People with disabilities treated Sandwell’s social care chief to a performance of Christmas songs when she visited a day centre in West Bromwich. Councillor Ann Shackleton, the council’s cabinet member for social care, met people who use the Stoney Lane Day Centre, which provides day opportunities for adults with physical and learning disabilities. Councillor Shackleton joined singer Rajni Patel and others in a Christmas sing-song.

Council staff have helped raise £200 for charity Action Heart with a Christmas hamper raffle. Staff at the Sandwell Local office in Blackheath organised the raffle. Councillor Susan Eaves, Rowley Regis town lead member, said: “It’s great to see Rowley Regis Local organising this raffle to raise money for such an important local cause. I would like to thank all the staff for organising it and everyone who entered the raffle.”

More than a third (38 per cent) of people in the West Midlands throw away or forget an unsuitable gift that could help vulnerable children and young people, according to a new survey by Barnardo’s. However, a similar figure (35 per cent) gave them to a charity shop instead, reveals a poll by the UK’s leading children’s charity. The online research conducted by YouGov also found that musical socks were considered one of the least sought-after Christmas presents by nearly half of us (40 per cent), closely followed by a selfie stick or bathroom scales.

Hundreds of fundraisers from across the West Midlands did their bit in a festive knit to support Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity’s third Festive Jumper Day. The annual event, this year known as Star Jumper Day, saw supporters put on their silliest seasonal attire – from ho-ho-horrendous hats to wacky winter woollies – in a bid to raise much-needed funds to help the charity build the UK’s first Rare Diseases Centre for children.

A prosthetic leg, a sheep’s head and a Victoria Cross medal are among the most unusual items donated to charity, the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) can reveal. The top ten list, compiled by CAF, also includes a pair of canaries, a live ferret and a ventriloquist dummy. Charities including Oxfam, Guide Dogs For The Blind and Cancer Research UK submitted items for inclusion.  The donations have either been left at charity shops or bequeathed as legacies.

The Phoenix Newspaper would like to wish a very Merry Christmas to all of our readers, advertisers, supporters and friends!