Gardeners encouraged to transform council land in Hull
The council said the initiative aimed to foster a sense of community, improve local environments and allow residents and community groups to take ownership of their local green spaces.Councillor Charles Quinn, cabinet portfolio holder for environment, said: "We encourage everyone, whether you have a passion for gardening or simply just want to try something new, to apply and take advantage of this fantastic opportunity."The council said applicants would be invited to discuss their project, before being issued with a licence agreement.More information about the Right to Grow initiative can be found on the council's website.Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
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BBC News
3 minutes ago
- BBC News
Londonderry walls most vandalised monument in Northern Ireland
Londonderry's historic city walls are the most vandalised monument in Northern Ireland, according to new figures.A total of 193 incidents have been recorded by the Department for Communities on the walls between April 2021 and April equates to 65% of all incidents recorded at historic monuments in Northern Ireland over during the same city's walls date back to the 1600s. They are Northern Ireland's largest state monument and one of the city's most popular visitor attractions. John Anderson from the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society said the accessibility of the walls made them "much more liable to attacks of this nature"."This vandalism is the bottom of the scale of a very large problem that goes way beyond monuments," Mr Anderson said."Whether it's graffiti on Derry's walls or whether it's arson on a listed building, these are criminal acts."Appreciation and value of the national asset that is built heritage, in all its forms, is in basically the cultural approach of any country, and that cultural approach needs to be led by example by the leaders of that country."Unfortunately the leadership over the decades in Northern Ireland hasn't been there, the sector is chronically underfunded, worse now than ever it was, and coming down to the graffiti level – presumably that is mostly youngsters – it's an easy target," Mr Anderson said. Geraldine Henderson from Glasgow and Patricia Mundy from Leeds are among the thousands of tourists visiting Derry this told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme it was both "disgraceful and appalling" that the walls should be subject to repeated vandalism."It is absolutely disgraceful after all that you have been through here," she said."First of all it's a pride thing and because of the heritage of Derry. It's a place like people like to come."Geraldine said looking after the walls was looking after the city's heritage."It's important to keep them for the history.... and I think we should all respect each other's history." Janice McNeilly told BBC Radio Foyle there is a vibrancy to the walls as well as a sense of history."People from all over the world appreciate them, we sort of get used to them, they are in the background," she said, adding it "would be a shame to see anything happen to them." Derry's walls The walls are Northern Ireland's largest state monument and Londonderry was the last walled city to be built in EuropeWhile the structure was commissioned in 1613, the build didn't begin until 1614 and ended in 1619The Honourable Irish Society built the walls in the 17th Century as defences for settlers from Scotland and England - the society still own them to this dayIn 2013, thousands of people took part in a Mexican wave along the walls to mark 400 years since they were erectedAccording figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, in 2022 Derry's Walls were among Northern Ireland's most visited attractions, with 577,000 taking to the mile-long walkway around the inner city The figures in relation to vandalism were revealed in response to an assembly question from SDLP MLA Justin McNulty. Stormont's Department for Communities has been asked for comment.
Daily Mail
3 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
I ditched the UK for an underrated African country - it's just as safe and I live in a huge house with a swimming pool, but there's one thing we always miss about England
A woman who ditched the UK to move to Zimbabwe has revealed the one thing she misses about living in England - despite living it up with a huge house and pool. Natalie Furk, from Leicester, moved to Zimbabwe in March 2024 with her husband James and their two children as they were attracted by the 'lifestyle' changes it would bring them. The family moved into a huge four-bedroom home with an office, large kitchen and dining room area, which they plan to renovate and a large garden, where they grow their own organic produce. But despite the sunshine, spacious living and wide availability of 'delicious, healthy' food, Natalie says her children can't help but crave one thing - McDonalds. Recently, the mother-of-two revealed she visited family in the UK for two weeks and on her way home she decided to bring chicken nuggets and chips back on the plane - even bringing them back in plastic sandwich bags. Taking to her TikTok account, @naturallyfakemum, Natalie said: 'I live in Zimbabwe and I've just got back from visiting my family in England for two weeks without my kids, without my husband and I promised them one thing. That I'd bring them a McDonald's back.' Natalie filmed herself surprising her children with the food from the fast food giant, which does not currently have any outlets in Zimbabwe, racking up more than 290,000 views on TikTok. She previously said the reason why she decided to make the move from the UK to Zimbabwe was because of the 'lifestyle' it offers her and because her husband's family lives there. 'My husband would always go on about how he had an amazing childhood in Zim,' she said. 'They got to play outside every day and swim every day, because most households have a swimming pool. 'We just want that. We have gone to Zim almost every year we've been together. I've got to know the lifestyle of Zim, I've got to know all the people.' Nat said that, in her opinion, living in Zimbabwe is no less safe than being back home, adding: 'It's just such a kind community and everyone is there for each other. A lot of people say it's unsafe, but it's just like here, you have to have your wits about you. 'Also, Zim is a beautiful country and it's on the rise. In the past eight years I've been going, a lot of stuff is being rectified. The roads are being fixed, businesses are popping up and creating more jobs. 'What I really love about Zim is that the food is so fresh, it's so delicious and so organic. It's actually more expensive to buy processed food there than it is to buy fresh food.' However, telling her UK-based relatives that they were making the big move didn't initially go down well. 'Telling my family was one of the hardest things I ever had to do!' she said in a TikTok video. 'I was nervous sweating and my heart was racing. My dad stormed out the room, and my sister cried.' On TikTok, people were left divided by her McDonalds 'hack', while others were surprised it's not yet available to buy in the south African country. One person wrote: 'Would the chicken not be a bit dodgy to eat with all that traveling not in a fridge?' Another said: 'This is on another level of 'mum can you bring McDonald's home please'' Someone else added: 'Could you not just keep the packaging and cook some fries and nuggets??' A fourth said: 'Is there not one there? I thought there was a McDonald's everywhere lol xx' Natalie works in aesthetics, offering botox, microblading, microneedling services, and also bakes cakes to sell at a local market every weekend. Previously, an expat revealed how he ditched the UK for the north African country of Morocco. 'The weather in Morocco is terrific, the wine is cheap – and there's no undercurrent of racism here, like in the UK.' The clip racked up over 290,000 views and people rushed to the comments to leave their thoughts on Natalie's extreme lengths So says British-born architect Philip Brebner, who has been running Riad Porte Royale, a B&B he owns in Marrakech, for the last 20 years, alongside writing books, with his newest novel, Shadows of Marrakech out now. It was a 'moment of madness' in 2004 while accompanying his wife on a work trip, that saw Philip buy the property in the town's old quarter, the Medina. At the time, the Marrakech riad was 'rundown and dilapidated', as the couple 'didn't have much money', but they decided to renovate it before opening it as a guest house in 2006, and Philip has never looked back. He says: 'Marrakech is a really lovely place to be and a wonderful location. It's a bit of an oasis, and it's just got everything. 'In the city, all the buildings are pink, so it just feels really magical and charming. 'You also have the Agafay Stone Desert very nearby, and you can see the Atlas Mountains from the city, where you can go skiing if there is enough snow. And then, if you go over the Atlas, you have wonderful gorges, a dune desert and oases. 'And, of course, it's sunny most of the time!'
Telegraph
3 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Primary school pupils in white working-class regions ‘among worst performing'
Primary school pupils in white working-class regions are among the worst performing in the country, a report has suggested. The Institute for Government (IfG) think tank said disadvantaged white pupils in England have 'particularly poor educational outcomes' compared to their peers. In a report published on Wednesday, it found that councils in the bottom fifth for performance of disadvantaged pupils were 'disproportionately likely' to have large shares of pupils from white working-class backgrounds. Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, last week sounded the alarm over the 'national disgrace' of under-performance among the demographic. She warned that 'far too many' white working-class children were failing to get the exam results they needed to move on in life and risked being 'written off' by society. Pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive their GCSE results on Thursday, a week after A-level results were handed out. This year's cohort were mostly aged 11 when schools were first closed during the Covid pandemic. The IfG report analysed pupil performance at Key Stage 2 – when children are around the same age, in their final year of primary school. It claimed that educational inequalities across England have 'grown wider and more pronounced' since the pandemic, with only 10 local authorities recording the same or better attainment levels last year than before the first Covid lockdown. Disparities have grown especially among the poorest children, in part because they were less likely to have access to laptops or quiet office spaces during the pandemic, the think tank said. It meant fewer than half of disadvantaged pupils – or around 46 per cent – met the expected standards in reading, writing and maths for Year Six last year. The results were particularly stark among regions with high rates of white working-class children, with only 41 per cent meeting the required standards for 11-year-olds last year. It included areas such as Knowsley and Blackpool, while almost all of the top performing regions in Key Stage 2 attainment were in London. Along with pupils from mixed white or black Caribbean backgrounds, white working-class children were the only pupils with attainment rates lower than the national average last year, the IfG said. By contrast, close to half of disadvantaged children from mixed backgrounds met that benchmark, with the figure rising to nearly 60 per cent for both disadvantaged black pupils and disadvantaged Asian pupils. The IfG cited previous research by the Commons education committee, which suggested that white British children's performance may be particularly vulnerable to disadvantage. It said this was because they were more clustered in rural or coastal areas with 'lower funding ... higher teacher vacancies, longer travel times and worse digital infrastructure'. The think tank suggested tackling high absence rates would help to improve performance among disadvantaged pupils. The Telegraph revealed last week that the Government was preparing a series of interventions to address low attainment measures among certain demographics in a white paper to be unveiled in the autumn. Measures being considered by ministers include plans to expand an AI-powered attendance tool, showing schools how they fare against those with similar demographic make-ups. The Department for Education currently publishes data showing school absence levels among minority ethnic groups, but is understood to be alarmed at figures for white working-class pupils.
