Tag: Witton Lodge Road

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COMMUNITY ANCHORS: The Underground – a safe space for Perry Common youth

Words & pics supplied by Urban Devotion Birmingham

Urban Devotion Birmingham youth worker at The Undergroud, St Martain’s Church, Perry Common

Since 2004, The Underground has been a safe, welcoming space for young people in Perry Common to socialise, make friends, and engage with the UDB team.

Located beneath St Martin’s Church on Witton Lodge Road, the space is used by Oscott Academy during school hours, while UDB hosts various youth activities in the evenings. Young people can grab a toastie, play in the sports hall or hang out in our youth space.

We spoke to some regular attendees, asking why they come to The Underground and what they enjoy about it. Their answers varied: “To make new friends,” “It gives me something to do,” and “It makes me feel safe.”

They enjoy the food, toasties, sports, and the chance to “see some friends every week.” One young person shared how the space has “helped with my self-control” and how UDB is always there to support them when they feel sad or angry.

We believe it’s vital to offer young people safe, drop-in activities where they can feel relaxed, heard, and have fun.

We all crave spaces where we feel we can belong, and we feel privileged to be able to provide those spaces to many young people throughout Erdington.

Our sessions at The Underground are open to different age groups:

  • Mondays from 3:15pm-4:30pm for school years 3-6
  • Mondays from 5:00pm-6:00pm for school years 7-9
  • Wednesdays from 6:00pm-7:00pm for school years 9-13

For more details and to see where else we run drop-ins check out our QR code (above).

For more on Urban Devotion Birmingham visit www.urbandevotion.org

Urban Devotion Birmingham is a key partner in the Erdington Local COMMUNITY ANCHORS programme, supporting independent local and community journalism.

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NEWS: Nature Day event on 14 September to help safeguard the future of Perry Common Meadows

Words by Ed King

A recently formed community group is inviting local residents and environmental enthusiasts to a special event celebrating Perry Common Meadows and to help safeguard the future of the urban oasis.

Friends of Perry Common Meadows are organising a Nature Day on Saturday 14 September and are encouraging people to join the conversation about how the green space is managed and developed.

Originally planned and promoted for the Earthwatch Tiny Forest in the middle of the Meadows, the Nature Day will now be held at St Martin’s Church on The Ring – in the centre of Witton Lodge Road, Perry Common.

Organisers have advised for those coming from further afield but looking for a more environmentally friendly way to attend the event, the Number 7 bus will drop passengers directly in front of St Matin’s Church.

Running from 11am to 2pm, the Nature Day will feature family fun activities with an environmental focus – including guided nature walks, a plant swap, and a wildflower seed bomb making workshop.

There will also be storytelling, face painting, subsidised refreshments with food for £1, and a Perry Common Meadows consultation where those attending can ‘have your say’ over the future of the local green space.

Friends of Perry Common founder, Stephanie Boyle, who established the group in 2023, told Erdington Local: “The Friends of Perry Common Meadows is a relatively new group and we’re hoping to develop the Meadows into a people-and-nature-friendly wildish green space, building on what’s already there.”

Stephanie Boyle has been a prominent promoter of environmental issues across Erdington, and organised the Eco Together workshops at the Eco Hub in Witton Lakes last year – a specially designed ten week course about environmental understanding and action, as commissioned by Witton Lodge Community Association.

She added: “To help this along we’re putting on a Nature Day on Saturday 14 September so local people can have their say about how the Meadows develops, while also having fun outdoors and engaging with nature at the same time.”

Also at the Friends of Perry Common Meadows Nature Day will be a programme of live music with a Celtic slant, including a performance from local multi-instrumentalist and hammered dulcimer player Jobe Sullivan, and Bodhran and Ukulele workshops courtesy of the Birmingham Irish Association.

The event will also feature a sneak peak of the upcoming Celtic Journeys, a new concert series soon to be coming to Erdington.

Situated between Perry Common Road and Witton Lodge Road, Perry Common Meadows is home to many local animals, wildlife, and is a hotbed of urban nature.

Friends of Perry Common Meadows are hoping the Nature Day will bring the local community into the conversation about how the area is protected and maintained, helping keep the natural asset safe for generations to come.

For more information please contact Nature Day event organiser Stephanie at [email protected]