After months of closure The Watch has finally reopened at Pelsall Village Centre and MP Wendy Morton enjoyed a visit to catch up with their latest news.
The Watch is a community initiative which offers crime prevention and safety advice. As well as information leaflets regarding many aspects of safety and security, there is also an expanding list of products which can be bought at cost price. These include car steering locks, padlocks and TV simulators which give the impression that someone is home.
Residents who have concerns around personal safety and security are free to drop by and chat to experienced volunteer Edwin Venables. The Watch also enables Neighbourhood Watch sign ups and hosts community safety presentations for Walsall residents.
It is currently open Monday – Friday 9.30am – 3.30pm. Before setting out it is always worth contacting Edwin to make sure there is someone there (contact details below).
They are currently looking for volunteers to help the community with tackling crime and helping residents with reassurance.
“Thanks to everyone who entered. This is the first virtual event for Aldridge Rotary and we’re pleased to announce that we raised over £100. All the winners received certificates and Stanley won a £10 nail treatment voucher for Dazzling Dogs in Aldridge.” The entries can all be viewed at aldridgerotary.org.uk and https://www.facebook.com/aldridgedogshow
The Rotary Club in Aldridge has been active during the lockdown. The club has continued to meet virtually on Zoom and is now also meeting again back at its normal venue, Druids Heath Golf Club.
Aldridge Rotary is a ‘service’ club, which is to say the members work together to help out locally and internationally, and make sure they have a lot of fun whilst doing this. Club President, Steve Johnson said he is “impressed and grateful to the people of Aldridge for their generosity and support”.
As well as lending a hand practically the club has raised and distributed some £11,000 over the last year. These are some of the good causes the club has helped: Acorns; St Giles; Walsall Heartcare; Support for disadvantaged children; Barr Beacon School Music Group; James Brindley Foundation; PPE for Manor Hospital; Flood relief; Community Defibrillator. Internationally, donations have been used to continue the programme of World-wide Polio eradication (a job almost done) and for loans, which assist individuals in developing countries (which has so far helped over 1000 people make a new and sustainable life).
Aldridge Rotary is looking for new members now and is open to everyone. Indeed, as President Steve says, “Make a difference, be part of something amazing, be yourself!”
Do you remember what it was like the first time you visited a library as youngster – the rows upon rows of books with colourful covers?
Using your local library used to be a part of growing up, where you were introduced to the joys of the written word. With budget cutbacks and changes in reading habits, the traditional library is under threat – but a pioneering project in Walsall Wood is planning to change all that.
Called ‘The New Chapter’, a new community-based library is now taking shape thanks to the efforts of a team of like-minded volunteers.
Based in a former dance studio opposite the Baron’s Court Hotel in Walsall Wood, the library will be the latest addition to a venue which is fast becoming a new community hub for the area.
“The whole thing came about because the Navy Cadets decided to take on this big unit for their meetings,” said 41-year-old Lee Wadlow, one of the people behind the project.
“It’s a fantastic space, which used to be a dance studio, and the cadets realised it was much bigger than what they needed, so we decided to open it up for more community groups to use, to make sure it was used to its full potential and help cover the costs.”
After the cadets got their new home ship-shape, they have welcomed all kinds of new users. It is regularly used by play groups, a gaming club, a karate school and even a Spiritualist medium.
There are plans to eventually get a licence to hire out the venue, which has a capacity of 180 people, for events. An application for charitable status could also be on the cards.
But the ground-breaking plan to create a vibrant new library at the site will be a big step in making it a true hub for the whole community.
“It’s something that is needed,” Lee said, “and the response we have had from the community has been incredible.
“Beverley Ricketts, who is one of the team on the Action Group behind the project, raised the point that some children don’t own any books or have easy access to them.
“Because of cuts to library services and school funding, children are less likely to experience books in the same way as previous generations, and we wanted to do something to put that right.
“But it’s also about creating a more vibrant library environment, which is more fun, active and less stuffy. We want to have visits by authors, popular characters and storytellers. Some local teachers have also said they would like to get involved to support children as they discover the books.
“And, of course, we will also be catering to adults and older people to provide the books they would like to read. We want this to be a library for everyone.”
After appealing for help, hundreds of books of all kinds have been donated. Brownhills company Laptop Trader has donated computers while Aldridge’s Best Bind have provided rugs for the venue. Volunteers are building bookshelves. The New Chapter, which only a few weeks ago was suggested in a meeting, is now coming together thanks to a huge community effort.
“We had our first delivery the other day of 600 books – really great quality books too – and members of the public have donated hundreds more,” Lee said.
“There’s a very determined team of people behind this who really want to see it succeed. We decided at the start that we would form an Action Group, not a committee, because we wanted to get things done rather than sit around talking about what we could do.”
Lee hopes the community hub and library will help provide an outlet for the energies of young people in the area.
“People often say that there’s not enough for young people to do these days,” he said. “When I was a kid there were youth clubs that you could go to, where you could do things for free, meet your friends and generally find a more constructive thing to do with your time than walking the streets.
“We really hope that all of this will provide Walsall Wood’s kids with somewhere they can go like that, whether it’s through the Cadets, the library or one of the other groups that use the site.”
Plans for Walsall Wood’s new library has already been noticed in other communities, and Lee believes the idea could be repeated elsewhere.
“The social aspect of a community library can benefit all kinds of communities, from places like Walsall Wood to small villages,” Lee said. “If The New Chapter works here then it could be rolled out anywhere. Who knows, pretty soon we could be working on Chapter Two!”
Get involved!
Pop in for a coffee and use our library/hub
Spare time? Volunteers are most welcome
Suggestions? If you have ideas for fund raising or how to include all areas of our community, we’d love to hear from you.
I know I am not alone in wondering what the collateral damage of Covid-19 will be. Especially when we assess the damage to our high streets, local economy and to our overall health and wellbeing.
In our September/October issue we have an article from Dr Ron Daniels an intensive care doctor working in our local NHS hospitals. I share his concerns about people not seeking medical attention and as a community publisher The Pioneer is doing all we can to spread the word that the NHS is open and don’t leave it too late to go and get help!
The whole of Dr Daniels’ article is below but to summarise. The NHS is reporting that people are leaving it too late to seek help for heart attacks, cancer, pneumonia, and sepsis. Dr Daniels describes it as “…seeing severe pathology.” In layman’s terms the NHS is seeing people who are in a very bad way.
The over-riding message from Dr Daniels is ‘please seek medical help early’. Don’t be put off by news headlines because the reality is that there are few people in hospital with Covid now. And, you are not being a bad person, putting the NHS under pressure, if you seek help because right now they do have the capacity to help you.
In fact, if you don’t seek help and leave it too late you may well end up costing the NHS more. Not to mention suffering unnecessarily.
Dr Daniels is also Founder and Executive Director of The UK Sepsis Trust. He says in his article that in adults the symptoms of sepsis can be mistaken for Covid-19, flu, gastroenteritis or a chest infection. He is seeing young, healthy people who have developed sepsis as a consequence of pneumonia. Sepsis can be fatal if not identified and treated early with at least 48,000 people losing their lives every year. To put that into perspective it’s more people than are reported to have died from Covid-19.
If you are feeling unwell, please seek medical help.
Yours locally
Feeling Ill? Seek Medical Attention
A West Midlands NHS doctor is urging people to seek medical attention straight away if they are feeling unwell, following growing evidence that people are going to GPs and doctors too late.
Dr Ron Daniels BEM, an intensive care doctor at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, working at Heartlands and Good Hope Hospitals, said it was imperative that people laid aside their fears of “catching Covid-19” at GP surgeries and other healthcare facilities.
“We are now in a position of unintended consequences and after effects on mental health as a result of lockdown, which means people are not presenting with symptoms early,” he said.
“We’re not seeing a holistic approach to these conditions, perhaps because we’re focusing unilaterally on Covid-19. In making decisions around reopening or restricting society, we need to look at PCR tests <which test for viruses and viral fragments> in the context of case fatality rates, ICU occupancy and how many tests are being done.
“There is a perceived fear around Covid-19 but this has to be balanced by issues caused by other health problems. We’re seeing people come into hospital who are severely ill who would’ve presented earlier, were it not for Covid-19 and this is a massive problem because we’re seeing some severe pathology.
“There’s huge anxiety among the population at the moment even when there are very few patients in hospital with Covid-19.”
“Of course, we have to be mindful of Covid and follow the guidelines but the NHS has capacity and it is open for business – we are urging anyone who is unwell to seek medical attention.”
Dr Daniels, who is also Founder and Executive Director of The UK Sepsis Trust, said clinicians are seeing late cancer, sepsis, pneumonia, and heart attack presentations.
“We are also seeing young, healthy people who have developed sepsis as a consequence of pneumonia,” he said.
Dr Daniels also warned that there is potential for as many as 20% of Covid-19 survivors to be at risk of sepsis within 12 months of being discharged from hospital.
The UK Sepsis Trust has launched its Blurred Lines campaign to raise awareness of the problem, which could save the Government millions of pounds and save lives.
Dr Daniels said a £1 million investment in awareness of the symptoms of sepsis, made right now, could save as much as £200 million in treatment and benefits.
About 245,000 people are affected by sepsis in the UK with at least 48,000 people losing their lives every year.
The UK Sepsis Trust and the York Health Economics Consortium have calculated that for every patient who is diagnosed early there is a cash saving to the NHS of more than £5,500, which means that 20,000 sepsis patients could cost society more than £1 billion in patient care and benefits.
Dr Daniels said: “Covid-19 is a disease caused by the immune system over-reacting to infection, which is exactly what sepsis is. The question to ask is: if I feel ill, could it be sepsis?”
In adults, sepsis may feel like ‘flu, gastroenteritis, or a chest infection at first, with early symptoms including fever, chills and shivering, a fast heartbeat and quick breathing.
Other symptoms of sepsis or septic shock include feeling dizzy or faint, confusion or disorientation, nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea and cold, clammy, and pale or mottled skin.
Walsall siblings Arun and Priya Saini have spent the spring and summer entertaining elderly and vulnerable people living in care homes by staging online concerts.
The duo, from Streetly, have picked up their violins and streamed dozens of recitals to keep care home residents entertained while they were in lockdown, unable to receive visits from their own family and friends.
The idea came after their mother Jyoti, a clinical pharmacist, had to visit homes as part of swabbing teams at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Everyone was in full PPE, which is disconcerting for residents when they can’t see anyone’s faces,” she said. “When I suggested playing for them online, the children were keen to do it and I contacted care homes to see if they were interested.”
The duo – Arun, aged 13, a student at Hydesville Tower School, and 10-year-old Priya, who attends Mayfield School – have played short concerts on Zoom, Skype and Whatsapp to residents as far away as Sunderland.
“Residents have been isolated for so long that we felt it was really important to do something to lift their spirits,” said Jyoti. “It’s not only ensured the children do their violin practise, but also helped elderly people enjoy something a little different, as well as support the hard working carers who look after them whilst sometimes being away from their families.”
A dedicated space for creatives is to open in Walsall this autumn, with members of the community having their say on how it should be designed.
The People’s Design Studio is the brainchild of Andre-Donovan Reid, the founding director of KIONDO, a black-led design research studio that connects organisations and local authorities with people.
Based in a listed, 6000 sq ft building – the former Hogs Head pub in Leicester Street – the centre has three aims: to be a community hub and venue; to host KIONDO’s design-research lab, where individuals or groups can experiment with citizen science, design and placemaking; and to provide creative studios, with open access workspace and facilities for creative practitioners, academics and social enterprises.
“What I’ve found is that there is a strong arts and creative sector in the town, but people don’t profile themselves as coming from Walsall; they’ll say they’re from the West Midlands instead,” he said.
“The town is home to visionaries, innovators and creative thinkers and doers who are itching to build Walsall up and I want people to be proud of the town. The aim is to use this space as a place where we can help to transform the town into a place of creativity and innovation.
“I want to help make a place where existing communities and groups continue to work towards a better Walsall, and are resourced to serve the locality in deeper and more connected ways.
“By opening this space to the creative community, we can ensure it is used for social benefit. “The space will be co-designed by those who will use it. It has to be a collaboration.”
Andre, an architectural designer who lives in Walsall, said he had “an epiphany” last year after realising his work on improving the experiences of underserved communities through design was mainly centred on short-term contracts that brought about short-term impact. Instead, he wanted to focus on a large-scale programme that would bring about deep and meaningful long-term change.
“I’ve been living in Walsall for four years and decided I wanted to stay here, but build on the roots I’ve already developed,” he said. “I can see the value of the creative community here and want to harness it, but it has to be right for the town. It’s not a case of bringing a blueprint from elsewhere and expecting it to work – and that was what the creative groups I’ve worked with said, too.
“We’re at an exciting part of what I hope will be a long-term project with local groups, colleges, organisations and local authority. We really want to transform Walsall.”
KIONDO, the leading organisation that is applying for charity status, is to launch The People’s Design Studio at the end of September, with an event, called Blank Canvas, to kick-start the season.
Working in partnership with Walsall for All, Creative Black Country and Walsall Council, Blank Canvas will take place on September 26, starting from The People’s Design Studio, up to Park Street and to The Walsall New Art Gallery.
The launch event will involve the creation of three large murals that will focus on: live, work, and play. Locals will be asked what their dreams and ambitions are for the town and artists will fill in the canvasses to create a “manifesto” that will help to guide KIONDO’s work to support communities in the town.
At the same time there will be an online event, where locals can also contribute to the manifesto, and from the September 25-27, The People’s Design Studio will feature an exhibition by UKBFTOG (UK Black Female Photographers), as its first creative pop-up.
Work has already begun on the creation of a comprehensive online Walsall Arts Map named ‘Abundance’, which will culminate in a detailed digital resource highlighting arts, culture and leisure groups and activities in the borough.
KIONDO is also inviting the public to join the Walsall Placemakers Community, to bring together a diversity of local voices as to help shape Walsall’s future for the better.
Anyone interested in accessing The People’s Design Studio can apply to the trustees, who will review the applications. To support the project please donate to the Transforming Walsall Fund. For more details, email: Walsall@kiondo.co.uk
Our September editions are dropping through letterboxes throughout the local area. If you have not yet received yours don’t miss out. You can read all three of our local editions right here.
Find out what happened to the Streetly Phone Box in our Villages edition. We’ve introduced a new Social Media Diary page. It sums up what’s been going on on our Facebook and Twitter pages over the past few weeks. See if you got a mention!
Each edition is full of local news and community initiatives. This month Dr Ron Daniels an intensive care doctor at Heartlands and Good Hope offers encouraging and balanced advice on the current Coronavirus situation.
Happy reading and thank you for helping us to do our bit to help our local community.
Volunteers with Team Cat Rescue have been busier than ever during lockdown as the bigger national charities have furloughed staff, closed the charity shops and branches but – of course – continued to care for the cats already in their care. And cat charities are now reporting they fear 84,000 extra kittens could be born this summer due to coronavirus – because fewer vets are carrying out neutering procedures. Advice is to ‘keep un-neutered cats indoors – and males and females apart’. So lockdown has applied to cats too!
So, what has it been like in lockdown for TCR? Coordinator Lynne Buffery says that, as much as humanly possible, it has been ‘cat business as normal’.
Lynne, who has been coordinator for thirty years, says: “The cat-caring public have been phoning in as usual when they find a Mum who has given birth to kittens in their gardens. And if the finders or I can scoop them up and get them to a fosterer, that is what we are doing. Of course, if we’ve got Mum too, the kittens can thrive, but if not we have some specialist devoted fosterers who can syringe or bottle feed the motherless mites every two hours. We were lucky in that Sarah Doyle, a nurse at Pype Hayes vets, with the support of the vet team, took in some 2-day old kittens to hand-rear for us. And, because some of the big charities were not homing, we have a promising list of would be adopters. So the last few months have proved hard work and we’ve had to be innovative but – paws crossed – win-win for all our ready-to-home kittens and for some of our older, longer-stay cats too.”
Great Barr co-op management and customers alike help and support …
Kittens are soft and fluffy, but times are hard! The rescue is desperate for funds. The monthly table-top sale at the Swan at Yardley – which often raised between £600 and £800 – was cancelled because of lockdown. So fosterer Sue Carty, who doubles as the Floral Team Leader at Great Barr co-op florists on the Walsall Road, has asked manager Gill Evans of the co-op food store nearby if she’s willing to have a TCR cat food donation basket – and she is!
Says Sue: “Customers are so kind too. I’m known as the ‘cat rescuer’ and people come in and donate cat food, blankets, bric-a-brac and knitting wool – all sorts – for us to use or sell. They ask for cat care advice as well as flowers! And TCR is well-known for feral trapping jobs around these parts.”
Appeal for volunteers …
TCR would welcome more volunteers – in almost any capacity. Says Lynne: “Chiefly, we’d like help with transport. Because the work vets can take on has been restricted to emergency or welfare cases only during lockdown, we’ve often had to get cats and kittens to the vets for 8am. And big thanks to Vets4-Pets at the Beggars Bush for accommodating us as best they can, as well as our regular vets, Pype Hayes.”
Adds Lynne: “If you are a cat-lover, call us if we can help you or if you can help us – support, donate or volunteer. If you want to adopt, this can now happen within social distancing guidelines and with outside pens. But the most important message of all is please neuter your cat.”
Looking after a lucky lockdown litter – with Lucy …
Fosterer Lucy Burr works as a mobile chiropodist and has three young daughters to care for – as well as six kittens! She gives her personal purrspective on how the kittens currently in her care were found and how nurturing during lockdown has gone.
“My little charges were found in an overgrown garden. Several had bite wounds – possibly from a fox. They were all very poorly. We are still not sure whether a mix of ‘multiple feral litters together’ or whether one large litter. Sadly, we lost several early on as they were too poorly to survive. They all had cat flu, herpes and infected eyes.
“But these in the photo now have names! They are George, Harry, Misty, Floyd, Artie and Peppa. All the kitties love their bottle, a snuggle and a chin tickle. No wonder they purr like tractors! They’re still poorly and on antibiotics and eye drops. But of course our paws are crossed that they are past the worst and, as a fosterer, I will have the pleasure of seeing them grow, play – and find their forever homes.”
Lucy has been hand-rearing tiny kittens for three years, and says: “I just love it, it makes me happy. I had a room built at the side of my house specially for foster kittens. And guess what? It’s my favourite place!”
The last 3 months have been a challenge for us all, but our community certainly rose to the challenge! The generosity, kindness and good will of people has been overwhelming and so many have given their time in volunteering to help the vulnerable in our area through the COVID-19 Support Group.
There has also been a great sense of community and friendship from VE day street parties to gathering on Thursday night to applaud our NHS and carers – all socially distanced of course! We miss the Thursday night ‘clap for carers’ but the friendships made through this, and other activities, we hope will continue for a long time to come. And, some good news – the police have given the go ahead for Street Watch to resume so the patrols have restarted. Look out for the yellow jackets!
Why be part of Neighbourhood Watch?
People join Neighbourhood Watch for many different reasons, whether it is to improve safety around their home or to become part of a group and meet new people. It is widely regarded that being part of Neighbourhood Watch can:
Reduce / prevent local crime and disorder
Reduce fear of crime
Address issues relating to antisocial behaviour
Create safer neighbourhoods
Build community spirit and cohesion
Reassure members of the public
Enhance partnership working with other community groups
Assist in the detection and apprehension of criminals through members providing information to the police
Anne-Marie Goodchild (second left) joins locals wanting to save the phonebox
A Streetly woman has launched a campaign to save one of Britain’s iconic red telephone kiosks.
Anne-Marie Goodchild spotted a notice inside the 1950s kiosk in Burnett Road, Streetly, from BT, which said that it was to be removed because it was no longer economically viable.
“I’ve always liked our red kiosks as they are a real symbol of Britain, so when I saw the notice I wanted to do something to save it,” she said.
She hopes the phonebox, which is believed to date back to the 1950s, will be adopted by Staffordshire County Council – it sits just inside the Staffs border, despite being in Streetly – and that it could be transformed into a community asset, such as book exchange.
In just a couple of weeks, Anne-Marie got BT to promise that it will not remove the kiosk while she speaks to councillors about the adoption, which will cost it just £1, and establish how it will be maintained.
“At first we thought it was in Walsall, and the council was keen to support adopting the kiosk, but it quickly became clear that it sat in Staffordshire, so I’m hoping that because there are already adopted ones in Shenstone and Wall that the council there will be willing to save this one,” she said.
Once the plea about the phonebox was posted on the Streetly Community group page on Facebook, a petition was raised to save it and more than 500 people have signed it.
“We’re still in the early stages of the campaign, but I’m hoping that we can get the council on board quickly and then we can look at how we put a committee together to maintain it,” added Anne-Marie.
After months of closure The Watch has finally reopened at Pelsall Village Centre and MP Wendy Morton enjoyed a visit to catch up with their latest news.
“Thanks to everyone who entered. This is the first virtual event for Aldridge Rotary and we’re pleased to announce that we raised over £100. All the winners received certificates and Stanley won a £10 nail treatment voucher for 
Do you remember what it was like the first time you visited a library as youngster – the rows upon rows of books with colourful covers?
Our September editions are dropping through letterboxes throughout the local area. If you have not yet received yours don’t miss out. You can read all three of our local editions 
Volunteers with Team Cat Rescue have been busier than ever during lockdown as the bigger national charities have furloughed staff, closed the charity shops and branches but – of course – continued to care for the cats already in their care. And cat charities are now reporting they fear 84,000 extra kittens could be born this summer due to coronavirus – because fewer vets are carrying out neutering procedures. Advice is to ‘keep un-neutered cats indoors – and males and females apart’. So lockdown has applied to cats too!
The last 3 months have been a challenge for us all, but our community certainly rose to the challenge! The generosity, kindness and good will of people has been overwhelming and so many have given their time in volunteering to help the vulnerable in our area through the COVID-19 Support Group.