Community News

Action for Children’s annual Byte Night event has raised more than £1 million to help vulnerable children and young people living in the Midlands and across the UK. More than 200 technology and business experts in the Midlands bedded down for the night on St Paul’s Square in Birmingham on 2 October, joining almost 1,200 people across the UK for the challenge of sleeping rough to raise vital funds for the charity.

An awards ceremony has been held to honour members of the public from across the West Midlands region who have gone beyond the call of duty to help save lives and support the work of West Midlands Ambulance Service’s 4,500 staff.

Community groups in Sandwell can apply for funding to help people stay fit and healthy.  Grants of up to £5,000 are now available from Sandwell Council and can be spent on new or existing sports facilities in the borough. As part of its drive to boost levels of physical activity, the council has introduced Community Activity Network Development Officers (CANDO) in each of Sandwell’s six towns.

People are being invited to come together and honour those who fought and died in the two World Wars and other conflicts this Remembrance Sunday. The city’s annual Observance of Remembrance will be held at the Cenotaph in St Peter’s Square on Sunday morning (8 November, 2015).

An event organised by Save the Dream, which featured a day of sport activities held in Times Square, New York. The event featured Olympic gold medalists, Para-athletes and international music stars; all united together to call for universal access to sport and was sponsored by Qatar Airways.

The final brick was laid last week at a £9 million development that will enable more older people in Haringey with care needs to live independently in their own homes. Protheroe House, on Chestnut Road, Tottenham, is a brand new development with 50 flats designed to enable independent living with the safety net of high quality personal care and support provided by a specialist on-site team.

Another open space in Haringey is now officially flying the flag of quality, after the prestigious Green Flag was raised in Queen’s Wood. The Friends of Queen’s Wood gathered with the council, other park users and volunteers to celebrate the raising of the flag, which follows an announcement in the summer that the green space would receive the nationally-recognised status.

More than 300 older people will soon be moving into a £39 million retirement village, thanks to a forward looking partnership between Birmingham City Council, the ExtraCare Charitable Trust, Bournville Village Trust and The Homes and Communities Agency.

Shelter analysis of government statistics reveals that over 2,400 children will wake up homeless this Christmas day in the West Midlands - a rise of 10% in the last year.  And worryingly, with councils feeling the pressure of our affordable housing shortage, the number of families across Britain living in B&Bs – accommodation which is often cramped and unsafe for children – has more than trebled over the last five years.

Housing chiefs and the police have used new powers for the first time to close down a property which has been a hot bed of anti-social behaviour. The City of Wolverhampton Council, supported by West Midlands Police and Wolverhampton Homes, secured a closure order against the property in Parkfields, following concerns over drug use and other issues.

Special guest Sir Lenny Henry CBE was the star at West Midlands housing association Nehemiah UCHA’s 10th birthday celebrations of its retirement scheme Henry Court, Charlton St, Dudley recently. The Dudley-born comedian, actor and writer Sir Lenny opened the retirement housing scheme back in 2005 and the scheme was named in honour of his mum Winifred, who was a member of the congregation of The Church of God of Prophecy, the founders of Nehemiah UCHA.

Thirty-three-year-old Lee of Castle Vale challenged people to nominate middle names for him and then picked the winner out of a box. With more than 100 names ranging from Princess Tallulah and Danger-Mouse to Big Poppa and ‘have a nice day’, the stakes were high.

A new knife surrender bin was unveiled in West Bromwich High Street for people to voluntarily give up weapons and help save lives. The launch came as Sandwell's six-week Safer 6 campaign moves its focus to West Bromwich.

A Wolverhampton charity that encourages people with sight loss to take part in activities such as water ski-ing and rock wall climbing has been awarded a £4,000 grant by the West Brom building society. The Beacon Centre is using the funding to further its ActivEyes programme, which facilitates participation in a variety of leisure and social activities.

Severn Trent is backing a WaterSafe campaign urging homeowners to be ‘lead aware’ to ensure their drinking water stays fresh and healthy. The campaign came during Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (October 25-31), a campaign led by the World Health Organisation to raise awareness of the devastating effects of lead worldwide.

More than 80 people joined #teamJTH to take part in the Morrisons Great Birmingham Run in the name of John Taylor Hospice. And with every mile of the 13.1 route, each competitor knew they were supporting the work of the hospice providing specialist care in Birmingham.