Having spent the last year touring the UK with a string of promotional dates appearing alongside artists such as The Saturdays, Example, Alexandra Burke, McFly plus former X Factor winners and finalists, FTW are now preparing to take the music industry by storm, having released their debut single ‘Loveshot’ on 1st April.

With radio roadshows, festivals and live PA’s at some of the country’s top venues under their belt, demand for FTW is very high. International bookings, sponsorship endorsements and national media interest means there’s only one boy band you need to remember in 2012.

FTW treated fans to a free gig at the Merry Hill Centre in Brierley Hill on Friday 13 April.

You can follow FTW on Twitter:
@FTWBackstage
@FTWcallum
@FTWjake
@FTWkyle
@FTWtom

www.ftwofficial.com

DOWNLOAD LOVESHOT NOW!!! http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/loveshot/id515572110?i=515572113

pre-event tickets available now!!!

Call 911 ..there’s a party in Mary Stevens Park!

One of the biggest boy bands of the 90’s will headline this year’s Stourbridge Party in the Park, which will be held on Bank holiday Monday May 7th 2012 at Mary Stevens Park, Stourbridge.

911 shot to fame with their top debut single ‘Don’t make me wait’, which was followed by a further 9 top 10 singles including their number 1 single ‘A little bit more’.

The fun packed family day will also see live performances from a host of local, national and international artists, Popular Dutch pop star dubbed ‘the new justin bieber’, Casper will be flying in especially for the event for his first UK appearance and the soulful Aaron Paul, ex lead singer from Simon Cowell’s 90’s boy band ‘World’s Apart’ is over from the U.S promoting his new single ‘Searching’.

Arena entertainment comes in the form of history re-enactor groups with their spectacular military displays through the ages and NSW championship wrestling featuring ‘Britain’s biggest biceps’ Tiny Iron. Dance groups and Zumba displays also entertain.

Gates open at 11am and with over 20 quality live musical acts and plenty to entertain the children it promises to be a great family day out. We have kept the ticket price as low as possible at £3 to ensure this an affordable day out for the entire family, we are also very pleased to be supporting Help for Heroes at this and all future events.

Popular childrens TV characters Roary the Racing car with Big Chris and Peppa Pig will be available for meet and greet at various intervals throughout the day. There will also be a fun fair, craft and market stalls and an array of delicious food outlets.

For more details visit: http://www.sbevents.co.uk/

The full line up can be found at smartfest.org.uk along with other details about the event which will feature musical performances, arts and crafts, dance, drama and writers displaying their literary talents over three days packed with fun for all the family.

The festival was launched on Friday March 16th at the Ryemarket Shopping Centre in Stourbridge, supported by an outside broadcast from 102.5 The ‘Bridge who are supporting the festival.

Photo credit: Francyne Carr

In case you don't know what a cyclist looks like

A £362,000 bid to the governments Local Sustainable Transport fund aimed at improving and encouraging walking and cycling in Brierley Hill has been successfully submitted by Dudley Council.  A working party including Dudley Council, Dudley Primary Care Trust, Sustrans (the cycling organisation), Brierley Hill Town Centre Partnership and Living Sreets has been set up to engage local views.  A copy of the bid can be viewed below.

A website is being prepared under the strap line ‘I Get Around’.  Marketing materials highlighting walking and cycling opportunities is being prepared for distribution to businesses, schools and community groups.

Feasibility work on new and improved walking & cycling routes connecting the surrounding residential catchment areas to Brierley Hill Centre is underway. Work is planned to commence next financial year.  Locations for new cycle parking in Brierley Hill are also being looked at.

The team will be attending events during the coming year to encourage further cycling.

The government has now announced that they have approved the bid as covered in the Express and Star (merry-hill-bus-station-to-get-10m-overhaul/).

It will address congestion that causes unreliability by focusing on pinch points. The key elements of the proposal are:

• Brand new state of the art bus station, with 25% increase in capacity, full DDA compliance and high quality passenger information and facilities
• Significant highway measures to remove delays and increase reliability for buses in the Brierley Hill area, including a dedicated bus only link and two bus lanes with bus gates.  The work will include establish bus only lanes on the Boulevard and opening a bus only link from Merry Hill bus station to the Pedmore Road.
• Segregation of buses from general traffic without loss of highway capacity
• New bus stop infrastructure and RTI at key locations along strategic routes
• New commercial multi-operator Smartcard (e-purse and bus)
• Bespoke marketing and communications campaign
• Workwise support to help 1,090 people into employment
• £2.2.m investment in brand new euro 5 buses
• On Vehicle Displays (Talking Buses) on strategic routes

The bid can be read below:

Brierley Hill Bus Network Transformation BBA Bid Submission

• Tuesday 17th April
• Tuesday 15th May
• Tuesday 17th July
• Tuesday 18th September
• Tuesday 20th November

All meetings start at 7pm and will be held at St Michael’s Church, Brierley Hill.

The panel will work on the production of a Community First plan for Brierley Hill and recommend approval of match funding grants totalling £11,248 for this year and £16,979 for 2012/2013. 

Residents and community groups in the Brierley Hill ward are encouraged to take part.  More details can be found at www.communityfirst.brierleyhill.org or by emailing communityfirst@brierleyhill.org.

Community First is an England-wide programme, funded by the Office for Civil Society, on behalf of the Government. It will run for four years, until March 2015. Two funds of money, worth £80m, have been created to help communities come together, become more resilient, and make their local area a better place to live.

Each of the 600 areas will have their own Community First panel, comprised of local people to represent their community. They will be involved in creating a plan for the local area, raising awareness of the funds, and planning how they will match and spend the money.

Brierley Hill ward has been selected as one of the 600 areas to receive Community First funding. Total funding of £67,820 is being made available of the next four years – £11,248 in year 1; £16,979 in year 2; £16,975 in year 3; and £22,618 in year 4.

Further details from: communityfirst@brierleyhill.org

or on the website:

Community First Panel for Brierley Hill

Hawbush Community Gardens have become the first group to submit a bid for match funding the Community First Brierley Hill.  The £766 requested is a grant towards a secure steel container, a petrol strimmer and protective clothing. Other funds have been raised from ASDA who have donated £500 and volunteers.

The project, in Bull Street Brierley Hill, aims to improve the environment of the inter-war housing estate by maintaining and cultivating an area of land at the rear of Hawbush School.  Residents are even encouraged to grow their own food.

Community First is a government fund which aims to encourage people to get involved with their community.  Brierley Hill ward has been allocated £11,000 to match fund activities this year, raising to £16,000 over each of the next two years.

The Community First Panel for Brierley Hill will meet on 17th April to consider whether to recommend the funding for Hawbush Community Gardens and any other applications received before then.

For further details on Community First Brierley Hill Click here:

Community First Panel for Brierley Hill