The Arcadian is lending its support to the Birmingham Comedy Festival for the sixth consecutive year.

Recently voted Best Midlands Arts Festival in the What’s On Readers’ Awards 2017, the festival runs from Friday 6 October to Sunday 15 October 2017, and will see a host of established and fast-rising names taking to stages across the city.

The Arcadian, which is owned and managed by leading commercial property investment and management company LCP, is home to a variety of leisure and entertainment businesses, including the multi-award-winning Glee Club - one of the UK’s leading comedy venues.

A spokesperson for the festival said: “We’re delighted to be working with The Arcadian again this year. The centre’s many restaurants, cafes and bars make it an ideal destination for a night out, and it’s of course where The Glee, one of our core venues, is based.

“We’re looking forward to seeing some great shows at the club during the festival, including our official opening night launch event, the Birmingham Comedy Festival Breaking Talent Award.”

The Arcadian first signed up as official sponsor for the ten-day event in 2011.

Jo Kinsella, Centre Manager at The Arcadian, said: “We are only too pleased to lend our support once again to this excellent event that takes place on our doorstep. It always attracts a great crowd of visitors from across the country.”

This line-up for this year’s festival will be officially announced over the summer. For more information, visit: www.bhamcomfest.co.uk

The Arcadian is a unique entertainment venue in Birmingham city centre, located in the heart of vibrant Southside, Chinatown and the Theatre District.

A range of events, activities and challenges have been planned by property specialist Leaders in support of Children’s Hospice Week later this month.

Employees at Leaders will bake, walk, cycle, dress up, hold raffles and much more in an effort to raise as much money and awareness as possible for their charity partner Together for Short Lives and their local children’s hospices.

Allison Thompson, managing director at Leaders, says: “Children’s Hospice Week is the UK’s only awareness and fundraising week for children with life-shortening conditions, their families and the services that support them. The theme this year is ‘Turn up the Volume’ and we are proud to be shouting our support from the rooftops for this extremely worthy cause.

“Each of our branches across the country has been paired with its local children’s hospice so the money we raise locally goes towards supporting local children and their families. This is our third year partnering with Together for Short Lives and our staff are as enthusiastic as ever about doing what they can to raise funds and awareness during Children’s Hospice Week.”

Some of the events confirmed by Leaders branches ahead of Children’s Hospice Week, which runs from 22nd to 28th May, include sponsored walks, runs and cycles; a wine and cheese evening; raffles and tombolas; competitions, dressing up and even a sponsored leg wax! There will also be the opportunity to donate a day’s rent for landlords who wish to support the cause.

Nick Appleby, head of corporate partnerships at Together for Short Lives, says: “Children’s Hospice Week is a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness about the number and needs of children with life-limiting conditions and to celebrate all the lifeline services that children and families rely on. We are thrilled to have the support of Leaders once again this year, and we are very excited to see the wonderful variety of fundraising activities their employees and branches undertake in support of the week.“

Leaders first named Together for Short Lives as its Charity of the Year in 2015. Since then the company has raised over £95,000 and is aiming to raise another £50,000 this year.

30 years ago, Rickshaw Travel's local partner in Borneo decided to design a tour that would provide real interaction between tourists and a longhouse community in Sarawak, one of the two Malaysian states in Borneo. Reaching the furthest points of the Delok river, they came across the Nanga Sumpa Longhouse in Batang Ai and met the Iban tribe who settled there in the 15th century. Because their key objective was to involve the longhouse community in a meaningful way, in order to not disrupt their way of life, it was important to see how receptive the community would be to hosting visitors. Following discussions with the elders of the community, they agreed to build a lodge for travellers adjacent to the longhouse to minimise disruption to the families living there.

What began as a simple camp is now the Nanga Sumpa lodge housing up to 18 guests at a time. As well as offering guests a glimpse into the tribe's lifestyle, visiting the lodge provides a substantial income to the Iban communities in some of the remote areas such as Sumpa, where around 2500 visitors come each year.

In Rickshaw's new Brilliantly Borneo itinerary, travellers can stay in the longhouse and learn about the Iban 'headhunting' culture. Offering a mix of wildlife-spotting, rugged and pristine beaches, adventure and magical sights, this Borneo itinerary is ideal for travellers who want to see everything that Borneo has to offer. Whether its staying with the famous Iban tribe and learning about their traditional way of life, or exploring the Mulu caves in search of bats and keeping eyes peeled for wildlife, there's a whole host of activities to keep travellers busy. And, with some added beach time at the end, travellers can relax and recuperate on the shimmering shores of Lankayan. This 24-day trip is priced from £3495 pp including accommodation (price based on two sharing) with breakfast, permits and other meals, transport and excursions as described in the itinerary.

A scheme which encourages parents who have received help from Children's Services to "champion" the support available to other mums and dads has received a national award.

The City of Wolverhampton Council’s Parent Champion scheme manager Reeta Shemar was named Coordinator of the Year by the Family and Childcare Trust last month – and representatives of the Trust have subsequently visited Wolverhampton to meet local Parent Champions and see the scheme in action.

The Parent Champion scheme recruits local men and women to talk to other parents about their experiences of children's social care services.

The volunteers work to build trust among families, and inform parents about the various opportunities available to them – such as the free childcare for three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds.

They also offer a befriending service, encourage new and prospective mums and dads to get help and support from their local Strengthening Families Hub and elsewhere, and enable parents to have their say on the development of services.

As well as helping others, Parent Champions reap benefits of their own. Becoming a Parent Champion strengthens participants’ employability by developing their skills and confidence – and a number have gone on to secure paid employment or join training programmes thanks to the support they receive in their voluntary role.

Emma Harriott, who started accessing children's services in 2013 when she became a mum for the first time, became a parent champion last year. It gave her the experience and confidence to look for a job working with children, and she was encouraged to apply for a role as a Strengthening Families Worker at one of the City’s Strengthening Families Hubs, a post she secured in July.

She said: “The support and confidence that I gained while volunteering encouraged me to apply for a job that I thought I would never get.

“I have no hesitation in recommending the Parent Champion programme to families as it really does change people’s lives. Now I help families to improve their prospects, just like I did."

Councillor Val Gibson, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: "The Parent Champions scheme is a wonderful initiative which enables mothers and fathers who have had first-hand experience of children's services in Wolverhampton to share their knowledge with others.

"They give a few hours a week to talk to other local parents about the services which are available to them, and because they are parents themselves, they are able to share their own experiences in a relatable, trusted and informal way.

"We have trained up 18 volunteers over the last year or so, and have just recruited a third cohort of nine who will soon be out and about sharing their knowledge with local families.

"Emma is a fantastic example of the benefits of volunteering as a Parent Champion can bring, and I would encourage anyone who is interested in taking on this important role to contact us to find out more.” She added: "I am delighted that the efforts of our Parent Champions, and the fantastic support of the City of Wolverhampton Council, has been recognised on a national stage by the Family and Childcare Trust, particularly as the scheme has only been running in Wolverhampton for 16 months.”

Work on Wolverhampton’s new city centre market is set to start in early August after planning permission was granted. City of Wolverhampton Council announced in January the relocation of the market from Market Square.

The new Southside site, fronting Cleveland Street, will boast 20 cabins and 48 stalls. Dozens of enquiries have been received from prospective traders interested in being part of the new market and there is already a waiting list for some of the new facilities.

The council is now only taking applications for cabins from street food vendors as all the retail units are taken, and there is limited space remaining on the outdoor stalls.

The new market will provide increased footfall from the Wulfrun Centre and transport Interchange, as well as situating the market in a student catchment area.

The current city centre traders have had first refusal on obtaining licenses at the new market, which will offer the flexibility to trade from bigger cabins, a secure site, CCTV, integrated lighting and power, free WiFi, canopy-covered walkways, offices, customer toilets, and comprehensive parking and storage facilities.

Councillor Steve Evans, Cabinet Member for City Environment, said: “Demand for the new city market is high and now the plans have been approved we can secure a contractor to deliver the scheme.

“We are consulting regularly with the current traders over the relocation – and we are delighted with the interest we have had from new applicants.

“Their addition will provide a more varied range of sales lines to differentiate it from a traditional market offer.

“The new market, funded by the sale of Market Square as part of the Westside scheme, has loads of potential – and we want this to be the people’s market, where events are also encouraged.It will prove an asset to the city centre.”

The former Netto store and adjoining buildings were cleared from the Southside site last year, paving the way for the move, which will see 48 tented stalls and 16 purpose-built cabins transferred from Market Square in phases.

It is anticipated the move will be completed in winter 2017/18 – but not during the Christmas trade period.

The Market Square location is to be absorbed into the new £55 million leisure-led Westside development by developer Urban & Civic.

This will deliver a multi-screen cinema, restaurants, bars, hotel, multi-storey car park, apartments, and public realm to the heart of the city centre, in two phases, over five years.

A temporary market has been in place since April last year when the indoor traders joined the outdoor traders in Market Square to enable the demolition of Heantun House and the old indoor market.

The city centre market is one of three markets in Wolverhampton, with Bilston and Wednesfield markets also popular places to shop.

Sympathetic restoration work to a Grade II listed Sandwell house has been recognised in a building excellence award.

The Lightwoods House restoration scheme picked up the Best Public Building title in the West Midlands Building Excellence Awards.

The house and park have undergone a transformation under the £5.2 million Lightwoods Park and House restoration project, with £3.6 million secured from Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Big Lottery Fund (BIG).

As part of the project the Grade II listed house, built in 1791, has been lovingly restored back to its former glory and is now a high-quality venue for a wide range of community activities as well as public and private events.

Now there is a tea room, community rooms for training, classes and exhibitions, a children’s centre, a large function room for events such as wedding ceremonies, receptions and conferences as well as numerous office spaces to let.

The building’s many original features have been carefully restored by the contractors, Conservation Heritage Building & Conservation (Staffordshire) Ltd, working alongside architects from Sandwell Council’s Urban Design team.

Nominations for the prestigious awards are made by building control teams from councils across the West Midlands metropolitan region and were presented to winners at an event held at Birmingham’s ICC on Friday (April 28).

Sandwell’s other winner was a new self-build in Corngreaves Road, Cradley Heath which picked up the Best Individual Home award.

The private self-build project beat far bigger and more expensive new builds because of the combination quality of build achieved, the complexity of the engineering works required to address the requirements, the difficult location and the fact that the design and almost all of the physical work was carried out by the owner himself.

Accord’s striking Eastern Gateway Phase 3 building on West Bromwich High Street and the small housing development at Holly Lane Smethwick by Devan Homes were also Highly Commended in the awards.