Community News

“We would never ask customers to hand over money or give a card payment on their doorstep. Never let anyone into your home without checking their identification first,” commented Grace Marren from Severn Trent Water. That was the advice from the water company, who has received reports from customers that conmen are trying new ways to get access to their homes and take money off them.  

Research from home improvements experts Synseal reveals Brits are feeling the squeeze when it comes to entertaining friends and family this summer. In a survey of 2,000 homeowners, four out of 10 said they didn’t have enough space for welcoming guests. Nearly a quarter said they planned to extend in the next five years with an orangery or conservatory, with a similar number opting for a brick built extension.

Anyone who uses roads in Birmingham is being invited to have their say during the development of a new Road Safety Strategy for the city. The invite has been issued by Cllr James McKay, Cabinet Member for Inclusion and Community Safety, whose portfolio includes road safety.

A rehabilitated loggerhead sea turtle that convalesced about four months at the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital was fitted with a satellite-tracking transmitter and released Friday, 17 July 2015 off the Florida Keys. Named Aaron, the subadult reptile crawled into the Atlantic Ocean in front of several hundred cheering spectators at Marathon's Sombrero Beach.

Green fingered council tenants and leaseholders across the city are invited to battle it out in Birmingham City Council’s annual gardening competition. Birmingham in Bloom gives prizes for glorious gardens, best balconies and baskets, prettiest pots and voluminous veg.

Britain is nation of prolific tea drinkers, but we’re lagging in the global tea drinking league tables, according to a new survey by working animal charity, SPANA. West Midland tea drinkers get through more tea than any other region in Britain with over half (52%) drinking four or more cups a day, while over one in ten (11%) make their way through eight or more cups each day – equating to more than 2,900 cups per person each year.

A draftsman from Staffordshire has signed up for the Morrisons Great Birmingham Run in October after running 13 events in the last two years. Ian Rowlands, 29, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, was thirteen when a car accident left him in a coma for six weeks and in a wheelchair for a year. Two years ago, he decided to get fit so started taking part in running events around the country; eleven half-marathons and two marathons later he’s showing no sign of stopping!

The system for supporting young people leaving foster or residential care in England to live successful independent lives is not working effectively, according to the National Audit Office. This is despite the fact that there is a clear legal framework and an inspection regime in place. The numbers of care leavers in employment, education and training have deteriorated since 2007-08.

Funding to help children and young people in the West Midlands before their problems spiral out of control has been cut by 56%, leaving children and teenagers at greater risk of suffering longer term difficulties, new research reveals.

Celebrated on 11th July’15 every year, World Population Day seeks to raise awareness amongst the people about the ever increasing population. The world’s population is estimated to have gone up by 2 billion since 1987. DKT Pakistan celebrated World Population Day on Saturday by setting up specialized stalls in Karachi’s Neelum Colony to raise awareness amongst the people about family planning and contraception.

A recent Ofsted inspection means that all of Haringey’s nursery, secondary and special schools – and close to 90 percent of primary schools - are now rated as either ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by the schools inspectorate. The latest inspection took place at Rowland Hill nursery school in Tottenham where the nursery received a rating of ‘good’.

The International Trustees of the Museum of World Religions are conducting some research to understand the dynamics of faith communities, their perspective and understandings of what matters to faith communities. Please feel free to forward this to your networks and contacts as we would welcome as diverse a response from as many people as possible.

There was an unusual visitor to one of Sandwell Council's polling stations Newton Ward last Thursday.  An escaped budgie flew in through the open door in the community room at Hamstead house where voting was taking place. He stayed perched on the polling booth watching over voters for around two hours. He also came over to have a look at the ballot box.

Staff at the Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park are being helped to carry out their daily tasks by Wi-Fi installed as a part of a city-wide Birmingham City Council scheme. The free public Wi-Fi project has seen hotspots created at 200 public buildings in Birmingham – enabling the public to get online, with staff at many also benefiting in the process.

The school pick up has been deemed the most stressful time of day for nearly half of parents in the UK (45%) with many blaming it on the fact their child is hungry and angry at the same time, new research has revealed. The research, commissioned by malt loaf makers Soreen, found that the average school pick up takes parents 15 minutes, but with a hungry child in tow it can take an average of ten minutes longer.

Shop fronts in one of the borough’s most beautiful shopping streets have been restored to their former glory in a project led by Haringey Council and traders. The tired frontages of four ornate buildings in Myddleton Road, Bowes Park, have been stripped back and replaced to the stunning original designs after more than £210,000 funding from the council, Historic England and shopkeepers.