Six furry-friends join London Fire Brigade
On Newsround we love to tell you about amazing animals doing amazing things, like dogs with jobs. So, we couldn't not share with you these newly-qualified fur-st responders. Six new well-being dogs have joined the team at London Fire Brigade to to help firefighters recover after tough call-outs.The dogs have been trained to visit over 102 fire stations across London and provide the firefighters with some canine love after a tough day at work.
The London Fire well-being dog scheme launched in 2017 and has continued to grow since. These six newly qualified pups will join the dogs already part of the scheme and giving support across London. They include Blue who is a miniature Australian Shepherd, and Ted, a three-year-old cocker spaniel. Once the training is complete, the team will have ten dogs and their handlers, but they hope to continue to recruit more furry colleagues in the future.
Lucy MacLeod is Blue's handler and volunteers alongside him. She said: "He is happy to be stroked, adores being made a fuss of and he is very calm around people."Adding, "Evidence shows that animals like Blue, can have a calming influence on people and provide a positive distraction; there's no judgement from a dog."Now, let's give them a round of a-paws for their new jobs!
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Lord Foster wins bid to design national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II
Renowned architect Lord Foster has won the bid to design the national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II, with a new bridge inspired by the late Queen's wedding tiara. Lord Foster, who once criticised the King for using his 'privileged position' to intervene in a development, will transform St James's Park, close to Buckingham Palace, with a 'very light touch' in a 'contemplative' tribute to the nation's longest-reigning monarch. Key features include a statue of the Queen in a new civic space called Queen Elizabeth II Place at Marlborough Gate, a new Prince Philip Gate on the other side of the park on Birdcage Walk with a statue of Philip, as well as a 'family of gardens', meandering paths and a new translucent, glass unity bridge. Lord Foster, who was responsible for The Gherkin in London, said it was an honour and a privilege to be awarded the project, and that the bridge was symbolic of the Queen as a 'unifying force'. In an interview with the PA news agency, Lord Foster described his design as a 'very light touch' which aimed to capture both the formal and informal qualities of the late Queen. 'The Queen encompassed, historically, periods of significant change, socially and technologically, but it was all very much with a light touch, and that light touch, the feeling should be that if you visit St James's Park and the site in question later, it will still feel very familiar,' he said. 'It will feel better. It won't be so crowded, although this number of people will be going through it, and the experience will be heightened, but it won't be 'Oh, my god, they've destroyed the tradition of this Park'.' The architect, who was personally appointed to the Order of Merit by the Queen in 1997 in recognition of his service to architecture, said: 'Like many, I knew the Queen through formal occasions, but there was this very special relationship between Her Majesty and those of us who were members of the Order of Merit. 'So we were privileged to see perhaps a more informal aspect of Her Majesty and in many ways that is mirrored in in our design. 'It is in some ways formal in its relationship to The Mall and informal in the gardens, and the perhaps breaking down those barriers in terms of narrative storytelling.' He added: 'At the heart of our masterplan is a translucent bridge symbolic of Her Majesty as a unifying force, bringing together nations, countries, the Commonwealth, charities and the armed forces.' Speaking about the echoes of the Queen's wedding tiara, Lord Foster said it came from the 'idea of something that could be jewel-like could be very beautifully crafted and with a lot of loving care, so there would be the human touch to it'. The crossing with its cast-glass balustrades will replace the existing blue bridge and has been inspired by the Queen Mary Fringe diamond tiara worn by Princess Elizabeth on her wedding day to the late Duke of Edinburgh in 1947. Featuring 47 bars of diamonds, the tiara's antique metal frame famously snapped when the princess was getting ready on the morning of her wedding, and had to be rushed to jewellers Garrard to be fixed. The priceless headpiece was of great sentimental value to the Queen and she loaned it to her granddaughter Princess Beatrice for her wedding in 2020. Lord Foster said his plan also depicted a statue of both the Queen and Philip side by side at the Prince Philip Gate: 'We showed them together and, in a way, there was this inseparable quality which we sought to convey.' He also suggested the bridge across the lake would be illuminated at night, and spoke of plans to float the construction, which he described as a 'showcase of British architecture', down the River Thames and put it in place discreetly and seamlessly overnight, without the need for heavy building work. 'The pursuit of lightness and performance enables us overnight to remove an existing bridge and to put back a bridge, to have a very, very gentle presence at night, almost a kind of light lighting experience, and translucent and absolutely flat, hugging the surface of the lake so seamlessly,' he said. 'There's no heavy building work, big excavations, destroying nature. It's a very, very light touch.' The bridge, which may feature braille inscriptions along the handrail, will be gently wider in the middle to create more space for visitors using the crossing, in comparison to the narrow, existing blue bridge. Lord Foster added that the atmosphere of memorial would be 'gentler, quieter, more contemplative, and an opportunity to rediscover, or perhaps for some to discover, the legacy of Her Majesty'. He insisted his previous 'minor differences' with the King were in the past and 'absolutely insignificant' as part of the bigger picture. In 2009, Lord Foster was one of a number of architects who publicly criticised the then-Prince of Wales over his lobbying and wrote a letter to a newspaper accusing Charles of using his 'privileged position' to 'skew the course' of the planning of the former Chelsea Barracks. The prince, who championed traditional approaches to architecture, had reportedly privately contacted developers Qatari Diar, backed by the Qatari royal family, to recommend more classical plans by architect Quinlan Terry, rather than those by modernist architect Lord Rogers. But Lord Foster said on Monday: 'First of all, this is a memorial to the legacy of Her Majesty and, big picture, the concerns of King Charles and anybody, myself included, who has a concern for the environment, we're all totally aligned. 'And any minor differences in the past about debates or whatever, I mean, that really is the past, and in the big picture is absolutely insignificant.' He added: 'I engaged with Prince Charles on our project for the Royal Academy, many, many years ago, and I've always enjoyed any such exchanges.' Foster + Partners won the competition after being selected by the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee from five shortlisted designs, with feedback taken from a public vote, as well as stakeholders and cultural experts. The proposal for the memorial will be subject to change, with the panel of committee members working with the team on the final design, which is expected to be unveiled in 2026, which would have been the late Queen's 100th birthday year. The next stage will be to appoint a sculptor and decide on the designs of the statues. The winning team also includes artist Yinka Shonibare, ecologist Professor Nigel Dunnett, who was behind the Superbloom planting scheme in the Tower of London's moat to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee, and landscape architect Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, and the plans features potential for audio installations of the Queen's voice. Other elements are a contemporary wind sculpture by Shonibare for reflection featuring floral depictions inspired by the Queen's coronation gown, a communities of the UK garden, a Commonwealth garden and a Prince Philip Gate garden. The Queen's former private secretary Lord Janvrin, chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, hailed the plan's 'sensitivity'. He suggested the Queen would have particularly liked the representation of her tiara. 'Her Majesty would undoubtedly have liked the location and I think she would have picked up that echo of the tiara in the bridge,' Lord Janvrin told PA. 'I think the planting would have been of huge interest to her and the contrast between formal and informal – and the Commonwealth area would have resonated with her'. Lord Janvrin described Lord Foster as an outstanding national figure. 'Throughout the Queen's reign, Lord Foster was a key figure in British architecture,' he said. 'She knew him personally and made him a member of the Order of Merit, which is a personal gift way back in the late 90s. 'So, in a way, I think the fact that he has been this hugely important figure during her reign is deeply appropriate to end up with this extraordinarily important assignment at this stage.' The decision was part of a commercial competition with the winning design made by the committee and the King having no input in the choice, but Buckingham Palace was aware of the shortlisted entries, Lord Janvrin said. 'It wouldn't have surprised me if he'd had a good look at them,' Lord Janvrin said of the King. Foster + Partners saw off competition from teams such as Heatherwick Studio, which suggested a bridge of togetherness with a giant canopy of stone lily pads.
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Two young bears escape from enclosure in Devon... and devour a week's worth of honey
Two young bears escaped from their enclosure at a wildlife park in Devon - and devoured a week's worth of honey. In a tale straight out of Winnie The Pooh, Mish and Lucy immediately dashed for the food store during their hour of freedom at the Wildwood Trust site. Visitors were "promptly escorted to a secure building" - but a spokesperson confirmed the peckish pair were not a danger to the public at any point. "The bears were continuously monitored both on the ground and via CCTV until they calmly returned to their enclosure and fell asleep," the statement added. Police attended the scene "in line with standard protocol" - and an investigation has been launched into how the four-year-olds managed to escape in the first place. "The exhibit is secure, and we are grateful to our staff and visitors for their cooperation, which helped us resolve the situation swiftly and safely," the Wildwood Trust said. Mish and Lucy were abandoned by their mother in a snowdrift in the Albanian mountains. While several efforts were made to reintroduce them to the wild, conservationists soon concluded they could not survive on their own. A fundraising campaign meant the siblings could be transported to Wildwood's Kent park in 2020 - and after six months, they settled into their "forever home" in Devon. Mish is a playful bear who enjoys splashing around in pools and swinging in hammocks, while Lucy "loves nothing more" than spending time with her brother and climbing trees. They feast on kilos of berries, fruits, vegetables, seeds, fish and meat every day. And honey… apparently.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Queen Elizabeth memorial to include Prince Philip
The winning design for the national memorial for Queen Elizabeth II will also feature her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, alongside a traditional statue of the late Norman Foster's design team has been announced as the winner in the competition for a memorial to honour Britain's longest-reigning monarch, to be built in St James's Park in central key part of the winning entry is a translucent bridge inspired by the shape of the late Queen's wedding chosen design is multi-faceted, with a separate statue of the Queen and Prince Philip, gardens and a Prince Philip Gate, along with a main monument to the late Queen to be built beside the Mall. Lord Foster said of Prince Philip's inclusion: "We showed them together and, in a way, there was this inseparable quality which we sought to convey."The design, chosen from a shortlist of five concepts, is a balance of "traditional elements and modern elements, informal and formal", says Lord Robert Janvrin, chair of the memorial committee and the late Queen's former private Janvrin wants the memorial to help people "reflect on an extraordinary life, someone who for a very long reign was part of the way that this nation looked at itself, the way that we changed and evolved".He says the memorial should evoke a "sense of her life of service".He told the BBC he thought she would have been pleased with the memorial being placed in St James's Park, visible from Buckingham Palace."I think the location is something which would have appealed to her. You can see the bridge from the room where she often sat for paintings," he Janvrin thought she would have approved of the proposed new bridge across the pond, with a reinforced glass balustrade, echoing the tiara worn on her wedding day in 1947. Elizabeth and Philip's marriage lasted 73 years, until his death in 2021. The late Queen spoke of how much she missed her "beloved" husband and this memorial design brings them together, with figures of the couple and a Prince Philip is no date yet set for the monument to be completed. And the final cost has still be decided, with a budget previously said to be between £23m and £ design will see the re-landscaping of a section of St James's Park, with a bridge, two new gates, and two gardens, as well as statues of the Queen and the Queen with Prince Philip. The main statue of the late Queen will be on a prominent site close to the Foster said it was an "honour and a privilege" for his team to carry out this project, which "stretched the boundaries of art and technology".The leading architect's previous work has included the Gherkin office block and the Great Court of the British Museum in London, and the Reichstag dome in said the memorial was a creative attempt to convey the "values she represented" to the "many people who are passing through the park". The different layers of the memorial would suggest the "richness, the complexity and the many different dimensions" of the late Queen's reign, he saidAnd the bridge would have a light, "jewel-like" quality, he final look of the statues will depend on the sculptor, who has yet to be appointed. But the illustrations of the main monument so far have shown a conventional image of the late Queen on was "so synonymous" with horse riding, said Lord Amos, who was on the committee that chose the winner, said the "ambitious design will create a beautiful space for people to come together".The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, said it was a "beautiful memorial" to the late Queen's "life and legacy of public service" which would provide a "space to reflect on and celebrate our longest-reigning monarch for centuries to come". Sign up here to get the latest royal stories and analysis every week with our Royal Watch newsletter. Those outside the UK can sign up here.
