Community News

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, recently saw how local families and young people in Haringey have the chance to cook their own food at one of the most borough’s most exciting new projects - the Cookbook Edible Library at St Ann’s Library garden. 

A partnership between Haringey Libraries, Edible London and Volunteer It Yourself, the project has transformed a previously unused space into a flourishing community kitchen and growing garden. The work was partially funded through the first round of the Mayor’s Grow Back Greener Fund, part of the Mayor’s programme to secure a green recovery from COVID-19.

The project has twin aims of tackling food insecurity while providing excellent training for young people. Local families and young people have the chance to use the space to grow and cook their own food, while 14-24 year-olds are coached in outdoor activities including construction and gardening. By providing positive opportunities for young people, the project is also helping to steer them away from crime, anti-social behaviour and gangs.
 
Approximately one in six Haringey pupils are known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals (16 per cent), but provisions are not available out of school hours. This project aims to be up and running in time for their planned summer holiday food programme for children and young people who often have little or no access to healthy food.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vital importance of Haringey’s green spaces for Londoners’ health and wellbeing. The Edible Library garden is part of the council’s Borough Plan commitment to promote and improve Haringey’s open and green spaces.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “As Mayor, I want London to lead the way in tacking the climate emergency and for all Londoners to be have access to great green spaces close to where they live. The new funding I am announcing today during London Climate Action Week is just the start of even more investment in green spaces, nature and projects to help tackle the climate emergency.   
 
“The community-led projects that benefit from our grants provide so much more than just improved green space for local communities. The Cookbook Edible Library project I visited today provides an educational, safe space for young people to develop new skills – providing positive opportunities and alternatives to those who might be vulnerable to getting drawn into gangs.” 
 
Councillor Zena Brabazon, Haringey Cabinet Member for Early Years, Children and Families said: “This fantastic garden is the result of hard work by dedicated volunteers and community groups, delivering a wonderful local resource. It connects this lovely local library even more to our community. 

“Our libraries are a real haven and I am proud we are seeing further developments. At St Ann’s, the garden provides children and young people with real life experience connecting valuable life skills on good nutrition and food budgeting with reading and study. A great combination of learning and activity, and we will continue to invest in training and skills for all of Haringey’s young residents.”
 

Edible London founder, Sunny Karagozlu, said: “The importance of this project goes beyond merely food and growing. Here, at Edible London, food is the connecting block to a whole new world. Disenfranchised youth can enter a safe space where they can not only read and educate themselves - in terms of using the services already on offer at the library - but where they can now also get access to an educational growing space.

“Furthermore, thanks to the state-of-the-art kitchen on site, young people will also be able to see how some of these foods can be used, first-hand, through the provision of educational cooking workshops centred around plants. Put down the knife and pick up the shovel because the seeds we sow today, helps our communities grow tomorrow.”

Ed Sellwood, Founder & Operations Director at VIY: “The community kitchen and growing garden at St Ann's Library is a great example of how VIY combines vocational skills training and employability outcomes for young people with the transformation of under-utilised 'grey space' into a brilliant new green, sustainable community asset.”

As footie-mad sports fans put up football nets in the back gardens and sports fields of England, the RSPCA has already received more reports about dangerously entangled foxes and other wild animals than this time last year.

With the RSPCA taking 1,139 calls about animals entangled in sports, garden and deterrence netting already this year, numbers have already overtaken 2020’s 1,127 calls for the same period. In just three weeks in June this year, the animal charity had already received at least 30 netting entanglement reports, 20 of which related to foxes or fox cubs and the remainder being other species such as hedgehogs, deer, rabbits and birds such as gulls and crows. 

RSPCA Scientific Officer Evie Button said: “Football and other types of netting may be fun for humans but can be very dangerous for wild animals if they are left out overnight. The RSPCA receives hundreds of calls every year to rescue animals - often wildlife - who have become tangled in netting on sporting equipment or garden nets.

“Already this year, the number of call-outs to rescue animals caught up in nets are up on 2020 and in the past couple of months, we have had a spate of young foxes in particular becoming entangled. We suspect that people’s enthusiasm for Euro 2020 may have inspired increased numbers of amateur football nets to be put up in gardens and sports fields around the country and young, curious foxes are unaware of the dangers.

“Getting tangled up in netting is very stressful for an animal, particularly one that’s wild. And if the animal gets seriously entangled, netting - whether it’s used for sports, fencing or the garden - can cause severe injuries or even death. As wild animals frequently get trapped during the night, they may have been struggling for many hours by the time they are found in the morning and often need veterinary attention and sedation to cut them free. 

“It's great that the likes of Jack Grealish and Kalvin Phillips are inspiring many of us to put on our shooting boots this summer - and enjoy the great outdoors and nature while having a kick-around. But we would urge those using sports netting to remove and store all nets after their game and put any discarded or old netting safely in a bin.

“Any garden fence netting should be replaced with solid metal mesh and use wood panels as fencing instead of netting.” Of the 503 incidents reported to the RSPCA about wild mammals tangled in netting in 2020, 223 were related to foxes, 155 were hedgehogs and 104 deer.

Recent case studies the RSPCA has been called out to rescue include:

·         A juvenile fox rescued by the RSPCA after getting caught by his neck and leg in football netting in a garden in Harrow 

·         A “fox in the box” scored an own goal - after getting caught in football goal netting in a back garden in Swansea

·         A not-so cunning fox had to be rescued by the RSPCA after she was found trapped in some football netting which almost strangled her in Loughborough

To report concerns about an animal, call the RSPCA’s emergency line on 0300 1234 999 or visit the website (www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/wildlife/injuredanimals).

A team of 18 amateur cyclists, led by ex-England footballer and blood cancer survivor Geoff Thomas, are over halfway through cycling the full 21 stages of the 2021 Tour de France route, one week ahead of the professionals. They have now completed 13 stages and 2,220km of the famous route including a double ascent of the infamous Mont Ventoux on stage 11. The Tour 21 aims to raise in excess of £1,000,000 for national blood cancer charity Cure Leukaemia and the team has raised over £900,000 towards that target.

Cure Leukaemia, which was announced as the first ever official Charity Partner of the Tour de France in the UK for the next three years, recorded a £1,700,000 fundraising shortfall in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and The Tour 21 team aims to help the charity address this shortfall in funding by completing all 3,384km of the world’s most famous and prestigious professional cycling event.

All funds raised by The Tour 21 team will be invested in the national Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) which has been solely funded by Cure Leukaemia since January 2020. TAP is a network of specialist research nurses at 12 blood cancer centres located in the UK’s biggest cities and a facilitatory hub based at the Centre for Clinical Haematology in Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital. This network enables accelerated setup and delivery of potentially life-saving blood cancer clinical trials to run giving patients from a UK catchment area of over 20 million people access to treatments not currently available through standard care.

On July 4^th 2003, Geoff was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia and given just 3 months to live. Thanks to treatment from Cure Leukaemia co-founder Professor Charlie Craddock CBE and a transplant from his sister Kay, Geoff went into remission in early 2005. Just months later, Geoff then rode the first of his Tour de France challenges and now, 18 years later, he is halfway through his fifth and final ride through France.

Geoff, who was awarded an MBE just days before setting off for France said:

“July 4^th is always a special day for me as it reminds me how lucky I am to be alive and have the opportunity to take on challenges like this. On that day 18 years ago, I was informed that I might have just a few months to live but here I am, cycling the Tour de France thanks to charities like Cure Leukaemia. That is why it is so important that we keep driving our fundraising forward in the final week of The Tour 21. It is great to reach £900,000 but we really want to have surpassed £1,000,000 before we roll into Paris on Sunday July 11^th because it will give hope to blood cancer patients all across the UK.”

As well as donations to the team’s JustGiving page, those wishing to support The Tour 21 can purchase tickets for The Ultimate Cycling Prize Draw for a chance to win 21 fantastic prizes including a Pinarello Dogma F12 worth £15,000. 

Geoff and the team have been receiving messages of good luck throughout the event including from his former Crystal Palace teammate and now England Manager Gareth Southgate and also comedian, actor and Crystal Palace fan Eddie Izzard.

New landscape designs revealed by HS2 show how an area around the River Cole in Warwickshire, identified as a Heritage Hotspot, could be transformed for local people to enjoy. Two HS2 viaducts will be constructed near Coleshill, and the landscape around them will create new public spaces with footpaths and cycleways allowing people to enjoy and better understand their local heritage.

The area has a rich history, including a medieval deer park, the Tudor Coleshill Manor and the expansive Elizabethan garden which HS2 archaeologists recently uncovered. Natural habitats will also be created for local wildlife, and access to water will create opportunities for fishing and walks around the river.

The current viaduct designs allow for space to provide a ‘nature-led’ realignment of the river, increasing its biodiversity and to provide flood compensation areas. Habitats and ponds will create new homes for amphibians, dragonflies, otters, great crested newts, reptiles and badgers, which will all benefit from these new ecological features.

New integrated designs for the structures include reducing the height of the western viaduct from 10m to 4m, which results in a 36% reduction in materials being used and a 26% reduction in the viaduct’s carbon footprint. Changing the girder from concrete to steel also brings environmental benefits, including reducing the use of materials and the construction time, with 97% of the steel coming from recycled sources.

North of the viaducts, embankments around the existing Coleshill Manor will be planted with woodlands designed to complement existing vegetation. Accessible new green spaces will enrich the existing estate by taking inspiration from the parkland landscape setting of Coleshill Manor.

The design will highlight the historical and ecological make-up of the site and links between Coleshill Manor and the river. Further north, at Chattle Hill near the Water Orton viaducts, there are plans for a ‘blossom walk’ to link to a new community orchard and allotment areas, along with the planting of fruit trees and herbs for foraging.

HS2’s Head of Landscape Design, Christoph Brintrup, said: “HS2’s enhancements to the integrated design of the viaducts and landscape in this area have made the most of the rich local history and biodiversity, creating the opportunity for fantastic new spaces for people and wildlife to enjoy. Our multi-functional design will enhance biodiversity, provide an inclusive, healthy and accessible landscape, and also help stitch the Delta Junction into its surrounding context.

“Our design and construction approaches aim to achieve HS2’s wider environmental commitments to reduce our carbon footprint. Most of the steel used to construct the viaducts will come from recycled sources, and we’re also pleased that design improvements have resulted in a big reduction in materials used to construct the viaducts.”

The section of the HS2 route where the River Cole viaducts are located is known as the Delta Junction, a triangular section of line where the HS2 route curves west towards Birmingham and runs north towards Crewe and beyond. The River Cole West and River Cole East Viaducts curve away from the northbound route, bringing HS2 passengers into the heart of Birmingham at the city’s Curzon Street Station.

The Design Joint Venture working for Balfour Beatty VINCI JV (BBV) on these proposals consists of global consultancies Mott MacDonald and Systra together with architects Weston Williamson + Partners.

BBV Design Joint Venture Lead Architect, Nick McGough, said: “This is currently a complex area, with existing motorways and railway infrastructure isolating the site. Our design vision will use the Delta Junction as a catalyst to integrate HS2 into the landscape by creating a harmonic relationship with the railway, the site and wider landscape through local connectivity, habitat creation and biodiversity, landscape integration and flood risk mitigation.

“Close collaboration between multiple teams has been essential in developing designs, including the involvement of Ecologists, Landscape Architects, Engineers and Architects among others. This has resulted in developing the River Cole Viaducts so they sit lower in the landscape, utilising a weathering steel deck with longer spans and sculpting the piers to remove over 33% of the material from previous designs.

“In the past the river had been used for pleasure boating by the Edwardians. The arrival of HS2 means the area will once again promote travel across this landscape including the installation of new footpaths and cycle ways for local people to use.”

Local residents will have the opportunity to comment on the designs, with a virtual engagement event held in July to inform the local community of some key aspects of the designs and collect feedback:

·         River Cole Viaducts and Chattle Hill Structure: Have your say, Thursday 8 July, 18.30 – 20.00 

Another engagement webinar will focus on new designs for the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Viaduct.

·         Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Viaduct: Have your say, Tuesday 6 July 12.00 – 13.15 

The design process for the River Cole Viaducts is still ongoing. Comments collected from HS2’s engagements will be shared with North Warwickshire Borough Council.

All feedback will also be published on HS2’s website: www.hs2inwarwickshire.co.uk

The popular physical activity game Beat the Street is returning to Wolverhampton next month. The walking, running, rolling, wheeling, cycling and scooting challenge will take place across the city from Tuesday 20 July to Tuesday 17 August, encouraging friends and families to get active together.

The game forms a key part of the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Yo! Summer Festival, which will offer hundreds of events across the city, many free of charge, to keep children, young people and their families active and entertained right throughout the school holiday period. Residents who took part in Beat the Street when it was last held in Wolverhampton in 2017 will be familiar with the unique game, which invites teams to score points by travelling as far as possible within the game area.

The 2021 edition will be bigger and better, with more than 200 accessible Beat Boxes which will be placed approximately half a mile apart on lampposts across the city. Players hover their game cards over a Beat Box to start their journey, and can score points for their team for each Beat Box they swipe in the next 60 minutes.

This time around, the game is taking place during the summer holidays and every primary-aged child will receive a game pack, through school, so they can join in the fun. The packs include a game card, wall chart and stickers and a set of fun challenges to try each week. Parents will receive game cards so they can play along, too.

Everyone else can take part by collecting a free game card from one of the 20 distribution points listed at: www.beatthestreet.me/wolverhampton. More than 150,000 people have played the Beat the Street game safely in various UK towns since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with many reporting that it had a positive impact on both their physical and mental health.

The game is contactless and can be played in household groups or bubbles, while the Beat Boxes have been adapted to be more sensitive and do not need to be touched. Signage will also be put in place at Beat Box locations to help with social distancing.

Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, said: “It’s a real pleasure to announce that we are bringing Beat the Street back to Wolverhampton again this year. Anyone can take part, regardless of age and ability – and best of all it’s free.

“We know that one of the best things we can do right now for our physical and mental health is to move more and to get out into green space where possible, and Beat the Street helps us do that safely. Many players in Wolverhampton said that the previous Beat the Street games helped them to walk or ride more often, to visit new places and to spend more time with their friends and family.

“As well as encouraging people to get active, Beat the Street has been shown to get communities more engaged, less car-dependent and fitter, all of which are vital in the fight against Covid-19.” This year’s game will be split into themed weeks, Go Play, Go Active, Go Wild and Go Explore, to help players make the most of their game experience, and once again schools, communities and workplaces will be able to win prizes for the further they travel.

Alternatively, players will be able to give their points to a local charity to help them get a cash donation.

Beat the Street Wolverhampton forms part of the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Yo! Summer Festival and is delivered by Intelligent Health with funding from the National Lottery via Sport England.

Birmingham City Council has boldly unveiled a stunning new street art mural.

Selly Oak artist Joshua Billingham, also known as Gent 48, was commissioned to create artwork to celebrate a new era for Smithfield Birmingham, as part of the city council’s Be Bold, Be Birmingham initiative. Joshua’s bespoke mural is emblazoned on the roof of the former Markets Car Park in Moat Lane, Digbeth.

The Be Bold, Be Birmingham street art mural marks the beginning of one of the most significant development opportunities in the city centre. Smithfield Birmingham will be a bold, brand new innovative and sustainable city quarter that will provide local jobs, amenities and over 3,000 much needed new homes for the city, as well as opening up wider opportunities for regeneration.

The £1.9bn 17-hectare development will anchor an expanded city centre, helping to accelerate a wider transformation of Birmingham and support long-term economic and social prosperity within the region. Joshua’s unique design for the temporary artwork took eight days to complete and covers the entire surface of the car park roof.

“I’ve never painted on a car park roof before,” admitted Joshua. “I knew it was going to be challenging but then I thought if I’m painting a statement telling other people to be bold, I should be bold myself.

“I just love to paint. I didn’t do so well at school, but I was always passionate about drawing and painting. It shows that if you stick at something and you’re passionate it can pay off for you.”

Be Bold, Be Birmingham was launched earlier this year and is a campaign propelling Birmingham and its people to the forefront showcasing creativity, diversity, ambition and uniqueness.

“Joshua’s artwork is fantastic,” said Cllr Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council. “The message Be Bold Be Birmingham is very much about this city. Birmingham is a city on the up, a city that is going places.

“We want people to be really bold about their city and Be Bold, Be Birmingham is the ideal message.”

A new city centre walking tour looks at the public art you can experience all around as you walk the city. It is a fun and informative tour which runs on Saturday mornings from July.

The tour starts at Grand Central concourse above New Street Station, convenient for those coming in from the Birmingham suburbs or from other cities such as London. The tour considers both historical and very modern art installations including the brand-new installation, Forward Together, by Luke Perry in Victoria Square and many other pieces installed in recent years.

Public art requires interpretation and is often intentionally controversial. Open debate is encouraged on tour. Where public art is in disrepair or not being looked after, we ask some serious questions. Where sculptures from those who are now huge on the world stage languish in store we ask why. Where plinths are installed but no sculpture has returned we explore the idea that seemingly benign art is now more controversial as our industrial heritage is reinterpreted in the light of the Black Lives Matters campaign.

Speaking about the walking tour, Jonathan Berg says: “I have been photographing this stuff for over 30 years and have seen it come…. and seen it go. We have public art on our streets from some amazing artists. This is going to be such a fun tour to do which we hope will add to the things to do in the city centre.”

Positively Birmingham is a book about the modern city in photos and text. It was first published in 1994 and has sold over 30,000 copies over five editions. Jonathan describes the book and the walks as “One Birmingham citizen having a good old nose around the city.”

Demand for new build homes remains strong, says a Telford housebuilder.

Charles Church West Midlands is receiving high volumes of enquiries to view its latest show home in Newdale.

David Greengrass, head of sales for Charles Church West Midlands, said: “Since opening the doors to our four-bedroom Mayfair show home at The Barns development, we have been inundated with booking requests.”

According to the NHBC, the UK’s leading new home warranty and insurance provider, new build homes registration were up 10 per cent in quarter one compared to the same period in 2020.

“It is very pleasing to see such interest for our homes,” added David. “However, the health, safety and wellbeing of our team and customers will always be our priority and therefore it is essential that all appointments are made in advance.”

The Barns development is perfectly located to the M54 with ease of access to Birmingham and Wales and surrounded by the picturesque Shropshire countryside.

David added: “The location is very much key to this development. Our four and five-bedroom homes come in a range of different house styles which means there’s something for everyone.

“We expect demand to remain strong for the rest of the year which is really encouraging.”   

Birmingham City Council has bid for circa £64 million from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund to support four major schemes in the city. The selected schemes had been consulted on extensively and were identified as having a strong strategic case for investment opportunities. They include:

·         Erdington High Street – redeveloping the Central Square Shopping Centre and creating a new public square; transforming the former swimming baths in to a community hub; upgrading the public realm, footpaths and lighting to make it safer and more accessible.

·         A457 Dudley Road Improvements – major transport improvements to help reduce congestion, encourage active travel (walking and cycling), provide better facilities for public transport users and improve connectivity to new housing developments where more than 2,000 new houses are currently being built.

·         Moseley Road Baths and Balsall Heath Library – to allow for the next phase of restoring the Grade II listed Edwardian swimming pool and library.

·         Remediation of the former Birmingham Wheels Site (Bordesley Park) – remediation, treatment and clearance work to transform the space in to an attractive area for future employment and training opportunities.

Leader of Birmingham City Council, Councillor Ian Ward said: "After over a decade of austerity, Birmingham has some of the highest levels of unemployment and deprivation anywhere in the country and our communities should be at the heart of the levelling-up agenda.

"Birmingham City Council has a bold strategy for an inclusive recovery that will address long-standing inequalities that have been made worse by the pandemic and these schemes have the potential to create the jobs and opportunities that will drive that economic recovery.”

The Government announced a £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund (LUF) as part of the Spring Budget in March 2021. The fund will provide investment into infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport infrastructure, and investing in cultural and heritage assets.

A decision on the funding allocations is expected to be announced this Autumn.

Conservative Councillor Matt Bennett has called for an immediate rollout of mandatory e-scooter parking across the entire pilot area in Birmingham, saying the at the move is “urgently needed on the grounds of safety”.

As part of the e-scooter pilot currently taking place in Birmingham, the scooter hire company Voi have announced that they will be making some changes to how riders collect and park their e-scooters in Birmingham City Centre. They have stated that they will be moving to a mandatory parking model, which means that scooters will now have to be parked in a designated parking area and cannot be locked outside those areas. This is already in place on Birmingham University Campus.

However, across the majority of the areas in city that form part of the pilot, including Cllr Bennett’s Edgbaston ward and in neighbouring Harborne, scooters can still be left anywhere, causing obstructions on pavements which are a particular danger to those with visual impairments.

Councillor Bennett said, “The announcement from Voi is a great first step, but it simply does not go far enough. Complaints about scooters being ridden or left on the pavements are one of the most common issues we are dealing with in Edgbaston at the moment – I personally report several instances every week, but see many more where I am unable to spot the registration number in time to report it.”

Cllr Bennett added “Riding on the pavement and antisocial behaviour are perhaps more difficult to prevent automatically, but the parking issue is easily solvable and, indeed Voi are implementing a solution. So why not apply it everywhere and not just in the city centre and University campus? Residents with disabilities or with young children should not to navigate their way around discarded scooters when a solution is readily available and being used elsewhere? This move is urgently needed on the grounds of safety”

Cllr Bennett’s concerns are supported within a document presented to the Department of Transport by the National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBU) which concluded;

"The NFBUK recommends that rentable e-scooter trials are halted with immediate effect. They are dangerous and creating unsafe environments for blind, partially sighted, deaf-blind, elderly and disabled people, people using mobility aids and parents with young children, and all other pedestrians, in town and city centres. 

The observations of the rider behaviours witnessed in the Coventry, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and Northampton trials is terrifying, with reckless and dangerous riding being continually witnessed, during 12 site visits. The dockless model of rentable e-scooters is creating serious and dangerous obstructions and trip hazards in the urban environment.”

The head of a Midlands Housing Association, Llewellyn Graham has been recognised as an unsung hero of the last year for his work in the Jamaican Diaspora community in the UK at Jamaica’s recent 2021 Governor-General’s Diaspora Achievement Awards for Excellence.

This year’s awards were a virtual event and featured as part of the main activities of the 9th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Symposium under the theme “Jamaica and the Diaspora: Stronger Together for a Sustainable Future.”

It provides a platform for unsung heroes to be recognised and have their stories pivot a wave of inspiration across Jamaica and the Diaspora. Since 2008, nearly 50 Jamaicans have received these prestigious Awards in the Diaspora regions of the United States of America, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Llewellyn Graham, Chief Executive of Great Barr based Nehemiah Housing Association, which has over 1244 properties across the West Midlands, won the award having impressed the judging panel with his significant contribution in the changing of lives in the community through his work within the housing association and as a Bishop within the Church of God of Prophecy. Importantly, they highlighted that during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Llewellyn led a dedicated team of frontline workers in the delivery of exemplary service to some of the most vulnerable members of the Jamaican-Diaspora Community.

His Excellency The Most Honourable Sir Patrick Allen, ON, GCMG, CD, KSt.J, Governor-General of Jamaica, said: "The awards recognise the unsung heroes in the community who are working behind the scenes to make it a success.  It is heartwarming to pat them on the back and say thank you and well done for the work they have been doing. 

The standard of entries was incredibly high this year, and it was very hard to pick winners from all those who were nominated. With over 35 years of dedicated service to underserved communities and the Jamaican Diaspora, Bishop Llewellyn Graham, has built a strong legacy of quality service above self.”

Llewellyn Graham commented: “I am very pleased and honoured to win this award and would like to thank the team that support me both within Nehemiah Housing Association and the Church without whom the great work we do would not be possible.  I would also like to thank those who nominated me and I hope we can continue to maintain the high standards of work in future years."

Prince Harry has flown to the UK to unveil a statue to commemorate the 60th birthday of his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Duke of Sussex arrived at London's Heathrow Airport alone on Friday afternoon local time, leaving wife Meghan back at their Californian home with son Archie, two, and newborn daughter Lilibet. He was driven under police escort to Frogmore Cottage, in the grounds of the royal estate at Windsor, where he will isolate for five days before taking a Covid-19 test.

Kensington Palace confirmed Harry, 36, would join older brother Prince William in the gardens of the palace on July 1 for a "small event" for the unveiling.

"Prince William and Prince Harry will attend a small event to mark the unveiling of a statue they commissioned of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace," a statement from Kensington Palace said. "In addition to close family of Diana, Princess of Wales, members of the statue committee, the sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley, and garden designer Pip Morrison will also be present."

It will be the first time the brothers have seen each other since the funeral of their grandfather Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, in April. The brothers commissioned the statue in 2017, the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana's death, by forming a committee and privately raising funds for it.

Princess Diana was killed alongside Dodi al-Fayed when the car they were being driven in crashed in a Paris tunnel in 1997, while it was being chased by photographers. The driver of the vehicle, Henri Paul, was also killed in the accident, though, the pair's bodyguard survived.

Prince William was 15 and Prince Harry, 12, at the time. "It has been 20 years since our mother's death and the time is right to recognise her positive impact in the UK and around the world with a permanent statue," Prince William said in a statement when the statue was announced in 2017.

Despite Persimmon Homes and Aviva agreeing to change the way they operate in regard to leaseholds and ground rent charges, homeowners could still be entitled to compensation – according to an expert solicitor from law firm Nelsons.

Following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), house builder Persimmon will allow its leaseholders to buy the freehold of their property at a discounted rate, capped at £2,000, and insurance company Aviva, which buys leaseholds from house builders, will repay homeowners who saw their ground rents double.

Nelsons is dealing with compensation claims from homeowners across the country who have been trapped in unsaleable homes due to onerous ground rent charges.

Daniel Brumpton, partner and head of Nelsons’ professional negligence team, said: “After the commitments announced by Persimmon and Aviva, the CMA is expecting other housing developers and investors to take similar action.

“Due to unfair ground rent charges, many people in the UK have been left in a position where they are stuck with homes they cannot sell or been faced with unexpectedly high prices to buy their freehold.

“While Persimmon is allowing its leaseholders to buy the freehold of their property at a discounted rate and Aviva is removing ground rent terms the CMA considers unfair and repaying homeowners who have seen rents double, homeowners could still have incurred a loss because someone didn’t advise them properly in the first place.

“We’re ready to help people who have found themselves unwillingly involved in a leasehold mis-selling scandal to bring a professional negligence claim against the conveyancing solicitor they instructed to help with the purchase of the property. If the solicitor failed to give clear advice about the existence and implications of the onerous ground rent clause, we can assist you in claiming compensation for damages due to negligence, which could then help towards the cost of buying the freehold.”

“When a home is sold as a leasehold, the buyer owns only the house itself. The freeholder owns the land, meaning the buyer must pay ground rent annually, which is meant to reflect the value of occupying the land/ground.

“The purchaser occupies the property on the terms set out in a legal agreement called a lease. The leases granted by the house builders to buyers are usually for long periods, such as 250 years or 999 years.

“In recent years, house builders have been selling new build properties to buyers on a leasehold basis, meaning the house builder retained ownership of the freehold. In many cases, house builders then went onto sell the freeholds to third parties, such as investment companies.

“Other payments provided for in long leases can include fees charged by the freeholder to the property, such as building an extension or for agreeing to re-mortgage the property. Ownership returns to the freeholder when the lease comes to an end.”

“Historically, ground rents have been low – no more than around £50 per year. However, in the last few years, house builders have started to increase ground rents to an initial charge of between £250 to £500 a year.

“They have also added clauses in the lease that allow them to review the ground rent periodically, for example, every five, ten or 25 years. Typically, the review clause allows the freeholder to increase the ground rent at each review.

“In theory, a ground rent that doubles every ten years doesn’t sound too bad. However, most leases are set for a long term such as 999 years. If a ground rent of £250 per year doubles every ten years, you can expect to pay £16,000 per year after 60 years. For many people, that’s simply unmanageable.

“If you are a leasehold owner who purchased a new build property in the past ten years, you should check your lease to see what it says about ground rent and what you can expect to pay.”

“Because of national publicity, many buyers are now aware of the problem and unfortunately, will not buy a property with an onerous ground rent clause. The existence of such clauses has also led to banks and building societies refusing to lend on those properties.

“This means that in the unlikely event that a buyer is still prepared to buy a property affected by a ground rent clause, they are highly unlikely to be able to obtain a mortgage to complete the purchase. This clearly has a huge effect on the value of these properties, and, in some cases, they may well be worthless.

“Even to a cash buyer, a property affected by the onerous ground rent terms will be unattractive, as the burden of the clause will be inherited via the purchase.”

“The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill seeks to tackle the inconsistencies and uncertainty of ground rent for future leaseholders so that if you buy leasehold in England and Wales, you only have to pay the freeholder a nominal rent. This bill, if it becomes law, will also introduce new rights for Trading Standards to levy penalties on freeholders of up to £5,000 for breaches of the legislation.

“There are a few exemptions to the new rules outlined in the bill, although these are unlikely to affect the majority of new home buyers taking on a leasehold property in the future. These exemptions include:

·         Business leases where people need to live in the same premises as their workplace to continue to do this and agree with their freeholder the most beneficial and appropriate terms; and,

·         Some parts of the community-led housing sector, so that freeholders can retain the right to levy ground rent to maintain their ability to further promote community activities; and,

·         Certain financial products, which depend on leasehold agreements where rent replaces interest-bearing mortgage repayments.”

A fully accessible Changing Places toilet facility is now available at London Euston station.

The new loo opened as Network Rail continues to make rail travel more accessible for everyone.

Standard accessible toilets do not meet the needs of all disabled people.

A Changing Places toilet facility has:

·         a height-adjustable adult-sized changing bench

·         a ceiling mounted hoist

·         a centrally placed toilet with space either side

·         non-slip floor

·         a height-adjustable washbasin

·         an emergency alarm

The Changing Places toilet is opposite the existing loos on the eastern side of the station.

It’s hoped the investment will give those with profound and multiple disabilities, their carers, assistants and families the confidence to travel through Euston station.

Loraine Martins, Network Rail’s director of diversity and inclusion, said: “It is extremely important that we do all we can to ensure our facilities are as accessible as possible, for all our passengers, and I’m delighted that this Changing Places facility is now open.

“We want to offer the best possible experience for anyone who travels through Euston station, and this is an important step forward in making the rail network more accessible and inclusive for everyone.”

Changing Places manager for Muscular Dystrophy UK, Karen Hoe, which co-chairs the Changing Places Consortium, said: “We’re thrilled that London Euston has opened a Changing Places toilet today, and this will make travel more accessible for people with severe disabilities, including those living with muscle-wasting conditions.

“It’s a basic human right that everyone should be able to use a toilet that is appropriate for their needs with safety and dignity, and Changing Places toilets are a lifeline for the 250,000 people across the UK who rely on then.

“We encourage more train stations to install a Changing Places toilet to help tackle the exclusion that so many disabled people face on a daily basis. Doing so would help make the travel experience more inclusive for people who rely on these toilets.”

Passengers can ask a member of staff to get access to the Changing Places room or use the contact information posted outside the toilet entrance.

Bring it on Brum – the city’s summer holiday activities programme is on its way. This summer Birmingham will be putting on the country’s biggest and most ambitious new holiday activities and food programme - Bring it on Brum!

More than £8m in funding has been secured from the Department for Education’s Holiday Activity Fund for Birmingham and the city council is working with a network of local schools, community groups and commercial activity providers to help them make this summer one for local children to remember.

Open to families with school-aged children aged 5-16, daily activities and food are being laid on for free for those who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals. They are also calling for organisations who are interested in being an activity provider to contact us.

Throughout the holidays, children will be able to enjoy fun and enriching activities along with a nutritious meal served to school meal standards. There will be sports and games, arts and crafts, and lots of different activities to help children socialize, learn something new, recharge their batteries and get ready to return to school.

A short film featuring Marcus Rashford explains more about the Holiday Activities and Food programme.

Councillor Jayne Francis, Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Culture, said: “We know there are families in our city who need support over the summer – with childcare during the working day, and to ensure their children can access good food.

“We’d love to hear from any providers who could step up to this opportunity and help us deliver within walking distance of those who will benefit from it most. Parents can play a big part too, by encouraging their local schools and any other community groups they know of to come forward and offer up their premises or help run a scheme.”

West Midlands customers of Your Co-op Travel, part of The Midcounties Co-operative, will help to create “remember forever” moments for children facing serious challenges, when they book a holiday with the travel company, thanks to a new partnership with charity, Go Beyond.
For every Co-op Holidays package booked in one of the 78 high street travel agencies across England, including 21 in the West Midlands, on the website (cooptravel.co.uk) or via the call centre, Your Co-op Travel will donate £1 per passenger, to Go Beyond. Additionally, customers will be given the option to donate £1 per passenger, to Go Beyond for holiday bookings made with any of the third party, travel companies that Your Co-op Travel agents sell.
Your Co-op Travel has branches in Dudley, Walsall, Sedgley, Solihull, Wednesbury, Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, Stourbridge, Halesowen, Aldridge, Chelmsley Wood, Acocks Green, Wall Heath, Erdington, Bilston, Kingswinford, Bloxwich, Sutton Coldfield, Brownhills and Finchfield, as well as a Carrick Travel shop in Chesleymore, which joined the Your Co-op family in October 2020 but continues to trade as Carrick Travel.
Founded by teachers, John and Paula Vaughn, Go Beyond gives children and young people, aged 8-15, who are facing serious challenges in their everyday lives, a chance for a break. The breaks are a mix of residential stays and day visits, and include a variety of adventurous, imaginative, creative, and reflective experiences through which the children can build skills, make new friends, and try something new. Anyone who works with children, in a professional capacity, can refer a child for a Go Beyond break, which is fully funded by the charity. Throughout the breaks, which will take place at centres in Cornwall and Derbyshire, children collect “I will remember forever” moments, which are shared and celebrated at the end of each day.
Natalie Turner, Head of Branches for Your Co-op Travel, said: “We’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Go Beyond. The charity’s staff and committed volunteers give children and young people who have been bereaved, abused, or bullied, who are living in poverty or caring for loved ones, the chance to escape their worries and pressures.
“As a travel business, we know how important a change of scene and a break from the routine is for maintaining positive mental wellbeing, so for our customers to be able to support Go Beyond in providing getaways for young people, whose day-to-day lives are particularly challenging, is a real honour.
“We’re a co-operative society, so making a difference to our local communities is really important to us and to our members. We are extremely proud that our partnership with Go Beyond will have a positive and lasting impact on children and young people in the Midcounties region, through the charity’s work. Go Beyond’s community focus, vision and ethos mirrors that of Your Co-op Travel and the wider Midcounties Co-operative society.”
Stephen Brearley, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Go Beyond, said: “We are very excited to partner with Your Co-op Travel, part of The Midcounties Co-operative, and their kind customers. The past year has been exceptionally challenging for the children and young people our charity supports, and this partnership, and the generous support from the customers of Your Co-op Travel, will enable us to provide children and young people with breaks that have a lasting impact on their lives.
“Every day we receive emails from professionals referring children to us who desperately need a break from their circumstances. We ensure that each child and young person attends a Go Beyond break that is packed with activities intended to encourage self-belief and inspire adventure. Our biggest hope is for each child to go home knowing they can achieve more than they ever thought possible.
“We’d like to thank Your Co-op Travel and its customers for believing in Go Beyond’s ability to make a lasting difference to so many hundreds of children’s lives every year.”
Your Co-op Travel branch colleagues will have the opportunity to support Go Beyond in a hands-on capacity by using the volunteering hours allocated to them by the society to help in one of the Go Beyond charity shops or on a Go Beyond break. Your Co-op Travel’s branches will also have collection boxes for customers to deposit unused currency as an additional way for them to donate money to Go Beyond.