Lifestyle

By Deborah Hodge Brexit has unearthed some deep seated xenophobia and staggering U-turns from politicians. The vote has divided the country even more. The class system is alive and well. Under Cameron we have seen More Brits are living off benefits today than at any other time since the establishment of the welfare state. Many claimants have spent longer on benefits than in work. Some have never known what it is to have a job and others have found that work simply...

How long do you spend each morning wrapped in a towel staring to the abyss of your wardrobe wondering what to wear? According to new research British women spend an average of 17 minutes a day rifling through their wardrobes, and it's sending the country into a rage. Almost one in five British women admit they have ended up upset or angry at not finding an outfit they are happy with on a morning, according to a new study, and 15 per cent even say...

An engineering student at Cambridge University has reinvented the traditional river punt by installing pedal power. The so-called 'puntcycle' was invented by 22 year-old Barnaby Walker who converted an unloved old punt into a sleek, two-wheeled speed machine capable of leaving all other river-users in his wake. He decided to breathe new life into French Hen, a punt which was a year older than himself, and rescued it after being beached for three years. Traditionally punts – long narrow boats with flat...

A beginner's guide to budgeting  Budgeting can feel like a daunting prospect for some, if you haven’t paid attention to your bank account each month actually looking at how much you have left midway through could have you spiraling into a pit of despair – but it doesn’t have to be this way! If you’re new to budgeting, here’s how to get started instead of burying your head in the sand and watching the numbers tick over into the minus moments...

Whether you’re thinking of taking up road biking to boost your health, cut the cost of a commute or live a greener lifestyle, there are very real benefits to be had. But, if you’ve been out of the saddle for a while, are anxious about being on busy roads or are just wondering how a road bike differs to other types of bicycle, Formby Cycles offer some of their best advice for beginners:   What is a Road Bike? Road...

Review: Goosebumps Kids, The Vaults, Waterloo A looming half-term is enough to give most parents in the capital sleepless nights but this time around there’s a new attraction to keep even the most terrifying of little monsters entertained. Staged deep underground in the creepy vaults beneath Waterloo Station, Goosebumps Kids brings to life RL Stine’s bestselling children’s horror stories in a spine-tingling theatrical adventure aimed at five- to 11-year-olds. Not quite knowing what to expect, my nine-year-old son and I...

Sometimes things can get fraught in the workplace. Many workplaces are a strange melting pot of people from different backgrounds, forced together in a bid to meet the aims and ambitions of a company, and their own ambitions. It’s perhaps to be expected that people thrown together in this way might well disagree about things, especially if under pressure. A disagreement is fine, but if it festers and grows into a dispute then it can harm a business. In 2014-15...

The weather is warming up, the outdoors is beckoning and the nights are getting lighter. It all sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? It most respects it is but for all the feel-good factor that the onset of summer brings, it comes with its own cautionary note for home owners: crime rates go up in the summer. From a homeowner’s point of view, the key concern is not so much the overall crime rate as the number of...

Brits are missing out on the big moments in life because they're too busy trying to capture them on their mobile phones. New research has revealed that four in ten say they have not truly experienced significant moments such as a child's first steps or graduation because they were too busy taking pictures for social media. Indeed, the study found one young mum missed her child’s first words because she was messing around with her phone and a student missed a crucial...