How to stay safe during the solar eclipse

By Abi Simpson

People across the United Kingdom will experience the first major solar eclipse since 1999 tomorrow morning.  Here's some tips for watching it safely. 

Obviously the best way to watch the eclipse would be through professional equipment, but not all of us can afford the latest tech.  Here are some cheaper ways of staying safe.

Solar eclipse glasses                           Photo by: Joaquin Souryis

Solar Eclipse Glasses:
The best, safest and cheapest way of watching the eclipse tomorrow would be through special eclipse viewing glasses, These are available on Ebay although you may have to spend quite a lot of money, they are also being given away free with issues of the BBC's Sky at Night magazine.

Kitchen Colander:
Yes, that's right you can watch the solar eclipse through your kitchen colander.  Simply stand with your back to the sun, hold the colander in one hand and put a piece of paper behind it.  The holes in the colander will project lots of shadows of the eclipse onto the paper.

Pinhole Viewer:
Hold up a piece of card with a pinhole in it, and stand with your back to the sun.  Hold a piece of white paper or card, behind the one with a pinhole in it.  The image of the eclipse will be projected by the sun through the pinhole onto the piece of paper.

Photo by: NASA's Marshall Flight Center 

Whichever method you use, it's important to stay safe during tomorrow's eclipse.  Contrary to rumour, sunglasses will not protect your eyes from the eclipse, and should not be used as protection to stare at the sun.

Professionals are also warning that taking 'solar selfies' could cause blindness.  The sun emits radiation which can burn the retina of the eye, causing blindness.  So when taking your selfies tomorrow, avoid looking directly at the sun.  

The eclipse is expected to reach it's peak at 9:31, with a slight delay depending on where you are in the country.  The best eclipse is expected in Scotland.  However, with the weather forecast set as cloudy tomorrow, it could be that none of us will get to see as much as we would like.

Bottoms up after the budget

Photo by: Simon Cocks

By Abi Simpson

Chancellor George Osborne delivered his sixth budget today, outlining lots of changes for the coming year.  Here is a run down of the top five changes announced by the Treasury.

Click here for the full story...

New £1 coin design revealed by the Royal Mint

By Abi Simpson

The Royal Mint revealed today, the new design to go on the next £1 coin. 

15 year old David Pearce, from Walsall, won the competition to design the 'tails' side of the coin.

David was really excited to hear the news, and was shocked that he'd actually won.

He was told today that he had won the competition by Chancellor George Osborne, who said the coin would be recognisable for years to come.

The design features the four flowers associated with each of the United Kingdom's Nations.

The winning desin: rose, leek, thistle and a clover leaf

This £1 coin will be like no other, it will have 12 sides and consist of two different colours.

The Royal Mint has said it will become the most secure coin in circulation because of the two metals included in the design and new anti-counterfeiting technology.

David defeated 6000 other entries in the competition.  The coin will be in circulation as of 2017.

The Budget 2015

By Abi Simpson

Today marked the final budget of this government, with the general election in only 50 days. But what does this mean for you?

George Osborne delivered his sixth budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer today.  But what did it say, here is a summary of some of the main points.

The UK's economy grew by 2.4% last year, and Mr Osborne predicted a growth of a further 2.5% for the coming year.

Unemployment in Britain fell by 5.3%, with employment at a record high.

Inflation is expected to continue to fall, reaching 0.2% in 2015.

Borrowing is also set to fall by nearly £7 billion this year, from £97.5 billion to £90.2 billion.

Welfare bills are expected to be an average of £3 billion less than was predicted in December.

Widows of policemen and fireman will now be able to remarry, and their existing pensions will be protected.

More importantly, beer duty will be cut by 1p a pint and cider by 2p.  There will also be a freeze on wine duty, and a 2% cut in excise duty on Scotch whisky.

Petrol duty has also been frozen, and the planned increases for September cancelled.

The tax-free personal allowance will rise from £10 000 to £11 000 by 2017, with an increase to £10 600 in the next tax year.

Annual paper tax returns are to be scrapped and replaced by digital accounts.

Photo by: HM Treasury

The budget also appears to favour savers, with the first £1000 interest on savings income to be tax-free for basic rate taxpayers and a £500 allowance for 40p taxpayers.

First time buyers will also have access to 'Help to Buy' ISA's, where the government will add £50 for every £200 saved for a deposit.

£25 million has been set aside to help war and nuclear attack veterans.

These are among some of the proposals laid out in today's budget.  

Should prisoners be allowed to vote?

Please help me out by answering this one question, it's for a piece I'm preparing to do as part of an assignment at university.  My final feature piece will go on here as soon as it's complete.

Should prisoners be allowed to vote?

Yes

No

Don't know

Sir Terry Pratchett has died, aged 66

By Abi Simpson

Photo by: Frederico Gianacelli

The renowned fantasy author, Sir Terry Pratchett, has died aged 66. 

The creator of the famous Discworld series has died eight years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

The author died at home surrounded by his family, with the cat asleep next to him on the bed.

Pratchett published 70 books during his long career, finishing the final one last summer.

The announcement of his death was made on his Twitter page on Thursday afternoon, with his daughter Rhianna writing shortly after: "Many thanks for all the kind words about my Dad.  Those last few tweets were sent with shaking hands and tear-filled eyes."

Despite his campaign for assisted suicide, which began shortly after his diagnosis, his death was completely natural.

Sir Terry was known well for his flamboyant looks, and his floppy black hat.  He will be greatly missed by all his family, friends and fans.


The End.

Hundreds of sex offenders unaccounted for in UK

By Abi Simpson

Figures released today show that 396 known sex offenders are currently missing in the UK.  

Photo by: Ian Britton

These statistics released by 39 forces all over the UK under the Freedom of Information Act, has revealed that there are nearly 400 sex offenders, living in Britain, unaccounted for.

Registered sex offenders are expected to report to authorities with their addresses so they can be monitored.

Sarah Payne, whose daughter was killed by a peadophile, said the figures were "unacceptable."

Some sex offenders included in the list have been missing for more than a decade.  One person in Gloucestershire has been missing for more than 2 years.

The Metropolitan Police said 167 sex offenders were wanted in London alone, with one who has been missing for 14 years. 

The Forces emphasised that figures could change if arrests were made or if new cases came to light.

Some have offered the suggestion that sex offenders should be tagged for life, so that this sort of thing can be avoided in the future. 

Every force which responded to the FOI request refused to name individuals who are missing for fear of their safety.

Elves, wizards and giants

By Abi Simpson

 

In a world much too serious, sport should be something to enjoy

 

The playground, where you could go without a care in the world, make best friends with that child that you would probably never see again, have the greatest time and then simply leave and never look back. 

This is what Pete Reed wanted to re-create when he came up with the Alternative Sports and Games Club in Boscombe, formerly known as the Silly Army, but this time it would be an adult’s only affair. 

The original name for the club, ‘The Silly Army’, was dropped when people started assuming the club was associated with the real army, this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Reed said “The word silly put some people off as well, they suffer from being too grown up.”  The club isn’t “Childish, more childlike.”

I walked quickly from the bus into the shelter of Springbourne Library’s reception, to escape the cold evening air. The smell of old books immediately hit me in the face.  I saw a man, who I hoped to be Reed, unstacking a substantial pile of various board games in a room off to the side of the hall.  Quite short, a little rotund with a full beard and messy brown hair, he certainly wasn’t your stereotypical sportsman, but that’s the point. 

“I absolutely hate sports”. This was definitely not the answer I was expecting from the man who set up a sporting charity 9 years ago.  Reed paused to drill a screw into the games cupboard in an attempt to put up a new shelf.   

“People take life way too seriously, especially sport.  I went to a five-a-side club briefly and they want to fight each other all the time, it’s all very aggressive.  Too serious” he said.  “I wanted to have a club where you can come if you are completely unfit or even just a bit shy.”  “A bit fat like me” he said, grabbing his belly and jiggling it up and down in much the same way as Santa Clause. 

Monkey toss, space hopper polo and crumbs and crows are among the sports invented by the club. Yes, that’s right, they don’t seem like your traditional sports. What happened to a good game of tennis or a little football? But where do the ideas come from?  “Several were stolen from the pursuits club.  Several from when I did work at a children’s charity.  They’re children’s games, which children can get quite easily but you try explaining them to grown-ups.  We had to dumb them down for adults.”

“Members suggest a game and we do it, we make the actual equipment for the game as well.”  A double sized volleyball net was among the plethora of weird and wonderful equipment commissioned for, or made by club members themselves.

Reed worked for 12 months with a children’s charity Adventure Unlimited, in Brighton. “We just played games a lot of the time, it was such a laugh.  “I was on benefits years ago”, the Government used “to take sponges off the benefit system and get them to do a year’s work for nothing, and it was brilliant, it was such a good fun thing.”  And that’s where “I got a lot of my ideas from.”

Talk turned to elves, wizards and giants with Reed attempting to teach me how to play one of the most popular games at the club.  It is essentially a fantasy themed rock, paper, and scissors. How hard could this really be? The rules were quite simple, but it involved a little more action than the classic hand movements usually attributed to the game. Wizards wave their arms frantically around whilst the giants stomp on the poor little elves.  It’s fair to say, anyone who dared to even walk into the room at this very moment, would have assumed that we were a little crazy.  But nevertheless, after fits of laughter it was clear to see why adults want to partake in sporting activities like these.

We both got carried away talking about a variety of different games played as children, each offering our own version of the rules.  Reed had finished putting up the shelf which was almost straight, and began stacking the games back into the cupboard ready for the evening ahead.  Quidditch, Reed said was one game that the club had failed at, joking that they hadn’t been able to overcome the flying issues.  When it was suggested that you could just run around with a broomstick and wearing a cape, his simple reaction was, “I salute the stupidity.”