Dec 15 Full Edition

Page 1 Tyburn Mail December 2015

DELIVERED FREE MONTHLY TO ALL HOMES IN TYBURNupdated daily online at: tyburnmail.com D

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Clothes Showfashion with TaylorPAGE 6

Readers’ comments online and facebookPage 4

How well did your primary school do?League tables, page 2

ColdplayMusic with Brookly:Page 8

Police say they have had no more complaints about the Castle Vale fraudster who was jailed after stealing nearly £12k from a vulnerable pen-sioner.Doreen Humpage, 51, worked as a carer, looking after a frail 87 year-old woman in Yatesbury Avenue.The ‘carer’ had used her trusted po-sition to get hold of her frail victim’s credit cards and steal £11,800 from her account.

The shocking story hit the ITV news and the Daily Mirror.The case has sparked outrage in a community that prides itself on look-ing after its own.The story has become the sixth most visited article ever on Tyburn Mail’s website. Several of the comments posted by angry readers on the news website cannot be printed for legal reasons. They condemn Humpage, along with some members of her family who have previously achieved media notoriety.Readers have been appalled by the behaviour of the fraudster who posed as a carer to a woman who was dependent on help following a fall. Several people felt that court dealt with the case too leniently.Humpage was given a 10-month sentence for fraud. After the case had been heard at Birmingham Crown Court, police is-sued a statement urging other po-tential victims to get in touch.Police were concerned that other people in the area that she cared for may also have been conned out of their savings.This was not a one-off crime. Hump-age was shown on cctv using her elderly victim’s credit cards on sev-eral occasions between April and May 2014 from a cash machine on Tyburn Road. The case had originally come to Bir-

mingham magistrates court in July, when it was handed on to the Crown Court. In the interim, Humpage was ordered to keep away from her vic-tim’s house.Conning pensionersThe Humpage case has echoes of an incident earlier this year when a woman posed as one of society’s trusted servants to deceive a frail fe-male pensioner.On New Year’s Day 2015, a burglar who posed as a policewoman tried to get into the home of a 95 year-old Castle Vale woman.The burglar, Kelly Ford, aged 33 of Gravelley Lane in Erdington, was eventually caught and given a six-and-a-half year sentence in June for various offences.

HeartlessBut no more complaints about

fraudster carer, say police

Kelly Ford: jailed after posing as police officer to get access to home of 95 year-old Castle Vale woman

Doreen Humpage: police found her home full of new clothes and expen-sive electrical items

A police patrol car in Cas-tle Vale helped to catch a prolific burglar who preyed on old people. The police car’s automatic vehi-

cle registration number equipment spotted Mark Woodliffe as he drove his BMW on Tyburn Road in the summer. Last week the 48 year-old from Derby was jailed for over seven years for 30 burglaries. The court heard that he had been released early from prison on licence during a sentence for

similar offences. The key question here is: if he was allowed out early for stealing from vulner-able elderly people, why was he not monitored more closely? How was he allowed to commit so many more burglaries?One of his victims was a 97 year-old man. Another was a 92 year-old.

Why was he let out to rob the elderly?

Mark Woodliffe

Kingsbury School OFSTED VERDICT Page 9

Kayleigh Cooper, put in a superb performance as Tess Tyler in Greenwood Academy’s production of the musical Camp Rock. More pics, page 19


The plans to build 101 houses on the site of the ex-Cincinnati fac-tory have left no en-vironmental stone un-turned, it seems. Included in the plans are reports from ecology expert Dr Stefan Bodnar on the likelihood of dis-turbing water voles and black redstarts if the demolition and building work goes ahead.There’s not much chance at all, the report concludes... because there aren’t any of those species around the place.What about the building that is

soon to be demolished? Spe-cial mention is reserved for the high-quality design of the inte-rior of the factory.“It’s pure 1950’s style and Amer-ican glamour with lots of mar-ble, terracotta and terrazzo,” the report enthuses.

“.....and as well as a gym and canteen it has its own 200 seat auditorium. The site has been vacant and suffered extensive vandalism, since Cincinnati Ma-chine Tools, now MAG, moved to Fort Dunlop in the mid 2000s.”

No sign of water voles, so all clear for houses

Nice way to Finnish off the term’s work

Birches Green Junior School have joined forces with six other countries around Europe in a project designed to combat and prevent bullying in European Schools. Their first mobility abroad took place from 29th November to 4th December 2015, with 7 pupils and 3 teachers travelling to Finland. During their time at Lempoisten Koulu (school), Tampere, staff and children learned how Finnish schools combat and prevent bullying through sport and peer mediation. There were also opportunities for finding out about the Finnish way of life and culture, says Anna Jackson, one of the teachers who went on the trip.

Gunter School in Pype Hayes is the top performing primary school in Tyburn, according to the na-tional league tables published this month by the Department for Education.St Gerard’s is Castle Vale’s top primary school. These are the only two Ty-burn primary schools in the top 100 of Birmingham’s 278 schools.St Ambrose Barlow School and St Nicholas School were the

only two schools in Birming-ham to achieve 100%.Boldmere School scored 99%, and The Deanery in Sutton Coldfield scored 98%.Walmley Junior was the 25th best performer in Birming-ham, with a score of 93%.The Abbey Catholic School in Erdington scored 88%.St Barnabas School scored 83%.Yenton School scored 62%. Yenton’s overall percentage suffered because of weak re-sults in mathematics.The average total for Birming-ham in reading, writing and maths is 78%. The average for England is 80%.

Gunter tops Tyburn table for primary schools; St

Gerard’s tops Castle ValeThe percentage scores for Year 6 pupils who achieved grade 4 or higher in maths, reading and writing in 2015 :

Gunter: 87% (83)St Gerard’s: 86% (89)St Peter’s and St Paul’s: 80% (100)Paget: 73% (90)Erdington Hall: 72% (67)Pegasus: 71% (88)Topcliffe: 69% (71)Birches Green: 68% (74)Chivenor: 68% (37)

Figures in red indicate last year’s scores

Scores for reading, writing and maths can fluctuate from year to year. The results are based on tests for Year 6 pupils. In some cases, this is just one class; in others, two classes. The city’s largest primary schools have three, sometimes four classes in each year group. Slight variations each year are inevita-ble with such small numbers of pupils.

But when there is a big change, that is worth closer study. Take Chivenor School, for example. It is the biggest primary school in Cas-tle Vale, the estate’s only two-form en-try primary school.Last year, in 2014, Chivenor were bot-tom of Birmingham’s league table by a country mile. They totalled just 37% for reading, writing and maths, and were not even in sight of any other schools.

They were, sadly, the Aston Villa of schools in Birmingham. But things have changed this year. Chivenor have leapt up by a massive 31%. Now on 68%, they are within touching distance of several schools in Castle Vale and Tyburn. No longer bottom of the league, there are now 41 primary schools in Birming-ham below Chivenor in this year’s ta-ble. By any standards, this is an excellent rate of progress by Chivenor head-teacher Darren Mann and his team.It’s worth noting, too, that 94% of the Chivenor Year 6 pupils scored at Level 4 and above in their writing tests, and 92% in reading. In fact Chivenor was the top perform-ing primary school in Castle Vale in the writing tests.

Chivenor leaps up the league

Spare a thought for Anita Ward, the wife of Tyburn councillor Mick Brown.The former Castle Vale pupil and one-time Lord Mayor of Birmingham is a councillor for Hodge

Hill. But she may be kicked out by her own La-bour Party members after serving the area for 20 years.The members of Hodge Hill Labour group last month decided to opt for someone else to rep-resent them at the council elections in 2016. But at the time of print, no successor to Anita had been chosen. A mini-election was scheduled for last Thursday, but one candidate withdrew, and another failed to turn up.

Hodge Hill confusion

Ex mayor Anita Ward, and husband Mick Brown


Police have confirmed that the driver who damaged Water Or-ton Bridge will not be prosecut-ed. The vehicle ploughed into the walls of the bridge in the early hours of a September morning. Huge bricks from both sides of the bridge plunged into the river below.

The crossing has been closed ever since. Repairs will cost over £50,000 and have cre-ated journey problems for motorists for three months.Amey engineers say that the bridge could be ready for Christmas.

Water Orton bridge: no

prosecutionA man has been sent for trial after several cars were damaged in Castle Vale re-cently.Connor Bradley Eales, aged 20, of Meaburn Close in Selly Oak has been charged with causing damage to nine vehi-cles in Castle Vale. He is also charged with using threatening behaviour, as-saulting a victim and assault-ing a police constable in the execution of his duty.Eales has been remanded in cus-tody and scheduled to appear at Birmingham Crown Court in March 2016.The damaged cars include a Fiat Punto, a Kia Venga, a Ford Fusion, a Vauxhall Agilla, a Nissan Duke, a Seat Ibiza, a VW Golf, a Vauxhall Corsa and an X type Jaguar.

Nine vehicles damaged in Castle Vale: 20 year-old sent for Crown Court trial

Central Buses have confirmed that the 696 service around Castle Vale will con-tinue into the new year. A spokesperson for the bus company said that he expected it to run for at least another 12 months.The bus will leave Castle Vale Retail Park twice every hour, starting at 9.20am and 9.50am.The last two services of the day, the 14.50hrs and 15.20hrs will be dropped from the timetable.Fares are likely to increase in January, along with all other bus fares in the region.The 696 fare is likely to increase from £1.90 to £2 per fare.

696 hopper bus to continue

Pupils and staff from Greenwood Acad-emy celebrated the school’s biggest ever Awards Evening. Over 100 youngsters from all age groups received trophies and certificates for their performance in the past 12 months.This year it’s Greenwood’s sixth form that is causing ripples of optimism. University applications are adding an extra level of excitement to the atmosphere, as students are set challeng-ing A-level targets by the academic institutions.James Casey (left) is the first of the Greenwood set to be offered a place by one of the country’s top universities, the so-called Russell Group of universities.He needs to get two A stars and a grade A to secure his place to read Physics at Manchester University. It’s a tough task, but it’s within his reach, and the university offer has given him, and other students, something high to aim for.It’s not just the academic achievements that are new and exciting for Greenwood. Year 13 pupil Heitienne Guimaraes broke new ground in Cas-tle Vale.This term he became the first pupil ever to arrive at the school behind the wheel of a car, having recently passed his driving test.These are exciting times for Greenwood. Teachers and par-ents have fingers crossed for the sixth formers who are aim-ing to become the first ever Castle Vale-based pupils to enter higher education.Principal Harry French told the audience that in many cases, these youngsters would be the first from their families to enter the world of Higher Education. They are proving that Greenwood can help their pupils over-come any issues that might be caused by postcodes, or fam-ily income levels, he told the audience.

AIMING HIGHER

Greenwood Academy does many things differently from traditional schools. Awards evening, for example. There are no school uniforms on show, or silent rows of suppressed and slightly bored parents. Instead, there

are teenagers dressed for a night out in their best clothes. Smart, stylish, ra-diant, and in some cases glamorous. Many sit around circular tables, with candelabras, cocktail-lounge style, beside their proud parents. In the background, throughout the evening, even when the principal and heads of subject are handing out awards and delivering eulogies, dance music is playing. Stage lights flash like a nightclub. It’s a formal occasion refreshingly styled for the school’s pupils.

Greenwood’s reputation for perfor-mance and public productions is with-out equal in the city. The evening starts, not with a stutter-ing flute solo, or a classical piece by a youngster edging towards Grade 4 on the violin, but with a brilliant solo per-formance by one of their top students, Millie Langton. She chose the song ‘Someone Like You’ from the musical Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Millie is confident, poised, pitch-perfect and a born entertainer. “See you on X Factor,” quips one of

her teachers.Greenwood’s ambitious and creative approach to public events generates enjoyment for the audience, and con-fidence for the pupils. Now the school is aiming towards academic excellence. That will be a tough nut to crack. A small number of sixth-form students have set their sights on top universi-ties. One is aiming for Cambridge. Schools with small sixth forms, like Greenwood, tend to lose many of their top GCSE students to the bigger col-

leges and grammar schools . This has happened, and will continue to happen to Greenwood. But the mood created by sixth-form ambition rubs off on younger pupils. Higher education is now an option that younger pupils are talking about, with their parents. Five years ago, the prospects of a bright young teenager going from a Castle Vale School straight into a uni-versity was zero. This year, it’s going to happen.

Tyburn MailCOMMENT

Sainsburys are helping to sponsor Greenwood Academy pupils by provid-ing free personal hygiene hampers.Sean Jordan, Greenwood’s Youth and Wellbeing worker, says: “Greenwood has a resources base which supports

young people with learning difficulties. On a daily ba-sis we need to face a number of challenges. The most common challenge we face is the students’ personal hygiene. “As a school we have decided to address this matter by delivering a number of personal hygiene workshops for these students. “To make sure the workshop has real impact we want to give each student a hygiene hamper which they can take away. “Thanks to help from Sheila Hyland, Sainsbury’s Castle Vale have kindly donated 10 hampers for our students. “In each hamper there is: deodorant bottles, shower gel/shampoo/conditioner, toothpaste and toothbrush. “As a school we cannot thank Sainsbury’s enough in helping us support our students with this matter. “

Hygiene hampers

Staffordshire bull terriers top the list for the breed of dogs most likely to be seized as strays in the West Midlands. Jack Russell Terriers are second on the list, with cross-breeds third.Staffies are also top of the region’s list of breeds most likely to be destroyed, ahead of crossbreeds and Rot-tweilers.The report, published by Direct Line Pet Insurance, says that 36,670 stray dogs were seized in the UK in the first eight months of this year. A total of 4,231 seized dogs were ‘disposed of’ in 2014.

Staffie strays

Jamie Huggins picked up four awards. Jamie moved to Sutton Girls Grammar to do her A-levels

James Casey, won the school’s Physics award, and hopes to study at one of Britain’s top northern universities.

ready for Christmas?


LETTERS ‘n’ comments

KAY’S HISTORYA monthly series of ancient facts by local history enthusiast Kay Hunter who lectures on his subject in Birmingham and West Bromwich. Kay also broadcasts on 107.5 Switch Radio

Have you ever wondered why trees are symbolic of Christmas?Here is a brief explanation.Some Historians consider the Christmas tree to be of pagan origin. Evergreens were used because they did not die in winter.Trees were decorated with holly and mistletoe, which was a sign of peace.That’s, why it’s traditionally used for kissing under. Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria encouraged people to have a decorated tree at Christmas, and the mid-nineteenth Century saw the introduction of finely blown, glass decorations. The good fairy has been traditional for at least two hundred years, and presents are a celebration of the birth of Christ, and so making the tree a focal point.Charles Dickens popularized Christmas with his story a Christmas Carol.

SELL YOUR HOUSE

•Financial difficulty?•Facing repossession?

•No equity?CALL JENNY TODAY ON 0121 285 3108

Tyburn Mail online

Have your say in the readers’

comments sectiontyburnmail.com

Dear Readers,Generations choir wishes to thank residents for their support over the last 12 months and wishes everyone a Happy Xmas and good New Year.

You can catch the choir at Sainsburys on Sunday Dec 20th at 12.30 sing-ing a range of Christmas songs. New members always welcome - all ages

Bob Bruetoncontact me on 07766 923361for choir details

Yes we are back, and keen to get going with you all in 2016..

It is some time since we sent every-one a message from your Community Voice.The Police have expressed a wish to join us on a regular basis to talk through both matters of concern and also initiatives to improve where we live.If you are up to the challenge of working on behalf of Birches Green then let us know.Jo Allen is currently our Chair and agreeing dates and times has been difficult because of commitments for other things. BUT we want to hear from you and so do the Police. If you are interested in being part of the reinvigorated Voice of Birches Green

then contact Lynda on: 07727 923 071 and she will let the Chair know.In the meantime, have a very Happy and Peaceful Christmas and a Healthy and successful New Year.

Birches Green Community Voice

Birches Green needs volunteers

Dear ReadersMy message is “Don’t give up”. I have just experienced first hand the dire position individuals find them-selves in when benefits and allow-ances have been torn from them due to Government cuts. If you have been receiving motability allowances which resulted in receiving a vehicle due to your inability to walk and this has been taken away from you. APPEAL.

A case close to my own heart saw a vehicle removed leaving the patient unable to go out and be reliant on lifts and a wheelchair. With the help of her local councillor, MP and Liseaux Trust she appealed and won albeit some six months later.Remember, there is always help out there – SO USE IT.Lynda Clinton Labour Councillor, Tyburn ward

Fight the cuts that threaten motability

Dear Readers,The NHS group that provides health services across Tyburn, the Cross City Clinical Commis-sioning Group, is giving local people the chance to have a real say in shaping the health services that we and our families use lo-cally, by being part of the Peoples Health Panel.People are not expected to commit lots of time, only what suits them, and

that can be as much as taking part in workshops or as little as completing a survey from time to time.People interested in joining the panel or would just like to find out more, can contact them by telephone on 0121 255 0828 or at www.bhamcross-cityccg.nhs.uk

Mick BrownLabour Councillor, Tyburn ward

Support NHS by joining People’s

Health Panel

Choir wishes

On Lord Rooker, Chairman of Cas-tle Vale Neighbourhood Partner-ship Board. He said that someone should get rid of Jeremy Corbyn, following his opposition to the bombing of Syria.

from: Nemesis Lord Rooker should do a reality-check – Corbyn is Labour leader by an over-whelming majority. One reason for his popularity is because he sticks up for people like us and the conditions we need for a decent life, such as fair-rent homes; jobs that pay enough to live on instead of subsistence wages and zero-hours contracts; and a properly funded and non-privatised NHS.Rooker’s rhetoric is deliberate scare-mongering. Daesh and their like have been “coming for us” for years. Bomb-ing Syria won’t change that one iota.

From: AnonymousThe old school network at work again. New thinking and looking after the working class is what is needed. The ‘ OLD’ way of addressing the big issues have proven to have failed in the past. We need to change the grass roots of the House of Commons and the way they manipulate and name call. It’s not allowed in the school playground but is rife and thriving in the amongst politicians. We need change and the only way is to stand out and do what

is best for all not just the few. This is not a popular choice for the ‘comfy as I am crew’. Nemesis’ comments reflect my own way of thinking about the BIG picture not just the ‘here and now best for themselves’ group.

On the Chester Road and Spitfire Island roadworksFrom: Mozza Still no end in sight for motorists ne-gotiating this area of Birmingham- at least the contractors have occasion-ally provided stop/go boards at peak times in morning – one of the guys told me completion by MARCH (I trust he means 2016)

On the entrance to Castle Vale during the roadworks:from: Richard Sharpe Those signs that say “ramp”, why don’t they change the wording to accurately reflect what’s really there... A xxxxxxx great big dip in the road!! Place is lethal.

On the ‘carer’ jailed for stealing £12k from the elderly lady she was ‘caring’ for from:Jungle JaneVile despicable cretin. How low can you be?? Praying on a frail old lady. How do you sleep at night you scum bucket??

AnonymousThis woman and her family are a to-tal nightmare. No consideration for anyone and so rude, going around like they are better than everyone else,..... The sentence should have been long-er. Hopefully she will move away and gives all some peace.

On news that Junction 5 of the M6 is to be closed for 6 months starting in January:Joanne Cartwright So so sick of roadworks in Birmingham it’s horrendous On Castle Vale Nursery getting into Ofsted’s list of top schools in the West Midlandsfrom: Lynsey Issa Well done! Ab-solutely fantastic nursery and lovely staff xx

On Council plans to build houses on parkland:from Andrew Garcarz: Parks to be sold off for housing! How ridiculous and short sighted.There is a huge amount of brownfield land available right throughout the city which is crying out for development.

On council plans to cut spending on maintaining their buildings:from Atticus:Can you legally cut building main-tenance? Surely, as a landlord BCC have to maintain the properties? Also anyone knows if you ignore a minor problem it soon grows into a more ex-pensive one. What gives the Council the right to give away our heritage to future generations?

READERS’ RESPONSESPick of the month from Tyburn

Mail’s online and facebook pages

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As always, the Clothes Show catwalk was as glitzy as ever as it show-cased this years autumn/winter trends: glam rock, embellishments, dark ro-mance and metallics, from highstreet stores: Oasis, Debenhams, New Look and River Island.Glam rock was all about layers, fur and adding small touches to your outfit, such as leather details, to give your look an edgier look that oozes a fierce, confident vibe. Embellishments is my personal fa-vourite winter trend, as it gets you all excited for the party season, as the models rocked glittery dresses,

blouses with sequin detailing and skirts with intricate patterns made up of hundreds of tiny beads.Dark romance was another favourite of mine, as it was all about gothic pieces, with a black and jewelled col-

our palette, while keeping the looks very feminine with straight, flatter-ing dress shapes and strappy heels. Finally, metallics are definitely going to be everywhere this winter as it just screams out fun and celebrations! Metallics are especially good when you’re in a rush, as since they are such statement pieces by themselves, they require minimal (or no) acces-sories.As for the performance itself it was brilliant as always with sharp, power-ful choreography, a short, soft and sophisticated ballet performance, with energetic models and dancers, brilliant vocals and a humorous dance with a Star Wars storm trooper doing the whip and nae nae! As well as an opening performance from the talented Ella Eyre who’s voice created a great atmosphere

ready for the show.Around the Clothes Show there were many Made In Chelsea and The Only Way Is Essex stars, such as Binky, Lauren Pope and Jamie Laing who was presenting one of the catwalks in

the main room. Charlotte from Geordie Shore also at-tended, as well as the fabulous Louise Pentland, also known as Sprinkle Of Glitter on YouTube!

Taylor SheldonTyburn Mail’s award winning

fashion journalist

Clothes Show Glitz and glam

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No Clothes Show? Hunk on the catwalk at Clothes Show Live



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There will be no collec-tions of refuse or recycling of Friday 25th December and Monday 28th Decem-ber by Birmingham Coun-cil services.Collections of general household waste on those two days are sched-uled to next have a collection on Fri-day 1st January or Monday 4th Janu-ary.Collections due on Friday 25th De-cember and Monday 28th December are scheduled to next have a collec-tion on Friday 8th January or Monday 11th January.

All other collections remain un-changed.Many households produce more waste at Christmas. For those with wheelie bins, reason-able amounts of household waste will be collected if presented in bags at the side of the bins.Excess paper and card recycling will be collected if bundled securely with string and presented alongside the recycling bin.

The city’s five Household Recycling Centres will be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day – but will be open on all other days.

Waste collections Christmas schedule

Coldplay have hit us with a new album for the end of 2015. They gave us a glimpse by releasing their single ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’. They completely spoiled us as fans! They’ve completely changed their sound. The slow songs from ‘A Rush of Blood to the head’ are unrecognisable to Coldplay’s new sound. Some would say that they just gotten more into that cheesy pop genre, but I truly believe they’ve taken a completely different turn with it. ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ is a new leaf for Coldplay, and they’ve come so far with it. Just from one single I can truly say that I know I am going to be in love with the album itself. Going from such slow relaxing music, to slowly mixing to upbeat and then fully going with that techno feel. I felt like I was in a different time. Chris Martin’s voice is, of course, as pow-erful as ever; making it exactly what you want it to be. On the of 4th December they’ll re-lease their album, so it’s a Christ-mas treat. Especially for Coldplay

fans! It is rumoured that their new album features Noel Gallagher, Tove Lo, and Beyonce. (BEYONCE PEOPLE BEYONCE!)Since the new single was released along with the video, which is very animalistic, and computer animated, it has gotten over 2,000,000 views on You Tube. With monkeys all over the shop, Coldplay seem to be monkeys in the video.

I love the song, and I think the video is not only humorous but very differ-ent to any music video I’ve seen! It’s really imaginative and well thought out and I really recommended every-one to give it a chance if they like to give new music a chance. If you like the old Coldplay, you could most definitely adapt to their new ex-perience with their music. It’s brilliant! Check it out.

Head full of dreams: a new sound for Coldplay

Brookly TaylorTyburn Mail’s music journalist

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY PERIOD PUBLIC SWIM PROGRAMME

ALL SESSIONS BEACTIVE IF YOU LIVE IN BIRMINGHAM

WEEK COMMENCING Monday 21st December 2015 Monday 12 noon till 1pm ADULTS 6pm till 8pm FAMILY Tuesday 12 noon till 1pm ADULTS 4pm till 7pm FAMILY Wednesday 12 noon till 1pm ADULTS 5pm till 7pm FAMILY Thursday CHRISTMAS EVE CLOSED Friday CHRISTMAS DAY CLOSED Saturday BOXING DAY CLOSED Sunday CLOSED WEEK COMMENCING Monday 28th December 2015 Monday 12 noon till 1pm ADULTS 2.30pm till 3.30pm AND 4pm till 5 pm FAMILY Tuesday 12 noon till 1pm ADULTS 2.30pm till 3.30pm AND 4pm till 5pm FAMILY Wednesday NO BEACTIVE ADULTS 2.30pm till 3.30pm Thursday 12 noon till 1pm ADULTS Friday NEW YEAR’S DAY CLOSED Saturday CLOSED Sunday CLOSED

CASTLE POOL COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP WISHES YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A HEALTHY AND SAFE NEW YEAR

Call 0121 464 0881

Micky & Minnie visit thanks to the Prince’s Trust

Hall available for your celebrations. Just want the hall or can we provide face painting, games, food menu or anything else to help it go with a swing? Why not have a pool party? Fun in the water then upstairs for food and play


Children at Gunter Primary School in Pype Hayes have raised £1,150 for Children in Need from a sponsored bounce.The bouncy castle event was organised by the school council for last month’s Children In Need Day.

Headteacher Lucy Riley said: “Not only were pupils encouraged to raise funds for the char-ity, but also to keep healthy by taking part in a sponsored bounce. Children wore Pudsey ears and t-shirts and bounced during the day.“The children did fantastically well for such a small school!”

Gunter’s grand bouncing marathon

Chocolates are revealed behind advent doors, stamps are pur-chased in multiple books. Cards are written and posted to friends and family.Roofs stand steady in preparation for that prayed snow fall, fires glow as the warmth stretches out, boxes disguise a presents real identity, wrapping paper is sealed, ripped and thrown about, tables and chairs await to be sat on, crackers are pulled and paper hats worn, festive table clothes and napkins catch the spills, comfy arm chairs call out for that after-noon snooze, board games are dusted off for the arguments to begin, nuts are cracked open yet rarely in one piece......... and the pine tree sheds its final needles as it passes its required date. Trees provide humans with many every day and luxury products yet the most important gift they give is overlooked, it is the one factor that remains present in bringing Xmas day and every other to life… oxygen. The Tyburn ward has recently seen local trees and greenery uprooted and replaced with con-crete and tarmac so let’s make a start in bring-ing the green back, and there’s never been a better time to be resolute than in New Year 2016. The Community Environmental Trust (CET) will be delivering a tree planting event on Satur-day 16th January 2016 (10am – 1pm) at Castle

Vale’s Conservation Area; choose a tree, plant it, label it and watch it grow! The event is free (and you don’t even have to stay for the whole time), just drop by in weath-er appropriate clothing and strong, closed foot-wear and we’ll provide the rest.If you have any questions regarding the event you can contact the CET on 0121 747 3579 or [email protected]. We have 250 trees to plant so help us in mak-ing Xmas day and beyond truly breath-taking.

A tree is for life, not just for Christmas

Sarah OulaghanCommunity Environment Trust

Trees provide humans with many every day and luxury products yet the most important gift they give is overlooked.

A VERY SIMPLE BUT SINCERE WISH TO EVERYONE IN TYBURN WARD – WHAT EVER YOUR AGE OR CIRCUMSTANCE, MAY CHRISTMAS BRING YOU PEACE, COMFORT AND HOPE FOR THE COMING YEAR.

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR BLESSINGS TO YOU ALL FROM YOUR THREE LOCAL, LABOUR COUNCILLORS: Mick Brown, Lynda Clinton and Mike Sharpe

Kingsbury School has been taken out of special measures, following a visit by an Ofsted inspection team earlier this term.The official report says: “Morale is now very high in the school among staff and pupils alike. As a result the culture is one of harmony, tolerance and respect for one another.”The inspection report says that the school still re-quires further improvement across all areas. But there are plenty of positive observations, espe-cially about pupil behaviour.“The behaviour of pupils is good,” the report notes.“The school is a calm and orderly environment and low-level disruption of lessons is rare. Pupils told inspectors that in the past if somebody was disruptive others would automatically join in. Now other pupils ignore any disruption because they find it a nuisance.”This is in stark contrast to the reports from 12 months ago, where Ofsted criticised the school for not dealing with disruptive pupils.The school had been placed in special measures almost two years ago, after it failed an Ofsted in-spection in December 2013. In that and subsequent visits, Ofsted focussed on poor pupil behaviour. The declining standards and morale at the school led to the resignation of the

headteacher Catherine O’Driscoll. She was replaced in February this year by Mark Rhatigan.That change heralded a more rigorous approach to discipline in the school.The new régime was not in place long enough to have a significant impact on this year’s GCSE re-sults. Ofsted’s report has noted that pupil attain-ment needs further improvement. Kingsbury’s GCSE results over the past two sum-mers have been disappointing, and leave the school low down in the league tables for Birming-ham. Achievement in 2014 was “well below the government’s minimum expectations,” says the report.The GCSE results from Kingsbury in summer 2016 will provide a more accurate reflection of the im-provements at the school in recent months.“Those leaving the school at the end of last aca-demic year were not prepared well enough for the next stages of their lives,” says the report.But it adds: “Rates of progress for all pupils are now improving.”Similar dips in GCSE results affected other local secondary schools last summer, including St Ed-mund Campion and Greenwood Academy.The latest report, even with its reservations, is a glowing endorsement of the school’s work throughout 2015.

HARMONY, RESPECT AND HIGH MORALE Kingsbury School’s boost from Ofsted


The YMCA in Erdington has been given a cash boost of £40k to pro-vide sporting activities for young people.The money is needed to combat youth obesity and the lower life expectancy in Erdington, after trou-bling figures were revealed last year, according to a spokesperson.

The grants will be spent on equipment and provid-ing exercise and activities in the new sports centre at The Orchard YMCA building.It will include football goals, badminton, indoor bowls and children’s play equipment, and resourc-es for ‘stay and play’ sessions for local mums.YMCA bosses say that the funds will help the lo-cal community to get involved in sports initiatives, with over 9,000 people getting access to a variety of sports programmes including; 5-a-side football, exercise classes, after school clubs and soft play sessions.Two charitable trusts are behind the funds; £10,613 has been provided by the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. A further £30,000 has been granted by the Peter Harrison Foundation.

£40k cash boost for YMCA sports in bid to beat obesity

Castle Vale Nursery has been listed by Ofsted as one of Birmingham’s outstanding providers of education.The Ofsted annual Education and Skills report lists 27 top education institutions across Bir-mingham in the primary, secondary and spe-cial schools sectors.Castle Vale Nursery has had three successive outstanding Ofsted reports in recent years. Wilson Stuart Special School in Erdington is also included on the top performers’ list.

Outstanding Nursery on Ofsted’s top list

KAREN RYAN1961 -2015

Karen Ryan passed away in November, after losing her brave fight against cancer. Husband Danny and children Kayleigh and Daniel would like to thank family, friends and the community for their support and many messages of condo-lences at this sad time.The family would like to thank everyone who attended the reception into St Gerard’s RC Church in Castle Vale, the fu-neral at Brandwood End Cem-etery in Kings Heath, and the celebration of Karen’s life at The Emerald Club in Small Heath. Over £1,800 was donated to Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer and to Macmillan Cancer Sup-port in memory of Karen.As Karen often said:“Always think of the good times.”

The annual subscription charge for council Garden Waste Collec-tions is unchanged from this year at £35 for 20 fortnightly collec-tions from February to Novem-ber. There is an earlybird discount of £5 for all orders made during December, reducing the cost to just £30.New for 2016 is an expansion to the types of waste people can put into their garden waste bins. Uncooked

vegetables, spoilt fruit and used tea bags will all be accepted as part of the expanded service.As standard, subscribers will use a 240 litre bin with a brown lid. Resi-dents can make multiple orders if they need more than one bin for their garden waste. In a further change for 2016, only households whose proper-ties have been assessed as unsuitable for wheelie bins will be eligible for an alternative sack collection (brown sacks for 2016).Collections of garden waste will con-tinue to take place on the same day as rubbish collections, but in the al-ternate week to general recycling col-lections.

Garden waste col-lections: £30 per year for early birds

The NHS fears that blood supplies will run short over the festive period. Local do-nor sessions will be held on Monday 21st December at

the Methodist Centre Wes-ley Road, Erdington: sessions from 13.00-15.30 and from 16.30-19.30Wednesday 23rd December: Arden Hall in Castle Bromwich sessions from 12.45-15.20 and from 16.10-19.30

Local blood donor sessions


NEWS and views fromCastle Vale Community Housing: 11 High Street, Castle Vale, B35 7PR 0121 748 8100 repairs 0121 748 8101 (24 hrs) [email protected]

ADVERTISEMENT


NEWS FROM CASTLE VALE COMMUNITY HOUSINGADVERTISEMENT


NEWS FROM CASTLE VALE COMMUNITY HOUSINGADVERTISEMENT

Castle Vale Community Housing take Anti Social Behaviour seriously and will support any resident of Castle Vale who is suf-fering from ASB. In October 2014, the Anti so-cial behaviour Crime and Polic-ing act introduced a number of new powers to deal with unac-ceptable anti social behaviour.So far In 2015 we were grant-ed 2 civil injunctions to deal with unacceptable behaviour related to threats of or actual violence towards neighbours.

So what’s the main difference?Since the new powers came in, we have got into court in very serious cases very quickly, within 24 hours of an incident taking place to get an interim injunction The full hearings are being scheduled very quickly, within 2 weeks. This helps the victim(s) feel protected by the order and helps get results quickly by stopping the unacceptable behaviour.What else have we been doing?

Since April 2015, the action we have taken to deal with Anti Social Behaviour includes:• Serving 10 Notices of Intention to Seek Possession (NSP)• Referring 3 cases to court for possession due to serious anti social be-haviour• Setting up 6 youth Anti Social Behaviour Contracts (ABC’s) in partner-ship with Police, all of which have been successful. • Referring 16 cases for specialist intervention with our partners in the Po-lice and Midland Heart to enable people to continue to live in harmonyMost cases get resolved amicably and it is expected that customers involved in a dispute with their neighbour contributes to work towards a resolution.

New Powers being used by CVCH to deal with Anti Social Behaviour

Case 1 – Mr XIn the County Court, Birmingham, a man was given a 2 year civil injunction with a power of arrest and a 1 year interim injunction also with power of arrest in August 2015. Mr X and Miss Y live in a flat. Mr X made complaints of noise nuisance and litter be-ing strewn around the garden, Miss Y denied that the noise and litter is from her property. Miss Y reported to us that Mr X had played his music, was shouting and swearing so loudly that the police were called. Mr X was also heard shouting threats towards resi-dents within the block, specifically that he would ‘smash someone’s jaw in with a ham-mer’. Residents were worried that Mr X would carry out this threat. We acted immediately

and applied for an injunction, without notice to Mr X due to seriousness of the threats made. The injunction was issued, with an added clause that Mr X would be arrested should he breach the terms of the injunction. Mr X was arrested within for a breach of the injunction shortly after the court hearing and was given a final warning by the judge.The terms of the injunction are:• Not to use or threaten to use violence to-ward any of our tenants residing within the block, members of their household, visitors to their property or anyone engaged in law-ful activity within the block.• Not to use foul or abusive language to-wards any of our tenants residing within the block, members of their household, visitors to their property or anyone engaged in law-ful activity within the block.

Case 2 – Miss AIn November Miss A played music so loud-ly that a resident within the area called the police. When the police had left Miss A al-legedly threatened the whole street with vio-lence. Residents were worried that Miss A would carry out this threat. We acted immediately and applied for an injunction without notice to Miss A, with a power of arrest should Miss A breach the terms of the injunction. The terms of the injunction were:•Not to use or threaten to use violence against Miss X and Miss Y or any of the claimants (CVCH) tenants residing within the area, members of their household, visi-

tors to their property or anyone engaged in lawful activity within the area.•Not to be aggressive, threatening or use foul or abusive language towards Miss X and Miss Y or any of the claimants (CVCH) tenants residing within the area, members of their household, visitors to their property or anyone engaged in lawful activity within the area.This injunction is an interim injunction in place January 2016 when we will attend court in January to ask the judge to grant a full injunction with power of arrest. Should Miss A breach the terms of the injunction she will be arrested with a possible prison term imposed by a judge.

This year we have opened 120 cases so far, with 57 cases currently being open. Satisfaction with the way we dealt with the case was 86% in the last quarter,

against a target of 85%. So far there have been no evictions for Anti Social Behaviour.


@ The Sanctuary 0121 748 8111 We are now part of the Birmingham Business Charter

for Social Responsibility

Hello every-one, I’d like to introduce my-self, my name is Phil Harris (you can call me Phil), and I’m a Health Project Worker, delivering our Health and Wellbeing programme. I’ll tell you more about my work in a short while. ABOUT ME: I have a background in sport and health, having studied Sport and

Exercise Science at Degree level; I’m also a qualified Lifeguard and Level 3 Fitness Instructor. I’m cur-rently working towards a Level 4 qualification which will enable me to do personal training. As well as having an academic interest in Health and Wellbeing, I’m a keen sportsperson outside of work, including playing cricket and football.WHAT DO I DO?I support the delivery of our Health and Wellbeing programme; this is mainly delivered from the Sanctu-ary, but we also deliver our ser-vices in the wider community too.

We don’t just concentrate on the usual aspects of health and well-being, such as smoking cessa-tion; we look at the wider issues that affect health and wellbeing including financial issues, loneli-ness, mental health problems and unemployment. I’m currently involved in services that can offer wider support in-cluding: arts and crafts courses, walking groups, one-pot cooking courses, circuit training, and a really exciting piece of work on social-prescription. I’m also keen to introduce other sports to Castle Vale including cricket, rugby and hockey, so watch this space…..Here are my contact details if you would like to get in touch:Email: [email protected]: 0121 748 0891

A healthy new year, and a healthier you


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A growing number of people in Birmingham are home testing for a range of sexually trans-mitted infections in-cluding HIV, according to the City Council.“There are around 1,900 people living with HIV in Bir-mingham at the moment,” says a spokesperson.Anyone aged 16 or over, living in Birmingham can request a free STI self-sam-pling kit.To request a free self-sam-pling kit, go to: https://um-brellahealth.co.uk/our-ser-

vices/self-sampling-kitsYou’ll be asked to:Answer a few short questionsChoose where to have your kit delivered *Collect or receive your kitFollow the instructions to take your samplesReturn your samples in the pre-paid packageReceive the results of your STI test by phone or text* You can have your kit deliv-ered to your home or another address, or collect it from an Umbrella pharmacy or clinic.All kits allow Umbrella to test for: chlamydia, gonorrhoeaHIV and syphilis

Home-testing kits for HIV

Fifty refugees from Syria will be accommo-dated in Birmingham, the City Council has announced.““We anticipate a first group of arrivals from Syria later this month, with the remainder of the 50 individuals expected in the new year,”

says departing council leader Sir Albert Bore.Refugee Action have been appointed to provide support services for the refugees through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relo-cation scheme.The Council has not disclosed where the refugees will be housed.

50 Syrian refugees

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) have applied for permission to convert the for-mer Dunlop Mot-orsports site into a car park.JLR want to use the site as a car storage facility for 303 ‘work in progress’ (WIP) vehicles. Increased production has created a shortage of space, according to JLR bosses, so they are seek-

ing permission to use the northern part of the for-mer Dunlop Motorsports site for a temporary car park.These are held at the plant either because they are not completely finished or are awaiting final quality checks against stringent quality controls. In all cas-es, say JLR, WIP vehicles cannot leave the plant and must be stored securely until outstanding concerns have been addressed.

JLR car park for unfinished cars

A café in Castle Vale has applied for permission to open up a car wash facility. The Drome cafe on Kingsbury Road in Castle Vale has applied for permission to use part of its land into a canopied car wash.The facility would be open from 8am till 8pm throughout the week, if permission is granted by the city’s planning committee.

Cuppa and a car wash

Just when you thought it was safe to go on a jour-ney without planning an extra half hour for traffic jams......The Junction 5 sliproad onto the M6 between Castle Vale and Cas-tle Bromwich will be closed for 25 weeks starting in January 2016.Highways England say that they will start work on the concreting and wa-terproofing of the viaduct early in the new year.The completion date is June 2016.Work will also start again on Junction 6 of the M6 at Spaghetti Junction. This is a continuation of work that was be-gun earlier this year. Highways England interrupted the project to help traffic flow along the A38 into the city for major summer events including the opening of Grand Central, New Street Station and John Lewis.The news of disruption around the Castle Vale area has angered local motorists. They have had to put up with major congestion for over 18 months around Spitfire Island, the JLR factory on Chester Road, the exit from the Fort Shopping Centre and the roads around the Tyburn and Bagot Arms pubs.Congestion in Castle Vale has also been made worse by the closure of the bridge in water Orton since Sep-tember.

Happy new roadworks: six month closure for M6 junction

A 15-episode television series based at Greenwood Academy in Castle Vale, starts on 5th January.‘Our School’ is in 30-minute episodes, filmed in spring term 2015, and tells the story of life in Year 7, through the eyes of various pupils at the school. It will be broadcast around tea-time, each week.The first episode is fast-paced, engaging, witty and entertaining. The cameras focus on the school-life of several youngsters, ranging from a girl who hopes to be a lawyer, to one whose dream is to marry Joey Essex; a boy who has transferred from another local school, to a boy from the Middle East who has never been to school in his life.The range of stories is fascinating.The programme’s appeal comes from the fact that the young people are the stars. We get glimpses of teachers, but main interviews and points of view are straight from the children. The only major contribution from an adult comes from the school’s performing arts’ boss Trevor Evans, who narrates each episode.The pupils come across as warm, friendly, street-wise, occasionally mildly mischievous, and always personable and likeable.It’s a fly-on-the-wall documentary, with several cameras fixed in positions, monitored by the

cBBC team who were watching from a portaka-bin on the school site.It is superbly edited. It combines the multi-lay-ered narrative of a soap with the down-to-earth honesty of a documentary. It was a brave move by Harry French and his Greenwood staff to allow the major television project to go ahead. But, judging from the first episode, it will pay off. The series looks set to give a refreshingly honest insight into a subur-ban comprehensive school.It should win plenty of admirers. It will make some of the pupils now in Year 8 into tempo-rary minor celebrities. Some for their kindness, some for their progress, some for their humour, intended or otherwise.One classic moment in the first episode comes when a teacher asks a pupil what Bob Marley is famous for.“Is it that chilli sauce?” replies the youngster.

Greenwood pupils star in 15-episode cBBC series

OUR SCHOOL: STARTS 5TH JANUARY

Our School: cBBC at Greenwood


Come Christmas Shopping in Erdington!There are MASSIVE bargains in our stores now!

Plus: Don’t forget our great range of fresh produce shops where you can buy all yourfruit and veg and fresh meat for the big day!

Come Skating

Saturday 19 December

To Wednesday 23rd

On the pedestrian area - outside the Co-Op

Our synthetic ice rink

caters for all ages –

the little ones too!

From 11am

Erdington Business Improvement DistrictEldon House, Central Square, High Street, Erdington, B23 6RY

0121 382 5860 / [email protected] / www.facebook.com/ErdingtonTownCentre

join the fun!Plus! Santa will be in hisGrottoin Central Square

From Saturday 19th to 23rd December- and it’s Free!


There will be NOrefuse or recycling

collections on:

Christmas and New Year waste collection datesGeneral household waste collections due on 25 December and 28 December will take place on Friday 1 January and Monday 4 January, respectively. Recycling collections due on 25 December and 28 December will take place on Friday 8 January and Monday 11 January, respectively. All other collections remain unchanged. Household recycling centres will be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day (Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December). The council recognises that during the festive period households tend to produce more waste. For those people with wheelie bins, reasonable amounts of extra household waste will be collected if presented in bags at the side of bins. Excess paper and card recycling will be collected if bundled securely with string and presented alongside your recycling bin.

For more information: birmingham.gov.uk/waste BirminghamCityCouncil @BhamCityCouncil


Children may show an interest in the weather. Staff will support this interest through discussion and by showing children images, taking them on local walks to view weather in action and providing play based activities such as painting a rainbow:

Communication - Painting is a social activity that is done in small groups.Maths - Children will develop maths skills by counting and measuring the stripes of their rainbow.

Creativity and Self-Expression - Children will make choices of how they want their rainbow to look. A range of paintbrushes and other resources such as sponges and rollers are provided according to the child’s choice.

A sense of achievement and pride - There is nothing better than children’s work being praised to give them confidence and promote self-esteem throughout their learning.

Additional spacesnow available!

www.tiggywinklesdaynursery.co.uk0121 747 2186 / 0121 747 3669

NEW ROOM FOR 2-YEAR-OLDS

Children benefit from a balanced mix of adult-led and child-initiated activities. Children enjoy their experiences at the nursery and are eager to engage with staff and peers. Staff’s interactions and teaching techniques are positive and show their good understanding of how to encourage and capture children’s interests. (Ofsted:2014)

I think the nursery is brilliant and we get lots of support. Our children have come on leaps and bounds since being here.

Amanda, Parent.

MODERN APPROACH

A TYPICAL ACTIVITYLEARNING JOURNEY

Due to the demand for spaces at our Tiggy Winkles Nurseries, we are expanding, and we have opened a new room at our Pegasus Nursery to offer free childcare and early education for two year olds. Eligible two year olds are entitled to up to 15 hours per

week for 38 weeks of the year, following the school term after their second birthday. To check if your child is eligible contact the Children’s Information and Advice Service, telephone: 0121 303 1888.There are also a limited number of full and part time spaces available for 3+ year olds. Please enquire as to availability.

We use a fantastic educational software called Tapestry, which enables us to plan for your child effectively and securely. The way in which Tapestry works is very simple. We observe and photograph your child on a daily basis, evaluating their progress and helping to provide the next steps in your child’s educational development.You will have secure access to your child’s learning journey on the Tapestry website and will be able to add your family experiences to it.

Tiggy Winkles follows the Early Years Foundation Stage in a nurturing and stimulating environment, which emphasises the importance of learning through play. Tiggy Winkles plan purposeful play experiences for all the children in our care so that they make good progress across all areas of learning including personal, social and emotional development.

Your child will spend their early days socialising and having fun whilst establishing and forming positive relationships with staff and children from all walks of life.

Tiggy Winkles Pegasus is based at Turnhouse Road, Birmingham B35 6PR, and Tiggy Winkles Chivenor is based at Chivenor House, Drem Croft, Birmingham B35 7HY.Both are part of The Merlin Venture Ltd., a non-profit company limited by guarantee. Company No.: 3615422.

I love it, it’s fab. I am over the moon with his progress as he did not talk before he came here.

Joanne, Parent.

Joe has come on leaps and bounds since being at Tiggy Winkles. He has had amazing support from staff helping him to develop his speech, language and communication skills. I feel so relieved and reassured knowing he is safe and in the best possible care. Staff are honest, genuine and most of all caring. Joe tells me he loves his ‘Tiggys friends’.

Jodie, Parent.

ADVERTISEMENT


Camp Rock director Trevor Evans, in his days as a multi-tro-phy winning boss, before he travelled south to Castle Vale to continue with his silverware success. Picture courtesy of Old Trafford’s Photoshop United

Heitienne Guimaraes

Jessica Correia

Aleksandra Nikiforova

Millie Langton

Daniel McVey

Ronald Campan

Dejean Edwards

Abigail Fearby

Georgia Dodd

Kaisey Reilly

James Casey

Austin Mahoney

Lindsay Geraldo

Greenwood’s production of Camp Rock continued the school’s tradition of high class entertainment. Outstanding individual performances were supported by a well choreographed cast of over 80 students from all year groups. The school produces confident performers who

seem to improve with each produc-tion. Daniel McVey and Millie Lang-ton have now had plenty of stage experience, and it shows. Their ex-cellence this year was matched by Kayleigh Cooper - her best performance yet - and the outstanding Heitienne Guimaraes, whose on-stage charisma draws audience attention. Younger performers Dejean Ed-

wards and Kaisey Reilly proved that future productions have plenty of potential. This year, several of the songs were played to live music. The musicians, as one would ex-pect from Greenwood, were excellent.

Cast members performed songs for patients and staff on the wards of Birmingham’s Children’s HospitalBEST YET?

Greenwood’s musicals just keep getting better


A new flower shop opened in Castle Vale last week.Rachael Marie Florist is next door to Desirées Beauty Salon on the corner of Tangmere Drive and the High Street.Manager Rachael Marie Woolgrove has had plenty of experience in the floristry business. She did her training with Tracy Teal at Flowerworx, before moving on to flo-rists in Yardley and Wylde Green.Now, with help from her parents, lo-cal girl Rachael is ready to take the big step in to floristry management.Rachael Marie Florists will do local de-liveries, and special occasions includ-ing Christmas and seasonal events, and weddings and funerals

Rachael ready to manage

Birmingham Council’s controversial budget pro-posals will not be popular with the city’s residents. There is something to annoy every-one in their money-saving proposals. The 54-page document outlines how the Council plans to spend its money from 2016 onwards.New leader John Clancy and his

team have some difficult decisions. They need to save money by cutting services, or raise more money to provide services, or both.A 4% rise in council tax will raise some cash. Council tax makes up a very small part of the total budget - less than 10%, in fact. The council has avoid-ed putting up council tax in recent years, because they know it loses

a lot of votes, and raises only a small amount of money.Other propos-als to raise cash include selling off some buildings and land, increasing the charge to golfing organisations, and increasing car park-ing charges.And tucked away in one of the later pag-es of the document is to propose a Lon-don style congestion charge for motorists

using the city centre roads.Birmingham motorists have had a hard time in recent years, putting up with badly organised roadworks and confusing temporary diversions. Conservative councillor Robert Alden has referred to the council’s war on motorists.Council bosses have been say-ing for some time that commuters and shoppers need to use public transport.That would be a good idea if the public transport on offer is comfort-

able, reliable, affordable and safe. At various times, it ticks none of those boxes.Park land is also under threat. The council says that it needs more space to build new homes. It plans to use eight acres of park land per year. It has not said which parks would be under threat. But there is a serious possibility of some land in the Erd-ington and Tyburn area being used up for houses. Pype Hayes, Rookery Park Sorrell Park?

Something to annoy everyone

Key proposals in the Birmingham budget document♦4% council tax rise for four years♦Congestion charge for motorists using city centre♦Substantial staffing cuts.♦Build houses on parkland. Eight acres of parkland per year will be handed over for housing development.♦School crossing patrols will be cut. If schools want a crossing patrol, they will have to pay for it.♦The number of play areas for children will be cut.♦Car parking fees will be increased.♦Universal ‘superloos’ will be abolished.♦Spending will be cut on building maintenance of council properties.♦Some council buildings will be sold.♦Money for arts and culture will be cut from 2017/8 by £1.5 million over three years.♦Planning applications will be more expensive.♦Printed version of council’s Forward newspaper will be stopped. It will go online.♦Colour printing will be stopped.♦Cash spent on council’s IT and computer equipment will be cut.The closing date for comments from the public is 8th January 2016.

Pype Hayes Park: is it under threat from council hous-ing plans? Eight acres of parkland per year will go.

BIRMINGHAM BUDGET PLANS

Danny Ryan cuts the tape to open Rachael’s shop


JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS

SPEEDWATCHTyburn Police were out on a community speed-watch on Tyburn Road this month.Sergeant Neil Powers and seven of his team were checking vehicle speeds as they travelled up towards The Bagot Arms roundabout.One officer stood on the central res-ervation, near to the Crown social club with a handheld speed camera. His colleague called through to the rest of the team, positioned about 100 yards away, to direct speeding vehicles onto Eaton Wood a hundred yards further up the road, beyond St Mary’s Church.Police gave speeding motorists ad-vice, a warning, or a spot fine, de-pending on how far over the 40mph limit they were travelling.By far the majority of vehicles in the early afternoon were travelling within the 40mph limit. The fastest vehicle recorded a speed of 54mph.

Tyburn police team keeping speeds down

1. An officer and colleague record speeds and alert the team waiting 100 yards away

2. The hand-held digital camera gives clear and instant readings

3.An officer directs speeding motorists into a side road

4: Friendly advice... or a more serious outcome, depending on the speed

GENERAL MANAGER: CASTLE POOL LEISURE CENTRE

Salary up to £26,000RE-ADVERTISEMENTIf you:•Have a proven record of management experi-ence within a sporting and leisure related industry•Are passionate about customer Service •Have a history in driving sales and co-ordinating activity•Ideally have experience as a general manager overseeing all business areas within a leisure fa-cility

Then you may wish to know more about the role and benefits associated with the post.

For more information please call or text 07727 923 071Deadline for applications: 8th January 2016

HR Employment Bureau Ltd On our Christmas list this year is;

Customer Service Advisors - £16k - NEC area Temp to Perm

Weekend and Evening Call Centre Advisors - £7.18ph - Permanent Positions Full time Call Centre Advisors - £7.18ph - Permanent Positions

Helpdesk Co-ordinators - £18k - Temp to Perm Sales Representatives - £19-£22k - Telford area

For further information please call our Birmingham team on

0121 647 1086/1085 or email [email protected] or [email protected]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from everyone

At HR Employment Bureau!


LOCAL DEMOCRACY PAGEYour councillors, campaigners and candidates

“Nothing in this world is harder than speaking the truth, nothing easier than flattery.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky

It hasn’t been all doom and gloom but for many of you, things could have been a lot better. For others, life has been kind.

•We have seen so much success at our schools and where improvements have been needed staff have taken on board criticism.•For our nurses we have been fighting for recognition of their value•For the underpaid we have been fighting for a living wage•For our fire fighters we have been fighting the cuts imposed by the Gov-

ernment•For our police force we have been campaigning to keep our bobbies on the beat•Supporting individuals and families where hardship has hit because they are on zero hour contracts. Let’s out-law these employers!

Even though illness has struck so many close to us, we have seen fami-lies and friends pull together to lessen our load.So for every one of you out there, make the most of those around you and enjoy peace and good health not only at Christmas but throughout the coming new year.

A year of good times and bad

Councillor Lynda ClintonTyburn Ward Labour

The article in November’s Tyburn Mail about aircraft noise over Pype Hayes supports the increasing number of complaints that I have received as a local campaigner and resident in the area. Everyone wants the regional economy to expand and Birmingham airport plays a key role in this but residents

under flightpaths have a right to speak out when their lives are blight-ed by aircraft noise. In response to these complaints I will be carrying out a residents’ survey to better understand the state of opinion and find out what people feel the air-port and transport authorities should be doing to help. In the meantime, I urge any local resident with an aircraft noise prob-lem to keep a record of particular is-sues, especially night time flights, so we can monitor aircraft movements effectively and let me have details so I can include them in the survey results. I can be contacted on-384 454807956 964599

I would also like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Aircraft noise

Ann HoltomLib Dem Campaigner

As winter draws in besides the festivities of Christmas and New Year, we see a rise in the number of hos-pital admissions across

the city, especially among the elderly.No one’s parents, grandparents or friends should be in hospital when they could be treated in the comfort of their own home, and as your coun-cillor on the Health and Social Care group I know Birmingham council is working to plan safe and speedy dis-charges.However, at a time when the Tory government is not providing the fair share of funding to help councils to provide the care packages to both support the NHS by reducing bed blocking and help families by getting their loved ones home; this is becom-ing increasingly difficult.Last year the Tory government only provided councils across the country a total of £41 million to deal with social care “winter pressures”, a mere drop compared to the ongoing costs faced by the system.As Birmingham’s elderly population grows, we can only expect this situ-ation to worsen; and without fairer funding we could see this seasonal hospital crisis become not just a fea-ture of our winter’s but a regular year round event.

Hospital crisis

Councillor Mick BrownTyburn Ward Labour

Firstly I would like to wish readers of the Tyburn Mail a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Over the last few years the state of street cleaning in this City has collapsed. The recorded incidents of fly tipping have increased 10 fold since the Labour Party took control of Birmingham. In total 5666 of fly tipping were reported to the Council in July alone. The last month the Council was able to pro-vide complete details of inci-dents and clearances when asked at the recent Full Coun-cil meeting.This increase is why we have been campaigning for the introduction of a dedicated cleaning team for the local area. The Conservative Group has put for-ward fully costed proposals to the Council to vote on at each budget meeting, for each area to have their

own dedicated clean-up crew. By changing the focus of the City Council away from the centre and thereby saving small amounts from budgets like European and Equalities officers we can keep the streets clean.

I have met the City Council and will continue to do so to push for action to keep our City clean and explained how we can deliver it. Reductions in street cleaning in the suburbs, introduction of the ‘Garden Tax’ green waste charge and failing services have combined to massively increase the amount of litter on the streets. The Council can take action and we are demanding it does take action in the year ahead.

If we can help you with anything else please contact myself and local cam-paigner Clifton Welch by calling 07505 745808, emailing [email protected], or writing to 96 Orchard Road, Erdington, B24 9JD.

Fly tipping

by Robert AldenConservative campaigner and

Erdington CouncillorFirstly may I wish resi-dents of Tyburn Ward Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Residents will be aware we have been keeping people updated with the draft proposals for building 101 homes on the former Cincinnati site. The applicants have now modified the application to have put barriers on the car access to Edgemond Avenue. The rest of the application remains the same. There are still a number of con-cerns with the application which ourselves and residents have raised:-

· Eachelhurst Road and surrounding residential roads are already heavily

congested and this will make matters worse,· Speeding traffic on Eachelhurst Road and concerns over pedestrian safety,· Site is too small for the proposed development,· Concerns about noise on surround-ing area· The site should be all private for sales houses as there is a demand for family housing in the local area.There will now be the additional con-cern that significant traffic will be add-ed to Woodlands Farm Road/Hansons Bridge Road.Although time is running out; resi-dents can still object to the application by contacting the Planning Depart-ment on [email protected] or by writing to Planning and Regeneration, PO Box 28, Birmingham, B1 1TU.

We have objected and handed a peti-tion in to object and have written in objecting as well. We urge residents to also object while there is still time.

Cincinnati

A crisis that began in the United States is used as an excuse for the Tories to once again punish local communities north of Watford - and transfer more wealth to their powerful tax-dodging backers who got them elected.This week, we saw the result of most savage attacks so

far – the biggest loss of ser-vices and increases in Coun-cil charges that Birmingham has ever seen. – And it breaks my heart. Meanwhile the Government smugly tells the World how well we are doing. While at the same time promising that money and influence will be transferred from London (as long as you have the elected Mayor that you didn’t want), it publicly threatens to take over Birmingham Council and remove the power that you have through the bal-lot box… The ‘good news’ though is that THEY will let us put up Council tax to make up for THEIR cuts.I believe that this cannot go on - and that in 2016, we shall see the truth behind the lies as the Country’s debts continue to grow, de-spite the cuts.. Your Labour Team will be doing what we have always done – fighting for the or-dinary people of Birches Green, Castle Vale, Erding-ton Court and Pype Hayes. Happy New Year

Tory lies behind cuts

Clifton WelchConservative campaigner

Councillor Mike SharpeTyburn Ward Labour

As Christmas festivi-ties and New Year cel-ebrations draw near, I want to look back at the tremendous pro-gress made by UKIP in 2015. My colleagues and I fought a fair and honourable election cam-paign for parliamentary and local council seats and many thousands of you rewarded us with your votes and your trust. We now have a solid foundation from which to launch our 2016 local council election campaign and look for-ward to your continued support in May. We have campaigned against proposals for 6,000 new homes on greenbelt land in Walm-ley, pledged our sup-port to the Save our NHS group, opposed to reductions in services at Good Hope Hospital

and are key supporters of the introduction of a Parish Council for Sutton Coldfield. Looking further ahead to the EU member-ship referendum, we will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to regain our national sovereignty and independence, take back control of our borders, determine our own im-migration policies and resume our rightful place as the worlds 5th largest economy, able to trade freely with Europe and the rest of the world, free from EU legislation and control. If you want to find out the truth about con-tinued EU membership and what leaving really means for each and eve-ry one of us, I invite you to attend one of our local ‘Say NO to the EU’ road-shows in the new year. Finally, on behalf of UKIP Sutton Coldfield, Erd-ington and Perry Barr benches I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Euro truth from UKIPAndrew Garcarz

UKIP Sutton Coldfield & Erdington, Chair


There are big changes for Active Arts for 2016 as Project Manage-ment will now be much more in the hands of those mentored through The Butterfly Effect, al-lowing the next generation of leaders to help take ideas for-ward. Castle Vale resident Charlotte Dodd will be tak-ing the main role for Active Arts from January, supporting projects and managing the Erding-ton District’s Arts Forum. Other residents who benefited from The Big Lottery’s funding through The Butterfly Effect will also be continuing their long-term ambi-tions with further support from Active Arts as they set themselves up in the New Year with their own organisations or businesses that will ensure a legacy of the work and continued benefit on the estate.

It was always the plan for the lottery money to be a catalyst but we never imagined we’d find and support so many people in this time to take forward activities locally. Not many people have seen the hard work behind the scenes to support the groups and individuals – all the mentors have really pushed them and challenged them to make sure that when the lottery money was gone it wouldn’t mean we were left with just the memories. Charlotte has run with every opportunity given through the project which has then led to her working with some of the best arts company’s across the Midlands. The trustees and I are so pleased to offer her a part-time paid role at Active Arts which will be a great development in Charlotte’s career and a great opportunity for Active Arts. I have been the lead for Active Arts the last three years, delivering large projects on just one day a week, but I am now taking up a new full time role at mac Birmingham (Midlands Arts Centre) as the Creative & Partnerships Director. I will still play a key role at Active Arts, continu-ing to mentor the ‘butterflies’ as well as steer some of the projects during 2016.

Local girl Charlotte takes on lead role for Active Arts team

by Claire MarshallActive Arts

A new shop selling affordable recycled domestic goods has opened in Castle Vale High Street.Upcycle Birmingham started two years ago, based in a warehouse on the OYO business park off Park Lane in Castle Vale. The business aimed to refurbish second-hand furniture.Now that Upcycle has its own shop, the busi-ness is looking for customers and contributors.“We are urging people, businesses and even community organisations to take a good look around their homes, offices and centres and think about donating items that they no longer want or need,” said Judy Tullett, Project Man-ager of Upcycle Birmingham.Selling a wide selection of recycled items for the home - including tables and chairs, cabi-nets, beds and sofas - it has proved so popular that the business has expanded with the new shop at 4, High Street, Castle Vale, now offer-ing clothes and smaller household items.People who have items that they would like to donate, or who would like to find out more about training and volunteering opportunities, should contact Upcycle Birmingham on 0121 747 5932 or visit upcyclebirmingham.org.uk

Phil Knight, Chairman of Upcycle Birming-ham, said: “We are all very excited about the growth of Upcycle Birmingham; it has gone from strength to strength and this is a major achievement for the team and our supporters.“Our warehouse, selling larger items donated by people across the city, remains as popular as ever but we have extended our offer with the opening of the new shop.“It will further benefit the local community and has created two new jobs in the process.”

We want customers and contributors, says Vale’s new home-bargain shop

Phil Knight (chair of Upcycle), Ray Goodwin, CVTRA, Peter Richmond, CVCH, and Judy Tullett, Upcycle

The Upcycle team at the shop’s official opening this month


Next Issue of Tyburn Mail: 20th January 2016Tyburn Mail is online and updated daily at: tyburnmail.com

The back pageConcorde Mark III

This is Castle Vale’s new-est football team. FC Concorde are in their first ever season. They play their games in the fourth division of the Sutton and Dis-trict Sunday League. They are the third of the Concorde teams, after Castle Vale Concorde and Concorde Utd, both of whom play in the Festival League.

The new team on the block play their home games at the King George V playing fields in Curdworth, and are managed by Simon Lansbury, who has plenty of playing and managerial experience with local football teams.The three Concorde teams all use the St Gerard’s Club in Castle Vale as their social base and headquarters.

Golf is tough enough at the best of times, but add winter conditions and the challenges mount up.It’s enough to make some pack up until Spring. But for the hardy souls out there, I’ve collated some winter tips from leading coaches to help you make the most of the winter months.Tip 1 USE TWO BALLS.....Warm balls travel further, so keep one in your pocket and alternate between holes.TIP 2 TAKE 1-2 EXTRA CLUBS...on ap-proach shotsTIP 3. HANDICAP PAR.....is a great scoreTIP 4 MOVE THE BALL FORWARD...in your stance when putting to combat soft greens. This promotes an upward strike which gets the ball rolling bet-ter.TIP 5 WHEN AROUND THE GREENS..opt for a club with more bounce. If pos-sible use a hybrid or putt to eliminate those fat or chunky shots.TIP 6 BUY A WINTER HAT.....We lose up

to 55% of our own body heat through our headTIP 7 TAKE YOUR GLOVE OFF....after each shot and put it in your pocket to keep it dry.

14 year-old Castle Vale kickboxer Billy Jones has proved that he’s pretty good with just his fists.The teenage champ won his first ever bout in the boxing ring with a sensational first round technical knockout at the Ramada Hotel in Sutton. The teenage fighter has had major success so far in his six-year kickboxing career. He won a European title after winning a contest against an Irish fighter from Rathmore.Since his success in the boxing ring, Billy has been offered a prizefighter oppor-tunity in kickboxing.

BILLY GETS HIS KICKS OUT OF BOXING Golf: winter tips

Tony Roche Tyburn Mail’s golf writer

PRODUCT REVIEWFootjoy Wintersof golf glove.These winter golf gloves from Footjoy, are high quality in looks and are very comfortable to wear.The insulation is not too bulky so you can maintain feel of the club.Premium Cabretta leather palms make these gloves one of the best on the market.

My score: 4/5

Win a dozen Titleist DT Solo golf balls by simply answering this question.Ian Poulter supports which football team.a) Manchester Unitedb) Liverpoolc) ArsenalAnswers to [email protected]

Win 12 free golf balls

The Birmingham Bulls, Erdington based American football team, have been transferred to the Mid-lands Football Conference. The re-organisation of the American Football Leagues means that The Bulls, who play their home games in Holly Lane, will compete against Don-caster Mustangs, Nottingham Caesars, Ouse Valley Eagles, Sandwell Steelers and Peterborough Saxons in the 2016 season.The Bulls played in the Southern Foot-ball Conference for the 2015 season, having moved from the Premier North at the end of 2014.

Villa play four fixtures be-tween now and 2nd January - three of them are against teams in the bottom six.Some managers, like Sam Allardyce and Tony Pulis, are brilliant at survival strategies. They work out which teams they can take points from. If Remi Garde is of the same mind, he will know that the games against Nor-wich, Sunderland and Newcastle must yield at least six points for Villa. He must beat two of them.If his team play as well as they did in the second half against Arsenal, they can do it.If they play as badly as they did in the first half, they will fail.Some Villa players have skill.Ayew is one. Veretout is another. Gana is another. And the most skilful of all, Carlos Gil, should be starting every game, not coming on for the last 20 minutes from the subs’ bench.If Villa can pick up six points from their next four games, then they should spend big money in the transfer mar-ket and get serious about survival.But if they don’t get those six points, they should forget about big spending in the January transfer window, and prepare for the Championship.

A first half hat-trick from Mark Bellingham set Paget on the road to a convinc-ing victory over Austrey Rangers at the weekend.

Danny Carter scored twice and sub-stitute Myles Phipps grabbed a goal to make the final score 6-3 in Paget’s favour.It was the only fixture in division two of the Midland League to survive the bad weather. The other six league and cup fixtures were postponed.Paget are now 8th in the league table, two points behind Austrey and with four games in hand.

On the Mark for hat-trick

New league for Bulls

Struggling Castle Vale Concorde lost narrowly at home to Booker Athletic on the first Sunday of Decem-ber. The 2-1 defeat kept Concorde just one place off the bottom of the premier di-vision of the Festival League with four points from their nine games.On the same day, Concorde Utd were hammering 13 goals past a hapless FC Elite in the Senior Amateur, two divi-sions below.Table-topping Concorde Utd have now scored 58 goals in their ten league games this season.

SUNDAY FOOTBALL

United hit a baker’s dozen

Grand effort by bag-packing Stars

Young footballers from Castle Vale FC Under 11 Stars have managed to raise £1,100 this year by packing customers’ bags. Last week the team raised £500 at a local B&M store. Earlier this year, in May, they raised £600 for their club funds. It’s an effective way of raising cash for clubs that don’t have much money. As-ton Villa, are you listening...? There’s a massive new Tesco store over the road from Villa Park.

Crucial Christmas fixtures for Aston Villa

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