Castle Bromwich Community Website

Castle Bromwich and District Lions are marking this Thursday's World Sight Day by recycling unused spectacles for use in third world countries.

A spokesperson for Castle Bromwich Lions said, "We're asking that people hunt out their old unused glasses that they have lying around in drawers and put them in the recycling box in Ellis Opticians by Boots in Castle Bromwich. We'll then ensure that they are recycled and used to help improve the sight of people in the third world."

AN ELDERLY woman feared for her life when two masked robbers burst into her home and threatened to smother her.

The 90-year-old was terrified as the young men brandishing sticks - closed the curtains and grabbed a rug from the washing line threatening to smother her if she didn't tell them where she kept her money. The two thugs then ransacked her home and made off with jewellery and a quantity of cash from the property in Foxwood Grove in the Kingshurst area of Birmingham on Saturday 8 September at just after 4pm.

The victim, although unharmed, was left badly shaken then managed to call her neighbour who raised the alarm.

Detective Constable Paul Parham, from the Force Criminal Investigation Department, said: "We are appealing to the public to help us find these attackers to ensure that this does not happen to anyone else. They got into the property through an insecure rear door in broad daylight. "The victim was terrified that she was going to be killed and has been left feeling extremely vulnerable in her own home. "We are sure that someone must have seen these men as they ran off on foot across Brockhall Grove and through an alley to Kingshurst Way. It was a warm sunny day, so there would have been people outside."

While the stolen jewellery has little cash value, the pieces are sentimentally invaluable for the victim. The items include three gold rings and three gold chains; one with a crucifix the other with a plain cross and a distinctive gold chain with small pearls linked into it.  

The first attacker is described as a light skinned mixed race man in his mid to late teens, around 5'6" tall, of thin build with dark hair in braids running in lines to the back of his neck. He was wearing a white cloth over his face, with a dark blue or black t-shirt without a collar, dark long shorts below the knee, trainers and carrying a white plastic carrier bag.

The second was a thinly built white man, again in his mid to late teens, 5'2" tall and cleanly shaven with light short hair. He was wearing a light coloured t-shirt with light shorts.

DC Parham added: "These types of incidents are exceptionally rare in the West Midlands - particularly in Kingshurst area where burglaries and robberies are down by over 50 per cent since April compared to the same period last year. However, one offence is one too many and we are determined to bring those to prey on the elderly to justice."

Anyone with information is urged to contact DC Parham on 101 or information can be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A Macmillan Coffee Morning hosted by Castle Bromwich Parish Council raised a total of £784.68.

The Parish Council would like to thank all who gave gifts and contributions to help make the event such a success.

Thirty young people took on a challenge set by the Castle Bromwich Youth & Community Partnership to make a real difference to the local environment.

For five hours on Sunday, they cleared over-growth, tidied graves and created sensory flower beds along the pathway in the closed graveyard by St Mary & St Margaret Church Castle Bromwich.

The young people involved spent the summer participating in the National Civic Service scheme being run locally by the Challenge Network. The Autumn Challenge undertaken on Sunday was the culmination of their efforts which saw young people from different backgrounds and localities working as a team to tackle personal and community challenges.

Solihull Council has recently invested money into leisure services for children and young people with disabilities. The money used was grant funding from DCATCH and came from the government.

So that they can continue to improve leisure services for children and young people with disabilities they would like you to spend some time telling then how they can further improve and what you think they need to do next.

This survey can be filled in by parents of a child with a disability or by a young person themselves.

Take the survey.

Smokers across the Borough are being urged to stop smoking on the 1st October and to stay smoke free for at least 28 days.

Research has shown that people who manage to stop smoking for that length of time are more likely not to start again.

Solihull Council and local NHS trusts are getting involved with the national 28 day stop smoking campaign known as Stoptober which is run by the Department of Health.

Smokers can sign up for the challenge by searching for Stoptober on the internet or collecting a pack at their doctors’ surgery.

Specially trained NHS Stop Smoking Advisers have already been out in force in Chelmsley Wood and Solihull giving advice and information on local free services to aid quitters, as well as taking carbon monoxide breath tests to show the effects of tobacco. Many of the borough’s smokers have already taken packs to prepare for the quit date on Monday 1st October.

And Stoptober will be unique in that it is offering an unprecedented level of support for smokers trying to kick the habit, including a 28-day mobile app, Stoptober support pack and motivational text messages to keep them smokefree.

There will also be emotional support from fellow quitters and the local community as it is recognised that stopping smoking together can be more successful than going it alone.

Smokers can have free local support to kick the habit with Solihull NHS Stop Smoking Service by phoning 0800 015 8512.

A charity football match between Aston Villa Old Players and Bumble Rovers is to take place at 1pm on Sunday September 30th at Arden Hall Park, Water Orton Road, Castle Bromwich. The match kick-off is at 1pm.

Programmes are on sale for £1.00 and raffle tickets are also available for £1.00. Proceeds will be donated to SANDS stillbirth and neonatal death charity. The event has been organised in memory of William Southam-Beebee.

Solihull companies are urged to take advantage of a new £1 million loan fund aimed at financing local business growth and job creation.

The Business Loan Fund, launched by Solihull Council alongside Finance Birmingham, is available to small and medium limited companieswith a two year trading record within the area who are seeking finance to propel their business forward and have previously been unable to access funding.

Offering between £100,000 to £200,000 and repayable over five years, the fund aims to boost the local economy and enable companies to use the finance flexibly, from working capital to capital expenditure proposals. 

For full details please contact the Business Support Team on 0121 704 6151 or visit www.solihullforsuccess.com.

Opening hours at branch libraries in Solihull will reduce from 1 April 2013.

Solihull Council carried out a 12 week consultation during December 2011 to February 2012 to seek people’s views on when they do and do not want to use the libraries.

Cabinet Member for Community Services, Councillor Mrs Kate Wild considered the feedback from the consultation as well as data about actual visitor counts, and approved a revised set of opening hours.

The new opening hours will ensure that the 10 branch libraries are only open when people are actually using and want to use them. The reduced hours will save over £50,000 every year in line with the measures set out in the Council’s approved Medium Term Financial Strategy.

The changes include opening the libraries at later times, closing earlier, and closing some libraries for short periods at lunch time.

There would be no more than five hours per week reduction at any one library and there are no proposed changes to the borough’s three large libraries: Solihull Central, Shirley and Chelmsley Wood.

The new hours do mean a reduced staff requirement. Library staff have been briefed about the changes and will be given the opportunity to either complete their full contracted hours by working in more than one library or, reduce their contracted hours. If this is not possible, the next stage would be to try and redeploy people to other areas of the library service or to other jobs within the Council.

Cabinet Member for Community Services, Councillor Mrs Kate Wild: “At a time when libraries in other areas of the country are closing, I am pleased that we are able to maintain a high quality library service in Solihull.

“Instead of closing libraries, we have achieved efficiencies through innovation and providing our services in a different way. For example, by joining forces with Warwickshire County Council to provide the mobile library service, introducing new technology such as self service kiosks in libraries and developing our online services.

“We have listened to people’s views about when they do and do not want to use the libraries and the new opening hours should ensure that the range of services that we offer are both affordable and meet the needs of the local community.”

The Library and Information service along with other Council services, has to find significant financial savings over the next three years as part of the Council’s approved Medium Term Financial Strategy. The strategy sets out how the Council will meet the challenge of reduced funding from the Government by making savings across all services whilst keeping the impact on frontline services to a minimum.

A full copy of the report presented to the Cabinet Member including details of the revised opening hours can be viewed at: http/www.solihull.gov.uk/akssolihull/images/att35317.pdf

A historic house in Castle Bromwich could be converted into three flats.

Proposals have been submitted to convert the Grade 2 listed Birnam, at  No. 1 Rectory Lane which is situated within the conservation area into three separate dwellings.

Built by renouned  local architect Charles Edward Bateman to house his father, the house original had a connecting door to the adjoining house in which Charles himself lived. The Bateman family grave occupies a prominent position in the nearby closed graveyard by St Mary & St Margaret Church.

The plans would leave the external structure of the building unaltered with, it's claimed, minimal disruption to the internal features. It is suggested that the plans offer the best options for a sustainable future for the property.

Solihull Council has a deadline of 17th October 2012 for anyone wishing to comment on the proposals which are listed as 2012/1316 and 2012/1317.