Registered charity, Birmingham Repertory Theatre has announced a joint fundraising partnership with Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. The city centre theatre will be raising funds during the run of their production of The Hundred and One Dalmatians which bursts to life on stage from Thursday 30 November – Saturday 13 January.

There are various fundraising activities planned during the run of the show, which will help to jointly fundraise towards Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s million pound campaign REP First and the work of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.

REP First is a three year campaign which aims to raise vital funds in order to ensure that the theatre can continue to nurture the region's talented young artists, commission exciting new works, welcome new audiences and reach out to the communities of Birmingham and beyond.

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, now in their 35^th year, trains dogs to alert deaf people to sounds they would otherwise miss – simple sounds that many people take for granted like the doorbell, alarm clock and even danger signals like the fire alarm. A hearing dog can also give a deaf person a newfound sense of independence and confidence helping to overcome the feeling of isolation and loneliness experienced by so many suffering from hearing loss.

Twenty pence of every pound raised will go towards the work of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, with the remainder going towards REP First initiatives, such as providing interpreters for the REP’s youth theatre in order for Deaf children and young people to take part, as well as allowing the theatre to stage more accessible productions for people with a variety of additional support needs.

Steve Heyes, Marketing Manager of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People said; “It’s wonderful that Hearing Dogs has been chosen as the official partner charity for The Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s production of ‘101 Dalmatians’, especially in this, our 35th year. We’re working closely with The REP on a number of fun and exciting plans to engage families and visitors coming to see the show, to help raise awareness of the amazing work our hearing dogs do, completely transforming the lives of thousands of Deaf people in the UK. We’ll hopefully raise some important funds for the two charities during the show’s run.”

As part of The REP’s commitment to making theatre accessible to everyone, the entire run of The Hundred and One Dalmatians will be Audio Described and Captioned, meaning that audiences with visual or hearing impairments can enjoy these services on any performance. Dalmatians Pongo and Missis enjoy an idyllic life with their humans, Mr and Mrs Dearly. Then one day, the house is filled with the patter of tiny paws when Missis gives birth to a litter of adorable puppies. But just as the Dearlys get used to their new housemates, the puppies mysteriously vanish.

With the help of the canine community and an Old English Sheepdog, Pongo and Missis set out on an adventure to find the missing puppies. Their quest leads them to the vicious Cruella de Vil. She hates dogs but loves fur coats and has set her sights on a certain black and white spotty pattern. Will the animals be able to get home safely in time for Christmas?

Children and adults alike will be gripped by this magical tale as it comes to life live on stage, complete with beautiful staging and mesmerising puppetry from Director Tessa Walker and Designer Jamie Vartan who collaborated for the record-breaking 2015 production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Dodie Smith’s delightful and much-loved tale, adapted for the stage by the Writer and Director of the hugely popular Nativity! films, Debbie Isitt, is sure to get tails wagging this Christmas.

Helping home cooks to minimise food waste this Christmas and cure those inevitable sore heads, The Devilled Egg is releasing a series of tutorials and recipes designed for the day after the night before, including samosas, sliders and salpicon tacos. Having discovered that its subscribers waste 50% of their festive leftovers, Barbora Ormerod, head chef of the online cookery school, has developed a range of easy-to-follow recipes taking inspiration from around the world.

As well as tips on making use of the whole turkey carcass, subscribers to The Devilled Egg can expect to expand their culinary repertoire over Christmas with tutorials on making brioche- style buns, ready to be filled with pulled turkey and homemade BBQ sauce, cheat puff pastry for vegetable and blue cheese gallette and miso soup with dashi stock for a turkey ramen. With these video tutorials and recipes just a click away, home cooks will be able to reinvigorate that last slice of salmon or cheese, and put those Brussel sprouts and roast potatoes to good use in beautiful dishes that will help soak up the mulled wine and wow any unexpected guests who drop by.

A new road safety campaign has launched today which proposes the radical adoption of a ‘fag-packet approach’ to UK speed limit signs. The suggested new tactic has already been backed by over half the nation, in the wake of research showing that millions of motorists ignore or don’t even notice speed limit signs in their current format.

That’s according to a new study from MORE TH>N which found that a whopping 62% of those surveyed admit they regularly ignore speed limit signs at present, with 25% also contesting that the threat of going to speed awareness isn’t a big enough deterrent from causing them to speed on a regular basis.

With this in mind, to mark this year’s Road Safety Week, MORE TH>N is launching a new road safety initiative which centres on calls to test the use of images of cars that have been in accidents as a visual accompaniment to existing numerical speed signs as a new means of deterring people from speeding on roads. The move has otherwise been labelled as applying the ‘fag-packet approach’ to the speeding epidemic, with a view to making people more instantly aware of the risks associated with their actions.

The new initiative also takes inspiration from previous, hard-hitting TV advertising campaigns that adopted a graphic approach to illustrate the dangers of speeding. The proposed new road sign initiative however would see this shock-factor concept placed in situ when people are actually behind the wheel, in what would be a UK first.

The new concepts of visual deterrent speed signs were tested with 2,000 motorists in a poll conducted by MORE TH>N, where they were backed by over half (58%) of those surveyed as potentially having a real impact on their driving, illustrating their possible value at helping make Britain’s roads safer.

So why were the signs effective in causing people to reduce their speed? Topping the list of reasons was the way in which they made people more tangibly aware of the dangers of speeding (67%), followed closely by the fact that they were so shocking (56%) and due to being more scared about crashing their car as a result (38%).

In the wake of the success of the initial research, MORE TH>N is now exploring possible follow-up activity with a view to securing an actual pilot of the signs on UK roads to test how effective they potentially are in causing people to reduce their speed, including approaching local police forces and pressure groups to garner further support for the campaign.

In addition to canvassing support for visual deterrents on speed signs, MORE TH>N also carried out research to provide a fuller picture of how people’s speeding habits vary across the UK. Specifically, the study found that 63% of Britons admit to regularly exceeding the speed limit each day, with one in 10 (10%) of those confessing to have picked up points in the past, as a result of being caught speeding behind the wheel.

Visitors to Wolverhampton on Wednesday, November 22 are being urged to plan their journeys with a bumper crowd expected for events in the city centre.

The Christmas festivities kick off at 5pm with a huge city centre lights switch-on and firework display in Queen Square.

Comedian Sean Lock is at the Civic Hall on his Keep It Light tour, with doors opening at 7pm, while Wolves FC also have a home fixture against Leeds at Molineux (ko 7.45pm).

The usual road closures for vehicles will be in place for the Christmas lights switch-on and firework display between 11am and 9pm:

• Lichfield Street (closed in both directions between Princess Street and Queen Square)
• Queen Square (closed entire length)
• Darlington Street (closed in an eastern direction between Waterloo Road and Queen Square)
• Red Lion Street/Paternoster Row/Mitre Fold/North Street/Corporation Street/Exchange Street/Cheapside/Lich Gates (closed entire length)
• Dudley Street (closed between King Street and Queen Square)

In line with the Civic Hall’s new security measures, and to facilitate the Christmas lights switch-on, Red Lion Street, Paternoster Row, Mitre Fold, North Street and Corporation Street will be closed from 11am to 11.30pm.

Access in and out of the Civic Centre car park on this day will be via Wulfruna Street ONLY.

Due to the Blue Badge disabled bays being unavailable on Exchange Street and Cheapside, additional Blue Badge disabled bays will be provided in the Civic Centre car park on the night.

The city council is providing free car parking for all on the School Street car park and Market car park (accessed from Peel Street) from 2pm; and the Mander Centre car park is offering free parking from 4pm.

For other alternative council car parks in the city centre please visit: www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/parking.

Visitors to the city centre are also reminded to consider the road restrictions that have recently been put in place around Molineux Stadium on matchdays – particularly Waterloo Road.

For more information on these please visit: www.wolves.co.uk/news/club/20171010-road-closures-information/.

Visitors are also reminded to allow extra time to pass through additional security measures at the above city centre events.

Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: “We have a fantastic city centre offer on Wednesday, November 22.

“We are expecting a bumper crowd in the city centre for the spectacular Christmas lights switch on and fireworks, plus fabulous entertainment at the Civic Hall and sporting action at top-of-the-table Wolves FC.

“To ensure visitors enjoy their evening to the full I would urge them to plan their journeys well in advance and take note of all the alternative car parks available in the city centre.”

The 300-acre luxury private island is an oasis of peace and tranquillity and a veritable winter wonderland, offering breath-taking views of Loch Creran and the rugged Highlands.

With a packed schedule of Christmas festivities planned from 23rd to 27th December and five days of New Year celebrations from 29th December through to 2nd January 2018, Eriska has something for everyone this season. These seasonal getaways offer ample opportunity to relax on the beautiful estate and include a range of festive activities such as a traditional Christmas service at the local church, a black-tie dinner; a special New Year treasure hunt and a Ceilidh.

Christmas Day begins with a relaxed champagne breakfast, followed by light lunch and an optional carol service at the local church. The day ends with a sumptuous black-tie Christmas dinner, created by Conor Toomey in the hotel's gourmet restaurant.

Guests can welcome 2018 in true Scottish style with a Ceilidh and a spectacular Hogmanay firework display over the sea. A series of optional activities will take place over the New Year period, including the annual Eriska treasure hunt, Highland Games and the first Open Golf Championship of the year on the resort's stunning nine-hole course. For those wanting to return to the dance floor, the inimitable Paddy Shaw and his Scottish Country Dance Band will be entertaining guests in the Drawing Room on New Year's Day.

Famed for its locally-sourced food, guests can indulge in beautifully prepared, exclusive menus, designed by Head Chef, Conor Toomey. Fish is sourced from the surrounding waters, meat from the nearby hills and game is supplied by a variety of local gamekeepers. Inspired vegetarian alternatives drawn from the hotel's gardens and larders are always available.