Latest news with #Hollingworth
ITV News
2 days ago
- Health
- ITV News
Woman one of three suing health club after chlorine leak at swimming pool in Derbyshire
A 71-year-old woman is one of three people suing a health club for injuries after being exposed to excess levels of chlorine while swimming. Enid Hollingworth has not stepped into a pool since January, when a chemical leak at Clifford Health Club and Spa in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, left her struggling to breathe. 27 people were exposed to high levels of chlorine in the spa area of the building. Ms Hollingworth was one of four people who ended up in hospital. She said: "I was doing breaststroke and I was swimming underwater. So when I came up to take a breath, I just felt this toxic gas hit me on the side of my face and straight away, I couldn't breathe. "My lungs were burning, so I was coughing and choking. I managed to, I don't know how... I was begging and pleading for somebody to help me to make it to the bottom of the steps to get out of the pool." Ms Hollingworth still struggles to breathe and has been left with problems to her left eye. She said: "It took four months for the cough to go away completely and now I've been left with problems with my left eyelid, it's drooping. "When I wake up in the morning, it's barely open when my eye is tired. So now, I've got to have some surgery. "I've been referred to the ocular surgeons to have the eyelid lifted - all because I thought I was doing something to keep me healthy." Ms Hollingworth said she used to enjoy swimming: "I do have back problems. I've got scoliosis and osteoarthritis and that really eased some of the back pain for me, so it was really important. "I used to do it once a week, but I did 50 lengths of the pool, swimming really quite fast for my age and I enjoyed it. It was exercise that I felt was doing me a lot of good." Since the incident, Ms Hollingworth does not feel safe enough to enter a pool: "It's left me with far more back ache because I'm not able to loosen up my back by swimming. "It's left me feeling quite anxious about it, I would like to get back to the pool but I just don't feel that I can." Ahmed Jamad, from Express Solicitors, who represents the three chlorine leak victims, said: "We're taking legal action for personal injury. "The law around that is that they breached common law, duty of care and also a statutory duty of care under section two of the Occupiers Liability Act. "It basically imposes a duty on landowners and owners of the premises to ensure that any visitors on their lands or on their premises are kept reasonably safe, in the environment and not exposed to any sort of danger or hazards." Clifford Health Club and Spa said last month human error was to blame for the leak - and internal investigations are ongoing. Erewash Borough Council is continuing its own investigation.
Sunday Post
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Sunday Post
UN aid worker: In 25 years I have never seen a crisis as bad as Gaza
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up A British aid worker has returned from six months spearheading the World Food Programme's response to the Gaza crisis – and says it is the most challenging posting he has ever faced. Former Gordonstoun pupil Matthew Hollingworth has worked in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine and across Africa but found none of those as difficult as Gaza. The United Nations organisation's life-saving aid for civilians in Gaza has been backed by £14.25 million support from the UK Government since October 2023. Foreign Secretary David Lammy has been leading calls for more aid to enter Gaza and Hollingworth, 49, has seen first-hand the desperation of people suffering extreme hunger and malnutrition. Hollingworth said: 'There is no crisis in the world like Gaza. In my 25 years of service in humanitarian crises all over the world, I've never experienced anything as challenging as Gaza. It is beyond comparison. 'I've worked in war zones as aggressive, as violent and as frightening – but the big difference is that when the lead is flying and bombs start dropping, people can usually move away. The awful thing about Gaza is there is nowhere to move to. The entirety of that tiny 25-mile strip is a war zone and no man, woman or child can escape its intensity. 'I still find it hard to comprehend the level of desperation and hunger, fear and isolation that the people were experiencing. 'When we crossed the frontlines into Gaza City with aid, we had people running towards our convoys to snatch a packet of food off a truck, risking being fired upon by machine guns. 'People were dropping to the floor with gunshot wounds but still people would run towards us just to try and get a can of beans. The hunger was so extreme.' Hollingworth added: 'I'll never forget asking a child queuing at a WFP bakery what were his dreams for the future. You expect a child to say something like 'I want to be an engineer or a doctor or a footballer' or 'I want to go on holiday'. But his response was simply: 'I dream of having a chicken sandwich.' When I asked when he'd last had a sandwich with any kind of meat, he could not remember.' Far-travelled Hollingworth is from a military family. He was born in Nottingham and attended Gordonstoun boarding school in Moray, where King Charles also studied. The dad-of-three now lives in Beirut with his Lebanese-American wife and works as the World Food Programme's country director for Lebanon. Just two months after Hollingworth returned from Gaza last July to start his new role in Beirut, Israel launched an incursion into Lebanon to pursue Hezbollah. Hollingworth and his WFP team helped provide assistance to almost a million civilians displaced from southern Lebanon. The UK Government announced £15m in humanitarian support to provide Lebanon with essential medical supplies, emergency cash assistance, shelter and access to clean water, including £10m to the WFP. The tentative and fragile ceasefire is looking increasingly shaky, with Israel attacking locations in Lebanese capital Beirut at the end of last month. © Supplied by FCDO Hollingworth said: 'Sadly, explosions are all part of life in Beirut. The latest bombings happened in another suburb, but you can certainly hear them when it happens. To be honest, after so many years of working in conflict zones you can identify what kind of munitions are being used and how far away they are to assess how to respond appropriately to the risk. 'Sadly, I've had too many close shaves in several countries over the past 25 years. I lived through the Baghdad bombing at the UN mission based at the Canal Hotel in 2003, which tragically killed 23 UN staff. 'I was part of the UN team in Syria that was pinned down for eight or nine hours as the Siege of Homs was broken. We were hiding in basements of bombed-out buildings, while the place was being mortared and sniped at until we finally managed to negotiate a way out. 'Over the years I have gotten used to going to sleep to the staccato of gunfire and 'crump' of shellfire. Unfortunately, places where the aid sector is focused these days are by their very nature difficult and dangerous but that's where people need our help the most. That is why we are there, but whatever we go through, the local population suffers far, far more. 'I think 25 years ago, we had a lot more confidence that a Red Cross or a UN emblem would be some kind of guarantee of safe access and movement. Increasingly that is no longer the case and the term 'collateral damage' is more and more of a reality for humanitarian workers operating in war zones.' Hollingworth is strongly motivated by seeing with his own eyes the impact humanitarian aid has on the ground. The UK Government announced £17m in humanitarian funding on January 28 to ensure healthcare, food and shelter reaches tens of thousands of civilians and to support vital infrastructure across the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In total the UK has announced £129m this financial year, including £12m to the United Nations' Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the WFP. Hollingworth said: 'I've had many challenging days in the last 25 years of being in this line of work, but I've never had a period where I didn't genuinely see the impact of what we are doing and feel that what we are trying to achieve is worthwhile. 'Where are we right now? We are at the point where people are ever more despairing because of the lack of basic goods getting into Gaza – flour, beans, vegetable oil, clean water. 'We know what we can achieve if we can get our trucks in through every possible entry point. We have the means to provide hot meals and help bakeries to reopen. We have the resources to do our job – to feed the population.'
Sky News
29-04-2025
- Business
- Sky News
'My wife lost her job and we're buying a house - do we need to tell our mortgage provider?'
Every week we ask an expert to answer your financial problems or consumer disputes in the Money blog. Today, we tackled this issue sent to us by a reader in Shropshire, who writes: We are due to complete on our first house in a couple of weeks but my wife found out last week that she's being made redundant. She works in sales and is likely to get another job soon. All our credit checks have been passed. Do we need to disclose this? The Money team answers... First, we are sorry to hear about your wife's redundancy. This kind of thing is unwelcome at any time, but if you're in the process of a house move - one of life's most stressful events - it can be particularly gut-wrenching. Do you have to tell your lender? Money regular David Hollingworth, associate director at L&C Mortgages, says: "There will be a requirement for the applicant to let the lender know that there's been a change in their financial circumstances." Most lenders will explicitly stipulate that you have to make them aware of a change of circumstances, such as redundancy. If you don't, it could have a financial impact, says Natalie Bradley, partner and conveyancing specialist at Stephensons. "The client could commit themselves to an exchange of contracts. The lender may then carry out another credit check (some do but it is rare) and ask for further payslips," she says. "They then may withdraw the mortgage offer as they become aware of the change in circumstances. If this were to happen the client would then lose the 10% deposit given on exchange." She also says if the buyer did not consent to their solicitor telling the lender about the redundancy, the solicitor may pull out of acting on their behalf. "Naturally, the client does not really want to put themselves in a position where they buy a property with no income to pay the mortgage. This could lead to repossession which would adversely affect their credit rating," Natalie says. Will mortgage be withdrawn? It's possible for the mortgage offer to be withdrawn if there's a "material change in circumstances", says Hollingworth. "For many, moving from two incomes to one is likely to make it difficult to meet the lenders' criteria and it could unfortunately mean no longer qualifying for the mortgage." Some hope A job loss doesn't automatically mean losing your mortgage offer, however. While it's worth having a rethink of whether to pursue the mortgage amount you've been offered given your new situation, you could still be okay if you are buying with someone else and your combined income is enough to cover repayments. Significant savings or a new job offer on the horizon could also reassure the lender that you won't fall behind on paying back what you owe. Or if your wife receives a redundancy payment, a smaller mortgage could be required. A mortgage reassessment A mortgage reassessment could take a while - and it may end in you being offered a smaller loan or higher interest rate. Hollingworth's advice is to give good consideration to whether to pursue the mortgage offer and therefore your house purchase at all - and don't get yourself into trouble. "Although that would potentially mean missing out on the new home in the near term it could save falling into deeper problems by taking on a bigger debt at a time when income has reduced," he says. "Failing to present the correct information to the lender through the application process would be fraudulent." This feature is not intended as financial advice - the aim is to give an overview of the things you should think about.
The Independent
20-02-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Some sub-4% mortgages will vanish from the market from Friday
Some sub-4% mortgage deals will disappear from the market from Friday, when Santander UK pulls some products from sale just over a week after they launched, amid changing market conditions. The bank notified brokers on Thursday that from 10pm on February 21, it will be removing its 3.99% five-year, fixed-rate mortgage products. It said the decision has followed an increase in five-year swap rates, which are used by lenders to price mortgages, across the past week. It means that a 60% loan-to-value, five-year, fixed-rate at 3.99% for home buyers and five-year, fixed-rate deal at 60% LTV for homeowners looking to remortgage, at 3.99%, will be withdrawn from sale. Santander will continue to offer two-year, fixed-rate mortgages at 3.99%, both to home buyers and those looking to re-mortgage. These deals also require a 40% deposit or equity. The sub-4% deals were launched onto the market by Santander UK on Thursday last week. On Wednesday this week, mortgage experts suggested that deals below 4% may be short-lived, following stronger-than-expected inflation data. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday showed that the rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation rose to 3% in January, from 2.5% in December. Analysts had predicted a 2.8% increase. Despite the higher-than-expected inflation data, Santander said its forecasts are still pointing to further Bank of England base rate cuts this year. Get a free fractional share worth up to £100. Capital at risk. Terms and conditions apply. 'That hasn't taken long to feed through, and Santander has announced that it will be withdrawing its five-year fix at 3.99% at the end of tomorrow, citing an increase in market rates as the driver. Its two-year, 3.99% fixed rate will remain in place. ' Co-operative Bank has also announced that it will temporarily withdraw some of its fixed rates from close of play tomorrow.' Mr Hollingworth continued: 'It's not all bad news. Barclays has managed to find room for improvement in its existing customer products and both Nationwide Building Society and Halifax have just announced their intent to cut rates from tomorrow. 'Although the movement in swap rates, which are a key indicator for fixed mortgage rates, has not been enormous, it does look to be enough to put some of the very lowest rates in peril. 'It's not a need for panic but borrowers that have been considering a new deal may want to reach a decision sooner rather than later in case of more movement in rates. 'The constant shift in mortgage rates can be frustrating but the good news is that the longer-term expectation for Bank of England base rate is that it will continue downwards as the year progresses. What we don't know is when it will next fall and how far.' Nationwide Building Society said that, from Friday, it will reduce rates by up to 0.33 percentage points, with its rates now starting from 4.09%. The new rates include a five-year, fixed-rate at 60% LTV with a £1,499 fee with a rate of 4.09%, having been reduced by 0.05% percentage points. Carlo Pileggi, Nationwide's senior manager – mortgages, said: 'These latest reductions bring five-year and two-year fixed rates closer together.'
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mammoth graveyard artefacts on display for first time
The remains of a mammoth and other artefacts which inspired a David Attenborough documentary are on display at a Gloucestershire museum. Mammoth teeth, a marine crocodile skull and a tooth from a straight-tusked elephant are among can be viewed at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester. The items were dug up from a site in Cerney Wick known as "mammoth graveyard", where multiple remains of steppe mammoths were found in 2019. New fossils from a dig completed in the summer of 2024, which have never been displayed before, are on display at the museum from 15 February until 15 March. "It's been an amazing achievement," said Sally Hollingworth, who led the project with her husband Dr Neil Hollingworth. Mrs Hollingworth explained how the dig began in 2017 when she found spotted a Neanderthal hand axe. "That's what led to the Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard documentary," she said. The site is believed to date back to 220,000 years ago. "The finds that were from the site were truly unique," said Dr Hollingworth. "It's an internationally important location, because there's very few locations around where you'll find Neanderthal stone tools mixed up with mammoth bones and ice age animals." Mrs Hollingworth explained the site also has fossils and ammonites from the Middle Jurassic Period, dating back 167 million years. The dig involved experts, volunteers and students from 20 universities from across the country, with most of them camping at the site. "We managed to get material from the quarry floor to museum display within six months - that's pretty unique in the palaeontology world," said Mrs Hollingworth. Dr Hollingworth described the dig as a "brilliant piece of co-operative work" and said it often takes years for finds like these to go on display. Following the exhibition, the Hollingworths plan for the fossils to tour around other museums in the south west. The longer-term plan is to build a new biodiversity centre in the Cotswolds Lake area, keeping the fossils local to the area. Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. Mammoth graveyard yields more fossil wonders 'Major dig' to start at mammoth graveyard in 2024 Roman remains uncovered at former department store Corinium Museum
