The Crowne Plaza Hotel Birmingham on Monday evening played host to an auspicious gathering of BME Civic, Faith, Housing and Community Leaders, amassed for an appreciation dinner in honour of the West Midlands Combined Authority Mayor, Andy Street CBE.

Invited by Nehemiah UCHA Honorary President, Bishop W R Powell, OBE & Chairman Mr Jimmy Ogunshakin, the assembled group welcomed Mr Street and congratulated him on his election to Mayor of the West Midlands.

Nehemiah UCHA are a Housing Association with a portfolio of 1100 properties serving the multicultural African Caribbean, Asian, Irish and European communities within the West Midlands, and the night was as much a celebration of their success over the years as well as honouring Andy Street.

"With such an influential group of leaders from across the West Midlands here, thank you very much for bringing everyone together tonight," Mr Street began, "Part of my reason for coming tonight is to learn from what you all do, and to build those relationships."

"There is no point in saying what you're going to do during a campaign, if you're not prepared to actually do it when you're in office as well. I am determined to continue the engagement of all of the communities, because genuinely I believe that being Mayor has to mean being Mayor of the whole of the West Midlands, not just one community."

Mr Street fielded questions from the room adequetly, talking expertly on the topics of Social Change, Housing, and his first 100 days in office, with his usual charismatic charm shining through, immediately putting everyone at ease.

For someone who stepped into the political arena from a business background, and set out a checklist of promises that by his own admission, he would be judged on, he was brutally honest in his admission that those promises haven't all been hit to the standard he would have liked, yet. A true breath of fresh air from a politician.

With regards to the Homelessness Task Force, Andy agreed with a statement from Nehemiah UCHA Chief Executive Llewellyn Graham earlier in the evening, that "actually the government record on this is poor, we have to lobby carefully to win change and drive improvement in that area, and I'm pleased to say that everyone is coming together to do that."

Nehemiah UCHA have responded to the needs of their customers by providing large homes for those with extended families, specially designed homes for people with disabilities or specific religious/cultural needs, and energy efficient homes to minimise the impact of fuel poverty. They are committed to serving the community and aims to build it into a thriving social unit in which people of all ethnic backgrounds feel at home and valued.

With the help and support of those gathered in the room, and the wider communities they represent, Andy Street definitely has a good ear to the ground to discern exactly what is required. Whether he is able to enact change for the betterment of these communities as he has set out to do, only time will tell.

Councillors are being asked to flick the switch on plans for brand new Christmas lights to brighten up Sandwell’s towns and neighbourhoods over the coming years.

A four-year contract to supply distinctive Christmas lights in each of the borough’s six towns, as well as neighbourhoods, is being considered by cabinet.

It is hoped new lights would make for great switch-on events, create a sense of community pride and overall brighten up the borough.

Councillor Syeda Khatun, deputy leader, said: “Our current contract is coming to an end and so this is an opportunity to brighten up the borough with updated Christmas lights and great switch on events at each of our towns from 2018 onwards.”

A report to cabinet says the current contract with an external company ends in January 2018 and the council needs to start the procurement process for a new four-year contract.

It says the current contract is based on a mixed hire and ownership basis whereby the council owns some of the lights and hires others with the contractor responsible for installing, repairing, removing and storing the lights as part of the contract.

And it adds some of the council-owned lights are now reaching the end of their life and need replacing.

If approved a new tender for £600,000 over four years will be drawn up looking for a supplier who can provide the most eye-catching lights to make the most impact across the borough.

The report before cabinet on September 20 says most councils hire lights because it allows the cost to be spread over the term of the contract and removes large upfront capital costs.

The new contract will place a high priority on the quality of the lights as well as excellent ongoing aftercare and would include a minimum of 396 column-mounted lighting motifs, 10 small tree lights for trees outside Oldbury Council House and Wednesbury traffic island; 16 festoon lights for Christmas trees in:

•                     Bearwood (Lightwoods);

•                     Blackheath;

•        Birchley Island sign

•                     Langley (High Street);

•                     Oldbury (Council House);

•                     Old Hill (Reddall Hill Road);

•                     Smethwick (Council House);

•                     Smethwick (rear of Victoria park hotel);

•                     Tipton (Owen Street);

•                     Cradley Heath (Mary McArthur Memorial Gardens);

•                     Wednesbury (Crankhall Lane);

•                     Wednesbury (Union Street);

•                     West Bromwich (Queens Square);

•                     West Bromwich (Junction one island;

•                     West Bromwich (Carters Green);

•                     West Bromwich (Stone Cross)

Wildflowers could be adding a splash of colour to gardens as well as grass verges in Sandwell next summer.

In the spring, Sandwell Council planted wildflowers on grass verges and roundabouts – reducing the need for mowing and creating a haven for bees and butterflies.

Photographs of the flowers received more than 1,500 likes on the council's Facebook page and were seen by close to 100,000 people.

Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for highways Councillor David Hosell said: “We’ve had so many compliments and enquiries from residents who wanted to buy the seeds that we’re working with our supplier to see if we can sell the seeds for people to plant in their own gardens next spring.”

Business leaders in Greater Birmingham said the government must hold its nerve following today’s announcement that the UK's inflation rate climbed to its joint highest level in more than five years in August.

Higher petrol and air fare prices contributed as inflation, measured by the Consumer Prices Index, rose to 2.9 per cent in August, up from 2.6 per cent in July, figures show.

The bigger-than-expected rise came ahead of the Bank of England's next announcement on interest rates on Thursday. However, economists said the Bank was still highly unlikely to raise rates at the meeting.

Paul Faulkner (pictured), chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: ““The rate of inflation saw a noticeable increase over the summer, with the figure for August matching the four-year high that was recorded in May as higher petrol and air fare prices contributed to the latest rise.

“Also, the recovery of the Eurozone economy played a part as this made imports from Europe more costly.

“Stagnant wage growth and higher inflation are continuing to put a squeeze on living standards and now is the time for the government to hold their nerve and ensure the foundations are in place to ride out the economic uncertaint.

“Nevertheless, in light of today’s result, it was reassuring to see the value of the pound hit a year-long high. It remains to be seen whether the financial markets are right in predicting that the Bank of England will now have to raise interest rates to offset this uncertainty.

“From a local perspective, we have just finished the surveying for our Q3 Quarterly Business Report and concerns around interest rates were more apparent as compared to last quarter. We will be analysing these results along with wider trends across the regional economy at our next Quarterly Business Report Launch event in November.”

People are being urged to sign up for adult learning in Sandwell.

Sandwell Adult and Family Learning (SAFL) has held three open days where hundreds of new learners have enrolled on a wide range of courses.

Learners have been signing up to courses in English and maths as well as employability courses offering support on writing CVs and interview skills. There has also been a good take-up of the more creative courses such as art, sewing and textiles courses.

Adult learner Moreen Campbell has already completed courses at Tipton College and has again signed up for more courses this term.

After studying English at entry level and Level 1 Moreen is going on to study for her Level 2 in English which is equivalent to a GCSE. While doing her English studies, Moreen learned about the sewing and dressmaking classes on offer and has now signed up for her third term on that course.

Moreen said: "I love coming to the adult learning classes. The staff have given me real encouragement with my studies. My confidence has improved and I'm glad I've been given the opportunity to better myself.

"Before signing up for the sewing and dressmaking course, I couldn't sew at all but now I'm making my own dresses. I'd recommend adult learning to anyone."

Students can enrol on classes for this term until the end of September. Enrolment is taking place at any of the three adult learning centres; Tipton College in Alexandra Road, Ron Davis Centre in Smethwick and Hateley Heath Family Education and Training Centre in West Bromwich.

Councillor Simon Hackett went along to the recent open day at Tipton College and met the staff along with some new learners. He said: "The learners I met were so enthusiastic about the courses they have done and the tutors who taught them. It was great to see them signing up for more courses.”

“I encourage people to have a look at the courses on offer and enrol. There really is something for everyone including GCSE equivalent qualifications.”

To find out more details about the courses on offer please visit www.learnsafl.ac.uk or call 0121 557 0387. Alternatively you can go along to any of our colleges to find out more.

Visitors to Wolves Pride on Saturday, September 30 will also have the chance to become world record breakers as part of the ‘Big Howl’.

The Wolverhampton LGBT Alliance celebration, being supported by City of Wolverhampton Council, University of Wolverhampton and Wolverhampton Homes, will play host to an attempt to get the most number of people wolf howling continuously for a minute.

It runs on from the city’s largest public arts event – Wolves in Wolves – and will take place at 4pm at St Peter’s Car Park, off Wulfruna Street, in Wolverhampton city centre.

The current world record stands at 803 people and is held by Great Wolf Lodge, who broke the record at Niagara Falls on July 1, 2017, as part of the 150th Canada Day.

More than 4,000 free tickets for Wolves Pride have already been snapped up and organisers are calling on people to rally behind the world record attempt in a bid to break the 1,000 barrier.

City of Wolverhampton Council’s Member Champion for Equalities, Councillor Paula Brookfield, said: “Wolves Pride is an important event in the calendar and this year the ‘Big Howl’ record attempt gives us a chance to put the city’s rich diversity on the world map.

“The Big Howl is just one of the many family activities on offer throughout the day as the City of Wolverhampton comes together to help raise awareness of LGBT+ equality messages.”

Emma Bull, Director of Organisational Development, University of Wolverhampton, added: “As a sponsor of both Wolves Pride 2017 and the Wolves in Wolves art project, the University of Wolverhampton is proud to be supporting The Big Howl. We are working with students from our nationally-renowned Photography, Video & Film Production, and Journalism courses to support the official recording of this unique event. With campuses in the heart of the city, we know better than anybody that Wolverhampton has a lot to shout about!"

Ben Howley of Wolverhampton Homes and Chair of Wolverhampton LGBT+ Alliance, said: “As one of the sponsors behind the Wolves in Wolves project, we can’t wait to see people come together for the Big Howl, which we hope will see us take the world record and put the City of Wolverhampton on the map.

“Wolverhampton Homes is proud to be one of the organisers behind this year’s Pride event. We’re passionate about diversity and have supported Wolves Pride since 2012. This year’s Pride will see the launch of Wolverhampton LGBT+ Alliance, a network of organisations and businesses that have joined forces to improve services to the local LGBT+ community.”

Two of the city’s much-loved Wolves in Wolves - ‘Rainbow’ by Julie Fletcher and Support Life by Alex Vann - will be part of Wolves Pride.

As well as the world record attempt, it will feature a broad range of music, live entertainment and performers, as well as a fantastic range of street food, bars, information stands, merchandise stalls.

There will also be a family fun area with activities for children, including special arts and crafts workshops with some of the Wolves in Wolves artists.