Shoppers, sports fans and party-goers are being encouraged to leave the car at home this Christmas and New Year and use public transport instead.

Those heading to the Boxing Day sales and the region’s top football matches will be able to take advantage of the biggest bus service outside of London.

A total of 171 services will be running on December 26 thanks in part to a financial subsidy from Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

The region’s largest bus operator National Express West Midlands will be running a near-Sunday daytime schedule and Diamond Bus will also be laying on 17 key services.

People’s public transport options will be boosted further by the West Midlands Metro tram system, which will run an enhanced Sunday service on Boxing Day.

Full details of the bus and tram services were revealed today (December 13) following the release of the public transport timetables for the festive period. They can be viewed at www.networkwestmidlands.com/festive-services

Cllr Roger Lawrence, the WMCA’s lead member for transport, said: “This is the time of year when many of us are heading out to the shops to buy presents or off to parties and other festive events.

“That can add significantly to the amount of traffic on our roads, leading to extra congestion and poorer air quality.

“So I would encourage people to consider leaving the car at home and getting the bus, tram or train. That way they can avoid the hassle of finding somewhere to park and enjoy a festive tipple at the same time.”

With no trains running on Boxing Day, the extensive bus and tram timetable will not only help those heading to the sales but also shop workers as well as thousands of football fans going to the West Bromwich Albion, Birmingham City and Walsall home matches.

The bus and tram schedules are:

Christmas Eve:

Bus: Normal Saturday service with most routes finishing earlier at around 10pm

Metro: Normal weekday service

Rail: Weekday service on most routes with reduced timetable from mid-afternoon and finishing earlier

Christmas Day:

No bus, rail or tram services

Boxing Day:

Bus: Revised Sunday service with some routes finishing earlier at 6pm and key routes operating until normal end of service

Metro: Bank Holiday service operating every 10 minutes during the daytime and every 15 minutes during the evening

Rail: No services

Thursday December 27 and Friday December 28

Bus: Saturday service on most routes

Metro: Bank Holiday service (as on Boxing Day)

Rail: Normal weekday service on most routes with a later start on Thursday

Saturday December 29 and Sunday December 30

Bus: Revised Saturday service on Dec 29 and normal Sunday service on Dec 30

Metro: Normal Saturday and Sunday services

Rail: Normal Saturday and Sunday services

New Year’s Eve, Monday December 31:

Bus: Saturday service

Metro: Saturday service with last tram at around midnight

Rail: Monday service for most routes with some trains finishing earlier

New Year’s Day, Tuesday January 1:

Bus: Revised Sunday service with some routes finishing earlier at 6pm and key routes operating until normal end of service. A reduced service will operate in Coventry

Metro: Bank Holiday service operating every 10 minutes during the daytime and every 15 minutes during the evening

Rail: Sunday service on most routes

Efforts to protect the ocean have received a major boost with the announcement that Seychelles will lead a Commonwealth Blue Charter action group on marine protected areas.

Seychelles is the latest and 12th country to step forward as a Commonwealth Blue Charter Champion country.

The announcement was made at the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

Seychelles’ Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Charles Bastienne, spoke at a side-event on the Commonwealth Blue Charter.

“Seychelles wishes to lead the group because of the great progress we have made at the national and regional level in the establishment and management of marine protected areas.

“The government of Seychelles believes that in order to compliment the adoption of the Blue Charter and also to achieve sustainable development, Seychelles - being a small island developing state - must play a pivotal role in preserving and protecting our seas and oceans at all costs”.

Last week, Seychelles extended its planned protected areas to an impressive 26 per cent of the country's 1.4 million km² exclusive economic zone (EEZ), building on the 16 per cent it protected earlier this year. The new marine protected areas are based on the Seychelles Marine Spatial Plan - a first in the Indian Ocean area.

The areas protected are important for biodiversity conservation, as well as for tourism and fishing. They include islands that are important breeding areas for endangered marine species, such as the remote Aldabra group of islands.

Other action group members updated delegates on their activities, including progress from the UK and Vanuatu on the Clean Ocean Alliance, from Cyprus on aquaculture, from Sri Lanka on mangrove restoration and from Kenya on the blue economy.

Nick Hardman-Mountford, Head of Oceans and Natural Resources at the Commonwealth Secretariat, said: "I strongly encourage other Commonwealth countries to follow the lead of Seychelles and their other counterparts in this vital Blue Charter initiative. Now is the time to take action to protect and sustainably manage the ocean, now is the time to join up.

“The wellbeing and livelihoods of billions of people depend on the health of the world's marine environment. We must act now to safeguard this one ocean for our children and their children".

During a panel discussion at the side event, panellists from the African Union, UN Environment, the Indian Ocean Rim Association, the Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Programme and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community stressed the need for regional cooperation on ocean sustainability.

As preparations begin for Birmingham to host the Commonwealth Games in 2022, Birmingham City University has launched two new undergraduate degrees – Event, Venue and Experience Management and Global Sport Management.

The Event, Venue and Experience Management course sees students immersed in live event experiences as part of their studies, as learners explore future trends in event technologies and develop an in depth knowledge of the critical elements of venue design.

Those studying Global Sport Management will learn from international sports leaders on the key contemporary areas of business and management in the global sports industry, including insights into the latest digital innovations.

Both degrees are the first courses of their kind in the UK to be accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), the only chartered professional body dedicated to promoting the highest standards in management and leadership excellence.

“The Event, Venue and Experience Management course has been a great success to date and the CMI accreditation further validates its strong links to industry and our commitment to developing work ready graduates and leaders of the future”, said Richard Oddy, Programme Director for Event, Venue and Experience Management at Birmingham City University.

“It’s a perfect time for us at Birmingham City University to launch the Global Sport Management course”, added Dr Russell Cowley, Programme Director for Global Sport Management at Birmingham City University.

“The Global Sport Management degree is unique with its accreditation to the Chartered Management Institute. Furthermore, the course is very practice focused through our extensive contacts with industry leaders and organisations.

“This course will see us deliver the next generation of global sport business and management experts.”

Dr Cowley is a former professional ice hockey player and previously played for Great Britain on the men's national ice hockey team.

Two members of a martial arts group have won gold medals at the World Championships in Rome.

The two kick-boxing competitors from React Martial Arts in Rowley Regis – the coach Arron Walker and junior member Harvey Adlam – won their world titles earlier this month.

Arron and Harvey, who is aged 11 from Cradley Heath, competed in ring continuous, mat continuous and boxing, at 85kg and 35kg respectively.

Arron won the gold in ring continuous and bronze in the other two disciplines and Harvey got gold in mat continuous, silver in ring continuous and bronze in boxing.

“It was a highly competitive world championships on 3 and 4 November, with teams from Spain, Sweden, USA, Mongolia, Morocco and Italy, to name just a few,” said Arron.

“It is a great achievement for our small club we managed to get medals from six categories with only two fighters,” said Arron.

Arron said the club, which was set up in 2014 to encourage kick-boxing in the area, were now anxious to get some new faces in the squad to train-up for future championships.

Arron said the club we were an active member of the community activity network (CAN) co-ordinated by Matt Hill and now attend regular public health meetings with Matt.

As part of the CAN, the club received some funding from Sandwell to help promote new sessions to encourage more young people to take up the sport. Members have worked in primary and secondary schools in Sandwell.

Sandwell Council's cabinet member for leisure, Councillor Bill Gavan said: "I was very pleased to hear of these amazing achievements by members of the local club.

"I hope their efforts encourage more people to get involved in this highly successful organisation."

Three University of Wolverhampton students are celebrating after scooping gold medals in Judo at a major national competition.

Jemima Yeats-Brown, Eric Ham and Kelly Petersen-Pollard all won their categories at the British Senior Judo Championships at the weekend.

Jemima Yeats-Brown, a BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science student, was successful in the -78kg category.

BSc (Hons) Exercise and Health student Kelly Petersen-Pollard clinched gold in the -70kg category.

Meanwhile, Eric Ham, who is studying BSc (Hons) Strength and Conditioning, won the gold medal in the -73kg competition.

The students, who train at the British Judo Centre of Excellence at the Walsall Campus, all receive support from the University’s Sports Scholarship scheme.

James Dale, Sports Manager (General), said: “The results in the British Championships are absolutely fantastic and we are very proud of our students’ achievements. To see our students win senior British medals along with junior British medals is a credit to the effort they put in both on and off the judo mat. I must also mention the hard work that our Head Coach, Dave Elmore has put in to help our students achieve this level.

“This coupled with our strong relationship with British Judo and the fantastic facilities provided by the University, are the reason that students have the opportunity to do so well in their sport. We are very excited for the second part of the competitive season which will see the same students compete at BUCS national championships along with other high profile, senior Judo events.”

Cricket has the potential to unite communities and help countries towards their development goals, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has said. She was speaking at the ‘Bringing the Commonwealth to the ICC Cricket World Cup’ event – launching a landmark collaboration between the Commonwealth, International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup 2019, and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

High commissioners, renowned sportsmen and community project leaders were among those attending the presentation at the Commonwealth headquarters in London. The initiative aims to shift the focus beyond the playing field to the greater impacts of sport such as accelerating development, promoting peace and improving health and education.

Welcoming the new partnership, the Secretary-General said, “Sport is one of the great shared traditions across Commonwealth member countries. This collaboration will utilise our Commonwealth convening power - which is truly remarkable - to champion and promote cricket and broader sport-based initiatives being delivered by a diverse range of organisations, using the sport as a tool for development and peacebuilding.”

Secretary-General Scotland spoke about the Peace at the Crease initiative she launched earlier this year to enhance the impact of cricket as a tool for development. The programme will create a network of governments, cricketing and sporting bodies and community organisations, and includes training and capacity building to use cricket and sport more generally to advance development goals such as good health and wellbeing, peace and gender equality. Contributing to Peace at the Crease there are Commonwealth Community Cricketing Cups, with special exhibition matches and tournaments to mobilise action on specific development challenges.

The Commonwealth will also support the ICC Young Flagbearers programme, which will recruit young people from diaspora communities of each of the 10 world cup competing nations.

Commenting on the partnership with the Commonwealth, Managing Director of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Steve Elworthy MBE said: “It is an honour to work alongside the Commonwealth ahead of what is a huge year for both the sport and the participating countries.

“The event provides a great opportunity for all members of the Commonwealth to be part of the World Cup and show how their communities can be part of cricket in the future,” he added.

Panel discussions at the event focused on the role cricket can play to promote social cohesion and sustainable development in local communities, as part of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Social Legacy programme.

Participants also learnt about related Commonwealth initiatives such as ‘Faith in the Commonwealth’, which was created to improve global citizenship and religious literacy among young people and build stronger social cohesion through greater respect and understanding across faiths and cultures.