The Belgrade Theatre has hosted an anniversary party to celebrate 10 years of its B2 auditorium this September. Special guests were invited to join Belgrade staff for a glass of fizz and a slice of cake in celebration of B2’s 10^th birthday, as well as hearing from speakers including Artistic Director Hamish Glen, Associate Director Justine Themen and Coventry’s Lord Mayor, Tony Skipper.

B2 opened in September 2007 following an 18 month closure whilst the £14million refurbishment and expansion capital project was undertaken. This flexible and intimate second space was the vision of Artistic Director Hamish Glen, who insisted on the construction of B2 when he arrived in Coventry in 2003, after spending over 10 years at the helm of the Dundee Rep.

Seating between 200 – 300 audience members, the B2 auditorium has allowed the theatre to stage risk-taking and innovative work, cementing the theatre’s reputation as one of the most dynamic producing houses in the country.

During its 10 year history, B2 has attracted some of the UK’s top theatre makers to the city. Their landmark production of Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes From A Marriage, was directed by Sir Trevor Nunn and starred Game of Thrones actor Iain Glen alongside Imogen Stubbs.

A key part of the artistic policy for B2 has also been to bring the history of Coventry to life on stage with productions such as the hit Coventry Blitz play One Night in November, Too Much Pressure, which was set amid the decline of the city’s motor car industry, FA Cup play, We Love You City and more recently, the 2 Tone musical Three Minute Heroes.

The Belgrade youth company also present regular high-quality work in B2 that bears witness to the stories of the city with shows, such as Walk For Your Life telling the story of a Zimbabwean refugee and Imperfect, exploring some of the of pressures on the city’s young people.

Hamish Glen said “B2 has been the saviour of this theatre. It has allowed us to produce high-quality and ground-breaking work alongside our popular main stage programme, and appeals to a broader and more diverse theatre-going audience. We’re enormously proud of the work we have produced in B2 over the last 10 years, that has helped to establish the Belgrade as a top regional producing theatre and attracted so many internationally renowned artists, performers and creatives to Coventry. I’m excited to see what the next 10 years bring!”

Justine Themen, Associate Director said, “B2 is an essential place to showcase work created by the communities we engage with from a diverse range of backgrounds, helping to develop their confidence, creativity and performance skills. This work also provides fertile ground for growing new talent in the city – with the Belgrade’s Critical Mass programme growing new-writing for the stage and the Springboard Initiative developing emerging companies. Without a space like B2, none of this would be possible.”

Taking to the B2 stage this October, Pink Sari Revolution is the Belgrade Theatre’s latest co-production with Curve Theatre Leicester and tells the story of Sampat Pal, the leader of India’s famous pink sari wearing Gulabi Gang, based on the book by Amana Fontanella-Khan.

B2 will host the Belgrade’s first ever Dementia Friendly Performance of Finding Joy on Sat 18 Nov at 1.30pm. This funny and heart-warming play by the UK’s leading full-mask theatre company Vamos, will be specially adapted to suit audience members living with Dementia and their carers.

New Black Showcase will return to B2 for the fifth year presenting work by graduates of the Belgrade’s Critical Mass playwriting programme, and new work by Midlands based theatre company futuretheatre.

The Theatre has introduced monthly comedy nights in B2 this autumn from acclaimed comedy clubs Screaming Blue Murder and Desi Central. These will feature an eclectic line up of top local comedians and some of the best acts on the British Asian comedy scene.

The RSPCA is appealing for information after a man drove up to an RSPCA animal centre, got out of his car and abandoned a dog at the gates before driving away.

CCTV footage captured the man driving into a disabled parking bay in a black Mercedes, taking the dog out of his boot and walking towards the gates of Birmingham Animal Centre, in Frankley Green, at around 8.05am on Saturday 26 August.

The Staffordshire bull terrier-type dog, who has since been named Roxy by RSPCA staff, wasn’t found for 40 minutes until a member of staff arrived for work.

The footage shows that moments after being dumped, the dog runs behind a parked car to hide. She is now being cared for at the centre.

The RSPCA’s chief inspector for Birmingham, Rebecca Cooper, said: “It is so sad to think that someone thought it was okay to do this. Being abandoned must have been extremely stressful and poor Roxy wasn’t found straightaway.

“A vet has checked over Roxy and found that she seems to have a problem with her legs - this could be arthritis, but we are not sure yet until further tests are carried out. She is a lovely dog though and she is getting a lot of fuss.

“We are urging anyone who recognises the dog, or the person in the footage, to contact us in complete confidence on 0300 123 8018 so we can look into this further.”

Solihull’s tastiest fun run, the Chocolate 5k, has raised over £10,000 for Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice – its biggest chocolate run in the area to date.

Over 320 sweet-toothed runners took to Elmdon Park Nature Reserve last week to help raise vital funds for the local charity.

The unique event blended exercise with indulgence, allowing participants to snack on sweet treats as they tackled the 5k challenge.

Runners were handed bars from a number of chocolate stations and received support on the sidelines from Willy Wonka and his Oompa Loompas, to give them that extra boost to reach the finish line.

This is the third time the local hospice has hosted its Chocolate 5k in Solihull and this year was its most successful yet – with more participants raising more money than ever before. The previous two runs took place at Dorridge Village Hall in 2015 and 2016.

All funds raised from the run will go towards Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice, which provides vital care to individuals and families living with terminal illness across Birmingham and Sandwell.

Lucy Watkins, events manager at Birmingham St Mary’s, said: “This year’s Chocolate 5k in Solihull was our sweetest yet and it was fantastic to see even more runners join us to help raise crucial funds for our Hospice.

“£10k is an incredible amount of money and will allow us to continue to provide expert care and support to over 1,200 local families. All of our services – whether they are provided at the Hospice, in people’s homes or in the local community – are completely free of charge and so we rely on the generosity of others to keep our Hospice running.

“I would like to thank everyone who joined us on the day – your brilliant support really will make a big difference.”

As Meghan Markle opens up for the first time on her romance with Prince Harry one bookmaker are making it 6/4 that the couple will get engaged this year

And it’s 3/1 that they will tie the knot next year.

“We have had a lot of interest in odds on whether the couple would get engaged this year,” declared bookies, Betfred. “The article in Vanity Fair where she reveals how in love and happy they are together is sure to add to that interest and speculation that we can’t be far off another royal engagement and we have odds of 6/4 of that happening this year.

We also make it 3/1 that the couple will actually marry next year, which would make 2018 a huge year for the Royals following on from the news yesterday that the Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant and due around March or April next year.”

Poetry by a lecturer at Newman  University, Birmingham, has been published in an annual anthology showcasing the best contemporary poetry published in the British Isles over the last year.

Swims – a long poem documenting a series of wild swims across the UK – by Dr Elizabeth-Jayne Burnett, senior lecturer in Creative Writing at Newman University was selected for inclusion after being highly commended in the Forward Prize for Poetry.

This year’s judging panel was chaired by journalist and television presenter Andrew Marr, and included poets Ian Duhiq, Sandeep Parmer and Mona Arshi, as well as artist Chris Riddell.

Well-known poets whose work has previously been included in the anthology include the likes of Ted Hughes and Carol Ann Duffy.

Dr Burnett, said: “I’m thrilled to have my work recognised in this prestigious prize and highly commended by the judges. It is wonderful to see the exciting and diverse work being rewarded by the Forward Prizes.”

The publication marks the continuation of a successful year for Dr Burnett, who was also announced as one of 12 winners of Penguin Random House’s WriteNow programme, earlier this year. As a result, she is also now working alongside a mentoring editor at Penguin Random House to develop a further manuscript, making it ready for publication.

The Forward Book of Poetry 2018 includes the 15 shortlisted and 50 highly commended poets from this year’s Forward Prizes for Poetry. Selected by the prize’s judging panel, the final recommendations give a strong sense of the variety, vitality and wit of poetry today, making the anthology valuable to both first-time poetry readers and those keen to find more poetry to enjoy. The anthologies are published annually by Bookmark, with the new issue available for pre-order