UpRising had been mentioned on more than one occasion to me in connection to the various Into Work…read moreprojects I work on. This charity concentrates its efforts on young people, 19-25, but rather than work skills, the encourage people to build in their leaderships skills. In a sense, they offer leadership a programme with the objective to equip young people with the skills and knowledge that will help them work within their communities. Ultimately the aim is to build a better Britain, starting with these young people; the leaders of tomorrow. With a base in Birmingham, they are also working in Bedford, Manchester and London. Speak to Zehra Zaidi for more details.

I've recently been introduced to the wonderful people at Turning Point whilst undertaking a charity…read moreproject to help people back into work. The small team at this Custard Factory based charity are lead by the hard working, enthusiastic, Monica who is super keen to help people. Turning Point 'turn around the lives' of those who need it, including those with substance abuse problems, those with mental illness with learning difficulties. They mentor, monitor, befriend and support people through their darkest hours and provide them with path into society. It's an amazing feat that needs amazing people at the helm and I'm very much looking forward to working with them in months to come.

From the owner: EESPro Employment Service exists to assist and enable people who have experienced substance &…read morealcohol misuse to access employment, education and training opportunities in order to enhance rehabilitation and reduce social exclusion. The service also assists Prolific and Priority Offenders (PPO).

It's important to remember that this is both a youth and community centre. The youth service here…read moreare great, they offer advice, scoldings, banter and support to develop young people's skills. With a pool table, a recording studio, big TV and a sport hall there is always something to do and at the very least it is a safe place for young people to hang out with their friends. In schools holidays the youth service offer day time activities from trips out to the Duke of Edinburgh Award. The community centre acts as a space for groups and clubs to hire out from a church group, a dance crew, to karate classes there is a diverse timetable of things going on that will be of interest to someone in your family. Whilst it's brilliant having such a great community space with community members putting stuff on they still need people to support and attend, if you live nearby or have just moved to the area then pop in and chat to someone as they are a friendly enough bunch to help.

610 is a fab youth & community centre, mostly run by Steve Joseph who makes sure the place is…read moresafely looked after, as well as making sure the young people who attend are engaged in positive activities - whether they're sporty, arty or educational. Every year he takes the young people off to do DofE, and every year they do a xmas sleigh ride. Weird? Yes. Awesome? Yes. They have a pool table, and a massive hall space which can be rented and is used for summer playschemes and evening dance classes.

I love a good charity shop, me, and I'm especially lured in by the promise of some cheap 50s…read morefurniture. Sure enough there was a gorgeous, Ercol style coffee table for just £15. This is why I love coming out of town. Living in the city centre, I really miss shops like this. So many bargains to be had. If the delivery price wasn't £18 then I might have bought it. I had a good look around and was amazed to find bed frames with mattresses included for as little as £80 and decent TVs for as little as £15. If you live in the area or have a car then you really should check this place out. Fridges and freezers are a bit of a let down though as they are pretty expensive and I think you could find a better deal on eBay.

WHoever moderates the stock here is doing a great job, all the items are in great condition and the…read morelayout feels well thought out and its a pleasure to navigate around the shop. Im not sure if they clean everything in shop, but all the furniture is spotless, a giant chest of draws for £50.00 that felt like it had just been sanded. The beds looked great, bit wary of second hand beds but they looked good as new. All electrical items are given a warranty, and some look better than others but there were some nice brands in there. Music blasting out the front was a bit of a put off though, poor choice but overall a really nice shop.

Okay - the boring basic stuff about this place is that it's not JUST a fire station, but as a…read morecommunity venue it has local businesses based there, and rooms available to hire out for conferences with all the usual shenanigans you might expect. What is AWESOME about this particular station is the 'Red Hot Education Centre' which I managed to have a quick look around when I was doing some work in Handsworth. They've built a pretend house inside the station which you get to explore to try to identify the risks of fire - and after trying to identify them, you get to witness through windows looking in what actually could happen to such a house. Scary, and exciting, and totally engaging! Definitely worth a visit - particularly if you're doing work with groups about fire safety in the home. Plus the guys who work there are really very friendly and helpful (though don't be surprised if they pester you incessantly about getting a smoke alarm test done!)

This is a lovely little gem on Soho Rd, and a great shop for all communities…read more I walked in here and was greeted with a wonderful smile, and they were happy for me to just browse around. They sell all sorts from books, bric-a-brac, scarves, toys, clothes, vases, paintings, clocks etc. With the books they have a special offer of buy 1 get 1 free, and are also running a special winter clothing campaign, so, donations are wanted. I like this store as you can get pretty much anything in here, and they always have in new different stock on the shelves at a bargain. Now you can also Gift Aid it, so any cash donations you make are 25% bigger! Open Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm, closed on Sundays.

Soho Road has such more to offer but sometimes people don't give it credit. There are plenty of…read moreshops which sell some great items and sell products you don't normally find in the main town centre. Though there are a few British Red Cross shops across the city, this one on Soho Road does have a few items in there which are really good. Charity shops are becoming the way forward! Because people are tightening up their budgets, you'll find that this shop now has a few more people entering the store than it used to a few months ago. You find a lot of older people going in there to look for items such as; books, vases, clothing and seeing if there are any antique items hidden anywhere. Younger people pop in to find any vintage items. When I've been in there, there have been a few young girls looking for anything that they think they can customise or restyle for cheap.