Earlier this week I went to the launch of Solihull IRL, a new campaign which aims to push the message that getting out and about and interacting In Real Life (hence IRL) makes you healthier and happier than spending too much time online. Obviously, this is quite timely, with the under-16s social media ban announced by the Prime Minister at the start of the week. I’m not going to talk much about that, I prefer to keep my column to Solihull rather than national politics, but it does show that there’s a real concern across our society about the impact of social media on children and how much time they spend glued to their phones.
Solihull IRL takes a different approach, pushing the positives of getting stuck into new activities, spending time in nature, and talking face to face with your friends. It’s been developed by Ordinary Magic, a not-for-profit organisation who focus on children and young people’s wellbeing, in collaboration with the young people themselves and local education leaders. Tom Beveridge, the Head Teacher at Alderbrook School, spoke at the launch and he’s been pushing the same message for years. It’s great to see the Council, community groups, and schools coming together to provide something that could make a real difference. It’s great partnership working, and we mustn’t overlook the contribution of the NHS to this, as significant funding from the Fairer Futures Fund went into development of Solihull IRL
Speaking of good opportunities for young people, our Skills for Success team will be delivering workshops over the summer to support Year 11-13 pupils in Solihull to navigate various work and training pathways. The workshops cover CV writing, skills for interviews, apprenticeships, application support, an overview of pathways and transition. Please refer to this eflyer for details. Many of you will have seen the news recently about the high numbers of young people not in education, employment, or training (NEETs). Making that first step on the career ladder can be tough, so it’s important to take advantage of chances like this to get a leg-up. There’s lots of great employers in Solihull and across the region, so let Skills for Success help you catch their eye.
It’s Learning Disability Week this week and the theme for 2026 is "Do you see me?", which is all about making sure people with a learning disability are seen, heard and valued. Throughout the week, the Council’s Facebook and Instagram are sharing stories of people and what they’re doing in our community. It features Derek and Inderjit and their experiences of friendship, learning and community at our day opportunity centres; Sandy’s pride in our hanging baskets project with Newlands Bishop Farm and Veolia; Richard and Keith’s commitment to improving lives of others through our Learning Disability Partnership Board; and Nathan’s story of finding employment with the Supported Internship programme. It’s important to celebrate what people with a learning disability bring to society, while challenging misconceptions. Please do look at their stories and visit our website for advice and support.
Finally, Clean Air Day was yesterday. It promotes the importance of good quality air for us all to breathe – it leads to longer and healthier lives. The good news is that air quality monitoring shows the data for Solihull is pretty good.
Thanks for reading. I’m sure we all enjoyed England’s excellent win on Wednesday, let’s hope they keep it up on Tuesday!
Karen.