MAYOR OF Solihull Coun Sardul Singh Marwa MBE JP, visited Chelmunds Place to announce his second Mayoral charity for 2026-27, Our Voice Our Services (OVOS).
OVOS is Solihull’s Children in Care Council, a group helping all care-experienced children and young people across Solihull with a range of services, participation opportunities, and activities.
Whilst the Mayor was there, he had the chance to speak to Eve Carter, a care-experienced young person who was regularly part of OVOS whilst growing up.
Alongside speaking about the fantastic work of OVOS, they also bonded over the fact that the Lord Mayor worked previously with, and was a close friend of, Eve’s Great Grandfather, Frank Carter, the Lord Mayor of Birmingham from 1985-86.
The Mayor used his time at Chelmunds Place to understand more about some of the ways in which OVOS has been able to help young people across Solihull.
He also took time to speak to the dedicated staff members about their day-to-day work helping care-experienced young people across Solihull.
Coun Singh Marwa said: ““The work that OVOS does with care-experienced children and young people across the borough is fantastic.
“Not only are they able to help with accessing and maximising all the support available to those in need, but they treat care-experienced children and young people as if they were their own family, with the utmost respect and kindness.
“Being able to speak to the workers who make it happen, and people like Eve, who could speak nothing but fondly about her time growing up with OVOS, truly highlights how invaluable the work they do for care-experienced children and young people across Solihull is.”
Operations Manager for Children’s Improvement and Standards, and manager of the OVOS team, Yvonne Obaidy, spoke about how thankful she was for the Mayor selecting OVOS as one of his chosen charities;
She said: “The work that OVOS does across Solihull has helped and continues to help so many care-experienced children and young people throughout the years, ensuring that our children can have fun in a safe and supportive setting.
“Being one of the Mayor’s chosen charities will make such a valuable difference to our fundraising and the publicity we’ll gain over the Mayor’s year in office.”
