You may have spotted on our website a little badge which says shop here to support the Birmingham Conservation Trust. If you use this link to do your shopping between now and January 31st 2008 we could win £1000.

Whether we win the competition or not we will still receive a small percentage of the money you spend on Christmas presents or perhaps holiday flights. With some things we get loadsamoney: if you sign up for Sky TV through the link we could receive up to £120!

I know it sounds a bit bonkers but you pay the normal prices. We are simply getting a share of the shops marketing budget for passing your custom their way.

http://www.buy.at/birminghamconservation

So please have a good browse and buy if the deals are good for you. Tell your friends. At the moment Aldershot Football Club is in the lead - lets make that Birmingham Conservation Trust!

The Buildings of Birmingham - Ben Waddington’s guided tours of Brum, are still going stong, he promises to may you say” “They haven’t knocked it all down!”.

Here’s the blurb…

Join your tour guide Ben Waddington on a fascinating journey through Birmingham’s history, looking at the often overlooked architectural history of the city. Two tours explore the city’s Industrial heritage (tour A) and the City Centre (tour B) Expect to encounter timber framed buildings, C18th beerhouses, richly ornate Victorian terracotta, ‘Birmingham Gothic’, Arts and Crafts and more.

Tour A starts in Old Square, Corporation Street, tour B starts outside the Town Hall entrance, both at Noon. This info also appears on the ticket, which you can buy from Central Library reception, by phoning 0121303 2323 or by visiting www.birminghamboxoffice.com . You can also pay on the day, but places are limited to 15 people per tour.

Upcoming Dates:

Sun 2nd December a
Fri 14th December b
Sat 22nd December a
Sun 30th December b

Tickets cost £5 (kids go free!) All tours start at noon and last about 90 minutes.

Lifted straight from Jon Bounds. Thank you!

The Minister for the West Midlands, Liam Byrne has summarised the plan, as it currently stands, for Eastside. (Download his short briefing here). It appears that the old Parcel Force site next to the Grade 1 Curzon Street Station is to be sold by Advantage West Midlands to Birmingham City Council for the development of :

Brit School – a new Educational City Academy expected to be in the region of 100,000 sq feet housing 950 students: the Brit School – which provides an arts led curriculum to 14 to 19 year olds fit into the overall vision for the Learning and Leisure Quarter and complements the arts, dance, media and conservatoire curriculum faculties promoted in the area by the BCU. AWM are negotiating to be named as sponsors for this project potentially alongside BCU and BCC.

The rest of the document is neatly summarised here, and thanks to Pete at the Custard Factory blog for alerting us.