‘Friends of Brunswick Park’ applied for sponsorship to fund two seaside themed days to keep kids occupied during the school holidays.

Activities included: donkey rides, mini-fairground, sandpit, paddling pools and bungee swings. Sandwell Homes’ officers Bal Gill and Charlotte Cosgrove were on hand with pencil crayons to host a colouring competition, which kept the kids suitably entertained.

Previously he has been chair of the South Yorkshire Housing Association and had held numerous positions with the National Housing Federation
including council member, executive board member and chair of the supported housing committee.

He has been chair of the Housing Authorities Charitable Trust for the last six years and is currently chair of the Churches Housing
Association of Dudley and District.

Interim chief executive of Sandwell Homes, Paul Field said: “I am delighted to welcome Bishop David, as the appointed chair of Board of Sandwell Homes.He brings with him many years of experience, serving on the boards of housing organisations along with his national work.

“His latest appointment will provide an opportunity for him to act not only as an ambassador for Sandwell Homes but for Sandwell as well.

The Bishop will chair a ten-strong board which also includes three tenants, three councillors and three independents Bishop David who lives in Cradley Heath said: “As a resident of Sandwell I am looking forward to this opportunity to make a real difference to my own community.

“Sandwell Homes has an excellent track record which we can build on. We can set the standards for social housing and others will want to follow.”

The duration of the Bishop’s appointment is three years.

Sandwell Homes is also setting up a Scrutiny Board to run alongside its company board, made up of nine tenants and one leaseholder who will inspect and monitor performance. Sandwell Homes manages and maintains nearly 30,000 properties on behalf of Sandwell Council.

It was a peaceful night across the West Midlands and police continue to arrest those involved with the disorder. Businesses, bars, restaurants and other venues are now mainly back open and trading as normal. However, Police will continue to keep a heightened presence for everyone's reassurance and safety.

The message comes as police announced the first prison sentences handed out in Sandwell to those involved in the disorder. Chief Superintendent Mark Robinson, Sandwell Police commander, said: "We are confident we can provide an effective and proportionate policing response to any given situation and remain fully committed to supporting and protecting our communities here in Sandwell. We would ask people to be mindful of the current situation and to follow the guidance and direction of local police officers."

Councillor Derek Rowley, Sandwell Council's cabinet member for neighbourhood services, added: "Obviously, we are pleased there has been no repeat of Tuesday night's disorder over the past two nights. We very much hope that calm atmosphere will continue.

"Once again, we would like to thank our local police for the way they have dealt with this disorder.

"I would also like to thank other emergency services, council officers, local politicians and community leaders, the wider partnership and all our communities as there has been a real team effort to respond well together to what has been a very difficult situation.

"The police are doing an excellent job providing reassurance on our streets and bringing the perpetrators of this disorder to justice - sending out the message that this behaviour will not be tolerated. The council and Sandwell Homes will also be looking closely at those found to be involved in the disorder to consider whether there is any action we can take ourselves, with the police's support. This may include eviction where they are living in council homes."

A number of CCTV pictures of those involved are being put onto the web and linked to social media sites and we appeal for the public's help in identifying those responsible and bringing them to justice.

Follow West Midlands Police on http://www.twitter.com/WMPolice and their website to help or for reliable information.

Detectives will be manning a free phone number 0800 096 0095 and local rate 0207 158 0125 for anybody who has information about people involved in the disorder. In an emergency, always call 999.

Once the front door is open, a number of youths are rushing into the property to steal items.

Police are in the area conducting an operation notifying residents of the incidents.

Please be on your guard if you live in the areas or know of anyone that does.

Any incidents should be reported to the police.

We want to say how appalled we are by the scenes of theft, disorder and wanton destruction we have seen on the streets of parts of the UK this week. It amounts to nothing more than mindless thuggery.

And we are very sad that some of this has spilled into parts of our borough. Yesterday (Tuesday) evening, there were well-reported incidents in West Bromwich High Street as well as groups intent on causing trouble in the Cape Hill area of Smethwick.

We really feel for hard-working traders and residents in those areas affected - and for the vast majority of our young people who are good, law-abiding citizens who are equally disgusted by the actions of a small number of their peers.

We need to say a big thank you to our police officers.

In both West Bromwich and Cape Hill, they contained and then dispersed groups of troublemakers, making many arrests in the process. Over 100 arrests have been made across Birmingham and the Black Country overnight.

Offenders can expect to be put before the courts and punished appropriately.

We are extremely grateful for the job our local police officers are doing for us, firstly in doing all they can to keep Sandwell people safe and secondly in protecting businesses and homes.

Finally, as we move forward in the coming days, we want people to know that the council and other partner organisations are doing all they can to support the police and the community.

Council officers are out and about today (Wednesday) helping to clear up wherever needed and get things back to normal as quickly as possible.

And in terms of advice, we would say this:

• Go about your business as normal

• Should there be any further incidents of disorder, stay calm, remain at home, and give police officers the space they need to monitor and contain any issues that arise

• Try not to believe everything you read on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. They've both been a great source of information during these events, but some irresponsible people are also posting false and unsubstantiated rumours that aren't helping the situation

• We appeal to all parents to take full responsibility for their children and encourage them to stay away from town centres and where they know trouble will/could be

• If you're tempted to go along to watch or get involved in any disorder, please don't, for your own and other's safety. If you take the risk and get involved, you will feel the full weight of the law and as a consequence some of our young people will be criminalised

• If you know anyone who's causing trouble, report them to the police

With such a fast-moving situation, it's often hard to know what's fact and what's fiction. The most reliable place for information is @WMPolice on Twitter.

A number of CCTV pictures of those involved are being put onto the web and linked to social media sites and we appeal for the public's help in identifying those responsible and bringing them to justice. Visit www.west-midlands.police.uk, @WMPolice, @brumpolice

Detectives will also be manning a free phone number 0800 096 0095 and local rate 0207 158 0125 for anybody who has information about people involved in the disorder. In an emergency, always call 999.

Sandwell has a long history of good community relations and we ask people not to let the mindless actions of the few undermine that spirit, which today is resilient in the face of stupidity.