Community News

With four in ten lifesaving missions funded by a Gift in a Will, legacy giving is crucial to Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s continued operations. Mike Lewis, from Bewdley, a former patient of the lifesaving service, knows all too well the vital role that Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s pre-hospital medical team can play in patients’ outcome. In 2018, aged 76, Mike fell from a set of ladders at his home. Unfortunately, he broke all the ribs down his left side, which resulted in him sustaining a life-threatening injury, a punctured lung.

Mike Lewis says: “I vaguely remember asking my wife, Andrea, if anybody was coming and within minutes, I heard the noise of a helicopter in the distance. The next thing I knew I saw the red trousers of the critical care paramedics walking towards me.” Mike needed urgent treatment and the critical care team on-board Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s Strensham aircraft transported him to the most appropriate trauma centre for his injuries – Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

He said: “I was in so much pain and struggling to breathe with the punctured lung. I know that without Midlands Air Ambulance Charity coming to my rescue on the day of my accident that I simply would not be here. They saved my life.” Since the fall, Mike and his wife of 54 years, Andrea, have done all they can to fundraise and support the helicopter emergency medical service that he dearly owes his life too and has pledged to leave the charity a gift in his Will. 

Mike explains: “I brought the subject up with Andrea and discussed how I wanted to leave a gift in my Will. It’s not much but it’s one of the many ways in which I can continue supporting the charity that saved my life, even after I’m gone.”

Emma Gray, fundraising and marketing director for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, adds: “Legacy donations like Mike’s really help boost our income generation and help make future missions possible.

“We have a range of services available to those considering leaving a Gift in their Will, including a free Will writing scheme with a number of fully vetted solicitors based in the counties we serve signed up to offer the service in partnership with us. There is also an online free Will writing scheme available to take advantage of.”

For anyone interested can visit: www.midlandsairambulance.com/gifts-in-wills to find out more.

Cultural writers are being inviting to get involved in the Page Turner Awards 2021. Sponsored by ProWritingAid, it’s an inclusive writing and book awards with one goal – to change the lives of as many writers as possible. The team at Page Turner Awards passionately believe that talented writers can be from any background, age, race, religion, or interest.

Members of different cultural communities contain talented writers and undiscovered literary gems. Whether it be a memoir or drama, a thriller or the next big comedy involving heroic characters, Page Turner Awards want to pass stories on to their panel of influential literary agents, publishers and film producers. Success stories include three writers winning literary representation, six writers winning a writing mentorship, five writers winning a publishing contract and thirteen independent authors winning an audiobook production.

Beyond the life-changing prizes, Page Turner Awards writers have been most impressed with the scope of support offered to them — a rarity in the world of writing awards, which usually offer little beyond a letter confirming submission. It also offers so much more than a simple prize, but instead has created a supportive writing community and a “movement” focused on author growth and development.

The Page Turner Awards Fiction Writing Award 2020 winner Mark Stibbe, from Kent, says: "I recommend all writers, especially aspiring writers, enter writing contests. I’m so glad I entered! Winning the Page Turner Fiction Writing Award and receiving a literary agent to represent me…wow!"

Agent Yasmin Kane was immediately hooked on Stibbe’s story, A Book In Time, and anticipates a bright publishing career ahead for the novelist. Elizabeth Goodhue from New Hampshire, USA was also delighted to gain recognition for her memoir, The Truth About Down Syndrome, which is an emotive story showing how the lives of people with Down Syndrome can be as rich and rewarding as any other.

She said: “When I heard a literary agent was interested in my book, I couldn't believe it. Now, having been announced as the Writing Award Non-Fiction Winner and with a literary agent representing my writing… I'm stunned! Anyone with a true-life story told well can be a writer and even win an award.”

The Page Turner Awards gives writers and authors the chance to enter unpublished or published fiction and non-fiction and screenplays, to be read by a carefully curated judging panel made up of influential players in the publishing industry. Prizes span everything from mentorships to audiobook production and publishing packages.

Founder of Page Turner Awards and award-winning novelist, Paula Wynne said: “There are writers from all walks of life, from manual labourers to academics, all with stories to tell, and most of them heart-warming and moving. We’re proud that our awards celebrate excellent writing and helps writers and authors to get their stories discovered.” 

There is no doubt that members of different cultures, with their unique experiences shaped by their beliefs, will have some excellent and fascinating stories to share.

The average value of a used car bought online has risen to £7,530 during lockdown three as consumer confidence in buying digitally increases. In the first lockdown, data from warranty company Händler Protect showed the average value of a used car sold by an independent dealer was £5,600, but this figure has risen sharply with each lockdown. As customers become more used to the process of dealing with dealers digitally, the amount of money they are prepared to spend online has grown too.

With car dealers selling cars digitally via click-and-collect and home delivery during lockdown three, the profile of the cars covered by Händler Protect now more closely matches the company’s pre-Covid data. Händler Protect has seen the type of cars purchased digitally change dramatically, based on the used cars it is covering as lockdowns progress. Händler Protect only works with independent dealers, which has allowed it to spot unique trends in the data relating to more than 100,000 cars covered by its warranties.

Händler Protect chief executive Lloyd O’Connor said: “Click-and-collect or home delivery has been a great way for many car dealers in Great Britain to keep trading despite having to close showrooms due to the lockdown. Working only with independent car dealers across the UK has given us a really clear picture of their activity since the start of the pandemic, and we could see during this third lockdown that the value of cars dealers were selling had risen considerably.

“For dealers offering click-and-collect or home delivery services, having a robust warranty in place makes a huge difference when selling to a customer they may never see. It gives our car dealers extra reassurance and they love the customer service we offer their clients, knowing if something goes wrong we’ll handle it for them.”

Cars sold online by independent dealers during the third lockdown are now on average two months younger than the average recorded in January 2020. The cars independent dealers are selling also have on average 3,240 fewer miles on the clock and are £700 more expensive, suggesting customers are now comfortable spending more on a car bought remotely.

·         During the first lockdown, Händler Protect found dealers were selling cheaper cars, which on average sold for £5,600, and they were on average 9.47 years old, with an average of 81,589 miles on the clock.

·         During the second lockdown, the average used car selling price rose to £7,170, cars were 8.84 years old and had travelled 79,475 miles.

·         Now, during the third lockdown, the average selling price has reached £7,530, cars are 8.51 years old, and on average have covered 72,247 miles.

Händler Protect says becoming an Authorised Dealer builds instant consumer confidence that the car is covered, something that can be a challenge for independent dealers on their own. Offering its warranties also gives dealers the extra peace of mind that they are supported by the team, even for a car sold to someone hundreds of miles away, should something go wrong.

The Händler Protect team’s background in car sales, its easy-to-use app and the comprehensive support it provides for customers, including 24/7 breakdown assistance should they need it, has been a lifeline for many car dealers since the start of the pandemic.

Recruiting a new generation of Special Constables from Black and Asian communities to serve in Birmingham’s diverse communities can help tackle gang violence, says the local man vying to be the next Police and Crime Commissioner of the West Midlands when elections are held in May 2021. It comes amid growing calls for an emergency response to prevent rising gang-related violence over spring and summer when Covid lockdown is eased, following the murder of a 15 year old teenager in Handsworth.

Now Capt. Jay Singh-Sohal, who was born and raised in Handsworth, says recruiting more local Specials would ensure a strong uniformed presence on the ground, made up of people representative of diverse communities, who understand and can better engage with residents and youth about gangs and the sub-culture behind it. He sees Specials drawn from inner-city areas as an important element of work the PCC should be doing within the community to defuse and deter gang violence. 

Special Constables are unpaid, volunteer police officers who undertake their policing duties, often in the evenings and on weekends. Many volunteers step forward to become Specials out of a sense of civic duty and desire to serve their communities. They are motivated not by pay, but by using their experience outside of policing to protect life, property and their local area as fully warranted police officers. Recruiting more Specials would build upon the increase in police officers numbers announced by the Government within the three-year uplift programme, which has so far seen 366 extra police officers funded in 2020/21 and 360 in 2021/22.

Jay Singh-Sohal said: “I believe we need a police force that better represents the communities they serve, and we need it now not in a year or two. Under my plan, Specials will be a key part of that. I urge the Labour PCC to accept the need for immediate action and fast track through recruitment and vetting more Specials so they can support the communities they know well as quickly as possible.

We must move quickly to increase representation within our on-street police presence ahead of the potential for rising crime in the summer. “Public trust and confidence in policing has been badly damaged, but we cannot stand idly by and let rising violence affect our youth.  Whilst gang-related crime is complex and requires multiple approaches, we do not have the luxury of time and must act quickly to tackle the potential for rising crime.”

In the West Midlands, the number of Special Constables across the region has declined dramatically, from 937 in 2007 during the last Labour government to 591 in 2010 before the Coalition came to power. The current Labour PCC has reduced the number of Specials further by 63% resulting in just 220 Specials serving the West Midlands as a whole. This is causing concern for Birmingham Northfield MP Gary Sambrook, who wants to see more Specials recruited from his constituency too to tackle local crime issues.  

Gary Sambrook MP said: "It's very telling that the Labour PCC has not responded to rising gang-related crime, he is disconnected to issues affecting Birmingham residents.  He has failed to innovate and utilise Special Constables, who have a vital role to play in community policing.  So it's refreshing to hear Jay's plan to ensure we increase representation but also reach out to communities in Birmingham affected by ever-increasing crime.  I welcome the focus this will bring at a time when residents across our city are worried about violent crime."

The challenge for the approach will be to implement a rapid community recruitment drive at a time when the process for bringing into the force more Specials has been ignored by the current Labour Commissioner. But it can be achieved with strong leadership and focus from the PCC.  By bringing a diverse profile to the top of policing in the West Midlands,  Jay Singh-Sohal believes he can deliver a change in step as PCC to bring in more Specials linked strongly with the communities they are best placed to serve.

The recruitment and training process can take between 8 months to a year, including police vetting.  But some forces, including Essex (where the PCC is a Conservative), have prioritised resources to reduce this down to 18 weeks (or 4 ½ months). Meanwhile, the Bedfordshire PCC has overseen an intensive two-week training course for Specials which replaces the training other forces usually deliver over six weekends. Both have resulted in more Specials being brought in.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has elected its first female leader.

Zara Mohammed said it was an "honour" to be appointed as the new secretary general after winning the most votes in a poll of affiliate groups of the UK's largest Muslim umbrella organisation. She succeeds Harun Khan, who completed a maximum of four years as the head of the MCB.

The Glaswegian, 29, said that she hoped more women and young people would be inspired to seek leadership roles. She said: "I think women sometimes hesitate to take on leadership roles even though they are more than qualified to do so.

"It is really important to engage young people, engage more women and diversify the organisation and the work we are doing."

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted that Ms Mohammed's appointment was "terrific". He said: "I wish the very best of success to Zara Mohammed - may she continue to lead this organisation to greater heights for the betterment of our communities across the country."

Ms Mohammed is a Masters graduate in human rights law and a training and development consultant and she said that she aimed to "continue to build a truly inclusive, diverse and representative body", driven by the needs of British Muslims "for the common good". She previously served as an assistant secretary general for the MCB.

Wasps Rugby Football Club is continuing to support schools across the local community by delivering free education programmes, even through this latest lockdown. The Wasps Community team have spent the last few weeks working hard with local schools to adapt the club’s existing educational offerings into a new, easily accessible virtual delivery model.

By working with teachers locally, Wasps have recognised the need to create a bespoke offer that can support the needs of each school individually. The club are now rolling this out across the region. Delivered by Wasps’ trained community team, we are delighted to confirm the offering to schools locally.

Primary schools can currently access three different options:

·         Pre-recorded Tackling Health video classroom lessons with follow up tasks / worksheets.

·         Live (Online) Tackling Health classroom lessons (delivered via schools’ technology of choice) – This can be delivered both to those children still attending school and those learning at home.

·         In-school physical delivery for those children still attending which can be:

- Classroom lessons based on the Tackling Health programme

- Outdoor PE sessions based on Tag Rugby

The above options can then be tailored to the needs of each school, as our Community Team work with teachers to provide them with the resources most suited to the platforms and timetabling in use at those schools.

 “We have already done a large amount of work to raise awareness of the Premiership Rugby Champions app – which offers free online lesson resources for schools and home-schooling parents alike to use whenever they can,” said Ian Isham, Head of Community at Wasps. “But in addition to the fantastic resource that the app provides, our experienced team can still provide an engaging set of lessons for schools and those learning at home.

“We know how challenging the times are currently for teachers, so if we can help take some pressure off, then that would be fantastic. We provide ready-made lessons centred on the Tackling Health programme, in partnership with Greggs Foundation, which encourages children to become more active and eat more healthily. Supporting our local community is central to everything we do at Wasps. To have been able to adapt our programme offering for schools, so we can continue providing access to them through the pandemic, is a testament to the hard work of our team, and the support provided by local teachers in advising that process.” The Wasps Community coaching staff is also still on hand to continue supporting schools with on-the-ground physical education or coaching for vulnerable or key worker students.

In addition, Premiership Rugby Champions Learn with Us lessons will be streamed live, every Wednesday and Friday at 10.00am. These can be accessed for free either to watch live, or on demand. Designed and delivered by Premiership Rugby Champions teachers, the lessons will use rugby to inspire primary school aged children to learn mathematics and PHSE in a short, fun and interactive way.

The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation has won Sweden's Olof Palme human rights prize for 2020.

Organisers said the movement was honoured for promoting "peaceful civil disobedience against police brutality and racial violence" across the globe. They noted that about 20 million people had taken part in Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in the US alone, along with millions more around the world.

An online prize-giving ceremony was due to take place in Stockholm with the $100,000 (£73,000) annual prize commemorating Olof Palme, the Swedish prime minister and prominent human rights advocate who was assassinated in Stockholm in 1986.

Founded in the United States, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement became an international slogan last year following several more resent high-profile cases of police brutality against, and murders of, African-Americans. Protests that followed the deaths of two latter-day murder victims - George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others - saw chapters of Black Lives Matter spread across the US and around the world.

"This illustrates that racism and racist violence is not just a problem in American society, but a global problem," prize organisers said. They said the foundation had "in a unique way exposed the hardship, pain, and wrath of the African-American minority at not being valued equal to people of a different colour".

A Norwegian MP, Petter Eide, has nominated the BLM foundation for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. In his nomination papers, Mr Eide said the movement had become an "important worldwide movement to fight racial injustice".

Sandwell Council has nominated a local children’s charity to receive this year’s donation from the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM). The scheme donates to charities that focus on bereavement related services or provide support to bereaved families. Every year the ICCM, distribute funds that have been generated from recycling metals recovered following cremations.

Councillor Wasim Ali, cabinet member responsible for bereavement services, said: “We are very proud to be part of the ICCM’s charity scheme. Acorns Children’s Hospice, like all charities, has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The donation will go a long way to help Acorns support the children and families of Sandwell and the wider Black Country during what continue to be very difficult times. I would ask all Sandwell residents and businesses to continue to support local charities, including Acorns Children’s Hospice."

Deputy Leader, Councillor Maria Crompton, added: "It's great that we can help a worthy cause and continue to support children across the Black Country who are coping with a bereavement." Claire Snape, Area Fundraiser for Acorns, said: “We’re thrilled to have been nominated to receive this incredible donation. The children and families who use Acorns need us as much as ever during this time of uncertainty as we continue to provide our vital children’s hospice care and lifeline support.

“This very generous donation will help us be there for families who rely on our support, including those who are bereaved. On behalf of everyone at Acorns, we could not be more grateful – thank you.”

Acorns Children’s Hospice provides specialist palliative care for children and young people with life limiting and life threatening conditions across Sandwell and the wider West Midlands, as well as support for their families. Over the past year Acorns has supported around 200 children and their families from its Black Country hospice, including those who are bereaved.

Acorns has been at the forefront in the battle against coronavirus, supporting some of the most vulnerable families in the community as well as the emergency response of the NHS and social care system. It costs £27,000 every day to run Acorns services providing care for children and support for their families.

The charity relies heavily on donations to fund the majority of its activities.

With houses flying off the market, online mortgage comparison and financial informational site Bankrate UK, a group of developers, financial journalists, UX designers and engineers with a really big idea – to make home-buying easy, has delved into official council data to find out where the country’s worst neighbours live based on noise complaints.

Armed with FOI (Freedom of Information) requests from 75 councils across the UK, Bankrate has revealed some of the biggest neighbour grievances and where in the UK these noisy neighbours live.

Looking at the music, DIY and dog noise complaints each council received over the last three years, and working out how many complaints this equates to per 50,000 residents, the mortgage comparison experts have been able to find the top 10 most raucous neighbourhoods in the country, and of course the most harmonious. And the results might surprise you.

The 10 noisiest neighbourhoods:

The 10 most harmonious neighbourhoods:

A full breakdown of the noisy neighbours per complaint can be found at: https://www.bankrate.com/uk/mortgages/neighbour-complaints

Tomorrow’s Holocaust Memorial Day will be commemorated in Sandwell by the laying of wreaths of daffodils in the memorial garden at Highfields Register Office, West Bromwich.

Council buildings – Highfields and Sandwell Council House in Oldbury will be lit purple; the colour adopted by the Holocaust Memorial Trust, from 3.30pm onwards. Those attending the online Full Council will mark Holocaust Memorial Day, with a moment of silent reflection at the start of the meeting, led by the Mayor, Councillor Dr Ann Jaron. The theme for this year is: Be the Light in the Darkness.

Sandwell Mayor, Councillor Dr Ann Jaron, who will be releasing a special video message, urged people to mark the day safely at home. Cllr Jaron, whose own Polish grandfather was murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp, said: "Because of the current COVID-19 restrictions, we are unable to hold our annual commemoration ceremony. 

"A member of staff from Highfields will lay a wreath in memory of those murdered and to stand against prejudice and hate.  We will also be lighting up Highfields and Sandwell Council House to pay tribute to those who lost their lives.” The Mayor also added, "People can mark the day at home by lighting a candle at 8pm, reflecting the theme of this year's Holocaust Memorial Day - Be the Light in the Darkness."

A wreath will also be laid by Highfields staff on behalf of the West Midlands Lieutenancy.

Daffodils represent the yellow stars that Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust and symbolise both remembrance and resilience, and were used in the Daffodil project 2015, commemorating Holocaust Memorial.

The UK Holocaust Memorial Day 2021 ceremony will be streamed online from 7pm- 8pm tomorrow (January 27) and households are urged to light a candle and safely display it in their window at 8pm.

Larry King, giant of US broadcasting who achieved worldwide fame for interviewing political leaders and celebrities, has died.

King conducted an estimated 50,000 interviews in his six-decade career, which included 25 years as host of the popular CNN talk show Larry King Live. He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, according to Ora Media, a production company he co-founded.

Earlier this month, he was treated in hospital for Covid-19, US media say. The talk show host, famous for his braces and rolled-up sleeves, had faced several health problems in recent years, including heart attacks.

King was married eight times to seven women and had five children. Two of them died last year within weeks of each other - daughter Chaia died from lung cancer and son Andy of a heart attack. He carried out interviews with every sitting US president from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama and a number of world leaders. His other high-profile guests included Dr Martin Luther King, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Lady Gaga.

"For 63 years and across the platforms of radio, television and digital media, Larry's many thousands of interviews, awards, and global acclaim stand as a testament to his unique and lasting talent as a broadcaster," Ora Media said in a statement, without giving the cause of death.

Born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger in Brooklyn, New York, in 1933, King rose to fame in the 1970s with his radio programme The Larry King Show, on the commercial network Mutual Broadcasting System. In 1985 he launched Larry King Live on the fledgling CNN, and became one of the network's biggest stars. The programme, broadcast around the world, was a success with audiences, with King answering thousands of phone calls from viewers.

He earned a number of honours, including two Peabody awards, but was also criticised for his non-confrontational approach and open-ended questions. King boasted of not doing much research for the interviews so, he said, he could learn along with viewers.

By 2010 his ratings had dropped significantly, with critics saying King's approach felt out-dated in an era of more aggressive interviewing styles. King then announced his retirement, saying: "It's time to hang up my nightly suspenders." In his final programme on CNN, he told his viewers: "I don't know what to say, except to you, my audience, thank you. Instead of goodbye, how about so long?" CNN replaced him with British journalist and broadcaster Piers Morgan, whose programme King criticised for being "too much about him".

Morgan, whose programme was cancelled three years later, said on Twitter on Saturday: "Larry King was a hero of mine until we fell out after I replaced him at CNN & he said my show was 'like watching your mother-in-law go over a cliff in your new Bentley.' (He married 8 times so a mother-in-law expert)." But, Morgan added, King "was a brilliant broadcaster & masterful TV interviewer."

In a statement, CNN president Jeff Zucker said: "The scrappy young man from Brooklyn had a history-making career spanning radio and television. His curiosity about the world propelled his award-winning career in broadcasting, but it was his generosity of spirit that drew the world to him."

Most recently, King hosted another programme, Larry King Now, broadcast on Hulu and RT, Russia's state-controlled international broadcaster. A Kremlin spokesman was quoted as saying by state RIA Novosti news agency: "King repeatedly interviewed Putin. The president has always appreciated his great professionalism and unquestioned journalistic authority."

Outside broadcasting, King founded the Larry King Cardiac Foundation in 1988, a charity which helps to fund heart treatment for those with limited financial means or no medical insurance.

He was 87

Former The Only Way Is Essex star Mick Norcross has died. The businessman and father of Kirk Norcross, who also starred in the ITV show, was found dead at his home in Bulphan.

Essex Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious. In tributes on social media, fellow Towie stars past and present, including Gemma Collins and James Argent, called him "one of the good guys" and a "true gentleman".

Norcross first appeared in the reality show in 2011 in his position as owner of Sugar Hut, a Brentwood nightclub which was often attended by the cast. He left the show two years later, stating that the venue's prominent place in Towie had damaged its brand.

The star posted a tweet to his 505,000 followers saying: "At the end remind yourself that you did the best you could. And that's good enough." The club tweeted that "Mr Sugarhut" had been a "very talented, friendly and fun guy" and a "true Essex legend, who will be sorely missed".

Collins, who briefly dated Norcross during their time on the show, shared a photo of them together on Instagram and said he had been "one of the good guys", while Argent tweeted that he had been "a true gentleman and a very kind man".

Tributes were also shared by Towie stars Lauren Goodger and Mario Falcone, with the latter tweeting that he was "thankful I got the privilege of having you in my life". TV chef James Martin, Loose Women's Denise Welch, presenter Denise Van Outen and film producer Jonathan Sothcott also paid tribute to him online.

An Essex Police spokesman said officers "were called to an address in Brentwood Road, Bulphan" and "sadly, a man inside was pronounced dead". The police spokesman said the death was "not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner".

He was 57.

Four charities based in the West Midlands have won a £1,000 Christmas gift thanks to nominations from the public. The charities were nominated to win a share of £120,000 as part of specialist insurer Ecclesiastical's annual 12 days of giving Christmas campaign.

University Hospitals Birmingham Charity, which provides anything that is ‘over and above’ what the NHS offers; whether that be equipment, facilities, research or welfare for staff and patients, and the Birmingham Dogs Home, which focuses on animal welfare in the Midlands (see notes for full list¹), are among the local charities set to benefit from the money following overwhelming public support in the area.

10,005 West Midlands residents nominated a cause close to their hearts, with 102 charitable causes in the area receiving votes. The 120 winning charities across the UK were picked at random from those nominated. The full list of the 120 charity winners is available to view online at: www.movementforgood.com/12days

Thanking supporters in the West Midlands, Mark Hews, Group CEO at Ecclesiastical, said: “Owned by a charity, here at Ecclesiastical our core purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society, so charitable giving is at the heart of our business. We know that £1,000 can make a huge difference to the incredible work that charities do, and we’re looking forward to seeing how this financial boost will change lives for the better.

“We hope these donations can bring a positive end to a difficult year and a promising start to 2021.”

A representative from University Hospitals Birmingham Charity said: “The donation went towards our Christmas Appeal to fund hampers for staff and patients, trees around our hospitals, toys for children and activities for elderly patients. Last year was especially difficult in our hospitals. Staff have been working tremendously hard throughout the new and unfamiliar conditions and ultimately they are scared to go to work.

“There were approximately 1000 patients who spent Christmas in hospital and over 20,000 members of staff who worked over Christmas period. The donation helped us make Christmas in our hospitals that little bit more special!”

Last year, Ecclesiastical launched its latest Impact Report to celebrate some of the many good causes it has helped.

Sandwell’s Deputy Council Leader has paid a heartfelt tribute to Tipton Twin, Doris Hobday, following an announcement by her family that she has passed away after losing her battle with Covid-19.

Doris, aged 96, along with her twin and soul mate Lil, had gained a huge national following on radio, television and social media. Her family posted a tribute on Facebook stating Doris had passed away on Tuesday 5 January, after a short stay in hospital. Sister Lil, who was also admitted to hospital, with Covid-19, has been discharged and is now recovering at home.

Known as the Tipton Twins, the pair gained national recognition with their cheeky and humorous appearances on radio and television, as well as starring on the front of the Sandwell Herald. The family thanked staff at Sandwell Hospital and urged people to take the Covid-19 vaccine when it was offered to them.

Deputy Council Leader, Councillor Maria Crompton, said: “Our hearts go out to Lil and all the family. Doris has been such a huge part of their lives and a much-loved iconic character in Sandwell, alongside Lil.

“We will be remembering her and sending all our love to the family. How wonderful – and how typical of this family - that even at this time of loss, they find time to think of other people and take this opportunity to encourage everyone to get vaccinated as soon as they get the chance. 

“Please do take the advice.”

Donations can be made to the Beacon Centre for the Blind, who helped Doris’s husband, Ray, and people are also invited to post their own tributes.

A major incident has been declared as Storm Christoph is set to bring widespread flooding to parts of England. The Met Office issued an amber weather warning for rain in Yorkshire and the Humber, the North West, East Midlands and the east of England. The Environment Agency said the combination of heavy rain and snowmelt created a "volatile situation".

Sandbags were laid in at-risk areas, with up to 70mm (2.75in) of rain due. In isolated spots, particularly in the northern Peak District and parts of the southern Pennines, 200mm (7.87in) could be possible.

In the amber warning area, the Met Office said there was a "danger to life" due to fast-flowing or deep floodwater, and told some communities they could be "cut off" by flooded roads. It also predicted delays and cancellations to public transport, with the amber warning in place until 12:00 GMT on Thursday.

Ros Jones, mayor of Doncaster, said key risk areas had been inspected over the past 36 hours, with the delivery of sandbags continuing on Tuesday.

"I do not want people to panic, but flooding is possible so please be prepared," she said.

The Environment Agency issued 16 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected and immediate action required, covering parts of Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Merseyside, Staffordshire and Northamptonshire as of yesterday. A further 110 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, were issued across northern England, the Midlands and the east.

Catherine Wright, acting executive director for flood and coastal risk management at the Environment Agency, said: "That rain is falling on very wet ground and so we are very concerned that it's a very volatile situation and we are expecting significant flooding to occur on the back of that weather."

She said the agency would be working with local authorities to help with evacuation efforts should a severe flood warning be issued, adding: "If you do need to evacuate then that is allowed within the Covid rules the government has."

Discussing the different levels of flood warnings, she said: "If you receive a flood alert, please pack valuables like medicines and insurance documents in a bag ready to go.

“If you receive a flood warning, please move valuables and precious possessions upstairs and be ready to turn off gas, electricity and water. If you receive a severe flood warning, which means you will be evacuated, please listen out and take heed of the advice from the local emergency services."

A yellow rain alert is also in place for Wales, Northern Ireland, central and northern England and southern Scotland. This yellow warning extends to the rest of England from Wednesday, with a yellow alert for snow and ice in north east Scotland.

Highways England advised drivers to take extra care on motorways and major A roads, while the RAC breakdown service said motorists should only drive if absolutely necessary.

Sunrise: 8 August 1952 Sunset: 17 January 2021

Sheldon Barnett (aka Steven/Shelly) was born in Clarendon, Jamaica - a talented sportsman who was a prolific member of the Oaklands Football Club in the 1970’s.
Sheldon also loved to play cricket and joined a regional Cricket team touring the country in the 1980’s.
Later, Sheldon joined the BCA Birmingham, actively participating in regional and overseas tournaments as a lively member of the Dominoes team.
Sheldon was a social butterfly, one of life’s characters who was well known by many.
In recent years, Sheldon fought bravely against illness but sadly lost his fight for life and passed away on 17 January 2021. He leaves behind his wife Karen, 6 adult children – Claire, Nickola, Talisa, Andrae, Leon and Annmarie, 4 stepchildren, 15 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. Also his mother Nan Doris, brothers Derek, Jonah and Richard; sisters Jean, Angie, Joyce, Joan, Jennifer and nieces/nephews/great nieces
Sheldon – forever loved and missed. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

Words by Butterfly1965