Birmingham’s status a Proud Host City for the 2022 Commonwealth Games is celebrated in the city council’s entry for this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. A mixture of flowers grown at the council’s own nurseries and sporting-themed features make up the eye-catching display, which has an interpretation of the official Games logo as its centrepiece.

People on low incomes are pawning household goods to pay for food and rent as the cost of living rises, new research shows. The Social Market Foundation said that pawnbroking is an essential source of credit for some customers, who feel they have no alternative ways to borrow.

The importance of pawnbroking to people on low incomes is likely to grow as the cost of living rises, the SMF said in a report based on extensive interviews with pawnbroking customers.

Projects, plans and people representing the best of public and private sector town planning from around the West Midlands have been shortlisted in the Royal Town Planning Institute Awards for Planning Excellence. Regional winners will be announced on 30 June at the RTPI West Midlands Summer Ball and Awards. 

It has been announced that an aerial acrobatics display will be held as part of celebrations to mark Coventry's final month as the UK City of Culture.

French company Gratte Ciel will be performing its show The Awakening on Broadgate on May 13 and 14. The 40-minute display will feature aerial stunts with performers hanging from a giant dream catcher.

A talented artist has scooped £150 after winning a competition to brighten up office space. The Open College Network West Midlands has recently redecorated its offices and training rooms, and while they look clean and smart, they were sorely lacking artwork on the walls.

The hedgehog population in the UK is declining at a worrying rate. Wildlife charities People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) recently published a report which revealed that hedgehog populations have plummeted by between 30% to 75% in rural areas since 2000, with the largest declines in eastern England.