Comment

Sutton Coldfield, it seems, is surrounded by a ring of steel. Steel barriers and traffic lights that is. It was bad enough in May, when we were still under lockdown restrictions, but the mayhem just goes on.

There has been not let up and it has got even worse, farcical in some areas, as the school summer holidays seemed to be a a trigger for even more diggers.

Easing lockdown has meant more people are back at work which in turn means more and more people are on the road.

From Maney Corner /Birmingham Road roadworks through to resurfacing pavements on Lichfield Road and work on the island at London Road there has been traffic chaos for months.

There were more traffic lights at Mere Green while the Lidl supermarket was being completed and resurfacing still onongoing at Slade Road, Four Oaks on the way to Bassetts Pole. That seems to have been going on forever.

To make matters worse, both Anchorage Road was closed off for resurfacing at the same time as work started on the corner of Little Sutton Lane causing with a three-way lights system, causing mayhem on routes into and out of the town centre.

This was in addition to a one way system past the police and fire stations being in place between rush hour periods for resurfacing.

 To compound this a three-way set of traffic lights at the junction of Hollyfield Road and Reddicap was causing severe tailbacks, with all of these routes potentially affecting emergency services from Good Hope Hospital.

It is to be hoped that planners can get their act together as this is exactly the kind of chaos that hits business hard, just as they are starting to recover from the Covid lockdown.

Let’s not forget either the potential for more chaos when work on the giant Peddimore estate gets under way.

Pull on a cape to take part in the St Giles Hospice Hero Walk

Do you have what it takes to become a hero for St Giles Hospice? St Giles is summoning caped crusaders and fundraising families to Lichfield’s Beacon Park for its Hero Walk on Saturday 25th September – and is calling on people to celebrate their own heroes in style as they take part in the event.

People are encouraged to dress up as their favourite hero before tackling a 5km walk with a series of fun challenges along the way. The event is suitable for all the family and all funds raised will support hospice care for patients and their families who are living with a terminal illness.

Zoe Wright, Events Manager at St Giles Hospice said: “Whether you’re in fancy dress or looking for something fun and exciting to do, our Hero Walk is a great day out. We’re calling on our community to pull on their capes and show they care by walking for their hero. 

“Our Hero Walk has activities and entertainment for everyone – including doggie sidekicks. The fun begins at the hero hub, where all of our heroes will be assembling. You can enjoy games, refreshments and pose for some super family snaps before setting off on your activity adventure. 

“There are also awesome activities along the route to test your hero skills to the limit and a hero’s welcome awaits when you cross the finish line to collect your medal. So please sign up to make memories in a mask and celebrate your own heroes – and by raising funds for St Giles as you go, you will become a hero of ours too.”

St Giles Hospice’s first-ever Hero Walk, held at Walsall Arboretum in 2019, was a huge success. The event was due to return last year, but had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

One of the superheroes at the inaugural event was Louise Harding, from Willenhall, who took part in memory of her Nan, Lavinia Layton, who received end of life care at St Giles Hospice before her death in June 2019 at the age of 93.

Louise said: “My Nan got exactly the care she needed at St Giles – one-to-one care tailored to her. They were always ready to help us and people were there straight away when we needed support, which makes a huge difference for both the patient and the family.”

Three months after her Nan died, Louise put together a team of superheroes, including friends and three pet dogs, and dressed up as Batgirl to do the Hero Walk in memory of Lavinia.

“The Hero Walk was a celebration of Nan and a way to thank St Giles for the support they gave us to comfort her, as well as for letting us spend time with her until the very end,” added Louise.

“St Giles Hospice is such a valuable service for the area and we wanted to raise funds for the future so that St Giles would be there for other families like ours. The Hero Walk was really special because everyone was walking for a reason. Everyone had their own superhero in mind, which gave it a real meaning.”

The 5km family walk and fun day will kick off at 11am on Saturday 25th September in Beacon Park, Lichfield, with a welcome speech at 11.30am before the walk starts at 12pm. Entry is £3 for under threes, £6 for under 16s, £10 for adults and £30 for a family ticket (two adults and two children). Doggie sidekicks can take part for free!

Zoe added: “All heroes are encouraged to arrive in their costumes ready to leap into action and help raise funds for their local hospice. If you’d like to take on the challenge in true hero style, St Giles capes can be pre-ordered or bought on the day for a £5 donation.

“The entry fee only covers the administration cost of Hero Walk, but by asking friends and family to sponsor you, you will raise valuable funds to help us continue to provide care and support, free of charge, for patients and their families.

“Raising £40 in sponsorship could pay for one hour of our Advice and Referrals team, £202 could pay for visits to a patient in their own home by our community nurses and £676 could pay for 24 hours of hospice care for a patient at the end of their life.”

For more information about the St Giles Hospice Hero Walk, please visit www.stgileshospice.com/herowalk

The Gracechurch Centre set to host community arts project celebrating life after lockdown

As part of its ongoing commitment to supporting the local community, The Gracechurch Centre will be collaborating with a local art collective to relaunch an art gallery within the shopping centre for the first time since lockdown, giving a platform to showcase Sutton Coldfield’s budding artists.

Direct Art Action (UK) is a small charity working within the West Midlands which aims to bring back art into the local community by working with retail destinations like The Gracechurch Centre to repurpose vacant units as galleries.

Charity spokesperson, Katie Hammond herself a local artist and proud Suttonian, explains that the charity saw an opportunity to turn the adversity of the pandemic and successive lockdowns into a source of strength and hope for others by bringing art to the wider public.

The gallery has an exciting body of work that will be refreshed to reflect a new topic each month.

Katie is currently working on a new community art piece centred on the theme of ‘hope and is appealing for the support of local people in creating a community art installation. In native American culture, a pale butterfly is a symbol of hope, and throughout September, starting on Saturday 4 September, Katie will be holding free Saturday drop-in sessions where people can learn to fold an origami butterfly, that will eventually create a wall of butterflies, which will act as a wall of hope.

Throughout autumn and winter, the gallery will also feature an array of artwork based on a variety of topics, such as the environment. As part of this, Katie and the team of volunteers that make up Direct Art Action UK, will be looking at initiatives to raise awareness of a whole host of environmental issues.

One such example will be a scheme to collect and repurpose crisp packets as survival blankets for the homeless, minimising the environmental impact of these single use plastic materials while contributing to the safety and wellbeing of some of the most vulnerable people within society.

Angela Henderson, Centre Manager of The Gracechurch Centre, said: “We’re very pleased to be supporting the Direct Art Action UK art gallery as we feel art can be a real force for good within our society. Initiatives like this are a great way to showcase the talent that is on offer within our town and we’d encourage people to get involved and support projects which make a positive impact.

“We see our centre as an important community hub within Sutton Coldfield, and by offering our vacant space to help support local charitable organisations, we can give something back, making Sutton Coldfield an even more special place in which to live.”

Gallery manager and local artist Katie Hammond added: “Just before lockdown one, I completed my first community art project – The Peace Project. I held free drop-in origami sessions, where I got the people of Sutton Coldfield folding 1000 paper cranes to form a Senbazuru.

“Like many, lockdown was hard for me – missing normality, friends and family, and it was during this time that I got the idea for my next community art project. ‘Hope’, will hopefully demonstrate that even in the darkest of times, even though you may not feel like it, you can find hope.”

Below is a list of Direct Art Action’s programme of summer activities from its new home at the Gracechurch Centre:

Friday 20th August – Butterfly sun catcher making drop in session
Friday 27th August – A class on creating Kandinsky rock art
Saturday 28th August – ‘Tropical Day’ watermelon pinwheel making masterclass

Fundraising drive to meet growing demand

A support centre in Sutton Coldfield offering a lifeline to cancer patients across the Midlands, has launched a new fundraising drive as it prepares to reopen post-lockdown and meet growing demand.

The Cancer Support Centre, in Lindridge Road, was unable to run its normal fundraising events during the pandemic, but it survived thanks to grant aid and individual supporters taking part in sponsored events.

Now with demand growing again, it is looking to raise even more funds and is setting up a new dedicated team to help raise £150,000 or more to support people who have been affected by cancer and delays in treatment.

Jackie Price, centre manager, said: “Lockdown had a big impact on our fundraising. Events had to be cancelled and money stopped coming in. We are trying to find new ways to raise money, but it has been very difficult.

“We used to raise £3,000 a week on average for the service, through donations, events and so on, but this has dropped off over lockdown.

“We were incredibly fortunate to have survived lockdown due to grant funding, and are doing ok so far this year with our supporters doing an amazing job in raising funds.

“As we open up again and demand grows, the pressure to raise enough funds to help all that desperately need support is increasing in a very challenging environment. We are focusing on the future and the need to ensure that we will be able to raise around the £150,000 required to get back to our previous capacity and potentially more.

“For this reason, we are looking to set up a team who will develop different fundraising events and make new links with local businesses for support.”

Jackie said the centre, in Lindridge Road, which is shared with St Giles Hospice but is run independently, covered the whole of the Midlands area and had even had a client as far away as Devon.

Before the pandemic, it offered face-to-face support through counselling and therapy sessions and provided a space for those with cancer to come and feel safe and supported.

During lockdown many of the talking therapies moved to online or phone services so ensure people could still access the help needed. The centre also launched a YouTube channel for clients which grew to 400 hits per month.

Jackie said: “We work holistically – mind, body and spirit. Everyone’s support needs are very different so the therapies are tailored to the individual. One of the main things we do is give people back control – when they are diagnosed, they might feel as though they’re on a treadmill, being told what to do and where to go. We help them take control of the situation and manage their own needs.

“Traditionally, we had group sessions and clients could drop in to talk to someone, but that came to a stop in lockdown. There were calls to close the service, but we kept going and offered sessions on Zoom and talking therapies over the phone.

“Lots of people were seeing their treatment cancelled or postponed and stress and anxiety levels were high; it was a horrendous situation and we were needed more than ever.”

Jackie said pre-Covid the centre was helping around 500 clients in person, but this had fallen to around 250.

Numbers are now rising as existing and new clients slowly return and the centre is offering appointments, with all Covid safety measures still in place to ensure vulnerable clients are safe.

Jackie, who was diagnosed with breast cancer herself in 2017 and was supported by her colleagues during her treatment, said she knew it was a big step for those with a cancer diagnosis to ask for support.

“It means you have to accept that you have cancer,” she said. “But we are here to help. There are lots of people out there in need of support and someone to talk to. Come to us, we can help you and give support that you might not even know that you need.”

Jackie, who was given the all-clear in 2019, added: “It’s important that people know it’s not something that they have to do on their own. They can call us or email us if they prefer.”

The centre is looking for volunteers to fill roles on the community and business engagement team and the fundraising/marketing team to help with the new funds drive.

Anyone who can help or would like to get in touch with the centre, should email info@suttoncancersupport.org

For more details, visit the website at www.suttoncancersupport.org

From Gillian Whittingham (Police, PCSO, Four Oaks)

On Monday 16th August 2021 between 10am and 12pm, there will be a litter pick in the Mere Green area.

We will be meeting outside the Ark Community Church on St James Road, Mere Green, B75 5EH.

Look forward to seeing you there.