A minute's silence has been observed across the West Midlands in remembrance of those in the country who died as a result of coronavirus.

A day of reflection is being held as the UK marks the anniversary of the first lockdown.

This was the scene at the West Midlands Ambulance Service academy in Brierley Hill.

Across the region there has been 14,623 deaths with 419,635 people testing positive for Covid-19.

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Dozens of you have been sharing photographs showing your last 'normal' event before a national lockdown was announced 12 months ago.

Image source, Kerry Morgon-Shaw

On the BBC Midlands Facebook page, Kerry Morgon-Shaw shared her memory of going to see Stereophonics in Birmingham on 29 February.

"Awesome gig, miss live music," she said.

Image source, Louise Rotheram

Louise Rotheram posts: "Myself & my partner went to our local church to hear our Banns read.

"A few days after this photo was taken, we ended up postponing our wedding. We’ve now postponed it twice and still not yet married."

Image source, Tina Mendolia

Tina Mendolia writes of a trip to a Stoke-on-Trent attraction: "On 23rd March we knew lockdown was going to be announced that evening so we took one last look at Trentham Gardens that afternoon as we guessed it could be weeks before we could go again.

"Little did we know that these would be the last spring photos."

Image source, Janice Andrews

And Janice Andrews shared this picture of herself and colleagues from Handsworth Wood U3A on their trip to the Mailbox in Birmingham on 14 March 2020.

Keep sharing the photographs via email, Twitter, external and Facebook , externaland we'll highlight as many as we can.

BBC local radio

BBC local radio stations across the West Midlands will today mark the anniversary of the Make a Difference campaign.

The scheme was launched to offer help and support to listeners during the coronavirus lockdown.

In the past 12 months more than four million people have either called or messaged their local BBC radio station.

Dracula fans, takeaway lovers and thwarted drinkers are all counting the cost of flouting the rules.

BBC Weather

It will be a dry but overcast day with the odd brighter spell and highs of 12C (54F).

Thousands of disabled leaseholders warn they are financially and physically trapped by the crisis.

Simon Wilkins, 28, who did not know his victim, is jailed for more than 17 years.

Rob Lamb, a 58-year-old Scotsman, was greeted back home by applause and bagpipes.

Rob Lamb suffered a spinal cord injury in October, leaving him paralysed from the chest down.

A mobile unit offering rapid testing for Covid-19 has been set up in Wolverhampton.

Anyone without symptoms is invited to get tested at the site, at Rocket Pool Strengthening Families Hub, in Bradley.

Image source, Getty Images

Emma Lou, 10, won a national competition to design the mascot for the 2022 games.

BBC Weather

It will be a dry day with occasional bright spells and highs of 13°C (50 to 55°F)

The latest news and updates from across the West Midlands and south Cheshire.

Areema Nasreen was one of the youngest NHS workers to die of Covid-19 at the start of the pandemic.

Operators in northern England and the Midlands get grant as they continue with low passenger numbers.

Trevor Johnson, a porter at New Cross Hospital, died at the hospital he worked at in October.

Steelworks have nearly been completed at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham City Council says.

The stadium in Perry Barr, will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as athletics events at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The steelworks will be finished by next week, the council said, with work to add fixtures and fittings underway.

Image source, Birmingham City Council

Councillor Ian Ward, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: "This is an exciting milestone and it's testament to the hard work and efforts of all involved that we have made such progress despite the challenges of delivery during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We can now clearly see what the new stadium will look like when complete."

The stadium is due to be finished by Spring next year.

Sir Lenny Henry wrote to Sonny, eight, thanking him for his "brilliant idea".

An off-duty firefighter has been praised after helping to save a child who was trapped inside a house.

Russ Jones rushed to a blaze at a house on Farren Road in Northfield, Birmingham on Thursday.

There, he discovered the occupant's son was missing inside.

After spotting a curtain moving in the front room, he found the boy lying on the floor by a front room window, and smashed the glass with a rock to enable him to lean in and pull the boy to safety.

Image source, West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service

The boy was treated for minor injuries by West Midlands Ambulance colleagues and then transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

The fire has since been found to have started accidentally

Mr Jones, who has been a firefighter for 24 years, said: "As soon as I saw the fire and was told a young child missing in the property, I had to do something.

"Without my firefighting kit there it was too dangerous for me to enter the property, so I had to find a way of trying to locate the boy and rescue him. I’m just so grateful I did and that he is OK."

The British car is now considered a classic, sought after across the world.