Three senior huntsmen at a Northumberland-based hunt have been found guilty of illegal fox-hunting after being chased around the Lowick area by investigators with cameras from the League Against Cruel Sports.
Joint Master Timothy Wyndham Basil Smalley was fined £2075, Huntsman Ian McKie was fined £1150 and Kennel Huntsman Alan Proe was fined £480. All three men are in their 50’s and all three had additional victim surcharges and court costs added to their fines. Continue reading
Male suicide in Britain is being under-reported due to fears that widows could lose out on life insurance payments.
This is the concern of male suicide charity CALM – Campaign Against Living Miserably – which is compiling a report for a group of mental illness and counselling charities. It notes the sharp rise in male suicide, particularly among middle-aged men, and is calling for a re-think on how suicide is categorised at inquests.
Some retailers selling charity Christmas cards are donating less than 10% of their sale price to the charity, according to a recent survey by consumer organisation Which?
Reportedly Asda donates just 20pence from its sale of £3 charity cards, or 6.7%, the same percentage donated by the Co-op on its £1.50 cards. WH Smith and Waitrose both donate 10%, but John Lewis, which owns Waitrose donates 25%.
Charitable types wanting as much of their money as possible to reach their charity are advised to purchase cards directly from the charity, rather than through a retailer.
One good New Year resolution most can make is to stop leaving electrical gadgets in standby mode and making the power companies richer.
According to charity the Energy Saving Trust this will save the average household £30.
CHASE 2016, the charities and associations event takes place Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 February 2016 at the Business Design Centre, Islington.
Admission is free, as is a programme of more than fifty short seminars on aspects of marketing, fundraising, governance, membership, leadership, finance, legalities and technology.
A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on preventable food-borne diseases indicates that food-poisoning affects as many as one in ten of the world’s 6 billion population every year, totalling 600 million, with deaths running at 420,000, or 0.07%
Many deaths are of young children, and most are among the poor in Africa and South-East Asia. Children under 5 account for 40% of poisoning cases and 30% of the deaths. Common killers are bacteria such as salmonella, along with viruses, parasites such as the pork tapeworm, toxins and chemicals, and the WHO has called for better inspections of foods at farms and factories and training of street food vendors, a common source of contaminated foods.
Nearly 200 jobs are being axed at Merlin Entertainment’s Alton Towers theme park due to lower takings following the June accident on the £18 million Smiler extreme roller-coaster.
Five people were seriously injured, with two young women both losing a leg. Continue reading
Spending on live music concerts and festivals reached £2.1 billion this year, 45% up on 2010.
According to research company Mintel, who say that 40% of us go to a show at least once a year, the reason is an increased focus on live events as streaming has hit recording sales. Apparently 7% of us go at least once a month, and the surge in demand has been matched by an increase in ticket prices.
Also significantly more popular, to the tune of £80 billion are eating out, going to the pub and seeing films at the cinema, this last enjoyed by the 70% of us who see at least one film.
The number of new openings of London restaurants is at its highest level for 25 years.
This has been revealed in the 2016 edition of Hardens London Restaurants, the 25th, published last month. This rates around 1500 restaurants in the capital on their food, service and ambience, based on reviews from 6,700 contributors. Also noted is the continuing rise of Japanese cuisine, and the enduring popularity of Italian. Continue reading
Organisers are being offered free food and drink to the value of their space booking at Newcastle United’s St James’ Park Stadium.
The offer, dubbed “Eat Your Suite” is made by the managers of catering at the venue, Sodexo Prestige Venues and Events and applies to rooms, suites or executive boxes hired for events between January and March 2016. Continue reading