The spectacular backdrop for a landmark memorial in Wolverhampton which will commemorate the bravery of 19^th century Sikh soldiers has been craned into place. The eight-metre steel plate depicting a mountain range and strategic outposts will form part of the city’s new Saragarhi Monument, which will stand on land in Well Lane in Wednesfield.

Black Country sculptor Luke Perry is creating the memorial, which has been commissioned by Guru Nanak Gurdwara and is the first monument in the UK specifically honouring the fallen soldiers.

Those returning to work and school this month are being asked to plan ahead and consider going by bike or walking, as traffic is expected to be the busiest it’s been since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The first weeks of September are usually busy as up to 100,000 children return to classrooms and people return to work after the summer break.

But with coronavirus restrictions having been lifted, this year will see many more people returning to workplaces for the first time in more than a year. This will provide a vital boost to footfall in our town and city centres, ensuring the region is open for business, but will also see an increase in traffic at peak times.

To celebrate Emergency Services Day, which takes place on Thursday 9^th September 2021, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is asking local landmarks and companies across the West Midlands to ‘Light Up Red’. The initiative aims to help raise awareness of the lifesaving pre-hospital critical care provider on the national recognised day for emergency service personnel and to also celebrate the charity’s Air30 30^th anniversary.

Digbeth-based Eastside Projects have been collaborating with South African artist, Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi and her team on creating a bold new series of artworks set in Birmingham thanks to funding from the British Council as a part of the Birmingham 2022 culture programme.

The funding from British Council has allowed for a research and development programme that builds a bridge between two major cities within the Commonwealth, Birmingham and Johannesburg. Beginning in May, and working through to the end of July, the development phase of the project has allowed for Eastside and Nkosi to explore ideas and pull together artworks based around spaces and people in Birmingham – all whilst being 8,000 miles apart.

A mother whose young son fell into a lake has used social media to track down the two men who rescued him. Natasha Creek and Frankie, 7, were at Caldecotte Lake in Milton Keynes when he fell off a jetty last month.

Brothers Kofi and Jermaine Reid were nearby and pulled him from the water but she said she was too shaken at the time to properly thank them. She found the pair after a Facebook appeal and was "blown away" to meet them again with the whole family.

A new digital inclusion team at the city council will ensure Birmingham’s most vulnerable and excluded citizens will have better access to online services. This is one of the recommendations in a report to cabinet setting out a city-wide digital inclusion strategy.

Birmingham City Council has brought together 40 different organisations to ensure people have access to equipment, network connectivity and skills for improving their quality of life, developing their careers and saving money.