Community News

City Year UK volunteer Holly O’Shea, from Selly Oak, Birmingham, has been awarded one of the first Domino’s ODEs - Order of the Domino’s Empire - in recognition of her charity work.

Loughborough University student Holly, 20, will now receive free pizza from Domino’s for a year after being nominated for the award by her boyfriend Jonah.

Holly is spending her placement year volunteering full-time with City Year UK at Bristnall Hall Academy in Oldbury, where she serves as a mentor and role model to pupils as part of a team.

As part of Bristnall Hall’s inaugural Lighthouse Team, Holly serves as a peer mentor to the pupils, being a part of their school day from breakfast club to homework club. As well as taking a whole school approach, each member of the team has a focus list of pupils who particularly benefit from extra support, which could be related to attendance, behaviour or curriculum results.

City Year UK is a youth social action charity which believes that through a year of full-time volunteering, 18 to 25-year-olds can make a real difference to the life chances of school pupils from the most disadvantaged communities, whilst gaining valuable leadership experience and boosting their own career prospects.

Holly said: “Winning this award was honestly such an amazing surprise! Helping people already comes with so much satisfaction and to receive this recognition on top of that is really just an incredible extra.”

As well as giving her time to volunteer with City Year, Holly was also the youngest ever athlete to compete in the Dubai Ironman Challenge to raise money for Palestinian refugees and spent a summer teaching children in Uganda how to read and write. Whilst at university at Loughborough she ran campaigns to support the LGBT community.

Each recipient was presented with the pizza-shaped ODE medal and will receive free, freshly made Domino’s pizza for a year. Only a limited number of people are being awarded the honour each year, based on nominations from the public via Domino’s UK Facebook page.

National disabled people’s charity Revitalise has a mystery on its hands…

Revitalise recently launched ‘Wish You Were Here’, a campaign to highlight the importance of holidays, fronted by the charity’s Vice President Dame Judi Dench, shortly to be embroiled in a whodunnit of her own in cinemas as Princess Dragomiroff in ‘Murder on the Orient Express’.

The Wish You Were Here campaign is inviting celebrities to send the charity a doodle or some words about a treasured holiday memory on specially designed postcards.

All the postcards received so far, from celebrities such as Sir Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Christopher Eccleston, Warwick Davis and Zoe Wanamaker CBE, have been signed – with the exception of five (actually, says the charity, one of the five has been signed, it’s just we can’t work out the signature!).

Revitalise is now calling on the celebrities in question to come forward and claim credit for their contributions.

The mystery postcards can be seen on the Revitalise’s website, www.revitalise.org.uk. Supporters are also welcome to offer up their own theories and leads as to the identity of the celebrity contributors, including translating the mystery signature. Revitalise has come up with a special hashtag, #whosedoodle, for this purpose.

The charity devised Wish You Were Here to highlight the importance of holidays, especially for disabled people and carers, who find getting away particularly difficult. The campaign celebrates the sharing of holiday memories, since the opportunity to share one’s stories with others is something we all love about a good holiday.

Revitalise is to hold a special exhibition of the postcards it receives next year. The celebrity contributions will then be auctioned to raise much-needed funds for the charity, so it is important that all the postcards be ascribed to the individuals who drew or wrote them.

Revitalise CEO Chris Simmonds commented:

“Here at Revitalise we love a mystery, and all we know about these unsigned cards is that each one was contributed by a celebrity. So who are the ‘Famous Five’?

“If we can’t put names to the postcards we won’t be able to auction them, so there’s a lot at stake!

“That’s why we’ll be posting the mystery celebrity postcards on our website and social media and urging the mystery celebrities to come forward and claim credit for their handiwork.”

The mystery celebrities are urged to claim their handiwork and send Revitalise a signed picture so that the postcards can be auctioned to raise money for the charity’s vital work. Celebrities can contact Revitalise directly or make themselves known to the charity on social media, using the hashtag #whosedoodle.

The national disability charity, Sense, in partnership with Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), is inviting people with sensory impairments and complex needs living in Birmingham to participate in a major new programme: Sensibility, aimed at making art more accessible to people with sensory impairments by changing the way art is made.

How do you experience art if you don’t know what art is?  Sense’s Sensibility project aims to answer this question by exploring how art is experienced by people with sensory impairments, and using this knowledge to build a new way of making art – which puts sensory experiences at the heart of the process.

The programme is co-directed by Graeae Theatre and Stephanie Singer (BitterSuite). Four artists, Justin Wiggan, Saranjit Birdi, Lyn Cox and Becca Thomas (InterAction), have been commissioned to develop art with people with sensory impairments, and both the process and results of these pioneering collaborations will be shared with the wider arts sector at the inaugural Sensibility Festival in May 2018.

The festival, which will be hosted at Touchbase Pears & MAC Birmingham, will invite audiences and art makers into an experiential world dedicated to exploring, listening to and savouring the details of the bodily experience. It promises to be a combination of commissioned work, guest speakers, artists and a sensory installation co-created by the Sensibility participants.

Stephanie Tyrrell, National Art Manger at Sense, said: “The programme will challenge conventions of established art making methods and provide progressive, socially engaged, experimental art opportunities that nurture and inspire the creative potential of people with sensory impairments and complex needs and the wider artistic community.

We hope that it will enhance creative opportunities for people with complex needs, which will in turn enrich current contemporary art.”

Funded by Arts Council England, the programme has already received attention for two summer events: ‘Descriptive Realities’, a digital installation for the Birmingham Weekender, which invited customers at John Lewis to experience how people with sensory impairments experience the world; and ‘Kinesthesia’, which brought together professional dance artists and participants  to explore dynamic practice for Inclusive Dance 2017.

Sense would like to hear from people with sensory impairments and complex needs who are interested in participating in the project, through exhibitions, workshops and performances.

Nearly one in five adults are unlikely to wear a poppy to mark Remembrance Day this year including nearly one in three under-25s, a nationwide study from independent researchers Consumer Intelligence shows.

Its research found 11% of adults will not wear poppies, while another nine per cent are unsure about supporting the annual Poppy Appeal, which raises around £43 million a year for Service personnel and veterans. Among the under-25s, around 21% will not wear poppies and 11% are unsure.

Their main objection is that they feel bullied into supporting the appeal, but around a fifth of those who object to poppies say they believe the Remembrance symbol glorifies war. One in six oppose current military action by UK armed forces.

The study also highlights ongoing support for the Appeal, which last year aimed to ‘Rethink Remembrance’ in recognition of the sacrifices of a generation of veterans and service personnel. Around 32% of donors plan to give more for the Poppy Appeal this year.

It also underlined acceptance of different views on the Poppy Appeal –  just 29% of adults believe poppies should be compulsory in the run-up to Remembrance Day, which falls on Sunday November 12^th this year.

The Poppy Appeal has been the subject of controversy in recent years with a debate raging around wearing white poppies to symbolise pacifism, and criticism of politicians for not wearing poppies.

Consumer Intelligence’s research found one in 12 people (8%) have suffered hostility from others for wearing poppies, or experienced arguments. Around one in 20 parents say they would not encourage children to wear poppies in case they are targeted.

Ian Hughes, Chief Executive of Consumer Intelligence said: “The Poppy Appeal commands widespread support and raises huge sums but not everyone agrees with it or backs it.

“It is interesting however that tolerance of those who oppose poppies is so high with most people accepting it is a matter of personal choice.”

Around three out of four adults say that their workplace or college marks the two-minute silence and even 72% of those who are not at say they expect to mark the two-minute silence.

Malta, an archipelago located in the sunny Mediterranean, has been one of the best kept secrets for a Jewish Heritage Experience. Exploring a Jewish presence that dates back to the Roman Period, over 200 guests attended the American Sephardi Federation and New York Jewish Travel Guide’s special Jewish Heritage Malta program created in partnership with the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), Exclusively Malta, and the Corinthia Palace Hotel, held recently at the Center for Jewish History in New York City.

The Jewish Heritage Malta evening was opened by Jason Guberman, Executive Director, American Sephardi Federation, who praised Malta’s cultural diversity, including centuries-old Jewish connections still visible at several heritage sites, and noted how some Maltese are discovering Jewish ancestry.

The program included welcome remarks from H.E. Carmelo Inguanez, Malta’s Permanent Representative to the UN, and Joel Levy, Past President and CEO of the Center for Jewish History, who shared his Malta experience from when he lived there as a former Foreign Service Officer at the US Embassy in Malta, at which time he helped the community relocate the synagogue to an historic building.

The featured speaker, Dr. John Baldacchino, Director, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Arts Institute and Professor of Arts Education, a scholar of Mediterranean aesthetics, discussed the history of the Jews in Malta. Jewish roots in Malta date back to the 4th and 5th Century during the Roman period as evidenced by several Jewish Catacombs with drawings depicting the Jewish Menorah (candelabra) that can be found at the St. Paul’s Catacomb site near Rabat. The long Jewish history includes periods of enrichment as well as slavery, depending on who was ruling Malta at the time.

Michelle Buttigieg, MTA Representative North America, then told the audience that the Jewish Heritage Malta program was launched in May, 2016, in recognition of the importance of the Jewish Heritage niche travel market in North America. “MTA invited, with the support of Exclusively Malta and Corinthia Palace Hotel, an American Jewish journalist, Harry Wall, and world-renowned photographer Richard Nowitz, to visit Malta and create a video and story about the Maltese Jewish Experience”, said Ms. Buttigieg, who then shared the video with the audience.

Jason Allan, Managing Director, Exclusively Malta, then presented the Jewish Heritage Experience in Malta program that his company designed. He spoke about today’s Jewish Community in Malta, which although small in numbers (less than 200), is still very vibrant. The majority of the contemporary Maltese Jewish Community originate from Gibraltar, England, North Africa, Portugal, and Turkey during the French and British rule from 1798. During the early 20th century, since the islands did not have a rabbi of their own, rabbis would often be flown in from Sicily to perform religious ceremonies. During World War II, Malta was the only European country that did not require visas for Jews fleeing Nazism and numerous Maltese Jews fought Germany in the British Army during the war.

Exclusively Malta can make arrangements for visitors to meet the local Jewish community and to attend Sabbath and holiday prayers at the Synagogue. Allan noted that two years ago Chabad set-up the first Kosher restaurant in Malta, which is centrally located in St. Julian’s.

Points of special Jewish Heritage interest on Malta include old landmarks and street signs. In the walled city of Mdina, where the Jews made up almost one third of the population, there is a “Jewish Silk Market”; and in Valletta, Malta’s Capital and European Capital of Culture 2018, one can see the old “Jews Sally Port”.

Even the Island of Comino, almost uninhabited today but famous for the Blue Lagoon, has Jewish roots. Comino is where the well-known Sephardi-Jewish mystic and self-proclaimed messiah, Avraham Abulafia, lived from 1285 until his death in the 1290s. During this period, he compiled his Sefer ha Ot (“Book of the Sign”) as well as his last, and perhaps his most intelligible work, the meditation manual Imrei Shefer (“Words of Beauty”).

There are three Jewish cemeteries in Malta which although kept locked, can be visited through prior arrangements with Exclusively Malta. The stories gleaned from the tombstone inscriptions, are a rich narrative which includes Jewish soldiers who fought in WWI and were buried in Malta.

Ms. Buttigieg, commenting on the enthusiastic response to the New York event, said, “The Malta Tourism Authority, together with its partners for the Jewish Heritage Malta Program, Exclusively Malta and Corinthia Palace Hotel, look forward to increasing the number of Jewish tourists by hosting similar events to introduce the Jewish Heritage Malta experience, not just in the US and Canada, but in Israel and other countries as well.”

Residents, businesses and organisations across the City of Wolverhampton are being encouraged to "Go Orange" and support an international campaign to end gender-based violence.

The annual United Nations’ Orange the World campaign takes place over 16 days between 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls, and 10 December, UN Human Rights Day.

Wolverhampton is once again backing the campaign, with residents, businesses and organisations across the City asked to respond to the challenge, ‘what will you do to Orange Wolverhampton’?’

Everyone is being invited to support the campaign by taking part in ‘Wear Orange’ day on Monday 27 November, or by turning anything they normally do orange – whether it be a social gathering, a sport or performance event or a leisure activity – during the 16-day campaign. They can also change their social media channels and websites orange, wear orange ribbons, and back the campaign by sharing photos, key messages from the campaign and details of what they are doing via social media using the hashtag #orangewolves.

So whether you are part of a motorcycle or cycling club or a running club which could hold an orange ride or run, a business with orange branding or a sports team that could play an all-orange match, please sign up your organisation and share your plans by visiting www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/orangewolverhampton2017.

By helping Orange Wolverhampton, people will not only raise awareness of gender-based violence – violence primarily committed against women and girls, including domestic abuse, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, so-called ‘honour-based’ violence and sexual violence – but also the help and support that is available to victims.

Councillor Paul Sweet, the City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, said: “Gender-based violence in any of its forms is illegal and totally abhorrent, and we are committed to working with our partners to identify and support anyone who is the victim of it.

“We are delighted to once again be supporting the United Nations ‘Orange the World’ campaign and turning the City of Wolverhampton ‘orange’ is an important part of our work to raise awareness of the issues and to make sure people know how to get the help and support they need.

"It is important to stress that the title of violence against women and girls recognises the gendered nature of these issues, in that the majority of victims are female. However, the campaign seeks to end all interpersonal violence affecting women, men, girls and boys.

"The Go Orange campaign is a great way for everyone to show we are committed to ending violence against women, men, girls and boys and highlighting where people can turn to if they are affected by the issue in any way.”

People backing the campaign are encouraged to show their support on social media using the hashtag #orangewolves and by tagging @wvsafeguarding in the conversation. Alternatively, please share photos with the Safeguarding Boards via Facebook at www.2343ec78a04c6ea9d80806345d31fd78-gdprlock/wolverhampton-safeguarding.

Anyone worried about or suffering from any form of domestic violence, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, honour-based violence, or sexual violence should call the relevant helpline:

• The Haven Wolverhampton 24-hour Helpline for women and men on 08000 194400
• National Domestic Violence helpline for women on 0808 2000 247
• National Domestic Violence helpline for men on 0808 8010327
• Wolverhampton Adults Social Care team on 01902 551199
• Wolverhampton Children's Social Care on 01902 555392
• NSPCC FGM Helpline on 0800 028 3550
• Karma Nirvana helpline for victims of so-called honour-based violence and forced marriage 0800 5999 247.

In an emergency, always call police on 999.

With schools back in full swing after the October half-term holiday, there's never a better time to think about booking the next family holiday.

Specialising in guided and self-guided bike tours for all cycling levels, Freedom Treks offers 50 trips that are ideal for families, including those that are brand-new this year. The routes follow dedicated cycle paths or very quiet roads, the daily distances are shorter and manageable for little legs, a range of children's bikes, trailers or seats are available and the accommodation comprises a selection of family-friendly hotels, or even boats.

Children aren't concerned about ticking off a country's 'must-see' sights and a cycling holiday is an ideal way to explore the great outdoors. The world's exciting natural environments make for perfect adventure playgrounds, plus, families can practice their navigational skills and improve their geography and history knowledge on route.

And with multigenerational, or '3G' holidays, still rising in popularity, grandparents need not worry about keeping up – Freedom Treks offers electric bikes on most of its tours, so people of all fitness levels can enjoy cycling in areas and for distances they may not have previously considered.

Four West Midlands charities and groups supporting the community’s most vulnerable individuals have received a total of £11,649 so far this year, from The Midcounties Co-operative’s fundraising across the region.

Monthly Alzheimer’s Support Evenings (M.A.S.E) received a total of £2,602 to help them in offering social support and information to those with, or caring for those with, Alzheimer’s across the West Midlands.

Another charity in the region, Beacon Centre for the Blind, has received £3,014 from the Midcounties. The funds will support the organisation in running assessments and courses, as well as providing necessary equipment to those suffering from sight loss.

Street Teams and Recovery Near You have received £3,879 and £2,152 respectively, to help them in providing support sessions to those at risk of sexual exploitation and those affected by substance misuse.

Some of the fundraising initiatives across the West Midlands in support of the charity partners include, taking part in a Boat Race, fancy dress events and donating carrier bag monies.

The charity partnerships form part of The Midcounties Co-operative’s Regional Communities strategy, which sees members and colleagues come together to provide impactful and sustainable support for local community groups through volunteering and fundraising initiatives.

Emma Pile, a Leadership Team Ambassador in the West Midlands, at The Midcounties Co-operative, said: “It’s been a busy six months for our colleagues across the West Midlands, who have taken on many great fundraising initiatives for our charity partners in the region. We’re delighted to have raised so much just half a year in to the partnerships”.

“The Midcounties Co-operative is committed to supporting local good causes and we look forward to donating even more over the coming months.”

Multi-award winning children’s author Jeremy Strong officially opened a new £100,000 library containing 8,000 books as part of a two-day reading celebration at a City of Wolverhampton school.

Pupils at East Park Academy met the famous author of books including Romans on the Rampage, My Brother’s Famous Bottom, and Hundred Mile-An-Hour Dog.

And many of them dressed up as some of the popular characters from some of his 107 books during special assemblies where they got to quiz Jeremy about his stories.

The school, in Hollington Road, also invited author Chris Wormell and poet Valerie Bloom into classrooms as part of the week-long reading festival to mark the library opening.

And children were also taken to see Michael Rosen when he appeared at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre.

Head teacher Haley Guest said: “We have invested £100,000 in the new school library and it has become a much-loved place for our children to go and discover books and the joy of reading. Just like us, the children are very proud of it.

“Getting inspirational authors in like Jeremy into meet our children is really important. They were so excited to meet one of their favourite authors who has inspired them to write more of their own fantastic stories.”

Jeremy Strong added: “It has been great visiting this brilliant and bubbly school. It is especially marvellous to officially open the new library and to see a school investing in such an important resource.”

We all have that favourite jacket or perfectly fitting pair of jeans we'd love to keep in our wardrobes for the rest of our lives. But it seems over half (54%) of those from Birmingham are confused about how long they can get away with wearing some of their beloved garments, new research from Bullring shopping centre has revealed.

The results follow the launch of the Style Seeker app from Bullring shopping centre, which uses artificial intelligence technology to help shoppers find clothes they have spotted on the high street, social media or in a magazine.  To launch the app 'living mannequins' took over the centre today to surprise and delight shoppers, coming to life when people paused to look at them and telling shoppers about the app.

From a national survey of 2,000 shoppers commissioned by Bullring owners Hammerson, 44% of those living in the West Midlands admitted they weren't sure when they should think twice before stepping out in a certain garment. Meanwhile, 70% of national respondents said someone can be fashionable at any age and 90% said they would wear whatever they want regardless of what others think.

App users are able to take photos of fashion items, or upload saved images from their phones, to locate similar clothing products available in retail stores in Bullring including River Island, Topshop and H&M. The app searches by colour shape and patterns, once the user has selected the desired product, the app then provides a map that guides the user to the store if they are physically in centre.

Emma Roberts, PR Manager at Bullring said: "Style Seeker is the perfect accessory for people who get struck down by style inspiration in the street – and truly love the art of shopping.

"As well as being easy to use, it caters to every budget. Clothing from fashion weeks and couture shows is filtering down into high street shops quicker than ever before – and this functionality makes sure you never miss a trend."

The development comes after latest mobile trends* show that nearly four in 10 people search only on their smartphones, proving that more searches happen on mobile than on computers or tablets and that people require answers at their fingertips.

A major new exhibition at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery will showcase over 80 modern and contemporary artworks by internationally renowned artists, who explore themes of sexuality, gender and identity in art.

Running from Saturday 2^nd October 2017 to Sunday 15^th April 2018,Coming Out: Sexuality, Gender & Identity, marks 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of male homosexual acts was passed in England and Wales (1967 Sexual Offences Act).

Bringing artworks of international significance to Birmingham, the majority of which have been borrowed from the Arts Council Collection, the exhibition includes iconic pieces by Andy Warhol, Grayson Perry, Sarah Lucas and Gillian Wearing. Artworks span the 1950s to the present day, reflecting artist’s different experiences pre and post the passing of the 1967 Act.

Coming Out was conceived by National Museums Liverpool and the exhibition runs at Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery until 5^th November. The exhibition will be re-presented with key additional works to offer differing perspectives on the exhibition’s central themes.

Significant new loans have been added to the Birmingham show, including prints by Margaret Harrison and photography by renowned Birmingham-based artist Vanley Burke. These join paintings by Derek Jarman, photography by Sunil Gupta and Zanale Muholi and films by Steve McQueen and Isaac Julien.

Iconic artworks by Francis Bacon, Keith Vaughan, John Stezaker and Grayson Perry from Birmingham’s own collection, also add further dialogue to the consideration of sexuality, gender and identity today.

Two works by Turner-prize winning artist Grayson Perry will be presented together for the first time -  Claire’s Coming Out Dress (2000), and his ceramic pot Who Am I?(1996). Both artworks provide an important insight into Grayson’s exploration of his own identity. From the coded symbols and personal dialogue in his ceramic pot of 1996, to the declaration his transvestite public persona, Claire, in the intricately designed party dress from 2000, which he wore to mark his emergence as a transvestite to the art world.

Coming Out continues with a strong representation of female artists, including iconic works from Sarah Lucas. Lucas’ works explore her identity as a woman and sharply critique gendered stereotypes and two of her satirical and striking sculptures, for which she is best known, will feature alongside her iconic Self-Portrait Series (1990-98).

Works by Birmingham-based photographer Vanley Burke will be on display for the first time. The three photographic prints illustrate a Pride Demonstration in Wolverhampton in 1988 where protesters were challenging the Government’s now repealed Section 28 Act, which stated that a local authority should not intentionally promote homosexuality in publishing or teaching.

A gallery trail will accompany the exhibition and take visitors on an insightful journey of 25 artworks presented in nine of Birmingham’s fine art collection galleries. The trail will bring the show’s themes to life in new settings and raise awareness of the visibility of LGBT+ stories in museum collections.

Lisa Beauchamp, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Birmingham Museums Trust, said: “Coming Out marks a major moment for Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery as we highlight the importance of LGBT+ history on contemporary art in this significant anniversary year.

“In devising Birmingham’s exhibition we have been fortunate enough to secure exciting new loans, which will make this a must-see exhibition for those who have already enjoyed Liverpool’s show and for those who will be completely new to it.”

Jill Constantine, Head of Arts Council Collection: "I'm delighted that this important show will travel to Birmingham and the new additions will further enrich the exhibition and allow us to see and celebrate the huge contribution to the visual arts made by the LGBTQ+ communities."

Accompanying the exhibition will be an innovative learning and engagement programme, facilitated by Arts Council Collection National Partnership, in a dedicated space called FORUM. The events and activities have been developed by working in partnership with local artists and community groups.

Events include ‘An Intimate Tour with Breasts’, an outdoor walking tour exploring the multicultural mythologies surrounding breasts, Life Drawing with a Drag Queen, a Polari language class with artist Jez Dolan and a Drag King Makeover session.

The exhibition will launch on Saturday 2^nd December with a free public event. Partnering with SHOUT Festival of Queer Arts and Culture and Birmingham LGBT Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery will host a series of specially commissioned performances and activities to celebrate the opening of the exhibition.

Severn Trent is warning its customers to be extra vigilant after receiving reports of bogus phone callers claiming to be from the company and threatening to cut off water supplies.

Customers have received calls from somebody claiming to work for Severn Trent Water. The person claimed the water was going to be cut off the following morning for not paying their water bill.

Elaine Taylor, security and resilience lead at Severn Trent, said: “We often hear about people trying to access homes by saying they’re from “the water board”, but this kind of phone call is unusual and obviously worrying for our customers.  We can’t stress how important it is for customers to check the identity of the person calling to make sure it is a genuine call. Our agents are more than happy to give their names on calls and which department they are from.

“And just to reassure our customers - we would never cut anyone’s water supply off out of the blue - we’re always trying to help our customers who are struggling with their bills.

“We’re very aware that people can struggle to pay their bills for a whole range of different reasons, which is why we’re proud to provide support to people who need it the most. We’re absolutely committed to reaching out to those who need our help, and our dedicated team will always be on hand for advice and assistance.  We’d encourage anyone who thinks they may benefit from our range of support schemes to get in touch with us and we’ll see if we can help.

“Customers should also be wary of people who turn up at their door, claiming to be from Severn Trent.  We offer a doorstep password scheme where you can apply for a password in advance that any legitimate visitors from Severn Trent will have when they come to your home.  Our phone lines are manned 24-hours a day, seven days a week, and our employees fully expect customers to check their identity, either with a card or a call.  They’ll be happy to wait while you carry out the necessary checks. You can sign up online at stwater.co.uk or call us on 08457 500 500.”

“If anyone has had a suspicious call – either on the phone or at the door, please do let the police know, and tell us too – that way we can warn others.”

Birmingham City Council is working in partnership with West Midlands Police and traders from the Frankfurt Christmas Market to install security measures ahead of this year’s festivities.

Purveyor of London spirit, Portobello Road Gin, has launched the world's first Pechuga Gin to ensure your Christmas celebrations and merry-making are filled with good cheer.

Created by master distiller Jake Burger, the limited edition Director's Cut No:3 Pechuga Gin pays homage to a unique distillation process used by Mexico's artisan Mezcal producers whereby a raw chicken or turkey breast - or pechuga as it translates to in Spanish -  is suspended in the still, cooking in the slowly emanating vapours, adding subtle yet distinct flavours to the spirit.

To create the Pechuga Gin, Jake redistilled Portobello Road Gins signature 171 blend in a 400 litre copper alembic still with organic turkey breast and a flavourful combination of 13 botanicals: apples, pears, plums, currants, raisins, sultanas, apricots, brown rice, passion fruit, cinnamon, cassia bark, as well as nutmeg and mace that Jake harvested personally on the beautiful Spice Island, Grenada.

Traditionally, Mezcal De Pechuga is imbibed on occasions of great celebration such as baptisms, marriages and quinceañeras. The combination of dried fruit and spices in the Pechuga Gin results in a distinctly festive flavour; making it the perfect drink to toast the celebratory Christmas season.

The process of making the Director's Cut No:3 Pechuga Gin is incredibly inefficient, taking two bottles of regular Portobello Road Gin to make one bottle of the festive delicacy.

The Director's Cut limited-edition is a small-batch gin, launched every year to mark the birthday of Portobello Road Gin and it's founding director Ged Feltham. These unique blends allow the gin's directors to flex their creative muscles and introduce discerning drinkers to more unusual flavours and distillation processes. Previous Director's Cut blends include a smokey gin flavoured with juniper berries that were hand-smoked in Irish peat and a quintessentially English gin made using asparagus sourced from Cambridgeshire.

While bottles of Mezcal De Pechuga typically retail between £100 and £200, in keeping with the season of the goodwill bottles of Director's Cut No:3 will retail at £35 and is available to purchase from 1st November from Portobello Road Gin's website, as well The Distillery's Bottle Shop located on their namesake road.

Jake Burger, master distiller and director at Portobello Road Gin, says:

“My love for gin is matched equally by my passion for tequila and mezcal; and so for the third instalment in our Director's Cut series it was a natural choice for me to look across the atlantic and take inspiration from our Mexican spirit producing brothers and sisters.

“As the alcohol vapours pass through the turkey breast during distillation they add something almost indefinable to the gin. You wouldn't really say it was turkey flavoured gin, the flavour is very subtle, and whilst it adds it also takes away, absorbing some of the more intense fruit flavours and stopping them from overwhelming the taste of the gin.

“With its warming spices and dried fruits, this poultry-infused potable develops a distinctly festive flavour and we think that Christmas presents a perfect opportunity to drink this very special and uniquely indulgent gin.

“So with the launch of what we believe to be the world's first Pechuga Gin, as well as one of the most festively flavoured spirits, I wish you a Merry Christmas -  or 'Feliz Navidad' as they say in Mexico.”

Talented young people from more than 20 schools across Wolverhampton will celebrate the City’s rich diversity at a special event next month.

Now in its 30th year, the annual Schools Diversity Celebration takes place at the Civic Hall on Thursday 2 November, 2017, and will see hundreds of pupils from 22 schools and groups take to the stage to perform dance, drama and music in front of a specially invited audience.

The celebration, entitled One World, One People, One Voice, will showcase the range of cultures, languages, traditions and faiths found in Wolverhampton.

The performers include children from Penn Hall School (performing In My Hands, Feet And Heart, Wodensfield Primary School (Sing), Perry Hall Primary MAT (We Are All In This Together), Merridale Primary (Bhangra Beat), Amethyst Trust (Africa), Lanesfield Primary School (I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing), St Michael’s CE Primary and Christchurch CE Infants School (Turn to Me), Bantock Primary School (Shine), Green Park School (Altogether We Are One) and Goldthorn Primary (We Are The World, We Are The Children).

Also performing will be St Andrew’s CE Primary (Amani Utupe), Diversity Community Choir (Count On Me), Northwood Park Primary and Villiers Primary (One Family), Bilston CE Primary School (One Love), Stow Heath Primary School (We Are One), Springvale Primary School (Working Together), St Luke’s CE Primary (Living In Harmony), Elston Hall Primary MAT (Faded), Loxdale Primary School (Where Is The Love), Trinity CE Primary School (Coalition), Wolverhampton Music School String Orchestra (Rockin' All Over The World by J Fogarty arr Edwards) and The King’s C of E School (I Smile).

There will also be a performance of One Love by Marley and Mayfield by the Wolverhampton Music School String Orchestra, and the show will end with children and young people from all the schools coming together in a spectacular rendition of The World In Union by Gustav Holst.

Councillor Claire Darke, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Education, said: "This wonderful annual event is one of the highlights of the educational calendar, and showcases what a diverse and multi-cultural City we live in.

"It is a tremendous opportunity for pupils from across Wolverhampton to take to the stage in the famous surroundings of the Civic Hall and perform before family and friends."

Councillor Val Gibson, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, added: "The pupils have been hard at work fine tuning their performances and I’m really looking forward to seeing what they can do."

Also in attendance will be the Mayor and Mayoress of the City of Wolverhampton, Councillor Elias Mattu and Asha Mattu and Director of Education Meredith Teasdale.

Entry to the event is by invitation only, but people can follow the evening on Twitter using the hashtag #wolvesdiversity.

The Schools Diversity Celebration has been made possible through sponsorship from CPN Systems, AM Griffiths, Concept Education, William Gough, Community Trade Union and the Rotary Club of Tettenhall.

Six spectacular switch-ons for all the family will light up City of Wolverhampton for the countdown to Christmas.

The festivities kick off with a huge city centre lights switch-on and firework display in Queen Square on Wednesday, November 22.

The fun-packed evening starts at 5pm, with entertainment from the Free Radio roadshow, a mini-funfair, real reindeer located in Lichfield Street and traditional Christmas music from the Wulfruna vintage steam organ.

Mayor of Wolverhampton, Councillor Elias Mattu, stars from this year’s Grand Theatre pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, children’s picture book character, The Gruffalo, and British Citizen Youth Award winner, Louis Johnson, will join Father Christmas to switch on the lights at 6.30pm, which will be followed by a spectacular fireworks display.

There is also the chance to grab some fabulous Christmas gifts and goodies at the festive market taking place on Dudley Street from 10am to 8pm.

And you can meet Father Christmas in his Winter Wonderland, in the Mander Centre lower mall, between 4pm and 8pm – everyone who meets him will get a present.

The city centre fun is followed by five more evenings of festive celebrations when the lights are also switched on by Father Christmas and the Mayor of Wolverhampton at Wednesfield, Tettenhall, Bilston, Bantock Park and Northycote Farm.

Entertainment will be provided by Dicky Dodd and the Signal 107 roadshow.

Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: “Each year we get more and more families coming along to enjoy the lights being switched on to mark the start of the countdown to Christmas - they really are great free evenings out.

“And what better time to also take advantage of the city’s diverse range of shops. Our offer is improving year on year and visitors can now make the most of Mander Centre’s new flagship Debenhams store.”

All the below Christmas events are free:

Wednesday, November 22 – Wolverhampton, Queen Square – event starts 5pm, lights switch on 6.30pm

Thursday, November 23: Wednesfield, High Street - event starts at 4pm, switch on 5.30pm.

Saturday, November 25: Tettenhall, Upper Green – event starts at 5pm, switch on 6.30pm

Sunday, November 26: Bantock Park, Finchfield Road – event starts at 5pm, switch on 6.30pm. You can also meet Father Christmas in the Drawing Room of Bantock House Museum between 5pm and 6.15pm.

Friday, December 1: Bilston, Church Street – event starts at 5.30pm, switch on 6.30pm

Saturday, December 2: Northycote Farm, Underhill Lane – event starts at 4pm, switch on 5pm. Free craft and storytelling session for children from 4pm.