Christmas comes early to Central Library with an afternoon of festive fun and games for younger visitors. It is holding Christmas Crackers on Thursday 22 December, featuring Christmas story-telling and crafts, a magic show and balloon making, and carol singing with the City of Wolverhampton Council Choir. There will also be the chance to win a family ticket to see this year's big pantomime, Aladdin, courtesy of the Grand Theatre by taking part in a wordsearch competition.

Birmingham St Mary's Hospice is bringing families from across Birmingham and Sandwell together to remember a lost loved one this Christmas.The Hospice’s ‘Light up a Life’ event gives people the opportunity to celebrate and remember the lives of those no longer with us. Each year, hundreds of people take part in the celebration, whether or not they have been directly supported by Birmingham St Mary's Hospice. Two ceremonies will be taking place on Thursday 15^th December at 4.30pm and 7.30pm, lasting for approximately an hour and a half each.

John Taylor Hospice is looking for craftspeople, DIY experts and artists to run workshops for patients, families and local people. The workshops and groups will all take place in the hospice’s newly launched Moments Shed, which is housed in the grounds of the hospice in Erdington. The inspiration for Moments Shed came from John Taylor’s Well-Being and Heart of the Hospice Teams to encourage patients and families to find emotional support through coming together and enjoying practical tasks.

Patients from Birmingham Children’s Hospital were amongst the first to enter House of Fraser’s magical Christmas grotto last night, when it opened its doors for the festive season. The youngsters, which included seven-year-old Matilda Hatton from Walsall and nine-year-old Skye Gardner from Wolverhampton, were invited to officially open the grotto in celebration that £1.20 from every ticket purchased will support the fantastic work of Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity.

One in three vets who treat pets have seen puppies they believe to have been illegally imported from overseas in the last year, according to figures released by the UK's leading body for vets the British Veterinary Association (BVA). BVA’s Voice of the Veterinary Profession, which surveyed over 1,000 vets from across the UK, revealed that vets’ suspicions had been raised for several reasons including foreign microchips and the puppy’s age not matching the age given in its passports, with some vets also citing the puppy’s health as a problem after seeing cases of parvovirus and kennel cough.

Children across the West Midlands will enjoy a happier Christmas thanks to the amazing generosity of strangers. Kleeneze agents invited their customers to add a children’s toy to their catalogue orders, to be presented to families supported by Barnardo’s. Hundreds of customers responded to the appeal and donated around a thousand gifts worth a total of more than £3,000.