I am pleased that the Canley Pop Up Café has been shortlisted for the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC) Active Citizens Fund Award.
It was set up by Canley resident Dr Nor Aziz in 2017 to help those in need and to further community cohesion. Students from Warwick University often deliver some activities.
Dr Aziz and her colleagues work hard, as was shown again by the recent visit of West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, CBE.
My friends Cllr Marcus Lapsa and Cllr Tim Mayer join me in thanking them all and wishing them every future success.
Cllr David Skinner (Conservative)
Westwood Ward
Coventry City Council
Well done and thank you to The Canley pop up cafe team, Coventry Park Rangers, the army, Westwood police, and many others who helped the Canley Community Big Lunch on Saturday June 23.
It is hosted by the Canley Stakeholders Group. They did a fantastic job. The event is organised to celebrate the diversity of Coventry over fun and food.
We had volleyball, the last chance Ferret Sanctuary, bird house making, raffle prizes, a variety of stalls and fun activities. The Lord Mayor opened the event and we had a great Tug of War event.
Another great weekend in Coventry. It’s good to see so many communities pulling together this weekend as we also saw the food and drink festival and the Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre’s annual ‘Coventry Welcomes, Party in the Park’ at Primrose Hill Park, Hillfields. This event was part of Refugee Week celebrations nationwide which marks its 20th anniversary.
Tim Mayer
Westwood ward councillor
Coventry City Council
Now that the school summer holidays are here, it’s easy for health routines to go out of the window as children relax, enjoy the outdoors and get stuck into their favourite hobbies.
But Asthma UK is launching a campaign urging parents of children with asthma to make sure they take their usual preventer medicine and keep up a routine over the school break. The medicine builds up over time so will help to protect their child from an asthma attack during the summer holiday and once they return to school.
Every 10 seconds someone has a potentially life-threatening asthma attack in the UK, and three people die from an asthma attack every day. In September, children are nearly three times more likely to be admitted to hospital because of an asthma attack than in August, partly due to seasonal triggers such as cold and flu viruses. If a child hasn’t kept up their preventer medicine routine over the school holidays, they will be at greater risk of reacting to these triggers.
We also want to reassure parents whose children have asthma that support is available through our nurse helpline.
For information visit www.asthma.org.uk/safersummer
Dr Andy Whittamore, Clinical Lead at Asthma UK and a practising GP
Are you 16 or 17 or do you have memories of life at this often challenging age? If so, you may be interested in entering a creative writing competition being run by The Children’s Society as part of our charity’s Seriously Awkward campaign.
The campaign aims to improve life for vulnerable 16 and 17-year-olds by securing more sustained help for them as they move into adulthood with issues like mental health, housing and access to employment.
For the competition – run in partnership with Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House – we are looking for fictional stories by unpublished writers of up to 2,000 words about this awkward age, with categories for both young people aged 16-25 and adults aged 26 and over.
Whether you are an aspiring writer or have never before written, why not think about what life can be like for 16 and 17-year-olds and craft your own story?
Writing experts including international best-selling author Emma Healey, who has just published her second novel, Whistle in the Dark, will judge the competition, and the winners will be offered expert advice and feedback by top literary agencies Darley Anderson and David Higham Associates.
Please visit www.childrenssociety.org.uk/writing to find out more and enter by 31 August 2018. Good luck!
Matthew Reed, Chief Executive, The Children’s Society
