Birmingham poet says city is 'still amazing' despite bin strike
People should not lose sight of what they love about Birmingham during the ongoing bin strike, says the city's former poet laureate.Casey Bailey, who was Birmingham's poet laureate from 2020 to 2024, said the city "doesn't look beautiful" at the moment, but it was "still amazing".His comments came during the seventh week of the union Unite's all-out bin workers' strike, which led to thousands of tonnes of uncollected waste piling up on the city's streets."We sometimes have an ability to focus on one negative and lose sight of everything else," Mr Bailey told BBC Radio WM.
"Of course, the city doesn't look beautiful with the bin strikes at the moment, but it's still Birmingham, it's still amazing, and we can't lose sight of that."Mr Bailey is known for writing the poem Dear Brum – structured in the form of a love letter to the city – a number of years ago.He updated the poem in 2022 ahead of the Commonwealth Games in a bid to inspire civic pride in Birmingham.
The poet said he has never been embarrassed to be from Birmingham, although he admitted there were times he thought the city was "rubbish, even when it didn't have rubbish in it".He said the things people loved everywhere else sounded nicer in the city "because it's got a Brummie accent"."I never shy away from the fact it's not perfect, but I love it, and I always talk about both of those things," he added.Meanwhile, former West Midlands mayor Sir Andy Street echoed Mr Bailey's call for residents to be more positive about the city."Our reputation has taken one hell of a hammering in the last few weeks but the underlying points are still there and we have to get out there and sell the story very positively," he added.
Sir Andy pointed to recent sporting successes in the West Midlands like hosting the 2025 Kabaddi World Cup and described Birmingham's art scene as the best outside of London."We all need to understand that Birmingham and the West Midlands is a hell of a lot more than the city council and its difficulties," he said.Unite said this week that a deal could be "in touching distance" and agreed it would attend mediation talks with conciliation service Acas to resolve the dispute with the council.Birmingham City Council confirmed there had been an agreement to hold further discussions at the end of next week "under the auspices of Acas".The all-out industrial action started on 11 March, with more than 300 workers walking out in a dispute over pay, centred on a decision to remove the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer role.
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The Guardian
9 hours ago
- The Guardian
Lizzie Deignan ‘emotional' as she prepares for final race in Britain
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Wales Online
a day ago
- Wales Online
Gabby Logan's affair with tennis player, telling her kids and awful Alan Shearer rumours
Gabby Logan's affair with tennis player, telling her kids and awful Alan Shearer rumours Gabby Logan is one of the BBC's top presenters and will be fronting their coverage of Euro 2024 over the next month - but she has been through some very tough times Gabby Logan presenting for Amazon Prime alongside Alan Shearer (Image: 2023 AMA Sports Photo Agency ) Gabby Logan is the new face of Match of the Day next season, alongside Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates, as her broadcasting career continues to go from strength to strength. At 52, Logan has become more vocal on a number of topics outside of sport in recent years, openly discussing various personal challenges, including her own previous infidelity, health concerns and a devastating family loss that left her world "shattered into a million pieces" during her teenage years. The daughter of ex-Wales football manager Terry Yorath, she competed for Wales in rhythmic gymnastics at the 1990 Commonwealth Games before making it in the TV world. Here's a closer look at some lesser-known aspects of the presenter's life. Affair with tennis player Logan has been open about her personal life, including her marriage to former Scotland rugby player Kenny and her experiences raising their twin children, Reuben and Lois. Her candidness extends to her 2022 autobiography The First Half, where she discusses an affair during her time at Durham University, expressing a desire for her children to be aware of it. During a candid chat with The Times, she revealed that while at university and in a relationship with a fellow student named Ian, she began a romance with a German tennis player. She didn't shy away from discussing the infidelity in her youth, emphasising the importance of her children knowing that it's possible for people to err and grow. Article continues below "You want them to know," she professed during the interview. "You set these kinds of standards for your kids and try and give them a great example. But actually, that's not the full picture and they didn't know me before I became a better person." Her philosophy is clear: "You're allowed to make bad decisions and then you move on. I think it's how you learn from those bad decisions." On broaching the topic with Kenny, his reaction was genuine surprise as he replied: "'I didn't realise you had two boyfriends at the same time. That was a bit of a shock. It was a shock to the kids too!" The unfounded Alan Shearer rumours Despite the stability in her relationship with Kenny, unfounded allegations of another affair later emerged, linking Logan to former England footballer Alan Shearer – rumours they knew contained "not a grain of truth". Logan tackled these claims head-on in her autobiography, noting the climate of secrecy surrounding the rich and famous as they sought to keep unsavoury details under wraps. During a period of media speculation, rumours were rife about a former footballer aiming to block a story from breaking in the press. It wasn't long before Gabby Logan found her Twitter feed interrupted by a 2011 post suggesting: 'I hear this injunction concerns @gabbylogan who is having an affair with Alan Shearer'. Reflecting on the incident, the television host remembered her mixture of emotions: "I laughed when I read it. Then I got angry. Then I panicked." Logan, on her way to a facial appointment, rapidly fired back a warning that implied legal action: "I think you should be careful what you write on here. The publishing laws apply and you are guilty of defamation of character with that." Despite her efforts, Sunday newspapers such as The News Of The World still ran headlines like 'TV's Gabby Logan denies affair with Alan Shearer', something Logan dismissed as utterly baseless. She clarified the nature of their relationship, indicating that during the 2010 World Cup, while Shearer was stationed in Cape Town, she was primarily situated in Rustenburg covering the England team. Family tragedy One of the most heart-wrenching chapters in Logan's life involves her family. Tragically, in 1992, her 15 year old brother Daniel passed away from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy while playing football in their garden with their father. The TV presenter recounted the distressing loss of their brother with a poignant admission, stating: "a sledgehammer [that] shattered the family into a million pieces," before revealing: "We had no warning. He had a congenital heart defect which meant that from the outside and ostensibly his fitness was just beyond you know. He was in the top 0.00 per cent. His heart was enlarged and basically was about to give way and pack up on him but there were no signs at all. "He was never breathless. When he did die, he died in the garden playing football with my dad. He was just kicking the ball about and keeled over. It was absolutely cataclysmic. It defined the rest of our youth and has defined how the family has gone on from those years and it leaves its mark in many ways. It was a really hard time for everybody and to this day the ramifications are still there." Logan, only 19 years old when faced with this tragedy, attributes her capacity to navigate through this profound grief as a motivating force behind her career achievements. "When my brother died, I definitely had a sense that I had to have a purpose," she conveyed. "And so I didn't know what that purpose was, but I felt like I had to have purpose in what I did, which goes back to dynamism, I guess." The tragedy involving her father, who had managerial stints with Swansea and Cardiff City, led to a descent into alcoholism after he nearly faced imprisonment for hitting a woman while driving at three times the legal limit in 2004. He attributed his "stupidity" to deep personal loss, with his excessive drinking ultimately causing the end of his 33-year marriage to his childhood sweetheart Christine. "I enjoyed being with Daniel and it was mutual. He was the light of my life," he reflected on the bond with Daniel. "At first I thought I could control my own grief. I didn't want to share it with anyone. I didn't want to communicate, even at home. I would wrap myself in silence. Christine tried to get through to me but I am stubborn. You just want to close your eyes and your ears and follow your nose." Questioning his own courage, he said: "Maybe I am not brave enough to go to counselling in case it hurts more. And I think I don't really want to leave my grief behind, even though it doesn't do my life any good. The picture I have in my mind of Daniel falling torments me, but just before he fell was the last time I saw him alive." Health anxieties In a candid revelation last year, Logan discussed her health anxieties, particularly those related to menopause and its effect on her broadcasting profession. Aged 51, she spoke openly about her fears of forgetfulness, which could have threatened her career due to potential difficulties with recalling names. Struggling with symptoms of brain fog, Logan shared her recent positive experience with hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Logan mentioned she engages in regular brain exercises to maintain focus and has tailored her working methods to alleviate anxiety, always keeping a piece of paper on hand during filming for jotting down important details. She expressed her previous uncertainty: "Feeling slightly unsure about things was such an unfamiliar feeling – and I thought, 'Oh, God, am I going to keep doing my job if I can't recall somebody's name?'," Logan remarked. "Fortunately, HRT has been great and I try to do regular exercise for my brain now, whether that's testing myself on remembering numbers or people's names." The couple faced adversity in 2023 when Kenny, the former Scotland footballer, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He has since been declared cancer-free, but the initial delivery of the news via Zoom was overwhelming, leaving him weeping in his wife's embrace. Reflecting on the moment of diagnosis, he shared with the Mirror: "Gabby was in the room. She was behind the screen getting ready for another meeting. We were so not prepared. But when we both heard those words... that I had prostate cancer, she stopped what she was doing, and we just looked at each other." He continued with his concerns following the diagnosis: "So many things went through my mind. I thought, how can this happen? I'm an ex-sportsman. I've looked after my body. I had no symptoms. I asked the consultant whether I was eating the wrong foods and whether my diet was to blame. He said no, it was just one of those things." Kenny then recounted the emotional aftermath: "As soon as I turned off the Zoom call, I burst into tears. My wife and I held each other, and we cried." Article continues below Kenny emphasised that consenting to regular PSA tests was the decisive factor in saving his life, as the consultant pointed out that they had detected the cancer at an early enough stage to control it. "The check-ups saved my life because the cancer was detected before it had a chance to spread," he said. "Otherwise, I would have waited until I had a reason to see the doctor, and then it would have been too late."
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
England legend Mentor to retire at end of season
Geva Mentor, regarded as the greatest netballer England has produced, will retire at the end of the Netball Super League 40-year-old Leeds Rhinos defender played 175 times for her country, the highlight of which was winning gold at the 2018 Commonwealth played more than 310 games at club level and was twice named the World's Best Netballer during a 24-year made her Vitality Roses debut in 2000 against New Zealand aged 16 and represented her country in six World made history by becoming the first England Netball player to compete in six Commonwealth claimed bronze in the Commonwealth Games of 2006 and 2010 then won gold in 2018 when England beat Australia in the final. During her club career she has played in the ANZ Championship and Suncorp Super Netball - winning four championship titles - as well as the Super League. In 2018, Mentor was awarded a CBE for her outstanding contribution to international netball."The time has come to bring my playing career to an end," said Mentor, who also won two World Championship bronze medals with England."I am grateful to the people I've met along the way, the opportunities I've been able to experience and the memories I'll treasure forever."To my team-mates, coaches, supporters, sponsors, franchises, leagues and sport - thank you for challenging me, believing in me and allowing me to stay true to myself.""For over 20 years, she has competed at the highest level and has been one of the game's biggest superstars and an icon in British sport," said Rhinos franchise director Dan Busfield."For a young franchise like ours to have someone with the experience and professionalism of Geva playing for our club and working with our staff and young players has been game-changing."The Super League season ends on 6 July.
