West Midlands Police Changes in 2010
Chief Superintendant Chris McKeogh will head the Birmingham West and Central policing unit from April 2010. This is the unit which will cover all of the Ladywood constituency including the city centre.
The shake-up of West Midlands Police will see the 21 units drop to 10.
Swine Flu Vaccine Protestors Hit Birmingham
City Hospital, used by many Ladywood residents, has been the target of an anti-vaccine campaign by those claiming the Swine Flu drug is unsafe.
Today's Birmingham Post reports that The People's United Community "roamed corridors in the evening, putting up posters and handing out leaflets to patients and relatives with the slogan: “Swine flu is not the biggest danger. It’s the vaccine.""
Swine flu is on the rise again in the West Midlands and the number of deaths believed to have been caused by the illness is now 15.
According to their website, TPUC believes... "the truth knows no boundaries, and so we seek only to show people actual, factual information about the world around them."
Quite how that fits in with putting posters up in hospitals frightening people off having a vaccine that could prevent them becoming ill is quite beyond me.
Oxjam Brum Raises Thousands
This Saturday saw the showpiece event of the Oxjam Brum festival as six venues, 40 bands and hundreds of gig-goers demanded action on climate change until they were blue in the face. We're still in process of counting all the money but early indications show we raised approximately £3,000 for Oxfam. AWESOME!
I looked after the volunteers on the day and was bowled over by their commitment to the cause, most people turned up early and worked far later than they had been asked to. They also persuaded the majority of punters to back the Oxfam "Here and Now" campaign by getting their faces painted blue. GREAT WORK!
I caught some of the acts at Island Bar, including Is I Cinema, Idiosync and Tantrums - all were great and all had big crowds. Northfield-based Tantrums are a band to watch with their hat-tip to Birmingham's musical past. They bought into the day big style, appearing on BBC WM's Janice Long show in the morning and hanging around supporting many of the other bands. If you want to check them out, they're playing the Flapper on 9th November with Youves.
We've had some fantastic feedback since the show but we'd welcome any more - positive or negative. I am hoping the nationwide festival as a whole is as successful as our event was and that Oxfam choose to continue it next year - I'd certainly be up for doing it again!
If you're wondering why we did all of this, please spend a few minutes browsing the Oxfam website which is currently dominated by the Here and Now campaign. Watch some of the video clips and please, sign up to the campaign and donate £1 a week, if you can afford it.
Albert Gill Ladywood VC Winner
The latest film from TNT News describes the history of former Ladywood resident Albert Gill, who in October 1916 was awarded the Victoria Cross, the most prestigious award for gallantry that can be presented to British & Commonwealth forces. TNT News reporter Alex presents this report from the cemetery where Albert Gill was buried.
Comment on New Street Redesign
Today (Friday) is your last chance to comment on the proposed redesign of New Street station.
I fully support an overhaul of what is quite frankly an embarrassing gateway to Birmingham. A bold redesign such as this will undoubtedly be an enormous benefit for the city. Pop over to the website and have your say.
But let's not forget the issue of capacity on the track. I can't help but feel there's been a missed opportunity for rail capacity building a stone's throw away at Eastside. I would have liked to have seen a far more in-depth study of the "Grand Central" concept.
And as I've spoken about before, we simply must address local rail using Moor Street and Snow Hill stations wherever possible. Reopening the Camp Hill line using Moor Street station is a great place to start.
It's also interesting to read the following, buried in the FAQ: "the Gateway scheme was designed to accommodate the extension of the Metro scheme"
Oxjam Brum – This Saturday!
This Saturday finally sees the showpiece event of the Oxjam Brum festival, as six of Birmingham's premier gig venues turn blue to help fight poverty!
I'm proud to have been involved with this year's Oxjam as the Community Participation Coordinator, responsible for involving as many volunteers in the project as possible - through encouraging them to host their own Oxjam events to volunteering on Saturday.
The "blue faces" campaign (demand action on climate change until you're blue in the face) has been a huge success all through the year - and we're hoping to paint over 200 faces this Saturday! We'll also be promoting The Wave which takes place on 5th December, just before the crucial global climate change talks in Copenhagen.
The big names playing include Dinosaur Pile-Up and Tantrums, with a whole bunch of local artists performing alongside them, across the Flapper, Island Bar, Victoria, Basement, Sunflower Lounge and the Prince of Wales.
Tickets are still available online until Friday night and cost JUST £6! A ticket to see just ONE of these acts could cost more than that. It's an absolute steal, so be sure to get yours now! On the day you'll need to head to Basement Bar (next to Greggs at the Victoria Square end of New Street) to exchange your tickets for wristbands. You can also buy wristbands on the day.
See you there!
Response from Clare Short to My 1010 Letter
The letter to Clare is here.
The response:
Dear David Nikel
Thank you for your email. There is not a debate on the 10:10 campaign as such, but a general debate in time allocated to the Liberal Democrats on "Government's failure of leadership in the Climate Crisis".
I do strongly support all initiatives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Best wishes
Yours sincerely
Clare Short
Massive Changes to Print Media in Birmingham
Trinity Mirror has today announced sweeping changes to their Birmingham newspaper empire.
As had already been discussed, the Birmingham Post is to become a weekly publication from next month. But in addition to this, the Birmingham Mail will become an overnight/morning title. The editors of both papers are leaving and there will be at least 40 redundancies across the group.
It comes as a massive blow to journalists across the city but was surely inevitable with the changes to the way people consume news nowadays?
I enjoy the Birmingham Post with its business and political coverage, but I nearly always browse it online. Ironically I bought a printed copy today for the first time in months.
UPDATE: The Editor of the Bimingham Post Marc Reeves has blogged about the changes, saying an electronic version of the Post will still be produced daily:
"Alongside the relaunch of the print title, a brand new version of the Post will be delivered by email directly to your inbox every morning for you to scan at your screen, on your phone, your PDA - or even to print off and read in the old-fashioned way.
Together, the print and digital formats will deliver an unrivalled service. The stresses of the current economic downturn may well have hastened our move to become a genuinely multi-media title, but the result will be a paper that's better placed than almost any other to meet the challenges of the digital age by fusing innovation with its traditional values."
Reclaim The Night A Success
The first Reclaim The Night march held in Birmingham for over 20 years was a great success, organisers have said. Around 100 women marched through the streets of Ladywood this weekend to protest against rape, male violence and perceived no-go areas of the city. The march began at Five Ways and ended with a rally at the Ladywood Community Centre.
Ladywood was chosen deliberately because it's perceived as a "no-go" area for women after dark. I have written to the local police team to ask what they are doing to tackle the problem.
Bloc Party Play New Academy
Last night I paid my first visit to the relocated Birmingham 02 Academy and thoroughly enjoyed the gig and the venue.
The old Dome makes a wonderful new home. The main room is very similar to the old Academy venue with a large floor and upstairs balcony, but there are improvements including numerous bars placed around the room, rather than in one area.
As for Bloc Party - a huge improvement over the last time I saw them. Whether it was the music or the venue I don’t know, but they created one heck of an atmosphere, one you’d expect to find at a rave rather than a gig! Hopefully the two photos snapped on the iPhone capture some of the atmosphere…
I’m looking forward to enjoying many more gigs at the new venue.
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