Latest news with #408
Scottish Sun
04-05-2025
- Health
- Scottish Sun
Little-known benefit that gives parents a £442 boost to spend in supermarkets
A LITTLE-known benefit that gives parents up to £442 to spend on their weekly food shop continues to go unclaimed. An estimated 181,255 households could be due the support, according to new figures by Policy in Practice. 1 Parents can get up to £442 a year towards their weekly grocery shops Credit: Getty The Healthy Start scheme supports pregnant people and families with young children. The free cash support available can be used to fund groceries, including fruit, vegetables, and milk. The scheme provides a weekly allowance of £4.25 for people over 10 weeks pregnant, £8.50 for the first year of a child's life, and £4.25 a week for children aged one to four. Eligibility is based on income levels and entitlement to means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit. It's always worth checking to see if you can claim, as it can be worth up to £442 a year per child. Previously Healthy Start used to be issued via paper vouchers, but eligible households now receive a prepaid card. We've explained everything you need to know about the Healthy Start scheme below. Who is eligible? To receive the Healthy Start card, you must be on one of the following benefits: Child tax credits (only if your family's annual income is £16,190 or less) Income support Income-based jobseeker's allowance Pension credit (which includes the child addition) Universal Credit (only if your family's take-home pay is £408 or less per month from employment) You will also be eligible for Healthy Start if: You're under 18 and pregnant, even if you are not claiming any benefits You claim income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and are over 10 weeks pregnant You, your partner or your carer get working tax credit run-on only after you have reported you're working 16 hours or less per week Beware of tax firms taking a slice of your HMRC refund What can I buy with my Healthy Start card THE card can only be used to buy certain items - here is the full list of what you can and cannot buy You can purchase the following: Fresh fruit and veg Tinned or frozen fruit or veg Dried fruit Fresh, dried or tinned pulses Fresh or long-life pasteurised cow's milk Baby formula made from cow's milk Healthy Start vitamins You cannot purchase: Any frozen or tinned foods with added ingredients like fat, salt, sugar or flavourings, such as tinned tomatoes with herbs or kidney beans in chilli sauce Chips or onion rings Tinned fruits in syrup Smoothies or juices Plant-based milk Follow-on formula Powdered, condensed or flavoured milk (apart from stage one infant formula) How much will I get? You'll get £4.25 each week of your pregnancy from the 10th week, £8.50 each week for children from birth to one, and £4.25 each week for children between one and four. That's as much as £442 worth of free food over the year for each child. Your money will stop when your child is four years old or if you no longer receive benefits. How do I access the cash? Healthy Start money is issued on a prepaid card that you can use in most places where food is sold, including supermarkets such as Alid, Iceland and Tesco. You can also swipe it at a number of convenience stores, pharmacies, markets, butchers shops and petrol stations.
The Sun
04-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Little-known benefit that gives parents a £442 boost to spend in supermarkets
A LITTLE-known benefit that gives parents up to £442 to spend on their weekly food shop continues to go unclaimed. An estimated 181,255 households could be due the support, according to new figures by Policy in Practice. The Healthy Start scheme supports pregnant people and families with young children. The free cash support available can be used to fund groceries, including fruit, vegetables, and milk. The scheme provides a weekly allowance of £4.25 for people over 10 weeks pregnant, £8.50 for the first year of a child's life, and £4.25 a week for children aged one to four. Eligibility is based on income levels and entitlement to means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit. It's always worth checking to see if you can claim, as it can be worth up to £442 a year per child. Previously Healthy Start used to be issued via paper vouchers, but eligible households now receive a prepaid card. We've explained everything you need to know about the Healthy Start scheme below. Who is eligible? To receive the Healthy Start card, you must be on one of the following benefits: Child tax credits (only if your family's annual income is £16,190 or less) Income support Income-based jobseeker's allowance Pension credit (which includes the child addition) Universal Credit (only if your family's take-home pay is £408 or less per month from employment) You will also be eligible for Healthy Start if: You're under 18 and pregnant, even if you are not claiming any benefits You claim income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and are over 10 weeks pregnant You, your partner or your carer get working tax credit run-on only after you have reported you're working 16 hours or less per week Beware of tax firms taking a slice of your HMRC refund What can I buy with my Healthy Start card THE card can only be used to buy certain items - here is the full list of what you can and cannot buy You can purchase the following: Fresh fruit and veg Tinned or frozen fruit or veg Dried fruit Fresh, dried or tinned pulses Fresh or long-life pasteurised cow's milk Baby formula made from cow's milk Healthy Start vitamins You cannot purchase: Any frozen or tinned foods with added ingredients like fat, salt, sugar or flavourings, such as tinned tomatoes with herbs or kidney beans in chilli sauce Chips or onion rings Tinned fruits in syrup Smoothies or juices Plant-based milk Follow-on formula Powdered, condensed or flavoured milk (apart from stage one infant formula) How much will I get? You'll get £4.25 each week of your pregnancy from the 10th week, £8.50 each week for children from birth to one, and £4.25 each week for children between one and four. That's as much as £442 worth of free food over the year for each child. Your money will stop when your child is four years old or if you no longer receive benefits. How do I access the cash? Healthy Start money is issued on a prepaid card that you can use in most places where food is sold, including supermarkets such as Alid, Iceland and Tesco. You can also swipe it at a number of convenience stores, pharmacies, markets, butchers shops and petrol stations. What help is available for parents? CHILDCARE can be a costly business. Here is how you can get help. 30 hours free childcare - Parents of three and four-year-olds can apply for 30 hours free childcare a week. To qualify you must usually work at least 16 hours a week at the national living or minimum wage and earn less than £100,000 a year. Tax credits - For children under 20, some families can get help with childcare costs. Childcare vouchers - If your employer offers childcare vouchers you can get up to £55 a week in tax and national insurance savings. You pay for your childcare before your tax contributions are taken out. This scheme is open to new joiners until October 4, 2018, when it is planned that tax-free childcare will replace the vouchers. Tax-free childcare - Available to working families and the self-employed, for every £8 you put in the government will add an extra £2.
News18
25-04-2025
- Sport
- News18
Virat Kohli Breaks Chris Gayle's Record To Take 2nd Position In Elite List Led By David Warner
In 408 T20 matches played so far for three teams, Virat Kohli has scored 111 fifty-plus scores. Virat Kohli is on fire for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the ongoing 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). With more than 350 runs to his name in the ongoing season, the 36-year-old right-handed batter is leading the batting charts for the Bengaluru-based franchise. During his team's ninth league match of the ongoing season on Thursday, April 24, against Rajasthan Royals at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Kohli entered his name in the history books by breaking Chris Gayle's record of 110 fifty-plus scores in T20s. During his 17-year-long T20 career, Gayle played 463 matches for more than a dozen teams and scored 110 fifty-plus scores. On the other hand, the half-century in the ongoing match against RR is Kohli's 111th fifty-plus score in the shortest format of the game. Only former Australian opening batter David Warner (117 fifty-plus scores in 404 matches) has scored more 50+ scores in T20s than Kohli. Most 50+ Scores In T20s Kohli has scored nine centuries and 102 half-centuries in T20s. Kohli, who won the Player of the Match award for his unbeaten 73 in the last match played against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur on April 20, crossed the 50-run mark with a four on the fourth ball of the 12th over of RCB's innings bowled by Sandeep Sharma. He needed 32 balls to score his first fifty of the ongoing IPL 2025 season in Bengaluru. Earlier during the early phase of his innings, he also completed 3500 T20 runs at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Kohli, who is the all-time leading run scorer in IPL history, has been associated with RCB in the IPL since the first season. He is the only cricketer in the world to play in all 18 editions of the IPL for the same team. During his team's last match against PBKS, he broke David Warner's record of most 50+ scores in the IPL. Kohli, who is playing his 261st IPL match on Thursday, has 68 fifty-plus scores to his name, whereas Warner finished his career with 66 fifty-plus scores in 184 matches for Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
South Wales Argus
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- South Wales Argus
Peugeot 408 coupe review: A coupe without compromise
The 406 Coupe, launched in the 1990s, was widely lauded as being one of the best mass-market coupes and some critics even likened its looks to a contemporaneous Ferrari. Its successor, the 407 Coupe, is commonly known as the 'shark nose' thanks to an inordinately long snout (a pointless response to new crash regulations which led to an entire generation of Peugeots which had a lot in common with fellow French export, Cyrano de Bergerac). And now we have the 408 – a coupe with four doors and a hatchback, an impressive amount of cutting-edge tech and a surprisingly wide range of engines. Interestingly, Peugeot bosses seemed unsure to which category the 408 belonged when the wraps came off a couple of years ago. CEO Linda Jackson said it was a mixture of a saloon and an SUV but, to my eyes, it's all coupe. Looking good: The Peugeot 408 - a coupe with no compromise (Image: Peugeot UK) Peugeot is betting that it won't be a niche player, however, and offers a wide range of engines from a mild-hybrid petrol to a pure electric. The car sent for review was the hybrid which pairs a small 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol turbo with a 48V battery and a small electric motor for a combined power output of 136 bhp. That's plenty for day-to-day and you'll have no problem cruising the motorway with plenty in reserve (top speed is over 130mph). Around town, the electric motor fills in the lack of low-down torque for smart getaways at the traffic lights. You can drive on the battery alone, just not very far. The tester arrived in metallic blue (what Peugeot calls Obsession Blue) and it looks fantastic. It's a £750 optional extra but, I have to say, it suits the 408's attractive lines perfectly. The car got many an admiring glance as I wafted along in town. Big beefy 19-inch alloys fill out the arches nicely, and Peugeot's 'lion's fang' daytime running lights, paired with a massive 3-D grille, look dramatic. It's a very smart looking car and a refreshing change from hordes of identikit SUVs. It drives like a proper Peugeot, too, with excellent damping on poorly surfaced roads, a flat cornering attitude, good grip and low-geared steering which gives it the kind of instant response Mini owners know and love. Hopefully, Peugeot will green light a GTi version of the 408 (or perhaps an Mi16) because the chassis feels as though it could handle a lot more than 134bhp. If it does, a manual gearbox option would be good. The eight-speed automatic is generally smooth but saps acceleration and can sometimes be caught out if you demand instant acceleration. In bad weather, you'll miss the lack of a rear wiper (something of a rare feature these days) because, despite careful aero management, the tail still flicks up dirt from the road and messes with your rear vision. No such concerns about forward visibility, though. The view from the driving seat is good and even better at night thanks to the LED matrix lighting which react to on-coming traffic in real time to avoid dazzle but still, somehow, throw a full-beam light into the road ahead. They work, too, and I didn't once get flashed by angry drivers who thought I was dazzling them. Every car should have a similar system. Inside there's plenty of room, although taller passengers may find headroom in the back seats slightly restricted due to the downward swoop of the roofline. The fascia looks modern but not at the expense of usability. The 3-D instrument cluster is clear and attractive. I appreciated the large centre console/cup holder, which has a sliding cover to hide valuable objects, and the steering wheel controls (cruise/driver assist on the left, audio on the right) which are easy to operate. The tailgate opens to reveal a generous well-shaped boot space, making this a practical car and not just a good-looking one. The interior is modern, but simple to use. (Image: Peugeot UK) For your cash you get a lot of kit: on the GT model that includes personalised ambient interior lighting (eight different colours to choose), chunky leather heated steering wheel, 'magic flat' folding rear seats with lever releases in the boot (v handy), dual zone air conditioning, an air purification system, full digi instrument pack, wireless smartphone charging, a foot-operated rear tailgate, parking sensor and colour reversing camera, full smartphone integration and USB-C charging sockets. The standard sat nav received live updates via the TomTom servers and speed camera alerts. A three-year subscription is part of the overall package. The touchscreen is nice and responsive (although my Android phone's screen was squeezed to fit the Peugeot screen ratio which meant some of the icons look a bit… fat). This is an issue with several manufacturers and is down to how the Android Auto screen scaling protocol is implemented in software. Kudos to Peugeot for including physical controls for the heating and ventilation so you don't have to stab around a touchscreen just to turn on the air conditioning. Traditional wisdom goes that a true coupe shouldn't compromise on style for reasons of practicality. That's why drivers have been prepared to pay a premium for good looks even if it meant less space and a smaller boot. But the 408 proves you can have your cake and eat it. It looks great from every angle, but the roomy interior and large boot make it a genuine family car. A coupe without compromise? I think it could be. SPEC CHECK: Peugeot 408 136 GT. Price: £37,337. Engine: 1.2-litre turbo/48v battery/electric motor. Max power: 136 bhp. Max torque: 170Nm. Top speed: 136 mph. 0-62mph: 10.2 seconds. Combined fuel consumption: 47.9-58.8mpg. Luggage capacity: 536 litres seats upright.
The Independent
18-03-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Population aged 90 and over hits new high as more men live to old age
The UK population aged 90 and over has reached a new high, driven by an increase in the number of men living to a very old age. Some 611,719 people in the country were estimated to be 90 or over in 2023, up from 609,898 in 2022, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The figure has jumped 54% in 20 years, having stood at 397,793 in 2003. But while the number of men living to 90 or older is continuing to rise steadily, the number of women reaching this age has levelled off in recent years and fell slightly in the latest data. Women still account for the majority of people living to at least 90, with 408,216 females in this age group in 2023, or just over two-thirds of the total. But this number has risen by only around one-third from 304,498 in 2003. By contrast, the number of men aged 90 or over in 2023, 203,503, is more than double the 93,295 20 years earlier. 'The increasing number of men relative to women at older ages reflects improvements over several decades,' the ONS said. These include changes in lifestyle, such as reductions in smoking rates for men; better working conditions for males; and healthcare improvements, such as the prevention and treatment of heart disease. The gap between male and female life expectancy has narrowed since the early 1990s, meaning the number of men at older ages is catching up with the number of women. 'There were 2.0 women for every man aged 90 years and over in 2023, which is the lowest the sex ratio has ever been since the start of the time series in 1971,' the ONS added. The number of women aged 90 and over in 2023, 408,216, is down from 409,709 in 2022. Meanwhile, there were an estimated 16,140 people aged 100 or over in the UK in 2023, down very slightly from 16,200 the previous year. The number of centenarians rose overall by 35% between 2018 and 2023. Much of this rapid growth is a legacy of the spike in babies born in the years immediately after the end of the First World War in 1918. This led to a jump in the number of people turning 100-years-old in 2019, 2020 and 2021. The number of births started to drop in the early 1920s, which has resulted in a slower increase in the number of people reaching age 100 over the last couple of years. There were 23.6 centenarians per 100,000 population in the UK in 2023, up from 13.4 per 100,000 population in 2003.
