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.”

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.”

Birmingham residents rose to the challenge of recycling a record number of Christmas trees to raise £49,000 for local charity, Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice.

2,630 homes across Birmingham took part in ‘Treecycling’ this weekend (Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 January) – the city’s largest tree recycling scheme – in which festive firs were collected from residents’ doorsteps in return for a donation.

Over 100 volunteers took part in the initiative, which saw them collect trees from a range of postcodes across Birmingham and Solihull. The trees were then recycled into compost or biomass fuel.

One of the key corporate champions supporting the campaign was civil engineering contractor, Fitzgerald, who generously provided staff and vans for the collection weekend.

All funds raised from Treecycling went towards Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, which provides vital care and support to local families living with terminal illness across Birmingham and Sandwell.

Hamish Shilliday, head of fundraising at Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, said: “Before Christmas, we set the residents of Birmingham and Solihull a challenge to increase the amount of trees recycled across the West Midlands – and we’re thrilled that they succeeded.

It’s fantastic to have collected 1,000 more trees this year than in 2017 and to see the scheme go from strength to strength. Thank you to everyone who donated and to the volunteers who worked tremendously hard over the weekend. We are also grateful to Fitzgerald for their generous commitment in continuing to support Treecycling – our success would not have been possible without their support.

“Raising £49,000 is an impressive amount and will make a big difference to the local families living with terminal illness that we care for.”

Treecycling was part of the Hospice’s ‘Care at Christmas’ campaign – a festive appeal which aimed to boost support for individuals and families living with terminal illness. So far, the appeal has raised an impressive £135,000, enabling vital care, compassion and comfort to be available to more people, wherever and whenever they need it.