Specially invited keynote speakers and honored guests gathered for the Press Conference to highlight The Phoenix Newspapers 5th Anniversary Gala Dinner & Awards Celebration and also pay homage to the woman whose fearless courage and vision created a day that promises to be unique and supportive in its concept. Held at the world class Hotel Indigo at The Cube in Birmingham, they came from near and far to flag-up what is to come.

The Culture Secretary today announced the Government’s plans to commemorate the Battle of Jutland, which brought together the two most powerful naval forces of the time in the largest naval battle of the First World War. There will be a series of commemorative events in the Orkney Islands  on 31 May 2016.  This will be an opportunity for people in the UK to come together to honour those on both sides who lost their lives during the Battle of Jutland and to  recognise the pivotal role of the Royal Navy in the First World War.  

And the Brits were thinking that American’s love of the British accent was down to the likes of Hugh Grant and Prince William! But according to a new survey it is not the dulcet, shuffling tones of the home counties that makes the Yanks weak at the knees, but rather the gravelly melodies of the Glaswegian tongue.

City of Wolverhampton Council has been forging links with its European counterparts to produce a best practice booklet for problem solving in city developments. Officers recently completed a European Commission-funded project called ‘Cities of Change’, led by the City of Poznan in Poland. The knowledge exchange involved representatives from 14 cities of 11 EU Member States.

There is still time for people to have their say about proposed changes to a number of social care services in Wolverhampton. The City of Wolverhampton Council has put forward plans which it says will transform social care services and help older people in the city remain independent for longer. Service users, their families and carers, staff and other stakeholders are urged to take part in the consultation, with a last in a series of events for the public taking place at the Civic Centre, St Peter’s Square, on Tuesday (20 October 2015) at 7pm.

New research by housing charity Shelter has found that over 39,000 private rented homes in the West Midlands equivalent to 1 in 10, have suffered from animal infestations such as mice and cockroaches in the last year alone. The Shelter and YouGov poll of over 3,700 private renters in England revealed that bad living conditions are rife in rented homes, with almost half of renters (46%) in the West Midlands reporting that they had experienced problems with poor conditions or disrepair in the last year.