85 per cent of people surveyed in the West Midlands would be reluctant to perform CPR on cardiac arrest victims, according to latest statistics from the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

The BHF warns that a lack of public knowledge of CPR could be costing lives as new research from the University of Warwick also finds that those who have been trained in CPR are three times more likely to perform it.

The main reasons for reluctance to step in were fear of causing more harm than good (44 per cent) and lacking the skills and knowledge to perform CPR (34 per cent). But experts warn that the benefits of performing CPR far outweigh the risks, as survival rates are almost zero if people collapse and get no support until paramedics arrive.

There are over 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests every year in the UK, and devastatingly less than 1 in 10 survive. But according to the BHF, if survival rates matched those reported in Norway, where CPR is taught more widely, as many as 5,000 lives could be saved.

Every minute without CPR or defibrillation can reduce a person’s chance of surviving a cardiac arrest by around ten per cent.

A survey of people in the West Midlands found:

• Only 43 per cent would feel confident giving CPR to a stranger
• By contrast, 62 per cent would offer a stranger a seat on the bus, and 79 per cent would give directions to a stranger
• Just 15 per cent were able to identify the two signs of a cardiac arrest, which are  when someone is not breathing or not breathing normally, and that they have collapsed and are unresponsive

The BHF, Resuscitation Council (UK), St John Ambulance, British Red Cross, West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) and all the UK NHS ambulance services along with Fire & Rescue services are working together to train more than 150,000 young people across the UK in the largest ever CPR training event of its kind.

Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive of the British Heart Foundation, said:

“CPR may be the difference between life and death for hundreds of people every year in the West Midlands who suffer a cardiac arrest. Every second counts, and it simply isn’t enough to hope that someone who knows CPR is present.

“We need everyone in the West Midlands to learn this life-saving skill to give them the confidence to step in and give CPR when someone collapses after a cardiac arrest.

“That’s why we are urging secondary schools across the UK to apply for our free training kits and help create a Nation of Lifesavers.”

To help the BHF create a Nation of Lifesavers, or find out how you can teach CPR in your school, workplace or community group visit bhf.org.uk/cpr

Debenhams’ new Mander Centre store today (Thursday) opened its doors – providing a further boost to employment in the City of Wolverhampton.

Almost 90 per cent of the flagship store’s workforce are residents in the city – taking up around 130 of the 150 jobs created.

The impressive figures stem from the partnership work led by City of Wolverhampton’s employer engagement team showcasing the vacancies and providing bespoke recruitment support through the Wolves@Work city team.

Alison Young, Debenhams store manager, said: “The council could not have been more helpful.

“We had an incredibly warm welcome when we came to the city and the council has helped answered the smallest query about where is best to park, all the way through to help with filling vacancies.

“They have done a lot of work with Jobcentre Plus and we have taken on some guys through them.

“To finally open the doors and see everyone enjoying the store is the best thing.

“It’s lovely to come to a city where everyone is so knitted together around regeneration – and we are really enjoying being in the city.”

The opening of Debenhams is part of the £35 million refurbishment of the Mander Centre which also saw the arrival of an H&M outlet in November, with further new stores to come.

Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for City Economy, added: “The Debenhams figures show just how this type of investment not only regenerates the city – but also impacts on people’s lives by delivering jobs.

“The new Debenhams store is a wonderful addition to the city and is a major boost the retail offer in the city, which should bring in more visitors to further boost the local economy.”

Wolverhampton City Archives will be holding its annual Local History Fair later this month.

Among those taking part will be representatives from the Western Front Association, the Birmingham Canal Navigations Society, Wombourne History Group, Black Country Visual Arts, the Black Country Living Museum and Wednesfield History Society, who will be on hand to talk about their work and research.

There will be screenings of archive film material showing Wolverhampton over the years throughout the day, while a series of activities for younger visitors include the chance to dress up in Victorian costumes, model making and colouring.

There will be a sale of second hand books, and the Friends of Wolverhampton Archives will be holding a raffle and selling cakes and drinks in their pop up tea room to raise funds for Wolverhampton City Archives.

Councillor John Reynolds, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: "The annual Local History Fair is a great chance to discover more about our City's fascinating history and meet with like-minded people and specialist organisations."

The Local History Fair takes place at Wolverhampton City Archives, Molineux Hotel Building, Whitmore Hill, on Saturday 28 October, from 10am-4pm. Entry is £2 for adults, £1 for children.

Wolverhampton City Archives houses a wealth of materials relating to the history of all areas now within the City of Wolverhampton including Bilston, Bushbury, Penn, Tettenhall and Wednesfield.

Constantly growing, the Archives’ vast collections include maps, books, census returns, newspapers, records from local schools, churches, clubs, societies and businesses, electoral registers, and indexes to births, deaths and marriages. There are also over 30,000 photographs, plus films, sound recordings, memorabilia and much more.

A senior Birmingham academic has a busy month ahead, as he has been invited by two major art institutions to interview two of the world’s most renowned artists – China’s Ai Weiwei and John Akomfrah MBE.

Professor Anthony Downey from Birmingham City University will first be in conversation with the award winning film-maker John Akomfrah on Thursday 12 October at the Barbican Centre, London.

The conversation coincides with the screening of Akomfrah’s most ambitious film to date, ‘Purple’ (2017) which premiered last week at the Barbican. ‘Purple’ is an immersive six-channel video installation that examines global environmental change and degradation through archival footage and newly shot film.

From the hinterlands of Alaska to desolate, icy Arctic Greenland and the volcanic Maquesas Islands in the South Pacific, Akomfrah’s new film prompts the viewer to meditate on the complex relationship between humans and the planet.

Professor Anthony Downey, Birmingham City University, said:

“Over the last three decades, the work of John Akomfrah has consistently rearticulated how the medium of film can effectively explore the immaterial nature of memory, place and identity.”

Meanwhile, on Wednesday 25 October, Professor Downey will interview Chinese visual artist and political activist Ai Weiwei in Antwerp. The interview will coincide with Ai Weiwei’s first solo show in Belgium, which will take place at the Fotomuseum provincie Antwerp (FOMU). The exhibition will showcase the Chinese artist’s seminal political statements such as ‘Study of Perspective’ (1995-2011) and his daily stream of selfies and snapshots on social media.

A leading exponent of contemporary art, Ai Weiwei’s work has increasingly become identified with a political turn in visual culture and his work continues to realign the boundaries of what art as a practice can achieve.

Commenting on the artist’s practice, Downey observes how “the critical and institutional momentum surrounding Ai Weiwei’s work, including its circulation and distribution across print and digital media, offers a crucial entry point into how we reconsider the politics of contemporary visual culture today.”

Anthony Downey was appointed to the post of Professor of Visual Culture in North Africa and the Middle East in 2016. The first position of its kind in the UK, Professor Downey is currently establishing a research centre and a postgraduate programme in partnership with organisations across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

As an academic, editor and writer of 20 years, Professor Downey is the founding editor and editor-in-chief of ‘Ibraaz’, a leading online research platform for critical analysis of visual culture in the Middle East, and an editor at ‘Third Text’, the leading international journal dedicated to the critical analysis of contemporary art in the global field.

Downey’s recent publications include ‘Don’t Shrink Me to the Size of a Bullet: The Works of Hiwa K’ (Walther König Books, 2017), ‘Future Imperfect: Contemporary Art Practices and Cultural Institutions in the Middle East’ (Sternberg Press, 2016) and ‘Art and Politics Now’ (Thames and Hudson, 2014).

The interviews with John Akomfrah and Ai Weiwei will form part of his next book, ‘Zones of Indistinction: Contemporary Art and the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism’ (Sternberg Press, forthcoming, 2018).

Professor Downey is based in Birmingham School of Art, part of Birmingham City University. Purpose-built for the study of art in 1885, the historic School is located in the city centre’s museum and gallery quarter.

The results are in for the Safer 6 campaign’s first week, which had a special focus on Rowley Regis.

The week was packed with events from road safety operations and school parking patrols to shop raids, community clean-ups and crime prevention sessions.

The Mayor of Sandwell Councillor Ahmadul Haque MBE officially launched this year’s Safer 6 campaign at Haden Cross Community Fire Station’s open day. Families flocked to the event, inspecting a fire engine, watching a chip pan fire demonstration, checking out an ambulance, police van and the Youth Bus and getting advice from a wide range of organisations.

A big success was trading standards officers and police seizing more than 150,000 illegal tobacco products along with four suspected bottles of counterfeit vodka with a retail value of more than £15,000. The raids were at four shops in Rowley Regis and West Bromwich. You can read more about this operation here.

The many activities in Rowley Regis during the week (which ran from 23 September to 1 October) included the following:

• Police and council highways officers targeted irresponsible parking around primary schools across the town and promoted road safety to parents and children at schools and Springfield Children’s Centre. The week saw the launch at Burnt Tree Primary of a new digital road safety website, which is free for all Sandwell schools to use.
• Police ran a traffic enforcement operation, checking 330 vehicles and dealing with 22 offences. These included drivers using mobile phones, seatbelts not being worn, no MOT, illegal window tints and illegal number plates. Police also seized an off-road bike being driven irresponsibly in Blackheath and seized and towed two untaxed cars.
• Volunteers from Sandwell Crime Prevention Panel attended the fire station open day and held sessions at Blackheath’s Wilko and Sainsbury’s stores. Together with partners, they handed out 478 ‘no caller at the door’ cards, 224 purse/mobile phone security cords, 257 purse bells and more than 70 security whistles/torches.
• Fire crews carried out 95 ‘safe and well’ visits, offering advice on everything from vehicle safety and smoke alarms to stopping smoking. They also gave firework and road safety talks to schoolchildren and held a roadside education day with the police and council at Waterfall Lane, advising people on child car seats and the dangers of seatbelts and using mobile phones while driving.
• A major tidy up was held at Mousesweet Brook Nature Reserve by council neighbourhood services officers, councillors, PCSOs and volunteers as well as offenders doing unpaid Community Payback work. They cut back overgrown trees and bushes to clear paths at the reserve and reveal hidden ornamental sculptures.
• Trading standards carried out alcohol test purchases at six shops in the area, with half selling to the underage volunteer. The shops have been warned and face action against their licence and/or prosecution if they fail again.

• The Big Local project, Litterwatch and council neighbourhood officers held a clean-up with volunteers on the Grace Mary and Lion Farm estates, filling six skips.
• Community Payback cleared overgrown bushes in Perry Park Road and tidied up an area by garages at Falcon Place, while the council’s estate maintenance team cleaned up the grounds of Oakham and Cradley Heath libraries.
• A surgery was held at St Giles Court with the police, fire service, council and Black Country Women’s Aid giving advice. Police also held a surgery at St Michael’s CE High School and PCSOs chatted to children at junior schools.

Councillor Susan Eaves, Rowley Regis town lead member, said: "I would like to thank all the organisations, officers and volunteers for an excellent week of activities to help keep our community safe and clean, building on their day-to-day work together. What a fantastic start to this year's Safer 6 campaign."

The Safer 6 campaign runs for six weeks across Sandwell’s six towns, with partner organisations targeting their efforts and providing extra reassurance as the nights draw in. Each of the six towns has a focus week during the campaign.

Severn Trent has pledged to replace its 2,200 vans, cars and tankers with alternative fuel vehicles as soon as possible as the water and waste water company continues to embrace green energy.

The company is launching the drive to alternative fuels on its light commercial vehicle fleet and its first fully electric vans will hit the roads in November this year.

Severn Trent then plans to convert its entire fleet in the coming years as the right technology comes on stream. Liv Garfield, Chief Executive of Severn Trent, said: “We’re really clear that this is where the future lies for us. Our colleagues clock up a lot of miles every year helping customers and using alternative fuel vehicles will greatly reduce our environmental impact, as well as saving customers money.

“As far as we’re concerned, this is the right thing to do as a company and for the environment, as we move to make our business as sustainable and as efficient as possible in the years ahead.”

Alongside the pledge to use alternative fuel vehicles, Severn Trent is also sector leader in renewable power and is on track to self-generate the equivalent of half of the energy it uses by 2020. The company uses a combination of anaerobic digestion, solar power, small-scale hydro and wind turbines across its estate. “Generating green power is a key priority for us, and we’re looking forward to not only producing power for our treatment works but also for some of our vehicle fleet,” said Liv.

Severn Trent has just completed its second food waste anaerobic digestion facility in Worcester and is currently building another, similar facility in Derby. Both sites take contaminated food waste and turn it into renewable gas which will contribute towards its 2020 target.

The company will be taking delivery of its first batch of four Nissan e-NV200 electric vans in November. The vehicles have a range of 106 miles and charge in just 30 minutes.