The 29th of December will once again be the best day for Brits to re-sell any Christmas gifts that aren’t right for them and make self-improvement purchases ahead of the new year, according to data* by online marketplace eBay.

Christened ‘Boxing Up Day’, the 29th of December is the day each year when Brits pack up the Christmas gifts that haven’t quite hit the mark and list them for re-sale on eBay.

This modern-day Christmas tradition returns, as data** shows households across the UK are set to receive more than £850million worth of gifts that aren’t right for them. One in five of Brits stated that they would use the money they make from re-selling Christmas gifts to fund their new year goals,  with the average person set to spend £511*** in January on items including new clothes, DIY, hairstyles and fitness equipment.

The biggest motivator for these self-improvement purchase decisions is weight-loss (30%), followed by stress relief (12%) and making new friends (10%).

Between 9pm and 10pm on 29th of December is the best time to re-sell gifts on eBay as the online marketplace sees a peak in searches - one every eight seconds - as a third of Brits admit Christmas fatigue has set in and 81% said they are fully focused on the year ahead by this point in the festive break.

This year the analysts at eBay have trawled through all the data from 2016 to create a list of the best items to re-sell on the 29th of December, based on best sellers from last year between 27th – 30th December, that can support new projects:

1. DVDs and blu-rays (30,404)
2. Home Décor e.g lamps, vases and soft furnishings (18,062)
3. DIY materials e.g. powertools (15,831)
4. Mobile smart phones (15,312)
5. Furniture e.g. sofas, coffee tables and chairs (11,250)
6. Women’s Handbags (9,594)
7. Appliances e.g. blenders, sandwich makers and electric steamers (9,496)
8. Women’s Shoes (9,417)
9. Men’s shoes (6,760)
10. Women’s fragrances (3,144)

Eight out of ten of us believe that Christmas is the perfect time to declutter, making space by getting rid of stuff they no longer need, with one in three admitting it’s a cathartic exercise that leaves them feeling more positive about the year ahead.

With more than 23million buyers on eBay every month and last year Brits bought more than one million items on the site between 27 – 30 December at a rate of 173 products per minute, or three every second.

Will Weightman, Senior Director, Consumer Selling, eBay UK says, “The period between Christmas and the New Year is an incredibly busy listings period on the site. Normally at this time of year people are looking for ways to make a bit of extra cash and fund the things they want to do in the new year.”

More than one in four teenagers – an estimated 90,000 young people in the West Midlands - say they couldn’t enjoy Christmas without social media according to a new survey carried out for The Children’s Society.

Almost one in three, 106,000, said they thought it was getting harder to enjoy Christmas, while only 1 in 10 felt it was getting easier.

Many young people are left casting envious glances at their peers and people they follow, with 31%, 103,000, saying that social media use at Christmas makes them want more gifts and presents after having compared themselves to others.

One in five children think that friends on social media seem to be having a better Christmas than them.

However, 40 per cent felt that social media made them think more about those who are less fortunate than they are at Christmas time.

The poll of 1,010 13-17-year-olds in England and Wales, conducted by Research Now for The Children’s Society, found nearly a third (32%) increased their use of social media over Christmas, with only 8 per cent saying they spent less time on the online platforms.

Almost half (47%) of all young people said they didn’t spend enough time with friends during the Christmas break, with three quarters (76%) of those who use social media more at this time of year saying they did so to see what their school friends were doing over the holidays. Worryingly 13 per cent said they use social media more at Christmas to help them feel less alone, while 17 per cent do so to escape family stress and 32 per cent do so because they feel bored.

Rob Willoughby, Midlands Area Director at The Children’s Society, said: “Christmas can be a stressful time for everyone, including children. Many miss their friends whilst not at school and social media can represent an important lifeline to the outside world.

“Although social media can have many benefits, we know that overuse can be damaging to young people’s well-being and may harm their mental health.

“That is why parents need to be aware of what children are doing online and more needs to be done to raise awareness about how to minimise risks and help ensure use of social media is as positive an experience as possible.

“It is also absolutely vital that parents talk to their children, support them to see friends and encourage them to stay active.

“By doing so they can help them to overcome the stresses of the season and enjoy the festive spirit.

“There will however be many children this Christmas, with nowhere to turn, and at The Children’s Society we support thousands of these young people.  It is vital that more of them are able to access the support they need all year round.”

The Children’s Society is calling for tougher regulation and decisive action by social media companies to ensure the online world is safer for children and to minimise risks like cyber-bullying and online grooming.

It wants to see clearer child-friendly guidelines, better advice on blocking people and reporting issues, and quicker and more effective responses to reports of inappropriate behaviour and material.

Mr Willoughby added: “The Government must do its bit to make sure this happens, and we would urge it to listen to the voices of young people in developing its proposed Code of Practice for social media companies, which we would like to see in place as soon as possible.”

Work is progressing well on Wolverhampton city centre’s new Jaguar Land Rover showroom.

The steel framework for the £14 million development on Penn Road - close to Ring Road St Mark’s – is set to start going up in January.

The Jardine Motors Group dealership is expected to create around 70 jobs and is planned to open in Autumn 2018.

New artist’s impressions show what the finished showroom will look like.

“Nick Morgan, Jardine Motors Group Construction Manager, said: “The development is moving ahead at great speed now.

“The teams at SRA Architects, Speller Metcalfe and City of Wolverhampton Council have worked hard to ensure the success of the project and to enable Jardine Motors Group to deliver the best customer experience possible.”

Councillor John Reynolds, City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Economy, added: “It is great news for the city centre to see this development project moving forward.

“This is a major development in this area – regenerating a redundant site which lies in a prominent position on one of our gateways to the city centre.

“Attracting this type of development shows what an aspirational city we are.

“Jaguar Land Rover is a global leader who chose to build a major production base on the i54 site we developed in collaboration with South Staffordshire Council and Staffordshire County Council.

“Cars that have been part-produced in the city could be sold from the Penn Road site in the future.”

The new dealership will cover four acres and will include a showroom and a service centre.

Over the Christmas period we’re all bound to divulge in a few Christmas movies and holiday specials, however do you know if your friends and family are actually enjoying themselves? A study conducted by AO.com & Liverpool John Moores University has identified that people will often say and think one emotion but their body may be reacting in a completely different way.

A group of 21 participants claimed to experience only the slightest increase in happiness (just 13%) when watching a movie, but their bodies showed an increase of ten times that rate. So the question is are these participants aware they’re enjoying the movie and are just too embarrassed to say?

The human body has a number of giveaways to reflect someone’s emotion meaning you’ll be able to tell if they’re lying when they say “I didn’t enjoy that EastEnders special”. AO,com’s new study reveals how to do this.

Zygomaticus Major

This is a muscle that is located slightly above the cheek and is associated with positive emotions; almost like a secret smile. A twitch can indicate someone is enjoying something even if they won’t say they are. This is a great giveaway if someone is watching something they claim to dislike. Keep an eye on your partner, brother or dad when you’re watching Frozen, a twitch of their mouth will tell you that they’re singing “Let It Go!” on the inside.

Corrugator Supercilli

A muscle that sits across your eyebrow, the movement of the Corrugator can indicate when an individual is having a negative experience. The movement of this muscle is a huge red flag when watching most Christmas entertainment, however if you prefer your programming to make you anxious or scared then this is the muscle you should look for. Notoriously scary movies such as Krampus and Gremlins should have your eyes twitching.

Skin Conductance Levels

Skin conductance is essentially how sweaty or clammy an individual becomes during an emotion response. If you are watching Home Alone this Christmas, look out for any signs of anxiety during the scenes with Kevin, Marv and Hank, as this can be a key factor in producing this response. You’ll be able to see just how scared they are for Kevin, no matter how many times they’ve seen it.

Aston Villa FC players, including Captain John Terry, stopped by Birmingham Children’s Hospital to help spread festive cheer with young people, staff and families.

Over 20 squad members took time out to spend time on Wards 5, 7, 10 and 15 along with the Oncology Outpatients and Play and Admissions Centre. They signed autographs, posed for photographs and gave out early Christmas presents.

Emma Eardley, Deputy Manager and Senior Play Specialist for Play and Youth Services, said: “It’s always a highlight of the year when we welcome the Aston Villa players into our hospital. It gives our children and families a real lift, especially those who will be spending the Christmas period with us.

“We’d like to thank everyone at the club who helped make the visit happen and also for their support for our Out To Play Appeal. It was fantastic to see the excitement and happiness that came from our young people meeting their football heroes.”

A new community centre in Tottenham Hale has just opened featuring the first purpose-built Anglican church in London for 40 years.

At the heart of Hale Village is The Engine Room which will serve the community in a number of ways by offering a community centre, St Francis church, a nursery and a café.

Run by the Diocese of London it aims to be the ‘engine of the community’ and is named after the site on which it is built - a furniture factory, requisitioned during World War Two to build engines for fighter aircraft.

“Our strapline is ‘the community starts here’, said The Engine Room’s operations manager Andrew Johnston. “And we really want to get all sections of the community involved in what we are doing. We already have an incredible diversity of bookings – from children’s birthday parties to Christmas fairs to corporate bookings – and we have three spaces for people to hire at reasonable community rates. We are looking for people to bring in their ideas and their enthusiasm because a place like this really can make a difference.”

Walk into St Francis’ main hall and you are instantly struck by the huge, colourful piece of artwork behind the altar created by acclaimed artist Graeme Mortimer Evelyn. Called The Eternal Engine it is the UK’s largest contemporary altarpiece and is open to a variety of interpretations.

“Graeme lived in our community for over a year and we talked about connectedness, which is reflected in this piece, and how connectedness is key for our work here in the community,” said the Revd Andrew Williams, priest at St Francis. “It is hugely exciting to be a part of this and the community is the absolute focus of what we’re about. We also have the lease for 250 years so everyone knows we are here for the long haul.”

Loven bakery is a community focused cafe, bakery and wine shop which runs in collaboration with The Engine Room as part of the new community centre. It hosts events, promotes local businesses and organisations as well as providing appren­ticeship training schemes and affordable, healthy, high-quality food and drink.

For Martina and Andrew Kwapong the opening of the new building is a particular cause of celebration. For the past four years the church community workers have been helping locals from a small flat around the corner.

“We also worked from a shipping container and a park and now we’re here!” said Martina, laughing. “We wanted something different, something where the church and the community really does live side by side, and this is what we have in The Engine Room. The community love this place and people have already made friends through this.”

For more details, or to make a booking, call The Engine Room in Eagle Heights, Hale Village on 020 8808 5490 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. St Francis holds services every Sunday at 11am and on the last Sunday of the month there is a ‘shared lunch’ where members of the congregation can bring food to share.