Hosting the new community stall at Bilston Indoor Market are pupils from St Thomas More Catholic School in Willenhall with Councillor Jacqui Coogan, cabinet member for children, young people and education and Councillor Obaida Ahmed, cabinet member for digital and community A new community stall giving opportunities for local organisations, schools and charities has been launched at Bilston Indoor Market. The stall, in the centre of the market, is a designated place for local groups to raise awareness of projects, share information or organise fundraising. It is free for local organisations to use and has been funded by £3,000 from…

8 SIMPLE METHODS TO SAVE MONEY It can be challenging to figure It can be challenging to figure out easy ways to save money as well as the best ways to utilise your savings to pursue your financial objectives. This step-by-step overview of money-saving practices can aid you to develop a realistic cost savings plan. Document your expenditures The very first step to saving money is to determine just how much you spend. Track all your expenditures- such as every coffee, newspaper, and snack you buy. Preferably, you could make up every dime. When you have your data, organise the…

Walsall Trading Standards, in partnership with West Midlands Police and a specialist search dog team, including sniffer dogs Griff, Bran and Cooper, searched seven retail premises and one associated vehicle. Illegal goods were found in the vehicle and all shops visited, including across storeroom floors, hidden concealments, and even inside a jigsaw puzzle box. The seizures removed more than 150,000 cigarettes, 20.5kg of illegal hand rolling tobacco, and 1543 illegal disposable vapes from Walsall’s streets. “ Our Trading Standards team really put the pieces together with this investigation, managing to find goods which pose a real danger to our residents…

British businesses across the country have been given further stability and certainty with access to new support through a multi-billion-pound increase in government-backed financing as the world enters a new era of global trade. The new package will give UK Export Finance (UKEF) the power to expand financing support for British businesses by £20 billion, with small businesses also able to access loans of up to £2 million through the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme. Thousands of companies are expected to benefit from the move, including those directly affected by tariffs – with iconic British brands like Rolls Royce…

Birmingham City Council is delighted to announce that three local schools have been granted the School-Based Nursery Capital Grant for the 2024-2025 academic year. Grestone Academy, Montgomery Primary Academy, and The Shirestone Academy will receive funding to expand and enhance nursery provision, creating more childcare opportunities for local families. This funding initiative is part of the government’s wider strategy to increase access to early years education, particularly in areas where demand for nursery places outstrips supply. The initiative aims to ensure that families across the country have better access to affordable, high-quality early years provision, supporting children’s development and preparing…

Council homes in a Wednesbury neighbourhood have undergone a major refurbishment, with two new apartments also created to help provide much-needed housing. Sandwell Council and its contractor SWG Construction have completed the refurbishment and new-build project in Thorn Close, Wednesbury. SWG has revitalised 12 one-bedroom and 16 three-bedroom two-storey apartments, while also adding two brand new one-bedroom single-storey apartments within the original under-used underpasses. The project not only improves the quality of housing for residents but also enhances the surrounding environment with new landscaping, garden roofs, modernised communal spaces and upgraded facilities. Alongside the new apartments, SWG completed essential works…

The facility, located at Grenfell Allotments, had gone unused for 10 years prior to work. To deliver the work at no cost, a collaborative approach was pulled together through Walsall Council’s Corporate Social Responsibility Programme (CSR). Barhale and sister company BCS Group provided labour, tools, PPE and signage for the project. Travis Perkins provided all the materials free of charge while Flannery Plant Hire provided a heavy plant dumper and mini digger, including transport to and from site. For groundworks, Speedy Hire provided strimmers. For the work to be carried out, vegatation had to be removed, along with the dilapidated…

The £1.5m mass spectrometer will enable the study of proteins, lipids and metabolites in cell membranes in exceptional detail The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) awarded the funds and Dr Ivana Milic leads the Aston University research team The spectrometer will be a resource for the Midlands membrane and bioscience communities. Aston Institute for Membrane Excellence (AIME) and Aston University College of Health and Life Sciences have installed a cutting-edge mass spectrometer to study biological membranes, following a grant of £1.5m from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The research team is led by Dr Ivana…

Two Black Country councils are at the forefront of a nationwide children’s social care reform. Walsall and Wolverhampton Councils are two of 10 areas in England piloting the new ‘Families First for Children’ programme, designed to keep more children in safe and loving homes. Both councils will work with central government to test and develop a new approach to children’s social care, which in the future, will be rolled out nationwide. The Department for Education (DfE) selected Wolverhampton to pilot the programme in 2023, and Walsall followed in the second wave of funding announced in April 2024. In January 2025,…

The Mayor of Walsall, Councillor Anthony Harris, speaking at the 2025 Commonwealth Day  The event, hosted by the Mayor of Walsall, Councillor Anthony Harris, took place at the Council House Forecourt on Lichfield Street, Walsall. Dignitaries including the Deputy Lieutenant for the West Midlands, Kevin Davis, we’re also present for the occasion. Students from Castlefort Junior and Mixed Infants School, along with Walsall Wood School, took part in reciting the Commonwealth Affirmation. Aidan from Walsall Wood School and Silas from Castlefort Junior and Mixed Infants School were honoured to raise the Commonwealth Flag on behalf of Walsall. “ We are…