This month marks a huge milestone at the new Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Smethwick. A lot has changed on site over the summer months with work progressing quickly on the leisure centre. All three swimming pools, including the 50m competition pool, are complete and the structural steelwork has started with the first three roof trusses now in place. Over the next few months work will start on the walls and roof of the building and installation of the dive tower will start before Christmas. Sandwell Council has been working closely with construction partner Wates Construction Limited to ensure work continued…
Author: admin
City of Wolverhampton businesses are being urged to act fast when the new Black Country Small Grants Programme goes live next month (November). The Government scheme – supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) – is being delivered by the Black Country Growth Hub. It will provide grants of £1,000 to £3,000 (and in exceptional cases up to £5,000) for small firms to buy in critical consultancy support. Areas of support include legal, finance, human resources, health and safety, Covid-19 risk assessments and prevention measures, or purchasing IT or small pieces of equipment to adapt to new ways of…
We’ve got a spooktacular free programme of Halloween events this half-term for all the family! Virtual events are aimed at children of all ages. These events, aimed at young people aged 11-19, will be hosted on the Just Youth Sandwell Facebook page throughout half-term. Monday 26 October – 5pm- 6pm – Baking Halloween cookies and cupcakes. Tuesday 27 October 7pm – 8pm – Halloween disco theme Wednesday 28 October – 4pm – 5pm – Make your own Halloween inspired paper weights and bookmarks Thursday 29 October 6pm – 7pm – Horror quiz Friday 30 October – 5pm – 6pm –…
The [Spaces] In-between – developed and delivered by Wolverhampton’s independent art gallery and studios, The Asylum Art Gallery Ltd, and Arts Council England – is a free exhibition showcasing the work of 10 local contemporary artists interested in ‘the in-between’ in relation to shared public spaces. Opening on Saturday 24 October, at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, The [Spaces] In-between is the culmination of an artists’ residency project, [Discursive Spaces], which ran for 6 months and enabled discussion around Wolverhampton’s local communities and the spaces they use, or memories of spaces that once held communities together in the region. The artists focused…
The Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences will present the live virtual performance by Moore, a poet, playwright and producer, whose mother was born in Wolverhampton, on Thursday 22nd October at 6.00 pm until 7.00 pm. Book tickets via Eventbrite. Jessica, who lives in Detroit, will read from her poetry collection, We Want Our Bodies Back, followed by a Question and Answer session. Over the past two decades, Jessica Care Moore has become a cultural force as a poet, performer, publisher, activist and critic. She is the 2019 and 2017 Knight Arts Award Winner, 2016 Kresge Arts Fellow, NAACP…
Wolverhampton Literature Festival in collaboration with Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists are on the hunt for poets across the world. The competition opens on 1 November and closes on 31 December, this year’s theme is ‘Aspects of Love’. Poets are being asked to use ‘aspect of love’ as a prompt to explore love in any of its different forms, whether that be love of a person or of a place, the joy of love, or the grief for love lost, or your passion for evenings spent doing yoga or knitting, any form of love is welcome. Winners will be chosen by…
This half-term, Sandwell Council is looking for organisations and residents to create scarecrows and join The Big Sandwell Scarecrow Festival. Residents will be able to vote for their favourites on the Discover Sandwell Facebook page and prizes will be up for grabs for the best scarecrow from an individual, a school and an organisation. Deputy Leader of Sandwell Council, Councillor Maria Crompton said: “This is an exciting opportunity for people to get creative and do something to put a smile on their neighbours’ faces. “Don’t worry if you’ve never built a scarecrow before – there are lots of easy demo…
Sandwell Council has once again been rated a top employer for apprentices, scoring a place in the top 70 employers of school leavers in the UK. The ‘Top 150’ Listing is compiled by allaboutschoolleavers.co.uk and is the largest national awards ceremony where winners are decided based entirely on feedback from apprentices. Apprentices completed surveys analysing everything about their employers and training programmes, from skills development and career progression to training and company culture. Sandwell Council has risen an impressive 14 places to rank 67th in the listings; up from 81st in 2019. Councillor Rajbir Singh, cabinet member for skills and…
Town centres will be lit up with Christmas lights and Remembrance Sunday will also be marked in Sandwell, despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Sandwell Council today confirmed that although Christmas light switch-ons and Bonfire Night events would not be able to go ahead, the council would do everything possible to celebrate events and mark important dates without large public gatherings. Councillor Maria Crompton, deputy leader for Sandwell Council, said: “We’ll be doing all we can to mark Remembrance Sunday in a safe way. “A decision will be taken in the coming weeks on how best to do this, given that the…
Wolverhampton’s historic West Park has been named as the location for the start and finish of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games cycling time trial. Often referred to as ‘the race of truth’, the time trial is a straight race against the clock for individual cyclists and is a real test of strength and endurance. Around 90 competitors are expected to take part across the men’s and women’s events. West Park, which opened in 1881 and is considered one of the finest examples of Victorian parkland in the country, will provide a fitting backdrop to the start and finish of this…