Community News

Severn Trent is on the lookout for green fingered volunteers to help plant 17,000 trees across two sites at Cole Valley on Wednesday 14 December between 09:00 – 16:00, as the company continues to help leave a carbon neutral legacy for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

As Birmingham 2022’s Official Nature and Carbon Neutral Partner, Severn Trent is creating 2,022 acres of Commonwealth Forest across the West Midlands.

Rail passengers planning travel through Birmingham New Street station during upcoming strike action by multiple rail workers’ unions before and after Christmas are being warned not to get caught out with limited trains running over reduced hours. Members of the RMT, TSSA and Unite unions will all take industrial action next week on 13, 14, 16 and 17 December.

Aston University has teamed up with Midlands-based casthouse technology specialists through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) to develop a suite of energy-efficient aluminium recycling systems that are expected to reduce energy consumption by up to 50%. This new partnership with Mechaterm International Ltd follows the successful completion of the company’s first collaboration with Aston University which resulted in a more intelligent design process for furnaces and ancillary equipment for the global aluminium industry using complex design automation techniques and algorithms.

A giant sculpture was unveiled in Birmingham to create awareness of the campaign to highlight the plight of the homeless this winter.

The 14ft and 2.5 tonnes sculpture, called ‘Homelessness Can’t Be Ignored’ and highlighted a homeless person called Alex, was commissioned by the charity Crisis - which is running the campaign - is displayed outside St Martin in the Bull Ring and shows a homeless person

Marlbrook-based employees from global snack provider, Mondelēz International, have got in the festive spirit and added a touch of Christmas magic to local hospice, St Michael’s Hospice.

A team of 11 employees from the Marlbrook site spent eight hours volunteering at St Michael’s Hospice to install Herefordshire’s most-loved Santa Grotto experience, which included setting up Santa’s giant sleigh, an animatronic reindeer, as well as installing more than 50,000 fairy lights.

Multidisciplinary engineering firm adi Group recently took part in St Basils Big Sleepout, an annual event whereby individuals sleep out for a night to raise money for vulnerable young people who are at risk of homelessness. Every year, St Basils supports over 4000 young people across the West Midlands region, helping them to break the ‘cycle of homelessness’ by ensuring they receive the assistance they need to never become at risk of homelessness again.  

Affordable new homes provider Bromford is reassuring West Midlands children that its homes are on Santa’s radar this Christmas. Bromford, which is building new affordable homes in the area, is keen to make sure that Santa stops by all its new developments this festive season.

Catherine Jarrett, Director of Sales and Marketing at Bromford, said: “As the Christmas season is now in full swing, we want to reassure children and their parents who have moved to a Bromford home that Santa has been notified of their new address.

RSPCA Inspector Ben Jones said: “The cats, who we’ve named Gladys and Gertrude, were abandoned in a light blue cat carrier in Watery Lane in Coleshill on November 12. Thankfully they were discovered by a member of the public who kindly helped them to safety.

“They were examined by the team at RSPCA Newbrook Animal Hospital who advised that they are both young adults and have each had a litter of kittens recently. 

More independent recognition has been earned for the city council’s Mobile Household Recycling Centre (MHRC) service – in the form of a prestigious National Recycling Award. At the 2022 edition of awards ceremony, the MHRC initiative, which launched last year, was named as winner in the Local Authority Success category.

The Homebuilding & Renovating Show experts gave their predictions and advice for 2023, with Paul Testa, designer of low-energy homes and director of HEM Architects, saying: "I'm predicting that 2023 will finally be the year that mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) is established as a key element in self-build and retrofit projects. It's the most convincing way to maintain excellent air-quality without increasing heat demand in the home.

The West Midland Combined Authority’s (WMCA) commitment to the environment blossomed further as a partnership with the Woodland Trust was officially launched at Brookvale Park, Birmingham.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, planted the first tree to celebrate the region being a recipient of £300,000 as part of the Trust’s Emergency Tree Fund to help the region reach their environmental targets alongside representatives of the Woodland Trust, Amazon and WMCA’s environment team.

As the countdown to Christmas begins, the RSPCA has voiced concerns for the welfare of reindeer used in festive events. The thought of meeting a real-life reindeer at a Christmas event is exciting for people of all ages, but the animal welfare charity is concerned that these complex creatures could be suffering.

The City of Wolverhampton Council is concerned people could be more tempted than normal to turn to loan sharks this Christmas with the cost-of-living crisis putting huge pressure on household finances. The Council is supporting the England Illegal Money Lending Team’s new campaign #SleighNoToLoanSharks and wants to highlight other ways families can still have a happy Christmas this year without spiralling into a vicious cycle of debt.

The RSPCA is appealing to people to come forward with information after two puppies - one of whom was dead and the other barely alive - were found abandoned at Maurice Lea Memorial Park in Swadlincote. A local veterinary practice alerted the animal welfare charity after a member of the public had taken the tiny puppies - thought to be fox terriers - into them at about 4.20pm on Wednesday November 30, after finding them abandoned in the park in a black plastic bag.

Christmas 2022 looks like it’s going to be a frugal affair as millions of Britons feel the strain of rising utility bills and food prices. And one UK waste company has found that up to half of people are planning to give at least one person in their immediate circle of family and friends cash toward paying their fuel bills.

Economic Secretary Andrew Griffith was in Edinburgh today, where he hailed the success of Scotland’s financial services sector and the strength of the Union. 

Speaking at TheCityUK’s Annual Conference, the minister praised the energy and vitality of Edinburgh, the second biggest financial hub in the UK, with one seventh of Edinburgh’s workers – 50,000 people – employed by the sector.