Tag: competition

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NEWS: Win a Christmas hamper worth £130 from City Meats and Erdington BID – entries close midnight on Sunday 21 December

Owner of City Meats, Frank, holding a sign showing all the contents of the Christmas Hamper / Photograph supplied by Erdington BID

Words by Ed King

City Meats and Erdington Business Improvement District (BID) are giving one lucky local family the chance to have a packed Christmas cupboard this year for free – with a competition to win a special Christmas Hamper worth £130.

But hurry, as this yummy yuletide competition is only open this weekend – so get your entries in before midnight on Sunday 21 December if you want to bin in the draw to win a slap up Christmas dinner for free.

Specially prepared by City Meats, the longstanding Erdington butchers who have been trading for over 45 years and are a well-known family run business on Erdington High Street, the City Meats Christmas Hamper will include joints of beef, pork, lamb, gammon, a turkey crown, and jumbo packs of bacon and sausages.

The City Meats Christmas Hamper will be enough to feed any Christmas dinner table, with loads left over for the New Year.

City Meats signage and counter in Wilton Market, Erdington High Street / Photograph supplied by Erdington BID

All you have to do is send your name and address (including your postcode) along with a contact telephone number to [email protected] – with the subject heading ‘CHRISTMAS HAMPER COMPETITION’.

You can also enter by coming to the Erdington BID Winter Warmer Fun Day on Saturday 20 December, between 12noon and 4pm, and submitting your details to staff at the Winter Warmer food and drinks tent next to Santa’s Grotto – just outside the entrance to Wilton Market.

The lucky winner will be selected at random, with names pulled out of Santa’s hat, and issued a special token to claim the Christmas Hamper direct from City Meats – which can be collected anytime up to 4pm on Tuesday 23 December.

Sign promoting Christmas offers at City Meats, Wilton Market – Erdington High Street / Photograph supplied by Erdington BID

The only rules to enter this festive online competition are that entries need to be made by families with at least one child aged 16 or under – who live in the Erdington constituency.

Before claiming their prize, the winner will be required to provide Erdington BID with photographic ID and proof of address, as well as proof of their family status.

A spokesperson for the Erdington BID told: “Christmas is a festive and fun time of year, but it can be a big expense too – especially if you got several hungry mouths to feed on Christmas Day.

“So, at the Erdington BID thought we’d spread a little yuletide cheer and give Erdington locals the chance to win a bumper Christmas meats hamper for free.”

Sign promoting Christmas offers at City Meats, Wilton Market – Erdington High Street / Photograph supplied by Erdington BID

They added: “City Meats have been serving this community for over 60 years and are one of our longest High Street traders, and a belly busting hamper form them seems like the perfect Christmas gift for one lucky Erdington family.”

City Meats have been serving good quality fresh meats for just under half a century and are a well-established family business on Erdington High Street.

Always promoting special offers and family sized deals, to help your Christmas budget go a little bit further City Meats are currently offering: 3 packs of pigs in blankets for £10, 3 packs of gammon for £10, a jumbo leg of lamb for £23, half turkey crowns for £18, packs of turkey drumsticks for £6, any joints of any meat for £16, and special Christmas deals on ribs of beef.

Christmas charity donations box on counter at City Meats, Wilton Market – Erdington High Street / Photograph supplied by Erdington BID

Head into City Meats and speak to Frank, Dave, Emma, or any staff member and see what you can get cooking from your local butcher this Christmas.

The City Meats Christmas Hamper competition is organised as part of the Erdington BID LOVE YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY campaign, celebrating all the positives of Erdington Town Centre and Erdington High Street.

City Meats can be found at the entrance to Wilton Market, Erdington High Street, Birmingham B23 6RP – to contact the butchers directly you can call 07976 696 724.

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NEWS: Competition to design iconic sculpture in citywide ‘Bulls in the City’ charity arts trail

Words by Ed King

A blank calf in the grass at The Ring, Perry Common / Pic supplied by Witton Lodge Community Association

Witton Lodge Community Association (WLCA) are running a competition to give an Erdington creative the chance to design one of the iconic calf sculptures in the upcoming ‘Bulls in the City’ charity arts trail.

Looking for designs that incorporate references to Erdington and ‘capture the pride, spirit, and charm of their neighbourhoods’, WLCA will be inviting people to submit their artwork by 25 April – with a winner announced by 30 April.

The competition is open to people of all ages and abilities living in Perry Common, Erdington, Stockland Green, Pype Hayes, Gravelly Hill, Castle Vale, or Kingstanding.

Templates for the calf sculpture, based on the bronze bull statue outside the new Bullring markets, can be downloaded from the WLCA website, with the winning design completed by professional artists from Reilly Creative.

WLCA have generously sponsored one of the calf statues, which will be installed alongside 84 other calves and 40 larger bull statues across the city this summer – before being auctioned off in a special charity event.

A decorated calf next to the original bull statue outside Birmingham Bullring / Pic supplied by Bulls in the City

Following on from ‘The Big Hoot’ in 2015, which saw 89 individually designed and decorated owls installed across the city, the ‘Bulls in the City’ project will be using the Birmingham bull mascot as it’s muse – with each sculpture raising thousands to support Birmingham Hospice, which rely on charity and donations to stay open.

Erdington has been the home to one of Birmingham Hospice’s facilities for decades, widely remembered as John Taylor Hospice and situated on Grange Road.

An important part of the local community, previous charity fundraisers for the hospice have created widespread support – with The Swan pub generating over £5000 in February through hamper raffles, toy drives, clothes collections, and book sales.

By bringing Erdington into the citywide ‘Bulls in the City’ project, WLCA hopes to give Erdington locals a chance to show their love for their community and raise money for the cherished care facility.

A blank calf at Witton Lodge Community Association / Pic supplied by Witton Lodge Community Association

Jo Townsend, Communications & Community Engagement Manager at WLCA, explained: “We are thrilled to support Birmingham Hospice and join the herd for this fantastic initiative… we’re delighted to bring a calf into our community, offering one lucky resident the chance to have their design featured on it.

“We can’t wait to see the creative submissions and look forward to selecting a winning design that truly represents the wonderful community spirit of Erdington.”

Rebecca Richards, Senior Events Manager at Birmingham Hospice, added: “Due to the national funding crisis affecting all hospices in the UK this year, it’s more important than ever we raise vital funds and awareness for our charity.

“Bulls in the City will be fantastic for our charity, but it’s also a great opportunity for local businesses to get involved in what is set to be the biggest and best art trail our city has ever seen.”

For more information about the ‘Bulls in the City’ design competition contact Witton Lodge at (0121) 382 1930 or email [email protected]

For more on the Bulls in the City 2025 art trail visit www.bullsinthecity.co.uk

For more on Birmingham Hospice visit www.birminghamhospice.org.uk

For more on Witton Lodge Community Association visit www.wittonlodge.org.uk

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NEWS: Inspiring photograph of St Luke’s wins thousands for Kingstanding church in national competition

Words by Adam Smith

A Kingstanding church has won £2,500 after a picture of fireworks above the parish came runner up in a national photography competition.

Sarah Farnan was inspired to pick up her camera after seeing the fireworks light up the night sky above St Luke’s Church, Cavendish Road.

She entered the picture into the Parish Pixels competition with the following description to help capture the character of the church: “The St Luke’s family has been sparkling like a diamond at the centre of the community of Kingstanding for over eighty years, shining out the love of God for all to see.”

Sarah’s snap won the West Midlands regional final of the competition which saw more than 600 Anglican churches enter pictures.

Parish Pixels was launched by insurance company, Ecclesiastical, which awarded the church £1,500 for winning the regional final.

Sarah and church representatives were due to attend a glittering national ceremony for the final in London last week, but due to COVID-19 restrictions the event was streamed online.

However, there were still celebrations after judges announced Sarah’s picture clinched the runner’s up spot winning the Kingstanding church another £1,000.

School administrator Sarah joined the congregation six years ago and was delighted her photo was recognised.

She said: “Situated at the heart of a deprived inner-city area, Kingstanding is often the focus of bad press. There’s quite a lot of unemployment and crime. But St Luke’s is like a shining light, a sparkling diamond, with the love of God at its heart.

“As soon as you walk in, you notice an overwhelming sense of genuine warmth and welcome. Our mission is to meet people ‘where they are’, recognising the diversity within our community, embracing and building on the goodness and community spirit that exists here.”

She added: “The church is a real sanctuary – our parish brings people together and tries to unearth the hidden diamond within each of us.”

“I don’t know yet how the money will be spent, but there are always things which need doing in any church and fundraising is difficult in an area such as ours, so it’s very welcome.”

She added: “So I want to give a huge thanks to everyone who supported my entry by voting for my picture.

“The national final was going to be a trip to London, a presentation lunch and awards ceremony in Westminster. Very disappointingly that fell victim to COVID and instead the ceremony took place virtually online.”

The Parish Pixels Award 2020 ceremony is now available for anyone to watch online and can be seen here:

https://youtu.be/Q3ywQzl0KKo

St Luke’s Church posted about the competition on its Facebook page: “Thanks to all of you who voted and shared our photo. It has been wonderful to see the enthusiasm and support for the competition despite the months of lockdown and lovely to experience the support and interest from our parishioners.”

Parish Pixels organisers, Ecclesiastical, revealed they were overwhelmed by the amount of entries and social media interest in the competition.

A spokesperson said: “We received more than 600 entries, from all corners of the United Kingdom, and together they formed a magnificent illustration of the astonishing diversity of our places of worship and the humbling faith and dedication of their congregations.

“Whittling the 635 brilliant submissions down to nine regional winners was tough enough – but then our judges faced the almost impossible job of naming a winner.

“We invited you to help them to choose by voting for your favourite on our website, and over 7000 of you responded.”

For more information about St Luke’s Church visit www.saintlukeskingstanding.co.uk

For more on Ecclesiastical, visit www.ecclesiastical.com

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NEWS: India Garden Restaurant gifts food parcels to over 60’s across Erdington

Words by Jobe Baker-Sullivan / Pics by Ed King

India Garden is a restaurant that prides itself on serving classic Indian dishes, specialties, and desserts.

Located at 992 Tyburn Road, India Garden Restaurant has been involved in catering for over 35 years – suppling large Council venues and supermarket chains, as well as operating their popular Erdington based restaurant.

But as the scare of COVID-19 was first hitting the country, the family run business began helping neighbours who were struggling to buy goods from supermarkets – using their own stock, alongside established links with their suppliers.

Now India Garden are delivering free food parcels to over 60’s in Erdington – packed with essential goods including hand sanitizer and loo rolls, as well as a hot meal from their own kitchens.

“We’ve been here (in Erdington) for a long time and it’s the locals that have supported the business,” tells Shaan Deen, India Garden’s Operations Manager, “and we thought we’ve got to do something.

“So, we thought, 60 plus, anybody, free of charge… we’re just going to give them food parcels with essential items – a hot meal, curry, rice, bread, and then all the hand sanitizers, loo rolls, baked beans… and whatever else we can. So that’s what we did.”

India Garden began telling existing customers about their ‘coronavirus campaign’ over the phone, but news of their good will soon gained a lot of attention on social media.

“We threw it onto Facebook and it just blew up from there,” continues Shaan, “people started tagging, and we started getting lots of enquires. Genuinely they wanted to donate; I can give ₤100, I can give ₤50. And we said we don’t want your money, but we need the manpower – if you can come and help us deliver, then give us a shout.”

India Garden now have 72 volunteers helping them deliver care packages to around 211 people, with teams going out five days a week.

“It wouldn’t be possible without the volunteers, from the local area,” continues Shaan. “People were saying ‘we only live up the road – we live in Castle Vale; we live on Paget Road…. And before we knew it, we’d gathered a lot of volunteers. I want to highlight that; the volunteers play a big part. They’re good people.”

The restaurant have also launched their ‘Tag a Hero’ campaign, encouraging social media followers to tag NHS workers – winning frontline staff a free, sumptuous, Indian meal, delivered to their door.

To find out more about India Garden Restaurant, who are still open for takeaway orders, visit www.indiagardenrestaurant.co.uk

Or visit the India Garden Facebook page, where you can ‘tag a hero’ and help NHS frontline workers win a free meal www.facebook.com/IndiaGardenBirmingham