Organisers of Sandwell’s Bloomin’ Lovely summer arts trail have praised the standard of pieces of art that were submitted by local artists.

And the winner of the public vote has been announced as Molly Evans for her piece, 'Heather at Sandwell Valley'.

Sandwell's museum and arts service invited people to get out into nature and be inspired to create pieces of art which they then submitted to be part of the trail.

More than 60 pieces of art work were submitted and displayed across Sandwell and people were asked to vote in person and online through the Discover Sandwell website. More than 3,000 votes were cast.

Alex Howell, arts and projects officer, said: “I would like to thank all the people who submitted work to the trail which made it a huge success, and big congratulations to our winner and five finalists.”

Entrants attended a celebration event with live music at Wednesbury Museum & Art Gallery. The Mayor of Sandwell Councillor Ahmadul Haque MBE presented the six finalists with their awards.

Councillor Richard Marshall, cabinet member for leisure, said: "The arts trail has been a big success and created a lot of interest among the public which proves we are on the right trail when it comes to art and culture in Sandwell.

"I am pleased to say that it was such a success that I can confirm that it will return again next year."

The Mayor and Mayoress of the City of Wolverhampton are inviting people to a glittering masquerade ball to raise money for their charities.

Cllr Elias Mattu and his wife Asha have organised the evening of masked fun for Saturday October 28.

Guests are encouraged to don Venetian-style masks for the event which will take place at the Diamond Banqueting Suite, in Skinner Street. A three course sit-down meal and reception drink is included in the ticket price.

Entertainment will be provided by professional fire-eaters and a DJ will get people moving on the dancefloor.

The Mayor’s chosen charities this year are  Acorns Hospice, Street Pastors, Sickle Cell Care, Interfaith Wolverhampton, the Alzheimer’s Society and Wolverhampton Central Youth Theatre.

Cllr Mattu said: “My wife, the Mayoress, came up with this idea as a wonderful way to raise money for charity.

“This will be a fun, relaxed evening open to everyone. We would like all our guests to enter into the spirit of the ball and wear Venetian-style masks.

“Not only will people enjoy a fun evening with lots of entertainment, they will also help raise money for charities that are very close to my heart.”

Low-carbon developments; future-proofed buildings; clean technology, and increased recycling could help Haringey become London’s first zero carbon borough, according to a set of ambitious recommendations unveiled this week by the Haringey Zero by 2050 Commission.

The independent commission brings together leading experts in sustainable regeneration and climate change. It was convened by Haringey councillor Natan Doron, Cabinet Adviser for Carbon Reduction, and asked to consider how the borough’s regeneration ambitions and pioneering measures could be a catalyst for carbon reduction. It was also invited to explore what more the borough could and should be doing to reduce its carbon footprint.

Commissioners last night (Monday 16 October) unveiled their findings, including a raft of recommendations that demonstrate how carbon reduction measures could be adopted in the short, medium and long term.

Haringey Zero by 2050 builds on the work of the pioneering Haringey Carbon Commission in 2009, which recommended a raft of measures to reduce Haringey’s carbon footprint, with targets of a 40 percent reduction by 2020 on track.

The Zero by 2050 Commission goes further, with ambitions for new developments to be carbon neutral and the borough to be a leader in innovative renewable energy and climate change “future proofing”.

The seven overarching recommendations – each underpinned by a series of actions – are:

• Improve the health and wellbeing of the community by creating a natural environment through greening of outdoor spaces and mitigating the urban heat island effect
• Create a climate change adaptation and resilience plan to future-proof and reduce vulnerability
• Deliver a zero-carbon and net energy positive Haringey by 2050
• Abolish waste to landfill to zero and increase recycling rates by 2020
• Drive the uptake of clean technology across Haringey’s built environment, targeting new developments
• Ensure that low and zero carbon buildings are delivered
• Set a strategy for connecting communities, work places and high streets through walking and cycle paths, reducing transport emissions by 20 percent by 2020

“I commend what Haringey have done here: they’ve set a really ambitious goal and allowed this high powered group of sustainable development professionals to challenge them on every aspect – and we have. It is tremendous to see such leadership from a public authority. As a Commission we have said we will “hold their feet to the fire’ to make sure the manifesto is delivered and we look forward to seeing this transformational plan taking shape.”

Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy, joined the panel for last night’s launch. She said:

“We need the strong support of boroughs, businesses and Londoners to work towards the Mayor’s ambition of making London zero carbon by 2050. This report shows that boroughs like Haringey can become zero carbon and we look forward to more boroughs making this commitment.”

The council is working on a detailed action plan to show how some of the recommendations could be met.

Cllr Joe Goldberg, Haringey Council Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Social Inclusion and Sustainability, said:

“The Commissioners’ report presents a bold and ambitious challenge, not only to Haringey but to the whole of London and any other city serious about achieving carbon neutrality and environmental sustainability while still delivering the growth on which our residents’ prosperity and wellbeing depend.

“I look forward to publishing our detailed response to the commission’s recommendations later this year. I’m clear that there is little in the commission’s report that doesn’t align with our ambitions for Haringey and its residents, and we are serious about implementing as much of this as possible.

“We also know that we cannot achieve our goals without looking beyond Haringey’s border – the wider city systems that are so central to the zero-carbon target can only be tackled on a London-wide basis. We look forward to working with the Mayor of London on a combined effort to achieve a zero-carbon London. That effort starts in Haringey.”

A massive 65 per cent of local businesses believe that traffic congestion is a major problem in the Greater Birmingham region - and is costing an estimated £407 million a year. That is according to a new survey by the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC).

Nearly half of those surveyed (47 per cent) said the volume of commuter traffic was the main cause of congestion, but roadworks (43 per cent) and school traffic (41 per cent) were also cited as key factors.

Businesses surveyed said that the congestion problem was throwing up major issues, and among those were staff punctuality (28 per cent), reduced productivity (21 per cent) and increased costs (19 per cent).

The findings of the Chamber survey mirrors recent research into traffic congestion, one of which (Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard 2016) found that the city was the third most congested in England, and that on average, motorists in the city spent nine per cent of their total journey time in traffic.

In turn, this costs the city a massive £407 million in lost revenue. The report found that nearly half (41 per cent) of journeys in the region were less than two miles in length, a figure slightly higher than the national average (38 per cent).

The Chamber says that the new survey was a response to growing dissatisfaction among members about traffic congestion and the problems it causes.

The organisation says that many of the region’s problems are ‘deep rooted’ and go back to when the current key transport networks were designed, in the early 1960s. This placed the car at the heart of transportation, but half a century later the wheels have literally fallen off this solution.

In the Chamber survey, more than 70 per cent of businesses surveyed wanted to see some form of investment in the region’s transport infrastructure to deal with the congestion crisis.

In particular, just over a third wanted to see greater spending to create more capacity on the roads and a similar figure wanted to see money being spent on creating new railway lines, bus lanes, cycle paths and metro extensions in order to boost public transport usage.

GBCC chief executive Paul Faulkner said: “The issue of congestion has long blighted the West Midlands and is estimated to cost the region billions of pounds per year in lost revenue.

“Nevertheless, over the last few months, it is great to see the Mayor working closely with regional partners such as Transport for West Midlands and various local authorities to ensure the foundations are laid to manage demand, increase capacity and improve traffic efficiency across the region.

“It is vital that the views of the business community are absorbed by local and national stakeholders in order to overcome these long standing problems.”

Senior policy and patron advisor Raj Kandola (pictured) said: “This report shows there is an appetite amongst the business community to tackle and alleviate congestion.

“In particular, our members have made it clear that they want to see greater investment in the transport networks and modernising payment systems to get more people to use public transport. There is also a willingness for firms to consider implementing flexible working policies to help ease traffic flows.

“In the long term, it is clear public sector bodies need to work closely with the business sector to tackle this problem and unlock long term prosperity for the region.”

Among the Chamber’s recommendations for tackling the congestion crisis is urgent investment in the local transport network, to take advantage of the new high speed rail line between the Midlands and London (HS2).

The Chamber said this investment must include significant spending on the ‘ailing road network’ and has demanded similar spending levels to the £2.2bn committed to London and the South East.

However, the Chamber says that this investment alone will not suffice, and is calling for a range of technology led improvements, including an increase in Active Traffic Management systems across the local motorway network.

Better use of technology is also needed to increase usage of public transport, for example the new integrated transport app announced this week by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM).

This is the ‘Whim’ app, which encourages people to use transport other than their car by enabling them to pay for their transport over the course of a month as they need it.

The first apprentices have joined the University of Wolverhampton’s Elite Centre for Manufacturing Skills – with focus on building skills for the future.

The Elite Centre for Manufacturing Skills (ECMS) is a new employer-led training facility for the Black Country designed to enhance productivity in the region’s high value manufacturing sector.

Apprentices have been recruited from a variety of companies including Grab Management Services, George Dyke Limited, CCR Wednesbury Ltd and Phoenix Pattern Tool Company and are currently studying Machinist and Pattern Making Pathways at the ECMS Spoke at Dudley College’s £12 million Advance II Centre.

The project is a collaboration between the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Dudley College, Cast Metals Federation, Confederation of British Metalforming and the Institute of Cast Metals Engineers.  The ECMS Hub will be based at the University’s £100 million Springfield Campus and will deliver skills training through short courses and apprenticeships at three spoke locations in the Midlands – Tipton, West Bromwich and Dudley.

Professor Ian Oakes, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Wolverhampton, said: “We’re delighted to welcome the first of our new apprentices and to get a glimpse of the new building at Dudley College where some of our learners will be undertaking their exciting apprenticeship journey.

“Building on the region’s renowned industrial heritage, the ECMS Hub and Spokes will drive economic growth in the Black Country – and further afield - by providing specialist training to upskill the current and future workforce, helping to close skills gaps identified by employers.”

Lowell Williams, Principal of Dudley College, said:  “Dudley College of Technology is delighted to be part of the partnership.  We are providing a pipeline of highly skilled apprentices across a range of engineering disciplines, ready for further specialist upskilling through our collaboration with the ECMS.”

Will Rees-Hull, 21 from Coventry, is an apprentice on the Machinist Pathway with Grab Management Services.  He said:  “The facilities are great here at Dudley College and I’m getting the opportunity to learn new things and move around the different workshops, focusing on developing new skills.”

The switch to contactless cards is costing charities with nearly two out of five adults admitting they give less to street collectors as they do not carry as much cash, new research from Consumer Intelligence shows.

Its nationwide study found 37% who regularly donate money to charity collectors say they have cut back in the past year – and on average they estimate they have donated £14 each less.

Consumer Intelligence’s research shows a rapid switch away from using cash – 58% of adults say they are using less cash than a year ago.

The trend is accelerating among younger people – 71% of 18 to 24-year olds say they use less cash than a year ago, but even over-65s are changing with 49% cutting back on cash.

Just a third of those questioned prefer to use cash for purchases worth less than £30 – the limit for contactless cards – with 39% preferring to use contactless and 27% using chip and PIN and 3% using other devices.

However, cash is still very important for charities – the Charities Aid Foundation** says cash is still the most popular method of donating to charity with 55% of donations coming in notes and coins.

“But there must be some concern that it is hurting charities with so many people admitting they have cut donations simply because they do not carry cash.

“Technology can help however and charity collectors need to adapt. The Church of England is trialling contactless technology for collections so it can be done.”

Consumer Intelligence’s study shows around one in 10 people still carry £50 or more in cash on a day to day basis.