On Friday 11th April 2025, MP Liam Byrne visited the Community Plaza to meet UK Goodwill Youth & Community Ambassador and the Founder of Community Plaza CIC, Mohammed Zafran known as Zaf to talk about why knife crime is on a rise and why are more and more youths turning to crime. Zaf who is the Chair of West Midlands Crimestoppers told Liam that,” the youths are frustrated for many reasons such as lack of employment and even if they get interviews, a lot of them get turned down because of lack of experience. Unfortunately these rejections and pressure from…

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…

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…

UK businesses and consumers could benefit from lower prices on imports of everyday essentials like spices and juices as the Government takes further action to make the UK the best place to do business and kickstart economic growth. In a further demonstration of the government’s commitment to free trade and responding to business need, the UK Global Tariff will be temporarily suspended on 89 products saving UK businesses up and down the country at least £17 million a year. The products include plywood and plastics, which are essential for construction – making life easier for chippies all over the country.…

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…

After ten years, and with more than 100,000 young minds inspired, Nissan has announced that it will double its pioneering Skills Foundation STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) provision to 16,000 children annually. Officially launched in 2015 by King Charles, the then Prince of Wales, the Nissan Skills Foundation began as a single interactive workshop aiming for about 1,000 students. Fast forward ten years and the foundation has beaten that target 100-fold, expanding to 13 different STEM courses for students aged six to eighteen. To mark the double milestone, Nissan invited 200 children from across the North East onto the…

The Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster is calling on small businesses in Birmingham to help tackle domestic and sexual abuse. PCC Simon Foster is working with companies to make sure they know how to signpost potential victims to support services and how to respond if they suspect a member of their staff is being harmed at home. The PCC also wants businesses to ensure they provide the right physical or online spaces in which to have confidential conversations with staff they might be concerned are at risk of harm. Tackling violence against women and girls is one of the…

Work to build a new state-of-the-art Household Waste Recycling Centre and Waste Transfer Station in Walsall has ramped up on Middlemore Lane in Aldridge. In the last few weeks, tarmac has been laid to create the bays where residents will be able to recycle their waste for years to come. External cladding has also been fitted to buildings on the site, with both the waste transfer station and reuse shop now taking shape. Work at the site is expected to be complete by summer 2025, with a view to operations starting later in the year. “ The site is progressing…

A new five-year strategy to address and reduce the risk of infant mortality in the Walsall borough will be considered for approval by the Health and Wellbeing Board when it meets on Thursday 20 March 2025. The Walsall Infant Mortality Prevention and Reduction Strategy 2025-2030 aims to reduce infant mortality in Walsall to below the national average by 2030 and recognise and highlight the importance of a multi-agency approach to prevent infant mortality through collaborative working. It also aims to ensure people of childbearing age and expectant parents have access to information, services and help at the right time to…