Community News

The Queen's Baton Relay will travel by coracle, barge and on a steam engine around the West Midlands ahead of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. The full route around the UK has been revealed as the baton reaches the region on 18 July.

Other highlights in the West Midlands include a journey on the canal and arriving by helicopter in Shrewsbury. The tour will end at Birmingham's Aston Hall on the day of the opening ceremony, 28 July.

The unhappiness of people living in big cities such as London must be addressed for the Government to deliver on its “levelling up” promises, new research shows. The Social Market Foundation think-tank found that relatively affluent London boroughs such as Islington, Hackney and Camden are falling well below the national average in terms of their residents’ happiness, anxiety, and life satisfaction.

Birmingham’s status a Proud Host City for the 2022 Commonwealth Games is celebrated in the city council’s entry for this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. A mixture of flowers grown at the council’s own nurseries and sporting-themed features make up the eye-catching display, which has an interpretation of the official Games logo as its centrepiece.

Projects, plans and people representing the best of public and private sector town planning from around the West Midlands have been shortlisted in the Royal Town Planning Institute Awards for Planning Excellence. Regional winners will be announced on 30 June at the RTPI West Midlands Summer Ball and Awards. 

A talented artist has scooped £150 after winning a competition to brighten up office space. The Open College Network West Midlands has recently redecorated its offices and training rooms, and while they look clean and smart, they were sorely lacking artwork on the walls.

People on low incomes are pawning household goods to pay for food and rent as the cost of living rises, new research shows. The Social Market Foundation said that pawnbroking is an essential source of credit for some customers, who feel they have no alternative ways to borrow.

The importance of pawnbroking to people on low incomes is likely to grow as the cost of living rises, the SMF said in a report based on extensive interviews with pawnbroking customers.

It has been announced that an aerial acrobatics display will be held as part of celebrations to mark Coventry's final month as the UK City of Culture.

French company Gratte Ciel will be performing its show The Awakening on Broadgate on May 13 and 14. The 40-minute display will feature aerial stunts with performers hanging from a giant dream catcher.

The hedgehog population in the UK is declining at a worrying rate. Wildlife charities People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) recently published a report which revealed that hedgehog populations have plummeted by between 30% to 75% in rural areas since 2000, with the largest declines in eastern England.

Birmingham 2022 Festival and Fierce today announce Yale as official sponsor of Key to the City and that the location of the ‘Key Exchange Ceremony’ site will be Birmingham New Street Station. Security experts Yale will produce 15,000 keys (and their respective locks), which will give recipients access to 22 locations around the city region that, combined, create a compelling portrait.

Philip Richardson, head of employment law at Stephensons Solicitors, commented following the announcement by London law firm Stephenson Harwood, saying it would allow staff to work remotely but pay them 20% less than their current salary.

He said: “Post-pandemic, many firms are trying to navigate a completely different world of work. How and where that work is conducted has changed completely.

Prayag Patel, a renowned conveyancing solicitor, has joined Talbots Law to spearhead the firm’s move into a flagship new premises at the Waterfront in Brierley Hill. In his 18 years with Premier Property Lawyers, which formed part of the original MyHomeMove and, more recently, the Simplify Group, Prayag saw his role grow from newly qualified solicitor to Head of Conveyancing, taking responsibility for the Leicester and Newcastle sites and doubling the size of his team in just 5 years at the helm.

Leading consultancy Marrons Planning is growing its presence in Worcestershire with the appointment of senior planner Reiss Sadler, following a significant uplift in demand for planning services in the county.

With more than seven years’ experience working with Wychavon District Council as a senior planning officer, the move to Marrons Planning will see Reiss support house builders, land promoters and landowners in the area to secure planning permission for key developments.

As more professional Muslim athletes emerge, British sports clubs and governing bodies are being more proactive in how they look after their Muslim stars, especially during important periods like Ramadan.  

Athletes fasting while playing competitive sport has already made a lot of press this Ramadan.

The Sikh festival of Vaisakhi was celebrated in Leicester as thousands turned up to commemorate one of the largest religious festivals in the county as a huge burst of colour and culture flooded the streets in a huge public procession.

The annual event was louder and prouder than ever as the Sikh community came out in full force for the first time since the pandemic.

Thirty young people from across the UK who have all experienced homelessness came together to influence positive change as they took part in national Youth Homeless Parliament.

An idea inspired by the late Jack Dromey MP, a man who was fiercely passionate about ensuring children and young people could experience the democratic process first hand in the heart of Parliament, Youth Homeless Parliament (YHP) aims to ensure that the voices and lived experiences of young people who have experienced homelessness are heard, and that Government has the information it needs when making policy that impacts young people across the country.

People took the opportunity to gather together, on large-scales, to celebre the end of Ramadan, with Eid al-Fitr returned in full, after a two-year break caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the UK, cities like Leicester, Birmingham, London and Manchester the shackles of restrictions were released, with Eid – falling on 1 or 2 May, depending on the sighting of the new crescent moon – saw open-air events back in full flow.