Erdington Academy has been given the go-ahead to increase the number of its pupils from 900 to 1,200 after Birmingham City Council agreed to inject nearly £6.8 million into the school.
The Kingsbury Road secondary school will be refurbished and a brand new two story teaching block will be built on site – with work beginning next month and completed by Christmas 2021.
The new teaching block will include science labs and prep rooms, a drama teaching space, staff work rooms, office space and new staff and pupil toilets.
Birmingham City Council’s cabinet approved the £6,825,463 capital investment after a report from Dr Tim O’Neill, Director for Education and Skills, which said the authority had “a statutory duty to ensure that there are sufficient pupil places.”
The near £7m bill will be paid for from the Department for Education (DfE) Basic Need Grant and School Condition Grant.
However, consequential revenue costs arising from additional places including additional staffing, utility costs and any on-going day to day repair and maintenance will be the responsibility of Erdington Academy.
Balfour Beatty has been chosen as the construction partner for the scheme and ground is set to be broken at the school on November 23.
Councillor Jayne Francis, cabinet member for education, skills and culture, backed the new investment into Erdington Academy.
She said: “We have a duty to ensure that sufficient school places are available in our city.
“Erdington Academy currently has 900 pupils, and the proposal is to expand two forms of entry to 1,200 places for pupils aged 11 to 16 years old.
“There’s been a slight delay with planning, so it will be heard toward the end of September and once secured we will be able to carry on with completion of the work.”
On Saturday 3rd October, around 50 local residents are holding a socially distanced ‘grass cutting protest’ on Short Heath Playing Fields in Erdington – continuing their fight to save the ‘beloved parkland’ from property developers.
Meeting at 2pm, friends and families from the local community will organise themselves on Short Heath Playing Fields – cutting the overgrown grass with handheld gardening tools and scissors.
The ‘grass cutting protest’ is being organised after Birmingham City Council’s refusal to cut the long grass, or to allow privately owned motorised equipment onto the land – such as lawn mowers.
Organised by the Short Heath Fields Trust (a recently formed community action group, dedicated to protecting the 26,912 square metres of cherished green space) the demonstration will be following all the coronavirus crisis guidelines – ensuring the community endeavour is fully COVID-19 safe.
Campaigners are wanting to help make the area more accessible for local children and elderly residents, by stripping back the long grass and thistles to encourage healthy outdoor activities for people of all ages.
In a statement from Short Heath Fields Trust, representing the wider community, protest organisers Estelle Murphy and Stephen Hughes say:
“We have asked Birmingham City Council to cut the grass on Short Heath Playing Fields, so that whilst our community cannot meet in their homes and gardens (due to coronavirus restrictions) they have a space to be outside and safe.
“There is a fight going on to save Short Heath playing fields, as Birmingham city Council want to build a housing estate on the beloved park land. But in the interim we can see no reason why the green space cannot be used to help keep local residents healthy and happy during this global pandemic.
“As the Council have refused to help make the playing fields safer and more accessible, and won’t allow any third party to help with the appropriate motorised equipment, we have organised this grass cutting protest to help everyone in our community.”
The ‘grass cutting protest’ is the latest challenge to Birmingham City Council, following outrage across the community about the proposed housing development on the park land.
There have been further concerns about the lack of community consultation, with many local residents not being informed about the huge housing development that would take place on their doorstep.
In July 2019, Birmingham City Council sought approval to ‘dispose’ of the park land from the Department of Education’s portfolio – where it had been held as playing fields for local schools, including Court Farm Primary and St Mary Margaret Primary.
So far, the campaign to Save Short Heath Playing Fields has attracted thousands of supporters across the Erdington constituency – including a petition signed by 1500 local residents, that was presented to Birmingham City Council on Tuesday 15th September.
Erdington Councillor and leader of the Birmingham Conservatives, Robert Alden, has also been challenging the proposed developments in Council meetings for months.
“Short Heath Playing Fields are vital to the local area,” says Councillor Alden. “They are a green lung – that helps clean our air, helps provide residents with an area to go to help exercise, and improve their physical and mental health and wellbeing.
“In the post Covid-19 world even the Council admits that it is vital to provide green space yet despite us making it clear to them at numerous Council meetings and in petitions presented to Council that Erdington and Perry Common have a shortage the Council refuse to scrap their crazy plans to build on this valuable green space.”
Erdington’s Labour MP, Jack Dromey, has also called on the Council to listen to the concerns of local residents.
“It is clear the Council have not done a good enough job of consulting with concerned residents,” states Jack Dromey, “and local people understandably feel that they have been ignored and the sense of anger is palpable.
“Going forward, I will continue to argue that it would be wrong to go ahead with these proposals without proper consultation that involves local voices at every stage.”
Campaigners continue to challenge Birmingham City Council’s plans to develop a housing estate on Short Heath Playing Fields.
Erdington Local is proud to support Black History Month (BHM). The newspaper will be releasing a LOCAL PROFILE each week of BHM on black members of the community, amplifying these voices and celebrating the richness of multi-cultural Erdington.
Paulette Francis-Green (creative alias: Empress P) is a “proud Erdingtonian of Jamaican heritage.”
Born in Saltley, she moved to Erdington aged 6 – attending Fentham Secondary School for Girls in the 1970s. Through her company, PFG Consultancy, Paulette has been key in gathering information for Birmingham’s official Black History Month brochure since 2012. The purpose of the City Council funded brochure is “giving out information about events across the city” as well as celebrating various milestones of black history.
Paulette’s first job was for Birmingham City Council, working as a clerical assistant from 1978, and she has been a passionate supporter of the city ever since. But another of her lifelong passions is netball: “I used to eat, drink, sleep netball.”
Paulette proudly tells how she was “chair of the Birmingham netball league for 13 years. I had aspirations of becoming an international netball umpire.” She fondly remembers 1995 Netball World Championship held at the NIA in Birmingham, working on a stall: “Having that here in Birmingham was ‘wow!’. And being part of netball was ‘wow!'”
Another passion for Paulette is poetry. She cites inspirations such as Shakespeare, as well as Birmingham born, nationally renowned poet, Benjamin Zephaniah: “reading his autobiography was powerful. His mum used to rhyme when she was talking to them” and that Benjamin was “Dyslexic”, although did not let this “disability” quell his ambition to write.
Paulette is an integral part of the Midlands dub poetry roots scene, performing and writing with creatives such as Panya the Poet, Sue Brown, and Miss Culture Jam. She has released an anthology called I’ve Landed as well as an accompanying album.
Paulette is also a breast cancer survivor. Diagnosed in 2012, she recalls her experience vividly: “I was scared – I didn’t want to die. My granddaughter wasn’t born yet, and I wanted to be able to live to see my grand-child.”
Her big dream was to “get to Ghana and to connect with Africa. Being in the motherland, feeling the African soil.” Making a full recovery, and now having visited Africa several times, she teaches that “what helped me dealing with the cancer was being positive. Being positive within yourself kicks out the negativity.” Paulette launched back into her work in the creative industry “straight after recovery.”
Paulette presented Erdington Local with a small, ongoing memoir of 25 “achievements” she had made since the year 2000. These included job titles such as Equality Diversity Champion, Black History Month Coordinator at The Drum (now known as Legacy Centre of Excellence), and Promotions Coordinator for the Simmerdown Festival.
One such job she had was at the Birmingham Museums Collection Centre, which is ‘a 1.5 hectare site that holds 80 per cent of Birmingham Museums’ stored collections under one roof.’ Paulette describes the Museums Collection Centre as “Indiana Jones meets Ikea”, referring to the warehouse scene at the end of the first film of the Spielberg series.
Her favourite objects include an unrealised civic plan of Birmingham city centre surrounding Baskerville House, a Giant Crab and a fold-up BSA bicycle from World War II: “Soldiers would parachute out the planes with these bikes strapped to their backs – so when they land, they can jump on their bike, and cycle to where they’re supposed to be!”
Paulette speaks about her role compiling the official brochure of Birmingham Black History Month: “One of the important things was how we wanted to spread the word about the black community, black history and letting people know about it.”
She showed Erdington Local a brochure from 2015 celebrating two important 50 years milestones: Malcolm X’s visit to Birmingham in 1965, and the 1965 UK Race Relations Act – which was the first piece of legislation in the UK to address the prohibition of racial discrimination.
The launch of Birmingham Black History Month at Birmingham Town Hall in 2018 “was powerful. It’s important for the black community that we’re in prominent places.” Paulette recalls with glee meeting American singer Dionne Warwick, who was giving a private concert for the organisers of the launch event. In her capacity of host, Paulette fondly remembers announcing, with a smile, “and now I hand over to Dionne Warwick.”
Paulette’s ebullient personality makes her a natural host. She is a co-presenter on the ‘Roots Rock and Reggae’ show on Newstyle Radio. “We do edutainment” explains Paulette, “we play music but we give out information as well – Caribbean news, black history, stuff about COVID.”
“I’ve done a lot over 60 years.” Paulette exclaims. However, some of her favourite hosting moments were in Erdington. She hosted the Christmas Lights Switch On and the Erdington Community Festival in Rookery Park, both events facilitated by the Erdington Arts Forum.
Paulette is also a staple part of the Arts Forum’s monthly Evening of Creativity, saying she loves “introducing the locals – giving them a round of applause.”
I’ve Landed, by Empress P, is out now – available to purchase from Waterstones or Amazon. The album will soon be available on Spotify.
Paulette/Empress P will be hosting the Evening of Creativity: Black History Month special in Erdington at Oikos Café on the 16th October. Tickets will be available through Eventbrite – for updates and information, visit www.facebook.com/ErdingtonArts
You can listen to Newstyle Radio’s ‘Roots, Rock and Reggae show’ with Tony Roots featuring Empress P on Wednesdays 8-10pm on 98.7FM – for more on Newstyle Radio, visit www.newstyleradio.co.uk
Words by Adam Smith / Pics supplied by Keena Cespedes
A dying Castle Vale schoolgirl’s wish to see EuroDisney is a step closer after £4,600 was raised in a month by big-hearted friends, family, and the community.
Six-year-old Kionne Holding, who has an incurable rare form of epilepsy, wants to go meet the Little Mermaid with the rest of her family – but due the specialist disability travel arrangements the holiday could cost £10,000.
However, when her mother Keena Cespedes, who has been at her daughter’s side for the last 93 days at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, launched a GoFundMe page (Kionne’s Fund) in August there was an overwhelming response.
Kionne’s Fund has inspired online music festival fundraisers, reggae brunches, and raffles. Family friend Lee Crofts is also undertaking a sponsored ‘Castle Vale to Paris Triathlon’ which has so far raised £1,600.
Keena, aged 37, told Erdington Local: “I can’t even begin to say how amazing people have been since I told people about Kionne, friends, family, and strangers have sent me messages of support and my daughter presents.
“I put up the GoFundMe page without thinking anything would happen, I would have been happy with £50 but it feels like the whole of Castle Vale has got involved, as well as people across Birmingham.
“We have now raised more than £4,600. I know times are hard for people, so it really means a lot people are donating.”
Keena remembers Kionne as a bubbly, funny, lovable child before last November when she suddenly began having seizures and headaches. Two months later she was diagnosed with small tumor on her brain and a rare form of epilepsy called Lennox Gasture Syndrome.
Her condition deteriorated and she in the last nine months she’s lost the ability to walk, talk and eat. Doctors have given her various drugs, treatments, and alternative remedies but all to no avail.
Keena said: “Due to all the drugs she is on she does not understand what is being done for her and all the love people have for her, but we still are hoping to take her to EuroDisney with her sisters.”
Tragically Keena has already had to have a conversation with specialists about Kionne’s end of life care.
She said: “This syndrome has taken everything away from her and is slowly killing my baby. She is unable to walk, eat for herself, and now her speech is going. She now speaks like a three-year-old not a six-year-old. She cannot be treated and there is no cure. I’m coming to terms with my baby dying and the little time we have left with her.
“All I want to do now is make her life as amazing as possible and one way is to get her on holiday with her sisters who she loves so much.”
And due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kionne has been unable to get visits and cuddles from her three sisters.
Keena added: “Only I can go and visit her because of COVID-19, Kionne misses her sisters and they miss her but there is nothing that can be done about that – that is why it would be wonderful if we could all go away together. We would need specialist care when we are there and have to stay in adapted hotels, but it can be done and we are hoping to go early next year now.”
Castle Vale fundraiser Lee Crofts has now cycled the distance from “The Ressies to Dover” and also organised a reggae brunch at Minworth Social Club.
He said: “We’ve had amazing gestures of support with events, raffles set up, prize donations, and raised £500 in a day.
“The little superhero is fighting the hardest fight of all, so let’s make the dark days a little brighter and give her. Her wish of a holiday with her sisters to make some priceless memories.”
The Chivenor Primary School pupil has touched the hearts of the nurses at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where she has been for the last three months.
Nurse Victoria Mulligan posted on the GoFundMe page: ‘I have had the pleasure of looking after Kionne and every shift she brightened my day with a massive smile and huge hug.
‘She holds on to you so that you can’t leave her side, she sings to you, she makes you laugh, she is super brave and absolutely deserves to go on holiday which will never make up for all she has gone through but will give her and her family an experience of happiness to remember forever.’
Oikos Café (part of Oikos Church) on Erdington High Street has brought an alternative vibe to the local area – one of high quality coffee, work meetings, and evening events which one might see in ‘swanky’ areas of London. Ben Jeffery is Oikos‘s centre manager, as well as a founding member of the Oikos Church.
Prior to managing the café full time, Ben was a technical sales manager for a chemical company: “I travelled all over the country, in a nice company car, selling specialist chemicals to companies.” After what he described as a religious ‘calling’, he started to manage the café one year after it was founded.
Ben explains that Oikos “started as a house church over in Short Heath road.”
The pastor of the church, Jez Dearing, would host Christian gatherings in his house until they started renting a YMCA hall on Sundays on Turftpits Lane. They finally settled with the building they have now: “We felt God call us to have a presence on the high street – to have a bigger presence in the community.” Previously a furniture store, the building was eight years “totally derelict. This was just a shell. Front staircase, toilets, telephone, internet, central heating, office – literally it had nothing.”
If you visit the church-come-café, you would be forgiven for not thinking of it as a religious building. The lack of crosses, biblical quotes, ‘smells and bells’ is no accident – nor a mere symptom of the Oikos Church‘s ‘low church’ style, but rather a conscious effort. As Ben explains: “We wanted to make the barrier to entry (into the church) as low as possible”, believing that “in a post-Christian culture, one of the hardest challenges a church faces is people stepping through the doors.”
Although now a staple feature of the high street, the café had to fight its corner to exist, as Ben explains: “there was a lot of opposition from councillors who wrote to residents to try to oppose us opening a café.” Although forgivingly he states that “it probably came out of not understanding what we were about or what we wanted to do.”
A café in the day, Oikos is also available for hire by organisations who want to use the space. Ben lists the “Evening of Creativity, Nikki Tapper’s ‘Tapper Talks’, organisations like Urban Devotion, the GAP from Sutton, and wedding receptions” as those that they welcome and support. There was a local couple that wanted their reception in the café because of its central location, “because they love Erdington so much” as Ben earnestly tells.
Ben enjoys strong relationships with the organisations and partners who use the space: “It’s really important to get to know people – that process takes time.”
With the café very much at the heart of Ben’s day to day operations, he explains that he is “Constantly walking the tightrope between running the business of the café and wanting to do the missional work of the church”, referring to all of the jobs and trials he has to undertake as a business manager on a busy high street.
He tells: “the thing that drew me to the café was interaction with people. I’m naturally an extrovert by nature… There are a lot of people who come in here with interesting backgrounds and current things they want to talk about and share.”
Oikos had to transform itself as a church during lockdown. Their regular Sunday morning service, called “a gathering”, was closed for five months to the public from March until August. “We livestreamed a full service every Sunday,” tells Ben, “it wasn’t just like a quick Zoom call or a 20 minute sermon. We were very blessed to have somebody who does this as a job (livestreaming) and has the equipment.”
Ben explains that lockdown has really taken its toll on the emotional strength of the Oikos community: “Oikos means family – family is a big thing for us as a church. It’s very weird when you can’t physically meet or be together. That’s not what families do, right?
“We ‘feel’ that distance between people growing because they’re not able to be with each other in quite the same way.”
Despite five months of relative hardship, Ben’s eyes are set on making Oikos “a real part of making and helping things that go on in this community,” and remarks that “it’s something we still need to ‘grow in’.”
With a Costa now opened in Erdington, as well as new plans for the high street regeneration fund, Ben can still rely on Oikos‘s strong, reliable customer base moving forward – with people of all faiths enjoying the café and all the events it has to offer.
Has your relationship survived 2020? If it has you deserve a medal. But could it survive another lockdown?
Romantic relationships are hard enough to maintain anyway but throw in a bomb like lockdown and they can crumble. Relationships have been put under more pressure than any time in living memory. As the old saying goes ‘familiarity breeds contempt.’
Anyone stupid enough to try and have two relationships in these days of mobile phones, social media and GPS locators must be mad. But as any cheater will tell you, it is the unplanned, the emergency situation which will scupper the most expertly weaved web of lies.
I know a fella who had a brain haemorrhage and woke up with three women around the hospital bed, if ever a man had a reason to fake amnesia it was him. I bet the nurses were gawping at better drama than in the nearest theatre.
The hardest days for bigamists in the year are Christmas Day and Valentine’s Day, excuses need to be made, meticulous plans need to be created and car-break downs invented.
Unexpected turns of events create hard choices. The lockdown announcement was a historically bad day for cheaters, and their partners. I’ve heard stories of cheaters leaving on that Monday night, not to be seen again until the post lockdown removal of personal items from the family home.
Cheaters were forced to play the worst ever game of stick or twist.
Those in two relationships were forced into a decision they had not planned to take so soon, or so definite.
I know someone whose wife left him to shack up with her other guy, another left immediately taking the kids and then using that they had moved in with her self-isolating elderly parents stopped the other parent from seeing the children.
On that lockdown Monday night the country was in shock and as usual the messaging was not clear; on Radio 5, a guest said children of divorced parents would have to stay with the parent they were with for six weeks sending listeners in blended families into an instant tailspin. The amount of arguments that bad piece of info would have created is incalculable as the message was unforgivable.
We have lived through an incredible and unique time which will never be forgotten, all relationships were tested, forged or forgotten. Many got through by the skin of their teeth, if both people are burying their heads in the sand then they probably will limp along fine together.
I’m pretty sure loads of women lost respect for their hipster fellas when they got obsessed by trying to make the perfect sourdough brioche – and plenty of men got jealous how Joe Wicks got their ladies moving in the morning.
I know one woman who has decided to leave her husband because he first believed “5G fries brains” then started banging on about COVID being a hoax – and for the cherry on the conspiracy cake, he now thinks Bill Gates wants to put a microchip in him via a vaccine. “I’ve realised the man I married has turned into a knob,” she said, which I’m not sure is actually grounds for divorce but I’m glad I’m not in his shoes.
And then there is technology’s effect on relationships, like when my friend’s extra-marital dirty talk was exposed after Apple synced devices and his son started getting sexy texts from his mistress. Or the guy who went upstairs to watch some porn on his phone not realising the sound was coming out of Alexa in the kitchen.
We are all different and everyone’s pandemic has been different; I know people who loved having a few months off to pursue their indoor passions. And some relationships thrived because the habit and routine of never being there was broken. One dude reignited his relationship with his wife because he was furloughed and enjoyed being able to spend time with his Mrs… oh, and the lockdown meant he had to stop seeing his mistress.
The sex toys industry saw sales rocket during the lockdown – as couples made their own fun to ease the boredom. Singletons now have an option, the new generation of sex dolls giving people the chance to live the plastic fantastic.
A bloke I know hires out ‘Amber’ for £200 a week or £500 for the month. He assures customers there is no wear and tear, and he gives her an antiseptic bath on return. Parts of her body are even guaranteed till 2040. No human on earth can guarantee they will be around in 20 years, let alone their genitals will be in working order.
And what about swingers? How can you socially distant swing, surely that can’t be a thing?
The oldest profession in the world cannot be done at a sweaty social distance either. There were fewer happy endings in Erdington massage parlors during lockdown than in an entire Scandinavian detective series.
However, for a shocking amount of people the prospect of another lockdown means sheer misery. Of all the crime in Erdington in September 25% was domestic abuse.
Relationships with cracks in them got a severe testing in 2020 and some would have resulted in violence for the first time. Whereas others would have given the abuser more time and opportunity to hurt the one they meant to love.
How did my relationship get on during lockdown…? We couldn’t see each other because of underlying health issues so absence made our hearts grow fonder.
We attempted Zoom dates and I tried to recreate a nightclub in my room by flicking the light on and off and putting a plant in front of my laptop, I think it terrified her.
(WARNING: The following video is not suitable for children… or most adults)
So, we went old school and spoke over the phone from then on – agreeing never to mention it again.
I would never be as daft to offer pandemic relationship advice, if I did the combined energy of my exes rolling their eyes might tilt the earth off its axis. So, I will leave it to Stephen Stills: ‘Love the one you’re with.’
If you believe you are a victim of domestic abuse, you can seek help and advice viathe freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247
Mystery surrounds the bizarre near double drowning of two people in two days in Pype Hayes Park lake – despite no one reportedly being fished out the water for “more than forty years.”
Last Friday week, a man was rescued from the water by emergency services and flown by air ambulance to hospital. Then, merely 24hrs later, a woman had to be saved from the lake and was rushed to hospital on the Saturday.
Witnesses claimed the woman had stripped off by the side of the lake, then ran naked into the two metre deep water – during one of the hottest days of the year, as the park was packed with families enjoying an unexpected heatwave.
During both incidents, crowds gathered at the Erdington park to watch the incidents play out as emergency services descended en masse.
He told Erdington Local: “It has been years since anyone was pulled out the pool. For two in two days was really strange, after forty years without an incident like this.
“People claimed to have seen the woman run into the water naked and there are some people who think the water should be fenced off, but I cannot see how this would be done.
“In the 1974 the body of a care worker who worked at the children’s home was found in the grounds of the park.”
Today, a woman was pulled from the pool in the park and taken to hospital in a critical condition, Multiple emergency services were at the scene @WMPolice@WestMidsFire@OFFICIALWMAS@MAA_Charity thank you!
The police diverted the unusually large amount of resources to the park after posts on social media mistakenly claimed one of the incidents was ‘a stabbing.’
Tyburn Police Sergeant, Richard Edkins, wrote to Pype Hayes residents on Monday 21st September to explain the massive amount of police cars and vans at the park over the weekend.
He said: ‘On Friday, the police and the ambulance service were called to the lake in Pype Hayes Park to reports of a person in the lake. The person in question was dealt with by the police and the ambulance service and taken to hospital accordingly.
‘Then, on Saturday, in what appeared to be a very similar incident, the police, fire and ambulance service attended the same lake in Pype Hayes to reports of another person in the lake.
‘The air ambulance attended and landed in the park and the person was again taken to hospital.’
He added: ‘Police have investigated both incidents, speaking to witnesses and to family members of those involved and we are satisfied at this stage that there is no criminal element to either of the incidents and there are no suspicions of foul play. Both the people involved are being treated accordingly at hospital.
‘There is nothing to suggest a link between the two incidents other than that they both happened at the same lake area in the park.’
On Monday Sgt Edkins sent two PCSOs to Pype Hayes to ‘provide reassurance to those who frequent the park.’
He added: ‘On behalf of the police service I would like to thank all of those who called us about the incidents and those who helped the two persons involved as well as those who helped provide witness statements to help our investigation.
‘The fire and ambulance service also asked us to pass on their thanks to the members of the public and the residents that helped.’
Pype Hayes Councillor Mike Sharpe added: “The emergency services did a great job over the weekend. Two people being rescued in two days is very rare, Pype Hayes Park is really popular and a lot of people use it.”
On average 400 people drown every year in the UK and a further 200 people take their own lives in lakes, canals, and rivers.
Local contacted West Midlands Police and Good Hope Hospital for an update on the condition of the two people rescued from the lake on Thursday and Friday but both organisations refused to give an update.
John Taylor Hospice in Erdington gave a local family a precious day to remember thanks to a special visit from some feathery friends.
David Gilchrist and his family saw their Erdington garden turned into a bird show when Andy Plant of The Falconry Centre in Hagley brought along a few feathered friends.
It was a dream come true for 65-year-old David when he came face to face with a host of birds of prey including a bald eagle, two owls, an American kestrel, and a peregrine falcon.
David, who has the respiratory condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), has been supported by teams from John Taylor Hospice for two years.
As his condition has progressed, care has been stepped up to meet his needs – including creating special memories.
David’s family had organised a short holiday including a visit to a falconry centre for the life-long bird of prey enthusiast but faced disappointment when David became too poorly to make the trip.
But the team at John Taylor Hospice stepped in to arrange the visit from Andy along with a buffet so that other family members could share this special moment and enjoy the treat.
The event was made possible because David is part of the Personal Health Budget (PHB) project – a scheme in which patients are given control over how they choose to spend health and social care finance.
The scheme has been pioneered in Birmingham by John Taylor Hospice, Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group, and Birmingham Voluntary Service Council, working in partnership with Birmingham City Council (via the Better Care Fund). PHBs can be used to fund different services including home care, gardening or laundry and making special memories such as the Falconry event.
David’s daughter, 40-year-old Gemma Grantham, said the personalised care has made all the difference.
“I can’t say enough about how much the hospice has helped Dad,” she says. “He was diagnosed nine years ago and we’ve been living with that ever since.
“We were put in touch with the hospice two years ago and it has been such a help.
“They explained the personal health budget to us and that has meant we’ve been able to access so much extra help. We have been able to have day sits and night visits which have really helped and the people who come can’t do enough for Dad. We’ve seen a real improvement in Dad’s mental health through getting this support.
“The last few months have been really difficult as Dad had to go into hospital twice and both times we said goodbye to him – but both times he’s come back to us.
“The first time he was having real breathing problems and the second time he had fallen and had to have a hip operation. With COVID-19 we were really worried about him going into hospital but he’s managed well both times.”
And the icing on the cake was the special visit from The Falconry Centre. Prior to the most recent Birmingham lockdown regulations, David was joined in the garden by his family including his three children, Gemma, Andrew and Rachel, and his nine grandchildren to see the birds.
“We were all so disappointed when we realised Dad was too poorly to go on holiday,” said Gemma. “So this has been a real treat – not just for Dad but for everyone.
“I still can’t believe the hospice has been able to do all of this for Dad. He’s really enjoyed it and I can see what a difference it’s made.”
John Taylor Hospice PHB Project Lead, Jan Hipkiss, said: “It was a real privilege to help David achieve his dream of seeing, once again, the birds of prey he so dearly loves and making this wonderful day come true for him and his family.
“Through the personal health budget project we have been able to provide individual care, support and special memories for many patients and their families. This new way of delivering healthcare is ensuring it is the patient who is at the heart of their own decision-making.”
A staggering 276 families have been spared the cost of school uniforms, thanks to an initiative set up by Compass Support‘s Parent Champions in Castle Vale.
The school uniform clothing bank was opened at The Sanctuary on Tangmere Drive in mid-July, collecting and distributing second-hand items before the start of the new academic year. All services and items are free of charge.
Molly Miles, Volunteer Coordinator from Compass Support – the charitable arm of The Pioneer Group, who works with Parent Champions in Castle Vale, says:
“I am so proud of Jodi (Dunstan), Jayne (Herbert), Jess (Llewellyn) and Lisa (Pountney) who are helping children and families far and wide. Hopefully, we’ll be able to continue to support children and families with essential school uniforms in 2021.
“The project was planned back in February and was on hold till early July when lockdown eased. It’s a brilliant initiative in terms of both saving money for struggling families, especially those with multiple children, and for sustainability reasons as much of the uniform is in perfectly good condition.”
To help raise awareness of the project and let people know where they can donate unwanted school uniforms, the Parent Champions have set up a Facebook page and are planning to distribute leaflets about their service.
Via the popular social media platform, local families can directly ask for specific uniform requests – which can then be collected by appointment from The Sanctuary community centre in Castle Vale.
Once uniforms and school items have been donated at The Sanctuary they are put into ‘quarantine’, washed, dried, and ironed ready for their new owner. When picking up items, parents and carers will be met by a volunteer – all socially distanced and abiding by government regulations.
Uniforms are available for local schools, including: Chivenor, St Gerards, Topcliffe, Pegasus, and Greenwood Academy. However, families affected by the coronavirus pandemic are donating and collecting from further afield – for example Smith’s Wood Academy in Solihull – as some uniforms come as standard issue.
Boys trousers have been the most donated item, as many teenagers grow out of clothes quickly. Another popular item on the wish list are PE kits – including t-shirts, pumps, and shorts.
And whilst the cost of school uniforms can run into hundreds of pounds per pupil, the Parent Champions initiative aims to reduce some of that financial burden for local residents.
Jodi Dunstan, one of Compass Support‘s Parent Champions, helps local families with a range of information and advice about activities and services in the local area – alongside the school uniform initiative.
As a result of her hard work at the uniform clothing bank, especially with the added fears and pressures around COVID-19, Jodi Dunstan was nominated for and won a local Facebook competition celebrating community endeavours.
Jodi says: “We are receiving requests from people of all different backgrounds, and we’re so happy to give back to the community. We had one family that needed to kit out a family of seven children – can you imagine the cost?”
“We’ll carry on as long as we can as we understand the hardships many families are currently facing. Between us volunteers we have 13 school-aged children of our own. We love being able to help, and just the relief on the parents/carers faces and the joy that uniform that fits brings is phenomenal.”
Any donated items that are not suitable for use are being sent for ‘ragging’ – with any funds generated ploughed back into running the uniform clothing bank initiative.
To find out more about Compass Support’s Parent Champions uniform clothing bank, including information on donating or collecting uniforms, please call (0121) 748 8111
A Kingstanding charity is reeling after thieves stole tools worth £20,000 which local youngsters use to clean up pensioners’ gardens.
Burglars used an angle grinder saw to break into Kingstanding Regeneration Trust’s (KRT) shipping container, Dulwich Road, and clear the shelves inside – steeling so much gardening gear they needed a large van to drive it away.
The charity, which is based at Kingstanding Leisure Centre, has now been burgled four times in two years.
Assistant manager Emily Dwyer told Erdington Local: “This is really upsetting. This is the fourth time we have been broken into in two years. We really try and do good work for the community at KRT so it is very sad this keeps happening.
“These tools were used to help local young people get back into work and provide a gardening service for the pensioners.”
She added: “In December last year, thieves broke in and stole all our computers. We are waiting to find out what our insurers say about the tools but it will be so hard to get insurance after this latest break-in.
“If anyone has any information about our tools or would like to donate to the charity then please contact us on 0121 439 6780.”
KRT was founded 12 years ago and provides training for young people to help them get into work.
The charity also provides a low cost gardening service for pensioners throughout North Birmingham and runs various community projects from the leisure centre.
As part of their ongoing community outreach activities, KRT also helps nurture and develop green spaces – creating eight community gardens in recent years and “greened up” Hawthorn Road by planting trees and shrubbery.
We had a very successful litter pick event in Brookvale Park on Saturday for the Connecting Communities Project with the Friends of Brookvale Park and volunteers who gave up their time to make the park clean again! Over 30 bags of rubbish collected! Well Done Team! pic.twitter.com/yjL7tVuO13
PCSO Tracy Baker said: “KRT, a local charity based at Kingstanding Leisure Centre, has had their shipping container broken into over the weekend.
“The container was full of gardening and power tools worth approximately £20,000. All the tools are used to train young people so they can access employment. The container had three locks on and needed an angle grinder or still saw and a large van to carry all the kit.”
She added: “Please may I ask you report any information you have, especially if you are approached by someone selling tool to us via 101 or our Live Web Chat quoting crime number 20BE/228247Q/20.”
The Kingsbury Road secondary school will be refurbished and a brand new two story teaching block will be built on site – with work beginning next month and completed by Christmas 2021.
She said: “We have a duty to ensure that sufficient school places are available in our city.
“We were all so disappointed when we realised Dad was too poorly to go on holiday,” said Gemma. “So this has been a real treat – not just for Dad but for everyone.
