Member Section ...any other business A roundup of news from Chamber members


...any other business is designed to help satisfy the huge demand the Chamber gets from members seeking to publicise their activities. We have now moved company appointments to our daily bulletin, ChamberlinkDaily, which goes out every morning to nearly 17,000 business and individuals across the West Midlands.


Commonwealth Games will rejuvenate Perry Barr


The Great Wall: Impressive, but when you’ve seen one wall, you’ve seen them all!


Baggies take on the Great Wall


West Bromwich Albion’s community organisation, the Albion Foundation, is looking for volunteers to trek along the Great Wall of China for a week in October – those taking part will tread 10,000 steps and hopefully raise more than £3,000 each. For Albion, it will be a


return of sorts to China, where they were the first English club to play a game in that country back in 1978. During the trip, the Baggies


visited the Great Wall, and one of the players, John Trewick, told a TV documentary: “Impressive, isn't it? But once you’ve seen one wall, you've seen them all.” He later claimed the remark had been said in jest. A bit closer to home, the


Baggies are also staging a cycle ride from Wales to the Hawthorns during April. The ride will also raise funds


for the Foundation, which helps those in the community most at need. The cycling endurance challenge will start from Swansea on 4 April and end three days later. It is hoped the 30 cyclists taking part will raise at least £600 each.


For more information about the Wall trek, email jonathan.ward@albionfounda tion.co.uk


74 CHAMBERLINK March 2018


The transformation of north-west Birmingham will be significantly accelerated thanks to the housing legacy from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The Games Village, which


comprises accommodation, dining, medical, transport and essential services for athletes and team officials during the Commonwealth Games, will be situated on a 24- hectare site at Perry Barr off the A453 Aldridge Road. The site is the current location of


the old University of Central England (UCE) and Birmingham City University (BCU) campus near Perry Barr greyhound stadium and the One Stop Shopping Centre and is just one mile from Alexander Stadium, which will play a pivotal role during the Games. Up to 6,500 competitors and


officials will be housed in approximately 1,000 new homes. After the Games, the


accommodation will be converted and become available as a mixture of homes for sale and market rent


as well as for social and affordable rent, through the city council’s Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust and In-Reach rental initiative. The Village will act as a catalyst


for significant housing growth in Perry Barr as the first phase of a wider programme to deliver up to 3,000 new homes in the area. This wider programme will also


make a crucial contribution to the city’s housing needs as outlined in the city council’s Birmingham Development Plan – which has the


headline requirement for 50,000 new homes by 2031. Cllr Ian Ward, leader of


Birmingham City Council and chair of the Birmingham 2022 bid team, said: “The development of the Village is therefore the largest new-build element of the Games – and will help rejuvenate Perry Barr and the wider surrounding area, meaning there will be a lasting legacy for the people of Birmingham, in particular those living near the heart of the action in 2022.”


Love is in the air for penguins


A pair of Gentoo penguins at the National Sea Life Centre were treated to a private Valentine’s Day serenade by a violinist from Birmingham City University’s Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. The mini-concert – organised by Royal Birmingham


Conservatoire – was for Arabel and Pablo, parents to baby penguin chicks, Hulk and Dumpling, who were born last year. However, the rest of the colony soon followed behind


to see what all the fuss was about. Jonny Rudd, curator at the National Sea Life Centre,


said: “With Valentine’s Day being so close to the start of breeding season it was the perfect opportunity to treat our dedicated penguin parents, in the hope we can encourage another successful period of breeding.” The Gentoo chicks are the first to hatch at the centre


Penguin Café Orchestra: Markéta Nádvorníková serenades the penguins


as part of a global breeding programme after the decline of their numbers in the wild.


An artist’s impression of the Games Village


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