Midlands has been chosen to host one of the Tech hubs clustered around universities in England.

A new world’s first collection of gold sovereigns, the first to be created in honour of the accession of a British monarch, has been released in celebration of the accession of King Charles III. As the nation prepares for the first royal coronation in 70 years, The 2023 King Charles III Accession Sovereign Range released by gold sovereign specialists Hattons of London, will be the first in history to bear the King’s royal cypher.

Worcester Cathedral has been awarded the Silver Eco Church Award, by A Rocha UK – the Christian environmental charity committed to equipping churches and their congregations to care for the environment.

After achieving the Bronze award last year, the Cathedral’s Eco Group has been busy working towards Silver, implementing a number of initiatives to improve its eco rating and involve the whole community.

Over half (55%) of people in poverty are finding it difficult to pay for their insurance amidst the cost-of-living crisis – leading some to give up insurance as they prioritise food and energy bills, new report warns.

New research by the Social Market Foundation (SMF), supported by Fair By Design, found that insurance is becoming increasingly unaffordable for those on low incomes as they are charged “a poverty premium” – meaning they pay more for insurance cover due to reasons they cannot control, such as where they can afford to live.

The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is set to announce in this week’s Budget an additional £33 million over the next 3 years to support veterans, in recognition of the sacrifices they’ve made for the UK. The majority of the funding package (£20 million) will go towards the Veteran Capital Housing Fund - a new project to provide extra housing for veterans through the development of new builds and refurbishment of veteran social and charitable housing.

The City of Wolverhampton Council has re-affirmed its commitment to the city’s armed forces community at a special Armed Forces Covenant signing ceremony at its Civic Centre. The Armed Forces Covenant was re-signed by the Mayor of Wolverhampton Councillor Sandra Samuels OBE on behalf of the council and by Major Maxwell Sones on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

BBC director general Tim Davie apologised to licence fee payers after a day of disruption for sports programming on the network.

Football shows were pulled at the last minute when presenters and commentators walked out in support of Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker. The host was suspended on Friday after he criticised the government's controversial asylum policy.

A West Midlands Metro tram has been named after the late Theresa Stewart, who was during the 1990s the first and so far only woman to lead the UK’s largest local authority.

It is the second time a tram on the Birmingham to Wolverhampton line has been named in her honour – the earlier model was retired from service in 2015 when the fleet was renewed and has since been scrapped. During a long and distinguished career in local politics Theresa Stewart led Birmingham City Council from 1993 to 1999 and was also the Lord Mayor of Birmingham for the year 2000-2001. She died in 2020.

Celebrated British Jamaican photographer and artist Vanley Burke launches his first outdoor sound installation, Reactivating sounds of Blackness, in Handsworth Park, Birmingham. Working with artist Gary Stewart and community interest company, Museum X, Reactivating sounds of Blackness takes people on a journey through a fusion of layered sounds and conversations exploring Black culture and intangible heritage in Britain.

A portrait of Harry and Meghan is to be removed from the Duke of Sussex pub in Waterloo, the hostelry's owners have confirmed.

To mark the royal wedding in 2018, the Duke of Sussex pub in Waterloo commissioned the late Paul Karslake to paint a portrait of the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

More than 100 children and young people in Wolverhampton who are at risk of entering the criminal justice system will be given support to help turn around their lives.

Wolverhampton's Youth Offending Team is taking part in the Turnaround youth early intervention programme led by the Ministry of Justice. It aims to improve outcomes for children and young people who do not currently meet the threshold for statutory support but who may still be at risk of youth offending.

To celebrate the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III this May in London, Percussion Play, the UK based outdoor musical instruments company, has launched a new limited-edition version of the company’s popular outdoor conga drums.

Decorated in the quintessentially British Union Jack flag, the trio of Congas have been appropriately named Coronation Congas and are available to order now, in time for delivery ahead of the coronation.

Leicestershire developer David Wilson Homes has supported Coalville Foodbank with a £2,500 donation towards food and toiletry supplies, and assisting the vital work of volunteers. 

Based at New Life Church, and close to the developer’s head office in Bardon, the foodbank has been operating for roughly 10 years and provides food parcels to local people in need on a referral-only basis.

Yappy.com is on a mission to find the ‘pawfect’ match for your pooch with its brand-new doggy dating service.

New research released by personalised pet brand, Yappy.com has revealed one in three of us are more likely to match with someone on a dating profile if they have a dog in their picture, and 60% of us consider our pups in most of our dating decisions.

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