Wishing all of our readers, advertisers and friends a very Happy New Year from The Phoenix Newspaper - Here's hoping it's the best year for you all!

Relatives of a man who passed away recently are being asked to get in touch with the City of Wolverhampton Council. Robert Thickett, who was a resident in a care home in Bilston, was 77. It is thought he had previously lived in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham. The City of Wolverhampton Council is trying to trace Mr Thickett’s relatives so that his funeral can be arranged.

Royal Mail predicts that ‘Take-back Tuesday’ – the first working day in the New Year – will be the busiest day for online shopping returns through the post as shoppers rush to send back unwanted Christmas gifts. On Tuesday 3 January, returns of online purchases are predicted to jump by more than 50 per cent in a single day, versus the average number of return parcels per day in December. 

Work is starting on the construction of a £6 million new care home in Rowley Regis as part of an agreement between Sandwell Community Caring Trust and Sandwell Council. The work is part of a special link-up between Sandwell Community Caring Trust (SCCT) and the council to provide modern facilities for older people. The new care home is being built on the site of Knowle House. When it is completed, the staff and residents from Grafton Lodge in Grafton Road, Oldbury, will transfer to the building.

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.