Community News

An incredible £31,172,643 of National Lottery funding went to projects in Birmingham in 2020/21, according to new figures released today to mark the launch of this year’s National Lottery Awards. A total of 644 National Lottery grants were allocated in this period, providing crucial support to arts, sports, heritage and community organisations in Birmingham. 

A replacement memorial to a British-Nigerian man who drowned after being chased by police has been vandalised. The laminated copy of the tribute to David Oluwale was placed on Leeds Bridge on Wednesday after the original blue plaque was stolen shortly after being unveiled on Monday.

City of Wolverhampton Council has extended the deadline to Tuesday, May 3, for city residents and organisations to apply for a free road closure to celebrate the Queen’s platinum jubilee with a street party.

Forty applications from across the city have so far been received to mark Her Majesty the Queen becoming the first British monarch in history to reach the milestone this June.

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) has appointed construction firm VolkerFitzpatrick to build three railway stations on the Camp Hill line in south Birmingham. 

It is part of the £61 million scheme to reintroduce passenger train services to Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell for the first time in 80 years.

To celebrate Global Intergenerational Week starting on 25th April, Percussion Play is highlighting the positive effects of intergenerational music-making and its ability to promote inclusive play and bring benefits to both young and elderly people.

The goal of the week is to inspire individuals, groups, organizations, local/national government, to fully embrace intergenerational practice, connecting people of all ages especially the younger and older generations.

Thousands of people took part in a Sikh parade through the streets of Coventry which also benefited a Ukrainian charity.

The procession, known as Nagar Kirtan, drew about 10,000 people to take part as they celebrated the festival of Vaisakhi, organisers said. A donation ceremony started the event, with money given to a Ukrainian charity alongside British ones.

Environmental organisation Pollenize and community interest organisation Real Ideas came together on World Earth Day, (22nd April), to celebrate biodiversity through a 36,000 children-strong mass wild seeding, and a one-of-its-kind interactive, 360 degree, immersive, cinematic, experience at The Dome, Market Hall, Plymouth, England. Both experiences marked the culmination of an ambitious schools project, involving children across Plymouth, to engage the younger generation in the importance of bees and other pollinators, and their natural habitat.

City of Wolverhampton Council is urging people to nominate voluntary organisations for The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS) 2023. A QAVS is the highest award that can be presented to a voluntary group in the UK.

Introduced by Her Majesty the Queen to mark her Golden Jubilee 2002, a QAVS is considered to be the equivalent of the MBE for volunteer groups and is awarded for life. 

From Boxing for England several times at an international level, to signing sponsorship deals with Everlast, Sports Direct and MTK Global and winning his first professional fight earlier this year, Bilal Fawaz is still battling to legalise his status with the UK Home Office.

Originally from Lagos, Nigeria, and becoming the ABA Champion in 2012, it has been agreed by both the Home Office and the Nigerian High Commission that he cannot be deported, but still will not be granted a UK passport or residency papers.

St George's Day was celebrated with traditional parades and celebrations like fetes, church services and traditional English activities like Morris Dancing. With some lockdown restrictions easing, some smaller, socially distanced events managed to go ahead for how this year’s celebrations.

Celebrate St George's Day was celebrated in many areas with delicious recipes that showcase the best of English produce, like baking a Victoria sponge or delving into a retro classic like Lancashire hotpot or sherry trifle as feasts and banquets were how Saints' days was honoured.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games are coming to Birmingham and thousands of people across the region are taking the unique opportunity to land jobs at this summer’s sporting spectacle.

Training places and job roles are waiting to be filled in areas such as security, stewarding, catering, cleaning, retail, transport and logistics and anyone who is interested can apply now.

The countdown to Vaisakhi has begun, with thousands of visitors expected at Wolverhampton's premier park for the annual celebrations in May. The event, which has been postponed for the last two years during the coronavirus pandemic, will see the popular cultural festival return to West Park on Sunday, May 8, between 12pm and 5pm.

A community leader has slammed the government’s anti-terror Prevent programme for failing to stop radicalisation but instead sowing the seeds of suspicion and hate towards ordinary Muslims.

Mashkura Begum, chair of community empowerment organisation Saathi House, in Birmingham, features in a special Dispatches programme aired on Channel 4 which explored failures in the government’s anti-radicalisation Prevent programme.

Industries across the board are facing staff shortages and vacancies. Over the long Easter weekend, mass disruption is expected across all travel sectors, and industry experts warn the delays could last the year. Other badly affected industries, such as hospitality and healthcare, barely survived the pandemic and are now finding that they still can’t get the staff – and this impacts health and safety and the quality of work completed.

A scheme offering financial support to help community groups and regional organisations looking to put more people in touch with nature has received dozens of applications.

After launching in late January, the West Midland Combined Authority’s (WMCA) Community Green Grants scheme has already seen more than 40 applications come in from across the region.

NFU Mutual is calling for visitors to the Midlands countryside this Easter to keep their dogs under control to protect new-born lambs in the region’s fields.

From its claims figures, NFU Mutual estimates that farm animals worth £242,000 were killed or injured by out-of-control dogs in the Midlands in 2021.