Goldie bringing positive message to Hockley Flyover Show

 

At a time when there’s a groundswell of community spirit to combat the negativity engendered by the recent riots and looting it seems fitting that the fourth Flyover Show is being staged in Birmingham this Saturday.

The advertising for the family-friendly community event in Hockley, produced long before any hint of the trouble to come, states: “The day is about championing the belief that the very highest artistic expression can emerge and be staged in communities only associated with negative headlines.”

Curated by Birmingham-based saxophonist and rapper Soweto Kinch, this year’s show is dedicated to men who have made ground-breaking contributions to black British and urban culture.

The Flyover Show, beneath Hockley Flyover and close to Soho Road where some of the riots took place, has become an established free festival in the city.

The festival, which runs from 12.30pm till 9pm, will also feature graffiti, comedy, theatre and dance.

 

Read More http://www.birminghampost.net/life-leisure-birmingham-guide/birmingham-culture/music-in-birmingham/2011/08/18/goldie-bringing-positive-message-to-hockley-flyover-show-65233-29255340/#ixzz1VTLFWVpK

 

Birmingham Carnival

Start Date: 07 August 2011 01:00 PM
End Date: 07 August 2011 08:30 PM

© Image by Brigitte Winsor

www.brigittewinsor.com

Sunday 7 August will see this exciting biennial event return to the city.

It last took place in 2009 and was previously held in Perry Park. Due to popular demand it is returning to its original home in Handsworth Park where it first began in 1984.

The event will begin with a spectacular procession, led by the newly crowned Carnival Queen, which will be leaving Holyhead School at 1pm before making its way to Handsworth Park at around 3.30pm.

Birmingham Carnival is an opportunity to experience the food, music, sounds and colours of the Caribbean. This year’s extravaganza promises to be a treat for the entire family. It will consist of a variety of decorated floats, steel bands and carnival troupes with live and off stage entertainment of soca, calypso and reggae music.

Caribbean refreshments will be on sale throughout the day where you can try traditional dishes such as Jerk Chicken and rice and peas as well as a wide range of fruit and rum punches.

There will also be a host of activities for children including inflatable toys and a children’s zone.

Birmingham Carnival is well reowned for its beautiful and extravagant costumes and has grown in popularity over recent years with many revellers travelling from as far away as London, Leicester and Leeds to attend.

Artists appearing at this year’s Birmingham Carnival:

R-Swift (US artist), Eshon Burgundy (US artist), Jahaziel, Nu Soul, Sammy G, Monique, Otis Irie, Maria Mour, Mothers of Creation, Leon Vox, Skibu, IQ Micheal, Bianca Simone, Jaynee, Juliet Leon, Coco Brown, NIA, Alliance Dance Troupe, Identity Dance Collective, Malika QB. Plus Stage Host and Compere The Gman from Raio Sandwell 106.9fm.

The event ends at 8.30pm.

Watch out for further updates on parking arrangements for the day on this webpage. In the mean time further information can be obtained by calling 0121 303 3008.

Lexi Kimberley Maye is Birmingham’s Carnival Queen. She was crowned on Sunday 24 July 2011 after wowing judges with her confident personality and energetic dance routines. View photos of the Carnival Queen

Birmingham Carnival Parade route map

(Size: 1.29 Mb Type: PDF )

 

Patients’ fury as Primary Care Trust confirms Birmingham GP service will be withdrawn

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IT WAS standing room only as furious patients packed a public meeting to vent their anger over controversial changes to their GP service.

Residents in Handsworth expressed outrage that they were not consulted over a shake-up at St James Medical Centre, which may end in a doctor leaving.

Some of the venue’s GP services are currently handled by national provider The Practice PLC but the firm’s lease at the centre expires in December

Its responsibilities are set to be picked up by a partnership of doctors called Vitality, which is also based at the venue.

Health chiefs used the meeting to apologise amid complaints of a lack of consultation by Heart of Birmingham Teaching Primary Care Trust, which is responsible for the centre.

One patient, Sabby Rano, told health officials: “Your first port of call should have been to address the patients. There are vulnerable patients who don’t have the choice and have relatives making that decision. This is about the quality of care we have come to expect and the relationship we have with our doctors.”

And one of the centre’s doctors, Dr Adeel Ahmad, who has become an integral part of the community and can speak four languages, including Punjabi, Urdu, and Bengali, said he would quit if the change went ahead.

Read More http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories//tm_headline=patients-fury-as-primary-care-trust-confirms-birmingham-gp-service-will-be-withdrawn%26method=full%26objectid=29098330%26siteid=97319-name_page.html#ixzz1TEeZtUPd

 

HAVE YOUR SAY!

The Primary Care Trust are holding a Public Meeting at St James Medical Centre on Wednesday 20th July at 6pm-7pm. 

 

 

 

July Residents Meeting

 

Agenda

 

Tuesday 19^th July 2011,7pm – 9pm

SohoFinger Neighbourhood ForumC/OSohoCommunity Centre,Chapel Street, Handsworth,BirminghamB21 0AP

Email:  sohofinger@hotmail.co.uk  Website:  http://sohoforum.wordpress.com

 

 

 

1. Welcome
2. Apologies 
3. Approve last Minutes 
4. Matters Arising 
5. Revd Linda Isiorho – St James Medical Centre 
6. Mike Chipman – B.C.C  Waste and Litter 
7. Steve – 3B Village Black Business  
8. SohoNeighbourhood Police Team Update 
9. Forum upcoming Event 
10. Residents Concerns 
11. A.O.B 

 

Date of next meeting Tuesday 20^th September 2011 at 7pm

 

 

 

 

Handsworth Residents fight to keep their Family Doctor’s

St James Medical Centre

 

Staff from St James Medical Centre, Handsworth, Birmingham  are concerned that the 2270 patients they provide a GP service to have not been notified by the Primary Care Trust about the disbandment of their family Doctor’s.

The patients are fighting to keep the staff team together.

A Public Meeting was held on Monday 20^th June 2011 at St James Church and the 68 patients who attended were very upset that the Medical Staff are not being allowed to be re-located as a Team locally by the PCT.  They are hoping to overturn the PCT’s decision by getting all of the patients to sign a petition.

A patient said “forcing the team to separate is not right or fair.  As a patient I want to see the doctors and nurses of my choice, not to be forced by the PCT. Everyone in my family are angry and upset on hearing the news. The PCT have to have a patient consultation because the care we are receiving currently is excellent.  My Granddad (77) has been coming here for many years and to move him to new doctors and nurses will have a dramatic effect on his health”

 If you would like to show your support to St James Medical  Team, there is another meeting on Monday 27^th June at St James Church Tea Room 12pm-1pm.  

You can also show your support by leaving a comment.

 

‘Mr Handsworth’ Hector Pinkney awarded MBE in Queen’s Birthday Honours

HECTOR Pinkney, known to his neighbourhood as “Mr Handsworth”, has been given the Royal seal of approval in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

The modest 58-year-old said news of the MBE made his “heart tremble” after years of devoting himself to the inner-city community.

 

He features in a long list of gongs for the great and the good of Birmingham and the West Midlands. Among them triple jumper and Olympics silver medallist Phillips Idowu, aged 32, who trains under Birchfield Harrier Aston Moore, in Birmingham, and has also picked up an MBE.

 By day, granddad Hector works as a security officer at Handsworth Library but his countless duties and network of contacts have made him the go-to man for people across the area.

Events he’s behind include a weekly running club and exercise classes for the Soho Elders’ Group. He set up a karate club and organises benefit nights. He has also become a youth mentor and helps the library hold talent competitions and live music events.

He said: There are a lot more people in the community who deserve a lot more. I know I just do my best whatever I do.”

Handsworth’s reputation as a “no-go area” would be lifted by the award, he said. Hector’s family has been involved in community work since arriving in Handsworth from Jamaica in 1962.

He worked with his sister Dolores helping young people on the Dojo community project. His late mother Mavis used to run an informal youth club from the front room of her home in Leonard Road back in the 1960s and she campaigned to launch the Muhammad Ali Centre.

The building in Hockley is now derelict but Hector is hoping to get it back open.

“My mum brought me here to make a life,” he added. “She shines down on me in everything I do and she would be saying ‘well done son, that’s why I brought you up to be a good lad’.”

Read More http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/06/11/mr-handsworth-hector-pinkney-awarded-mbe-in-queen-s-birthday-honours-97319-28858176/#ixzz1P5cPDI7H

 

 

 

Read More http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/06/11/mr-handsworth-hector-pinkney-awarded-mbe-in-queen-s-birthday-honours-97319-28858176/#ixzz1P5bc1FTS

 

Phone scam warning

from birminghamnewsroom.comby SimonH

  

Birmingham City Council has issued a warning to residents to be extra vigilant about giving personal details out on the telephone, including bank details, after a spate of reports about suspicious phone calls made to homes within the city this afternoon (Wednesday 1^st June).

 In each reported incident callers have claimed to be ringing from either a bank or the council, and have asked residents to confirm their bank and personal details in order that ‘overpayed’ bank/council charges can be repaid.

 Neil Eustace, Chair of the Public Protection Committee, said: “We urge members of the public to never, in any circumstances, give out personal or banking details to anyone making an unsolicited call or visit to their home.

 “If you do receive any such calls it is always advisable to triple check the identity of the caller before you engage in any conversation with them, by for example arranging to call them back, then looking up the official number for your bank or council first.”

 One lady who contacted the Council this afternoon said: “” I received a call from a lady claiming to be from the treasury department in London informing me I had been selected to have a council tax refund of £7000 due to paying my council tax on time.  She asked to confirm my details, which she claimed she had on file already, and my  date of birth.

 The resident refused to give these details and instead contacted Birmingham Trading Standards, who have received several similar calls over the past 24 hours.

 The City Council will always write to customers regarding any financial matters/or monies owed by either party in the first instance, and will never make unsolicited calls asking for personal details to be confirmed.

For more information please contact Simon Houltby on 0121 303 3503

 

Police and partners tackle street drinkers in Soho

1 June 2011

POLICE in Birmingham are targeting illegal street drinkers in Soho today and tomorrow.

Officers from the Soho neighbourhood policing team will be patrolling Soho Road and nearby parks to enforce alcohol exclusion zones following a rise in complaints from local people.

Local officers will be patrolling with officials from the city council’s anti-social behaviour unit and rough sleepers team to gather evidence, enforce the exclusion zone and offer support to vulnerable people.

The multi-agency team are also using the days to gather evidence on prolific offenders with a view to securing civil injunctions.

The action comes after residents raised their concerns about the number of people dinking alcohol in public places contrary to a local ban.

Keen to tackle the problem, local officers have listed the issue as a top priority for the area.

People wishing to highlight on-going problems in their neighbourhood should call their local neighbourhood policing team on 0345 113 5000.

For the full report http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/np/Birminghamwestandcentral/news/newsitem.asp?id=3339

 

 

Supporting John Taylor Hospice at the Lord Mayor’s Show

The weather was awful but we had a great time at the Lord Mayor’s Show.