The British Heart Foundation (BHF) are calling on residents in the West Midlands to take part in a World Record attempt and help fund life saving research, by visiting their local BHF shop.

Heart shaped messages have been filling BHF shop windows in the run up to Valentine’s Day for over a decade, but this year the public also have the chance to have their personal messages displayed in a record-breaking chain of paper hearts.

For Valentine’s Day, the BHF are attempting to break the world record for the longest chain of paper hearts, which currently stands at 8525. With the help and support of people in the West Midlands, the charity is hoping to break this record as a mark of solidarity for the 7 million people in the UK fighting a daily battle with heart and circulatory disease, which includes 655,800 people in the West Midlands.

To get involved and become a record-breaker, pop down to one of the 42 BHF shops across the region, make a donation towards life saving heart research and write a message on a World Record heart to be included in the impressive final chain.

What you write on the hearts could be anything from a thank you or dedication in memory of someone, to a message for a loved one, best friend, family member, work bestie or even your pet.

The World Record hearts will be sold in BHF shops across the country in the run-up to Valentine’s Day and will be sent to London to be included in the World Record attempt, where they will be strung together to create the giant chain.

Allison Swaine-Hughes, Retail Operations Director at the BHF, said:

“Heart and circulatory disease is one of the UK’s biggest killers and bringing messages of love, support and hope together from people all across the country, shows we are all standing united against these devastating conditions.

“BHF research has helped halve death rates from heart and circulatory disease over the past 50 years but there is still a long way to go. Through the public’s generosity the BHF will fund half a billion pounds of new research by 2020.

“So visit your local BHF shop today, make a donation and write a message to take part in the World Record. You’ll be sharing the love and saving lives in the process.”

Worcester Wolves players stopped by Birmingham Children’s Hospital last week to help lift spirits among the children, young people and families.

Four players including Elvisi Dusha, Brandon Parrish, Dallin Bachynski and Mike Ojo took time out of training for this weekend’s final to spend time on the Renal Unit signing autographs, posing for photographs and giving out gifts.

This year, the Transplant Games are coming to Birmingham on 2 – 5 August, and the Birmingham Children’s Hospital team are returning to the games as reigning champions. 10-year-old Kristof Polgar, a gold medallist member of the Transplant Games team and former liver transplant patient at the Children’s Hospital, came back to help show the players around.

Sara Clarke, Transplant Games Team Manager for the hospital, said: “The games are so important to transplanted children. They act as a motivation for children to get fit after a transplant while also providing a unique environment where children and their families can meet and gain support from each other.

“This partnership offers an incredible opportunity to raise awareness of the benefits of organ donation, encouraging people to sign the organ donor register and have that all important donation conversation.

“We’d like to thank everyone at the club who helped make the visit happen and also the British Basketball League for their on-going support of the Transplant Games – we’re really grateful.”

A rise in `car key burglaries’ – where your home is broken into specifically to take your car key and steal your vehicle – has led independent charity Crimestoppers to launch a campaign warning the public to keep your car keys safe.

The criminals involved target high-powered, high-value vehicles and can often `cruise’ around an area in the hunt for opportunities.

Latest police crime data shows the biggest rise in car thefts across the West Midlands were in Solihull, although the area still has the lowest rate of car crime in the region. In August last year, a car that was stolen in a car key burglary later smashed into another parked car in Allsey in Coventry and the driver fled the scene.

Nationally, in the twelve months to June 2017, over 100,000 vehicle thefts were recorded by police in England and Wales which is a rise of around a fifth.

Pauline Hadley, West Midlands Regional Manager at the Crimestoppers charity, said: “Thieves are finding new ways to overcome impressive security measures being introduced by manufacturers. This is why in recent years they are resorting to new technics beyond the conventional when stealing cars – hence `car key burglaries’.

“The best way to protect your vehicle, especially if it’s high-value and therefore more at risk, is to keep your car keys somewhere safe and out of sight. It’s also recommended to use extra security systems such as immobilisers and visible security locks.

“We are a charity that gives people the power to speak up to stop crime. We won’t ask your name and we won’t judge. We’ll just listen to what you know. Please speak up and stay safe.”

If you have any information, please contact Crimestoppers charity 100% anonymously on 0800 555 111 or through the non-traceable Anonymous Online Form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org. We urge anyone who has information to come forward and speak to us 100% anonymously.

A Birmingham couple are supporting an urgent campaign to find more foster carers to look after the UK’s most vulnerable children.

Dr Thomas Barnardo started fostering children more than 130 years ago and since then the charity has helped hundreds of thousands to grow up happy and healthy.

Now the charity is calling for more people to consider providing caring and stable home environments to help transform young lives, as there’s a pressing need to find more than 7,000 foster carers in the next 12 months to support children desperately in need of loving families.

The campaign is being supported by Birmingham couple Shakeel Ahmed and Zahida Bibi, who are foster carers for Barnardo’s.

YouGov research for the charity reveals nearly half (46 per cent) of people think a lack of support from fostering agencies is likely to put people off fostering, 62 per cent say they think people may not be confident they can look after a foster child, and 45 per cent believe not having any training on how to be a foster carer could be an issue.

However, in stark contrast, a poll by Barnardo’s of its own foster carers reveals that more than 8 in 10 carers (82 per cent) are happy with the level of support and advice they receive from their Barnardo’s fostering service and believed it was “excellent” or “good”, while three quarters (75 per cent) said they would recommend their Barnardo’s fostering service to others.

Barnardo’s foster carers rate the support and training they receive highly, with almost 80 per cent saying the out-of-hours support was either good or very good.  Almost 90 per cent also rated Barnardo’s supervising social workers as good or very good.

Barnardo’s support includes 24-hour access to a qualified social worker, training, access to foster carer support groups, short breaks and a generous financial fee.

Marcia Briscoe is the operations manager for the Barnardo’s West Midlands Fostering & Short Breaks Service, based in Halesowen.

She said: “Children who have been taken into care have sometimes experienced trauma or difficult circumstances making everyday challenges more difficult to overcome.

“Having a foster carer to support them through the difficult times can help enormously but our carers can only do this if they're properly supported too. That’s why we ensure they have everything they need - including advice, training and peer support - to feel confident they can help transform a young life.”

To find out more about becoming a foster carer, or the support Barnardo’s can offer visit www.barnardos.org.uk/fostering or call the Barnardo’s West Midlands Fostering & Short Breaks Service on 0121 550 5271.

A builder and his team from Birmingham is in the running to win £2,500 and the MyBuilder ‘Job of the Year’ award - after a local resident nominated him for the amazing job he did for her mother.

MyBuilder.com, the leading online marketplace for homeowners to find quality tradespeople, launched its ‘Job of the Year’ competition this month. The competition aims to find the top tradespeople in the country - the person or team who went above and beyond to do a brilliant job, no matter what it took.

More than 2,000 homeowners from all over the UK have already entered, nominating great MyBuilder tradesmen they’ve used in the past year and telling the stories of how they saved the day in their homes. If their tradesman wins, the tradesman and homeowner share a £5,000 prize.

Members of the public have already cast over 40,000 votes - and one story that has caught people’s attention comes from Birmingham resident Jane Humphries.

Jane explains why she thinks Darren Coy, of CCM, deserves to win: "Words cannot do justice for the service that Darren and his team gave. Mum’s house needed bringing in to the 21st century. She also didn’t want to move out so the team had to work around her. They were kind, considerate and the work standard high.

"Without Daren and his happy band of caring workers this could not have been achieved. Mum misses them now the job is finished but they still pop in to check on her and say she can call them 24/7 with any problems. True stars."

Commenting on the competition, MyBuilder CEO and Founder Ryan Notz said: “Tradesmen up and down the country are hard at work every day doing amazing jobs in people’s homes. Here at MyBuilder, we’re always looking for ways to celebrate the work they do, and the Job of the Year competition is our chance to congratulate those that went the extra mile.”

Heeran Basi, one of the company’s apprentices who works as a technician in Derby, won the PeoplePlus Award for Advanced Apprentice of the Year at the National Apprenticeship Awards.

Mark Smith, Learning and Development Advisor from Severn Trent, says: “We’re over the moon with Heeran’s win, he’s passionate and committed to his apprenticeship programme, and a real worthy winner of this award.

“Not only has Heeran massively helped raised the profile of our apprenticeship programmes, he’s also an integral part of Severn Trent who helps make a difference for our customers every day.”

Severn Trent received more than 3,000 applications for its apprenticeship scheme in 2017, and offers successful applicants the opportunity to combine hands-on experience with studying, while earning a competitive salary.

The National Apprenticeships Awards, which took place in London and is in its fourteenth year, aims to celebrate individuals and employers for their commitment and dedication to apprenticeships.

“We’re confident that with Heeran’s ambition and talent he will have a successful career at Severn Trent,” adds Mark. “Winning this award reinforces the contribution he’s already made to our company, as well as showing others how rewarding our apprenticeship programmes can be.”

Heeran, 21 from Derby, said: “I’m ecstatic to be named as one of the top three apprentices in the country, this is a massive achievement for me. Throughout school, I struggled to know what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go, but since joining Severn Trent, I now have goals and aspirations which drive me to work to the best of my ability.

“My apprenticeship has given me all the tools and skills needed to be successful, and this win strengthens that. I’m really looking forward to taking on new challenges and learning more as my career develops at Severn Trent and sharing my experience with others.”