Community News

Eden Project visitors will be pitted against villains springing from the pages of some of the most popular children's books ever as Roald Dahl's Halloweden is unleashed this October half-term (October 21-29).

The whole family can brave challenges from notorious characters such as the ghastly giants from Roald Dahl's The BFG and those devious practical jokers, Mr and Mrs Twit.

Roald Dahl's Halloweden will consist of a terrifying trail of immersive experiences across Eden based on five of the most iconic stories.

The Witches inspires a scary – but vitally important – training session for spotting real witches while Fantastic Mr Fox's Farm challenges visitors to travel through tunnels and sneak out plump chickens whilst evading capture from Boggis, Bunce and Bean.

Mr and Mrs Twit's house is full of terrible tricks and pranks and The BFG's cave is a magical, mystical wonder – just be sure to tiptoe from the dream-making station so as not to wake the sleeping giants.

Matilda's formidable headmistress and former Olympian Miss Trunchbull has set some demanding sports day challenges which must be mastered to avoid ending up in the Chokey.

Polly Randle, Eden Live Project Lead, said: “This Halloweden is going to be extra special with the addition of some of the scariest and most memorable villains from everyone's favourite Roald Dahl's stories.

“We're delighted to have the involvement of the Roald Dahl Literary Estate in creating this unique and imaginative programme that is all set to delight – and terrify – all our visitors.”

Bernie Hall, Marketing Director at Roald Dahl Literary Estate, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Eden during the Halloweden event this year as it provides the perfect opportunity for some of our most infamous villains to be a part of one of the most popular events in the UK and at Eden, and for visitors to be able to experience this enchanting event.

“It has been fantastic to further our relationship with Eden which began with the Biomes hosting Lego Billy for Roald Dahl Day this year.”

Roald Dahl's Halloweden takes place every day from October 21 to 29 and is included in the price of admission to Eden with no booking required.

For an evening of fang-tastic fun the popular party extravaganza Little Monsters' Ball returns to Eden on Saturday, October 28, at 6pm.

Everyone can don their favourite Halloween costumes and shake their bones on one of two dancefloors before indulging in some ghoulish grub such as eyeball pizza or roasted bat wings.

They can then enjoy a spine-tingling skate on the eerie Eden ice rink which will be open throughout half-term week.

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is searching for four choirs from the Midlands area to be part of an event to mark the Twelfth Night of Christmas on Saturday 6 January 2018.

Coinciding with the RSC’s forthcoming production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the Company is holding a Wassail in Stratford-upon-Avon.  Roughly translated as ‘be in good health’, wassailing is an English tradition taking place on the Twelfth Night of Christmas, which involves singing the health of apple trees in the hope that they might yield a good harvest.

Choirs of any size, whose members should be aged 18 or over, will be provided with the music for six wassailing songs in advance for them to learn for the big day.  The songs will be arranged by Paul Sartin, founding member of award-winning folk ensembles such as Belshazzar’s Feast, Faustus and Bellowhead.

On the day of the Wassail itself, the choirs will need to spend a full day in Stratford, arriving for rehearsals at 11am and singing between 2-5pm.  The choirs will perform in outdoor locations near the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, including Shakespeare’s New Place.

Louisa Davies from the RSC Events and Exhibition team said, “Given that we are performing Shakespeare’s great comedy, Twelfth Night, over the festive period, it felt the perfect moment to stage the RSC’s first wassail.  We are looking for choirs from within a 25 mile radius of Stratford to get involved, learn new arrangements of some rousing wassailing songs, and sing their hearts out here at this very special time of year.”

A local charity has created a new marathon challenge that everyone can get involved in – whether they’re a running novice or a busy, working parent.

Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice has launched the ‘i-Marathon’, a new sporting event which allows running enthusiasts to cover 26.2 miles across the month of October.

The unique challenge allows participants to choose how far, how often, when and where they run – so long as they finish the marathon distance within one month.

So whether that’s one mile on the treadmill for 26 days or six miles in the local park every weekend, the i-Marathon is perfect for beginners who want to get into running, people with busy lifestyles, or those who simply want to get more fit and active.

Measuring the distance is easy, which can be done via activity trackers on watches and phones, apps such as Runkeeper, and a paper progress chart which is available in the charity’s free welcome pack.

Those runners that cover the 26.2 miles and raise a minimum sponsorship will also be rewarded with their own commemorative medal.

Created by Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, the DIY-style marathon will help raise crucial funds for the Selly Park-based charity which provides expert care to individuals and families living with terminal illness.

Lucy Watkins, events manager at Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, said: “With Birmingham gearing up for its first-ever marathon this October, our very own i-Marathon is the perfect alternative for those who want to go the distance but do so at their own pace.

“Marathons are tough but by spreading the distance across the month of October, we hope that more people feel like they can take on the challenge.

“As well as the satisfaction of completing such a gruelling distance, participants will also be helping to make a big difference to local families living with terminal illness. It costs £22,000 to run our Hospice each day and so we rely on the generosity of local people to help us continue to provide our services. All sponsorship money will go towards the Hospice, helping us reach even more individuals, families and carers living in Birmingham and Sandwell.”

Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice offers a wide range of services in a number of settings, providing free care and support to over 1,200 local families living with terminal illness.

Primary schools in Birmingham have joined thousands of UK children to take part in a whale sized schools project throughout October.

ORCA, a leading UK marine conservation charity, is launching its first ever Whale Education Month to coincide with World Animal Day on the October 4^th.

The new marine conservation scheme aims to inspire pupils about the wonders of whales and dolphins, pointing out that a third of all whale and dolphin species can be found in European waters and many around the coast of Britain.

The charity’s expert conservationists have produced free resources for teachers to help them inspire the next generation of marine biologists.  Teachers are encouraged to deliver the materials throughout October.

Birmingham schools have already signed up to take part and ORCA are hoping many more will sign up to use their educational and exciting lessons packs.

The project provides three hour-long sessions about the rich wildlife that lives in UK & European waters, shining a light on the wonderful whales, dolphins and porpoises that live right on our doorstep.

The teacher’s pack includes interactive presentations, activities and games to inspire students about the creatures that live in the oceans around us and ways that we can protect them.  The packs will be available free to all teachers that sign up and all activities have been specifically designed to link in with the national curriculum.

Anna Bunney, ORCA Education Coordinator, said: “We felt a special month was the ideal way to highlight these amazing animals to youngsters.  Inspiring students about the fascinating marine wildlife around them is crucial.  Not many people realise a huge range of different species of whale, dolphin and porpoise live in and visit waters around the UK.  With these new education packs, we are reaching a whole new group of children and inspiring students all around the country about how they can help protect whales and dolphins for the future.  Hopefully these materials will inspire a whole new generation of marine biologists!”

Wolverhampton will be celebrating the first-ever National Libraries Week with a host of activities across the City.

CILIP, the library and information association, is organising the week-long celebration of Britain’s much-loved libraries from Monday to Friday, 9-14 October, 2017 – and Wolverhampton’s libraries will be marking it with a wide-ranging programme for all the family.

As well as regular activities such as story times and children’s clubs, it includes author talks, poetry events and digital workshops.

It gets underway on Saturday 7 October with African Tales with storyteller Grace Bennett at Central Children’s Library at noon, which is also marking Black History Month. On the same day, Wednesfield Library will host a talk on the Second World War by Guy McElvery from noon-12.45pm.

Pop up poet Jane Seabourne will be on the prowl at Central Library on Monday 9 October from 11am-1pm as she completes a mini residency project, while volunteers from the Coventry Building Society will be offering help to job hunters about CV writing and online applications at Central Library from 2pm-4pm.

Also on Monday, writer and performance poet Emma Purshouse will be sharing entertaining anecdotes about her life as a professional writer at Warstones Library from 5.45pm-6.45pm.

Central Library will be marking World Mental Health Day on Tuesday 10 October as mental health practitioners hold a tea and talk from 10am-2pm, while a check and send service for people who wish to apply for or renew blue badges will be taking place at East Park Library from 9am-1pm.

Other attractions on Tuesday include storytime for under 5s at Warstones Library from 2.15pm-3pm, in which Peppa Pig will go to the dentist, while local author Guy McElvery will be talking about his latest publication, The Stranger at the Window, at Penn Library from 3pm-3.45pm.

Emma Purshouse comes to Central Library on Wednesday 11 October to host a workshop on creating “flash fiction” from 4pm-6pm. People will be able to take part in three fun activities which will introduce them to the art of writing short stories.

Children aged five and over can get creative at a Lego club at Finchfield Library on Thursday 12 October from 5pm-6.30pm, while digital champions from Lloyds Bank will be on hand to help people get online and improve their computer skills at Central Library from 10.30am-12.30pm.

The programme continues on Friday 13 October with an afternoon of tea and poetry at Ashmore Park Community Hub hosted by Marion Cocklin and Bert Flitcroft from 1pm-2.15pm, and concludes with three activities on Saturday 14 October.

They include a pop up workshop for 16 to 25-year-olds on writing haiku-sized poems for bookmarks led by Jasmine Kardos at Central Library from 11am-1pm, fun with magician Ronnie Cracker at Bilston Library from 1pm-2pm and a Diwali-themed storytime for younger visitors to Central Library from 12.15pm-1pm.

Councillor John Reynolds, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: “Through our Transforming Libraries Strategy we are responding to demand from customers for more events in our libraries, and we are delighted to present this wide-ranging programme for National Libraries Week.

“It celebrates the fact that libraries are no longer just about books, but are places where people can explore a hobby, brush up on their IT skills, find a job or simply have some fun.”

The Arenacross Tour is set to burst into 2018 with a bigger and better format for its seven-round action-packed UK indoor Motocross race series and Freestyle extravaganza - and the third leg of the Tour will take place at the Genting Arena, Birmingham, on Saturday the 20th of January.

AX is high-octane entertainment at its very best. It throws together an intoxicating mix of world-class indoor Motocross racing, high-flying Freestyle Motocross and a show to rival any music festival. In its five-year history, it has seen thousands of fans streaming through its doors every year.

Enthusiastic fans packed out the Genting Arena, when the 2017 Tour visited Birmingham earlier this year. They enjoyed a night of tense race action, high-air FMX antics, lights, lasers and music. The West Midlands fans were vocal in their support of the home riders and virtually raised the roof when a British rider fought off the charge of the internationals to take a podium position for the first time.

2018 promises to again deliver an electrifying Tour. A crammed agenda will cater for mini-racing gladiators from the age of seven – who manage to fit in school and homework around the gruelling AX races - right through to the most talented line-up of Arenacross Pro racers ever to place a wheel on UK soil.

Away from the racing line, the Freestyle MX boys never fail to impress with their electrifying, high-air whips and flips which keep the audience hollering for more. In its five-year stint, the UK Arenacross series has been revered for showcasing FMX at its very best and that’s why the big-hitters of the sport, the FMX royalty, have made the series a must-do affair and worked it into their busy schedules. When it comes to AX; X-Games gold medallists and Nitro Circus superstars abound with Spaniard Edgar Torronteras and the UK’s very own Jamie Squibb and the Bolddog Team at the fore, together with arguably the most spectacular double-flipper in the world, 6’ 4” Czech uber-cool superman, Petr Pilat.

Commenting on the growth and popularity of Arenacross, ArenaSports Live (the company behind AX) boss Matt Bates said; “I believe we have a massive future! As well as ramping up the AX experience for our UK based fans, we’re extending into Europe next year and I’m set on making sure we develop both the riders’ rewards, team support and take the entertainment of AX to a whole new level.”

Arenacross 2018

20 January 2018, Genting Arena

Over 4,500 stores have signed up to the National Autistic Society’s Autism Hour. Autism Hour is the UK’s first major week-long event where shops and businesses across the UK will dim their lights, turn down music and share information about autism for 60 minutes on the week of 2 October.

The National Autistic Society is encouraging autistic adults, children and their families to attend Autism Hours in their local area by using the interactive map which shows which shops and businesses will be taking part throughout the week. The map allows users to zoom in to where you live, filter by category and start planning your visit.

Marks and Spencer, Clarks, Superdrug, John Lewis, Toys ‘R’ Us, Sainsbury’s and Mothercare are also among the 4,500 individual stores that have signed up, and Lloyds Banking Group will be supporting by educating their colleagues about autism during Autism Hour to support customers.

Mark Lever, Chief Executive at the National Autistic Society, said:

“The National Autistic Society is proud to be launching the first ever UK wide Autism Hour event and is thrilled that it’s involving such a vast number of shops and businesses.

“A National Autistic Society survey found that 64% of autistic people avoid going to the shops, and 28% have been asked to leave a public place for reasons associated with their autism. We are confident that the National Autistic Society’s Autism Hour will provide an opportunity for autistic people and their families to use shops and services that the general public take for granted.

“We are encouraging autistic adults, children and their families to head to the interactive map on our website so they can plan visits to local shops and businesses and enjoy a break from the overload of too much information.

“It is incredible to see that over 4,500 stores across the UK are taking part in this new event and we hope to build on this year on year.”

More than 1 in 100 people are on the autism spectrum which means that someone sees, hears and feels the world in a different, often more intense way to other people. Autistic people often find social situations difficult and struggle to filter out the sounds, smells, sights and information they experience which means they feel overwhelmed by ‘too much information’ when out in public.

The National Autistic Society’s Autism Hour is supported by shopping centre owner intu and will take place in 14 of their shopping centres across the UK including intu Trafford centre, intu Lakeside and intu Metrocentre. Staff at intu centres already receive training to provide autism-aware customer service and autistic people also benefit from guides that allow them to plan and prepare a visit to each intu centre.

Misty mornings, ripening blackberries, windfall apples and the golden, orange and red hues of falling leaves provide dazzling displays of autumn colour on the nation's beautiful waterways. The Canal & River Trust has handpicked 11 sites across the country that provide special places to visit and to wonder at nature's farewell to the summer.

Pull on your wellies and woollies and get set for some great woodland walks by the water. Prepare for conker fights, leaf-catching competitions and scrunching through deep drifts of leaves as well as some splendid seasonal views of our historic canals.

Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Farnhill, Nr Kildwick, North Yorkshire

As the mill towns drift into countryside follow the Leeds & Liverpool Canal as it snakes from Bingley towards Skipton. At Farnhill there's a sheer wooded cutting that provides an impressive ravine to journey through. Each side of this tiny wooded valley and Farnhill Wood provide displays of beech, oak, silver birch and sycamore interspersed with some evergreen holly bushes.

Getting there: park along the Main Street in Farnhill, just off the A629 to Skipton, BD20 9BW.

Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal, Brecon, Wales

Meandering through the Welsh countryside the isolated Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal is the most popular attraction in the stunning Brecon Beacons National Park. It is one of the Canal & River Trust's most beautiful and peaceful waterways following the line of the lovely wooded Usk Valley. Travelling west towards Brecon a wooded bank of beech trees provide a golden backdrop to huge landscape views of the Usk Valley. From here it's a short walk to the basin in Brecon where there's a café for a cosy lunch. The navigable section of the canal runs for 35 miles from Brecon to the Pontymoile basin. Its location makes it a haven for wildlife and a favourite with nature-lovers, walkers and cyclists.

Getting there: park roadside where the B4558 crosses the canal and River Usk. Brecon, South Wales LD3 7UY.

Kennet & Avon Canal, Avoncliff Aqueduct, Avoncliff, Wiltshire

Surrounded by woodland the Avoncliff Aqueduct is a stately spot to view the beautiful turning colours of the Bath Valley. The woodland here is made up of a rich variety of trees and includes oak, ash, sycamore, hazel and hawthorn. The aqueduct at 100m long and 18m wide provides a pale limestone contrast with the colourful displays of leaves. If you're lucky, this is a great spot to see bats flying to and from the tall arches of the aqueduct and wandering deer feeding on hedgerow leaves and berries.

Next year’s Wolverhampton Original Literature Festival (WOLF) has received a funding boost from Arts Council England. The city’s inaugural festival in January proved a popular event with audiences.

Following a successful bid from City of Wolverhampton Council’s libraries service, it has now secured £13,250 from the Arts Council’s Grants for Arts programme to help it grow in 2018.

The additional funding means the literature festival’s future is secured for the next five years, with money from the Arts Council England National Portfolio for organisations already in place for 2019-22.

The 2018 festival, from Friday, January 26 to Sunday 28, will follow a similar format to the first as organisers look to build it over the next five years and make it a permanent fixture in the calendar.

City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Economy, Councillor John Reynolds, said: “We will grow the festival over the next few years to create a unique Wolverhampton flavour.

“Themes will include music and literature, politics and journalism, and community voices.

“People at different stages of their careers will also be given a chance to perform alongside headline acts.”

Organisers are keen to hear from writers, poets and community groups who want to get involved and link in with the festival’s programme of authors and speakers, which will be announced in the coming months.

Care workers in the London borough of Haringey are to be given the time and support they need to do their work, through a new ethical charter.

Haringey Council has signed up to UNISON’s ethical care charter, which sets out a series of commitments to protect the rights of home care workers’ and give them greater freedom to focus on the needs of the people they care for.

Under the charter, Haringey is committed to replacing zero hours contracts with guaranteed hours, and to make full payment for travel time between home care visits.

The new code means the commissioning of home care visits will always be shaped by what is best for the person being cared for and the care worker, not by the need to meet a certain quota of visits or complete care duties in a set timeframe.

Haringey Council cabinet member for finance and adult services Councillor Jason Arthur said:

“I’m proud to have signed UNISON’s ethical care charter. We’re committed to ensuring that Haringey’s residents get the best possible care, and to making sure that those who choose to devote their working lives to caring for some of the most vulnerable people in our communities get the right professional support to do so.

“Haringey has a proud tradition of union support and we are committed to protecting the rights of our residents, and of those who work on behalf of the borough.”

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said:

“Making this commitment to decent employment conditions for care workers is vital for improving the quality of life for the people they look after.

“UNISON’s ethical care charter is leading the way in highlighting the importance of care work and in fighting to win the pay and conditions they deserve.”

UNISON’s ethical care charter has three key elements covering visits, quality of care and pay. It includes abolishing time limits on homecare visits, giving care workers the freedom to provide appropriate care and spend sufficient time talking to clients and paying care workers for travel time and expenses. It also covers giving vulnerable people the same home care worker wherever possible, providing home care workers with training opportunities, paying the London living wage (currently £9.15 per hour), and giving home care workers sick pay.

West Bromwich Albion's inaugural Diversity Day will be at The Hawthorns on Saturday - and this week they are letting you how you can celebrate the event with their packed day of highlights for fans to enjoy in the build-up to their Premier League clash against Watford which they hope will continue to prove that the club remains at the forefront of change through football.

There will be a range of activities highlighting the club's equality, inclusiveness and togetherness as they try to inspire and help their community both close to home and abroad.

You can get a flavour of Albion's work beyond the hallowed turf of The Hawthorns and stay with them all this week at wba.co.uk to learn more.

Find out about new supporters' clubs which highlight the Baggies' increasingly diverse backing or seize the chance to help our old favourite Jonas Olsson and his pioneering work in the slums of India.

You can also discover more, too, about such projects as Soho Albion, the Academy-funded free-of-charge junior outfit in the multicultural local ward of the same name.

And on the day itself, they've got a blaze of activity to enjoy in and around the stadium.

The Premier Legue team will be celebrating particularly the cultural traditions of their fans from the Asian and Chinese communities while the Fanzone becomes the focal point for a fusion of musical and culinary delights.

Also in the Fanzone, there will be the WBA FC Women's players who will be taking up a great new Football Dartboard Challenge. Or you can test your ability in a Blind Football penalty shoot-out.

Even the face painters will be catching the mood as they offer international flags and the 'Together We Are Albion' logo among their creations.

And they will be celebrating football's most famous barrier-breaking symbol - the club's cherished 'Three Degrees' team in which Brendon Batson, Cyrille Regis and the late Laurie Cunningham overcame bigotry and racism to lead football towards a more enlightened age.

Regis, Batson and representatives of the Cunningham family will be special Fans' Champions before kick-off on Saturday, bringing the match ball to the Premier League plinth and sending a message about Albion's place in the story of diversity.

The pounding beats of Dhol drummers will even take on the challenge of joining with 'The Liquidator' as the celebrations peak towards kick-off.

As the West Midlands-based giants say themselves; “There's never been a more important time to be together than now.”

A visit to Staffordshire's Trentham Gardens is always a colourful experience between the months of October and November.

Boasting a “rediscovered” Capability Brown parkland, a mile-long lake and award-winning gardens, Trentham has - for more than a decade - been one of the best places in the whole of The Midlands for visitors to head to at this time of the year.

But the introduction of one of the largest 'pictorial meadows' planting schemes in any historic landscape in the country over the last couple of years has done much to improve its autumnal appeal still further.

Of all the places in Britain to visit for a spot of leaf-peeping, few can now compete with the dramatic “floor to ceiling” range of autumnal colours on offer at Trentham Gardens. The woodland trees, reflected in the lake, are just one element of the seasonal show that is complemented every year by The Rivers of Grass - a breathtaking prairie garden landscape of grasses and vast herbaceous perennials designed by Dutch gardening guru, and Chelsea gold-medal winner, Piet Oudolf.

But the iconic perennial plantings of Oudolf and fellow Chelsea gold medalist Tom Stuart-Smith - along with Trentham's own team - has also been expanded by the introduction of some eye-catching perennial and annual meadows, designed and planted by a third Chelsea gold medalist Nigel Dunnett who needs little introduction to the nation's horticultural fraternity.

Best known, perhaps, for his role in the plantings at London's Queen Elizabeth Park, Dunnett is now heavily involved in implementing a new range of plantings throughout Trentham Gardens.

Having provided a stunning swathe of colour since the summer the lakeside areas, for example, will continue to offer rich displays while the flowers slowly fade and the foliage tints.

Elsewhere, mellow tinted grasses offer a staggering impact, alongside the vast perennial displays throughout the garden. And a collection of Japanese Cherries, recently introduced to the western gardens, is now starting to deliver yet more colour to the gardens.

Other trees, chosen with autumn in mind, have been added to enhance the lakeside woodland walk, including 150-plus North American trees.

Some of the new tree planting will take time to light-up the skies at Trentham, but amongst the current natural appeal of Trentham at this time of year are the colours of the magnificent mature Oaks and other trees reflected in the lake - with the wonderful backdrop of Kings Wood Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which Capability Brown included in his landscape.

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre launched a GIANT of a pantomime at Dudley Zoological Gardens with leading man Gareth Gates.

The pop-star and musical theatre favourite will be taking the title role in JACK AND THE BEANSTALK which also stars Lisa Riley, Doreen Tipton, Graham Cole, Ian Adams and Adam C Booth at the Grand Theatre from 9 December 2017 – 14 January 2018.

Gareth Gates rose to stardom in 2002 as runner-up in the UK’s first Pop Idol. In a phenomenal career which followed he has sold more than 3.5 million records in the UK, released three albums and had four UK number one singles.

Alongside his pop career Gareth has been seen on ITV1’s Dancing on Ice and The Big Reunion 2014 for ITV. Gareth’s theatre career has seen him play the role of Marius in the 25th anniversary tour of Les Misérables for Sir Cameron Mackintosh, in Loserville at West Yorkshire Playhouse and the UK tours of Legally Blonde and Boogie Nights the Musical. He has regularly toured in the concert Mad About the Musicals and is currently starring in the second leg of the UK tour of Footloose. Gareth appeared as part of the line-up Boys Aloud, recreating the Girls Aloud hit Biology for BBC’s Let’s Sing and Dance for Comic Relief.

Dudley Zoological Gardens are the local partner for JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. The Grand Theatre pantomime attracts thousands of families to Wolverhampton each year, similarly in Dudley; families are drawn to a collection of the world’s rarest animals who find their home in the grounds of an 11^th Century castle at Dudley Zoological Gardens.

Grand Theatre Press & PR Manager Scott Bird said; “our first panto launch for Jack And The Beanstalk was a brilliant day with our panto partners Dudley Zoo. Jack is a farm boy who goes on a quest to the Giant’s castle -  with both a farm and a castle on site at the zoo, it couldn’t have been more perfect! We’re all very excited for what promises to be a ‘giant’ new production. Gareth will have some popular songs in the show and our cast line up reunites many members of our multi-award winning team from last year.”

Gareth Gates said; “I’ve performed in eight pantomimes and played the Prince and Aladdin - I’ve never played Jack before so I can’t wait to be in the panto in Wolverhampton, it’s going to be lots of fun!”

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK opens at the Grand Theatre on Saturday 9 December 2017 and runs until Sunday 14 January 2018.

A new partnership from a Birmingham school and sixth form centre will enable local community groups to make use of its sports and performing arts facilities on evenings, weekends and during school holidays.

St Edmund Campion Catholic School and Sixth Form Centre has joined forces with School Lettings Solutions (SLS) to manage its facilities and provide leisure venues for various activities, such as fitness classes, dance workshops and craft groups.

SLS partners with schools, academies and colleges to fully manage their facilities at zero cost to the organisations, while linking them with local community groups in need of affordable space.

The school, which is based in the Erdington community, will play host to activities, such as training sessions and sports classes. Local groups can hire its facilities, which include a main hall, astroturf pitch, sports hall and gymnasium, for regular classes or ad hoc events.

It is hoped the partnership will open up new opportunities to the school’s students, as well as people of all ages from the local area.

Gary Smart, strategic business manager at St Edmund Campion Catholic School and Sixth Form Centre, said: “We’re really excited to be opening up the school to the wider community. We’re proud of the facilities we offer our students, such as our astroturf pitch and gymnasium, and it makes sense to us that they are available to use during evenings and weekends as well.

“We’ve already got some great partners signed up to use our facilities and we’re looking forward to getting more on board. This can only be a positive thing for our students and people in the area.”

SLS currently works with more than 140 schools nationwide, helping them to make the best use of their facilities. It provides a fully managed service, including managing bookings and staffing the facilities to ensure rooms are secure and ready for the next school day. The business is expanding across the country and is looking to sign up schools in the West Midlands, which are currently facing hundreds of thousands of pounds of funding cuts.

Paul Andrews, director of SLS, said: “It’s great to welcome St Edmund Campion Catholic School and Sixth Form Centre as our latest partner. The academy has got some brilliant facilities and we’ve already had lots of booking enquiries. We’re passionate about ensuring people have access to opportunities that boost their health and wellbeing, so we’re keen to provide local groups with marketing support to make sure their clubs thrive and are well attended.

“There is huge potential to provide more places like this for people of all ages to come together, which will be really positive for the area. At the same time, our partnerships provide a new stream of income for schools as their budgets come under more and more pressure.”

City of Wolverhampton Council has unveiled its brand-new café and one of the first customers was local Olympic, World and Commonwealth medal-winning gymnast Kristian Thomas.

The eatery – called WV Café - on the ground floor of the Civic Centre provides a wide selection of refreshments for the hundreds of daily visitors to the council’s headquarters as well as employees.

One of the catering staff who work on the café – Lynn Reid - is none other than Kristian’s mother-in-law and she invited the 28-year-old, who still lives in the city, to come and see the facility.

The main feature of the café is a salad and fruit bar offering a range of healthier options which athlete Kristian was keen to sample for himself.

It also provides drinks including Costa coffee, sandwiches, confectionary and a varied selection of hot and cold food.

Kristian said: “It’s a real honour to be invited to City of Wolverhampton Council’s new café. I was pleased to help when my mother-in-law Lynn suggested it.

“She and her team are looking forward to working at the new venue. I enjoyed a wonderful lunch and would recommend visitors to the civic centre or the wider city to call in and try it out.

“There’s something for everyone and I’m particularly impressed with the salad bar.”

His mother-in-law Lynn Reid said: “This is a really exciting time for the catering team here at the City of Wolverhampton Council. The new café has so much more to offer customers, it’s a great place to work.

“I’m so proud that my son-in-law Kristian has helped us promote it. He’s a true Wulfrunian and he’s achieved so much – it’s so fitting that he came to help us tell the people of Wolverhampton about this fantastic new facility.”

As well as the café, the council has also unveiled its completed customer service centre.  The first phase was revealed back in March, but hoardings have now come down revealing a selection of computers and telephones which are free for the public to use.

There are also self-service kiosks for customers who wish to complete their transactions quickly and easily.

Councillor Andrew Johnson, City of Wolverhampton Council’s cabinet member for resources, said: “We are very proud to be opening our completed customer service centre and brand new café to the public.

“These are first class facilities ensuring that the hundreds of people who visit the Civic Centre each day are greeted in professional surroundings and their enquiry is dealt with quickly and efficiently.

“We are making significant improvements to the Civic Centre to extend the life of the building, provide a better service to the public and save taxpayers £500,000 a year by enabling us to close aging, expensive to maintain satellite offices.”

Both the café and the customer service centre are part of the ongoing programme of improvements and essential repairs and maintenance being carried out to the Civic Centre.

The underground car park has been refurbished and the facility won a national award. Extensive mechanical and electrical repairs on all floors of the Civic Centre are taking place.

Outdated systems including electrics, heating and fire alarms which were at serious risk of breaking down are being replaced and asbestos is being removed. Office space is also being modernised to enable staff in outlying offices to move into the building.

The overall scheme will save taxpayers more than £500,000 a year by enabling the closure of outlying offices which are expensive to run and maintain. The programme is due to be completed by Spring 2018.

Law firm Irwin Mitchell is gearing up for National Inclusion Week (25 September – 1 October) by holding a panel event in Birmingham to discuss whether women face additional challenges in the work place.

Irwin Mitchell’s internal gender networking and support group, IM Powered, have organised the event in partnership with the Institute of Directors and Birmingham Hippodrome, where the event takes place on Thursday 21 September 2017.

The inclusive event will feature a panel discussion and Q&A with a number of high profile female guests including Vicky Brackett, CEO of Irwin Mitchell’s Business Legal Services division.

The mother-of-two became the first female member of the law firm’s Executive Board in 2016 after starting her career as a trainee at magic circle firm, Freshfields, in 1994. Vicky eventually left the City and went on to become Managing Partner at Thomas Eggar before the firm merged with Irwin Mitchell in 2015.

Vicky said: “Since starting my career I think slowly things have become easier for women. Of course there is more to be done but for example, taking maternity leave is far less of an issue now than it was in the 90s and thanks to technology, flexible and home-working make it far easier to achieve a better work/life balance.”

“It is interesting to see that many men who want to share parenting responsibilities now the law allows it in terms of shared leave and paternity are now going through similar struggles. My children are 11 and 14 years old and I think, and hope, that their generation won’t consider gender to be as much as an issue but it’s important that we make sure our generation of leaders embrace changes too. Whether you are male, female, transgender or don’t align yourself with either gender it is vital that businesses look beyond the face, the colour and the sex and see the skills, talent, warmth, energy and empathy.”

One of Vicky’s other commitments is as a trustee of a PSDS, a charity she founded following the birth of her son Sam who has Down syndrome, which provides support to children with Down syndrome and their families.

Vicky says as a mother she has always worried about the impact of her work and charity commitments on her children.

She said: “I asked my daughter once if she minded that I haven’t always been able to do the school run or the ‘traditional’ things that are expected of mothers. She said ‘You’re there for everything that matters. Some of my friends’ mums leave the school gates and go for a coffee, my mum goes and runs a law firm, so of course I don’t mind,’ and I really loved that response.

“I respect everybody’s right to make their own personal choices about career and family but I think women should be encouraged to feel less guilty about having their careers and children. Equally I think being a mother has given me a lot of skills that I use every day at work when dealing with people or difficult situations. As long as you have the right people for the job having a diverse workforce will mean you will have richer insights and perspectives to help your business make better decisions.”

Asked with hindsight, what advice she would give to herself at the start of her career, Vicky said: “Be yourself, aim higher than you think you are capable of and don’t underestimate your own abilities. I’d tell myself to slow down and take time because if you work hard, the opportunities will present themselves. I’d also recommend getting a really good mentor so you have someone to talk to.”

Vicky will be joined by fellow panel members, Dr Jenni Jones – Senior Lecturer, HR & Leadership at University of Wolverhampton, Fiona Allan – Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Birmingham Hippodrome, Jane Sommerville – Managing Director at Bowers & Jones, and Tracy Westall – Former Director of Corporate Service for SCC and Non Exec Director at Innovation Birmingham, Governor at BCU, and a Board member at TechUK.

Suzie Branch-Haddow, Director of the Greater Birmingham Professional Services Academy and MetEnterprise Academy will be chairing the event which will focus on issues faced by women in their respective professions, the positive changes over the years and areas for improvement.