Activists and academics had called out for more awareness and education on intersectionality within the Black community. They also point out the need for more recognition towards the Black queer community from the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK. The statements come after the Black Lives Matter movement in the US was accused of neglecting the needs of the queer community last June. Campaigners, actors, and celebrities called out for more inclusivity which led to its UK counterpart to release a statement on social media. https://twitter.com/ukblm/status/1269196203926962177 “BLMUK is a very diverse team and we would like to make it…
Author: Feron Jayawardene
Early indications reveal that a mammoth £30,000 has been donated towards the homeless from last weekend’s ‘The Big SleepOut’ organised by Birmingham charity, St. Basils. The virtual sleepout started last Friday evening and ended on Saturday morning with many activities including live stargazing, music, short films and a hand shadow show. Although the event happens on the grounds of the Birmingham cathedral each year, it was moved to the virtual domain and live-streamed via twitch due to the national lockdown. https://twitter.com/StBasilsCharity/status/1332403539683971075 St Basils supports over 5000 young people aged 16 to 25 every year and focuses on preventing homelessness by…
Birmingham City Council launched a scheme connecting the homeless to private property landlords in a bid to tackle the displaced in the city. It provides incentives to landlords who offer 12-month fixed tenancies to those on the council’s homeless and housing registers. Already 93 households from the council’s homeless register were identified and paired with landlords who have used the scheme to accept new tenancies. Cabinet member for homes and neighbourhoods, Cllr Sharon Thompson said homelessness has risen exponentially during the last decade with the lack of affordable housing. Cllr Sharon Thompson “With 13,000 people on its housing register, the…
Statements made by two key figures over a possible Covid vaccine sparked controversy at a council meeting last Thursday. Claims on the availability of a vaccination made by Cheif Executive of Birmingham and Solihull CCG Paul Jennings and Assistant Director of Public Health, Elizabeth Griffiths overlapped each other at the Councils Covid Engagement board meeting. While speaking in the meeting, Paul Jennings mentioned a possibility of a Covid vaccine would be available from this Christmas which clashed with the claims made by Elizabeth Griffiths. “My understanding is that there still is a possibility that it (vaccine) could begin to flow…
All menthol cigarettes including capsule, double capsule, flavoured and skinny cigarettes are now banned in the UK. The move comes as an effort to curb addiction among young people from the use of menthol cigarettes. Many smokers believe that mint and flavoured cigarettes are less harmful than those with tobacco, however some studies have shown there is a high risk of smokers developing lung cancer. The new law came into force on Wednesday as part of a new EU Tobacco Product Directive. However, the restrictions are not extended to menthol filters, but it will now be illegal to sell them…
The COVID – 19 pandemic brought a complete halt on the everyday leisure activities that many enjoy. All major sports tournaments were cancelled or delayed after the UK government banned sporting activities to minimise the spread of the virus. Consequently, all international cricket tournaments and the English domestic season scheduled to be started on May were cancelled, delayed or postponed. However, it would still be exciting to cherish all the cricket that would have been taking place in May with the start of the English summer season. Here’s how all the cricketing action should have panned out in a non…
The planning process for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and the Women’s Cricket World Cup is going on as scheduled, announced the ICC Chief Executive Committee last Thursday. The Men’s World Cup is scheduled to play in Australia in the months of October and November while the Women’s edition of the 50 Over World Cup is due to take place in New Zealand on February and March 2021. Manu Sawhney, CEO of ICC (Photo credit – ICC) The announcement came after the ICC hosted a Chief Executives’ Committee meeting via conference call last Thursday as members came together to…
Retailers in Birmingham have praised the decision taken by UK Finance to increase the limit of contactless spending. The threshold was raised by £15 to £45 last Wednesday as part of the financial services industry’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and retailers feel relieved during this time of crisis. https://twitter.com/UKFtweets/status/1245262971263160320 The pandemic has brought a complete halt to the daily life of British citizens with 55,242 cases and 6,159 deaths in the UK as of Tuesday. The global tally of confirmed cases had reached 1.4 million cases with 83,000 deaths according to the statistics shown by Johns Hopkins University. Patryk Kazmierski…
Video Journalism by Jardine Kipkorir HuffPost has been nominated as the ‘News provider of the year’ at the British Journalism Awards organised by the Press Gazette. HuffPost which has a pioneering partnership with Birmingham City University will be competing with some major news outlets for the coveted title which includes The Guardian, The Times, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Financial Times, The Sunday Times, and The Telegraph. The UK edition of the global news organisation has been recognised for political analysis on Theresa May’s reign as Prime Minister, an inside look at the NHS seen from a hospital bed, and an…
The Erdington constituency is one of Birmingham’s ten parliamentary constituencies. It represents the wards of Castle Vale, Erdington, Gravelly Hill, Kingstanding, Perry Common, Pype Hayes and Stockland Green It has a total population of 97,778, the third smallest population of all the constituencies in the city according to a census in 2015. There are over 62,000 working-age residents living there, and who are predominantly white, compared to the city average. In the 2017 General Election, voter backed Labour’s Jack Dromer with 21,571 votes, compared to Robert Alden who only received 14,286. Let’s rundown who’s standing for parliament when we go…