Artists, both well-known and, as yet, undiscovered are invited to submit designs for The Big Sleuth’s Sun Bears. Download an artist pack from www.thebigsleuth.co.uk/artists and submit ideas online before midnight on Monday 2 January 2017 to be in with a chance of seeing your Sun Bear design on display in Birmingham and its surrounding areas next summer.

Scott and Brett Bernard are 3,900 meters up Kilimanjaro raising money for The Way Youth Zone in Wolverhampton. Five friends from around the Black Country are trekking six vertical kilometers across seven days as they scale Africa's highest mountain to raise money for the three charities: Promised Dreams, The Way Youth Zone and Birmingham Children's Hospital. 

Religious leaders from around the world gathered in St Andrews on to sign the ‘Declaration on a Shared Humanity,’ to marks the culmination of the Year of Interfaith Dialogue, an initiative set up to stimulate conversation about the commonalities between the different faiths. Attended by senior members of the Christian Churches and the Catholic Church, members of the Hindu community from the UK and India, leaders of the UK Jewish community, senior Buddhist monks and the representative of the Dalai Lama, the 130-strong religious delegation from 19 countries was joined by 32 school pupils from Fife in the signing.

The risk of drivers having an accident in the 4 weeks following the clocks changing at the end of October increases by 10%, and if they are driving between 5pm and 8pm, when it’s both dark and busy on the roads, the risk of having an accident rises dramatically by 30%  compared to the previous month according to Insure The Box, the global pioneer of telematics-based car insurance, and a champion for young driver safety.

The UK’s leading registration body for electricians is urging people to think electrics when they carry out their checks on the elderly this winter. Proportionately, older people suffer more fatal and non-fatal injuries from electrically-related house fires than the rest of the population. People over 65 are particularly at risk because they often live in old or poor-quality housing that contains faulty electrics or old appliances.

City of Wolverhampton Council has released details of how people can take part in a consultation on cuts proposals of £13.5 million. The council, which continues to manage Central Government funding reductions, is giving people the chance to have their say before the 2017/2018 budget is set in the Spring. People are being asked for their views on 32 proposals which are a combination of cuts, more efficient ways of working and plans to generate additional income.