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After the two years of summers with no festivals, London’s most entertaining part of summer is back with a bang and bigger than ever. Most events last year got put on a major hold due to the unfortunate events of COVID-19, but as restrictions ease there becomes more and more reason to believe that 2022 will be home to the greatest festival season we have ever seen.

To begin the plethora of reasons as to why this year will be the best festival season London has seen, we have to look at the range of festivals on this year in London. Many people have been to the nation wide Reading and Leeds festivals but this year there are newer, more London based festivals ready to make your summer one to remember.

With events such as Garage Nation Outdoor Festival taking place in New Addington, bringing the community together to embrace the culture of garage music.

Wide Awake in Brixton is another event that will see people gathering from all over due to its range of variety featured genres: rock, pop, indie, and much more to engage a wide audience.

Possibly the most niche and the one people will be most excited for out of all festivals in London this summer is is Hospitality Weekend in the Woods which takes place in Beckenham Place Park.

Most acts will performing drum and base music this festival is a little bit more specific to a certain target audience, however the main attraction of this even is how it is held in a woods. Two days straight of festival life in a forest like area is something we have not seen very often definitely one you need to check out this summer.

Following on from individual festivals it’s time to look at something every festival this year are sharing is the passion every artist is bringing with them. After years of no events every musical is dying to get on stage once again.

From hip-hop, to pop and especially house and Drum & Base many European and American artists are being announced across hundreds of events all across London, showing the eagerness of the artists and the passion they are willing to bring on stage after a long time kept away from what they love

Last reason but without a shadow of a doubt the most important reason this year will be the greatest festival season anyone has seen will be down to the people. The audiences are more excited than ever.

The fans have been struggling to keep in the love for festivals and once they are finally allowed to show their passion once again there will not be any debate in saying 2022 was the greatest year in festival history.

This summer get yourself to any festival you can, if it is your first event ever of your first one since COVID-19, trying new and the best festivals in London this year will make the difference in your summer.

Growing up in England a lot of younger people are almost bombarded by this idea of moving far from their home to attend university once they finish lower level education. It is a huge dream for a lot of young British adults; being a big ambition to experience in early adulthood. In this article I will be sharing the story of Brooke Cross, a 20 year old university student, who claims this dream is misleading.

After leaving secondary school with very impressive GCSE grades Brooke had only one goal in mind ‘I wanted to go university. You could say I was desperate almost and the minute I got my GCSE results I knew that uni is where I wanted to go’.

Moving forward in Brooke’s life after finishing college, university was in her grasp and after months of travelling across the UK to see multiple different open days Brooke decided on a place to carry out her studies.

‘Bath Spa felt like the perfect place for me, the surroundings where beautiful, the campus was great and the publishing course I wanted to pursue and it was a fair distance away from London which at the time was extremely important to me’.

‘When I was accepted it was like a dream come true at the time, it all felt a bit surreal. I was leaving gloomy, busy London to live in a much more rural surrounding than I was used to, I thought it was fantastic’.

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Like most 18 year olds moving away from home Brooke did not understand how hard the lifestyle change would be. ‘The initial move was not bad itself but once you are away from your home for so long it becomes difficult, I don’t think I quite realised how much I valued being somewhere familiar’.

Brooke elaborated with ‘You leave home expecting a lot of things to happen such as finding people you get along with, learning the area, easy form of transport but to be honest that’s not the case especially in the time I was experiencing. First lockdown had just ended and I was so use to being able to be by myself when I wanted ‘.

‘Obviously COVID-19 did not help with things like attending freshers and how often I could go back home but people arrive at university with the expectation of these issues being solved. Problems that some students would not have even thought of yet like how to get around the area with inconsistent public transport and many others that I could list off’.

Brooke was then asked about what steps she would take to improve her university experience which she responded with ‘I think moving to a London based university would make the most sense.’

‘I struggle to understand why people are almost brainwashed into this idea that moving far from you’re home results in a good University experience. I think that every issue I have with my current place of education would be solved with moving back to London’ is what Brooke had to say about solving her University problems.

Brooke went on to say ‘I know various people who have moved far from home and had an amazing experience and I would tell everybody to do what they wish and make their own choice, however I do not know why when I was at school I wasn’t guided to believe there where better option closer to home’.

‘Moving forward I think spending my final year at home is a smart move. It costs less and causes me a lot more stress with my school life, my work life and my social life’.

Brooke was then asked about the difference an apprenticeship would have made in her life instead on university and she said ‘I never really considered it and I almost wish I did, I would of had one foot in the door to whichever pathway I wanted. I wish I had a better understanding of how apprenticeships work and I almost blame my previous place of education for not guiding me better’.

Although Brooke has had a hard time at Bath Spa she did say ‘I do not blame Bath Spa for the bad experience, everyone copes differently – it just so happens that the situation I found myself in didn’t work out for me. But thats not to say it wouldn’t work out for someone else.’ showing its not all doom and gloom.

After 2 years at Bath Spa for all we know a move to London may be beneficial, we could come to see that university as whole isn’t for Brooke, but no matter the outcome after Brookes final year she will still drive to do what she wants to in the future

To sum up this post, university is not for everyone; it is for some, but nothing is for everyone, and we should respect everyone who attempts something as new and difficult as university.

Taylan Ali-Osman, 19, is a young aspiring athlete who has been deeply involved with football since the early ages of his life. However, more recently Taylan’s sporting sphere has expanded taking on his first amateur boxing fight. The real question is what will Taylan choose before when he comes to the inevitable crossroads?

Friday 26th of November Taylan featured in a boxing event at York Hall making his first amateur boxing appearance, when asked about this experience Taylan said ‘It is defiantly an experience I’ll never forget, and hopefully this is the first of many’.

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Winning his fight in a whopping 39 seconds and breaking his opponents rib’s the rookie boxer was more than delighted with his performance, ‘Me and my team worked so hard for this and I think it was shown on the day’ is what Taylan had to say about his victory.

With twelve weeks of training camp before the event, Taylan’s team worked him harder than he even knew he could. He describes the training camp as ‘Light tap sparring, hardcore fitness, heavy sparing and cardio. It is a different level of training compared to football, they had me vomiting at stages.’

Taylan did not have a smooth ride on the way to this fight from injuries, to his opponent dropping out and balancing life as a whole. ‘I had a groin injury before the fight, it had me crying , they thought it was a hernia but luckily it was a little less extreme with it being cellulitis which was taken care of very well’.

Something that was mentally challenging for Taylan was his opponent changing less than 24 hours before the fight. ‘I arrived at my gym at 72kg and the day of the weigh in I came up at 62kg. hearing I was fighting someone heavier than me, it did make me feel high-strung at first, but at the end of the day my training was not going to be put to waste’.

‘The nerves did kick in while my hands where being wrapped, it took a while to get them done. I started shaking even though I wasn’t scared. I think my adrenaline took over after I stopped shaking it feels like a bit of a blur’.

When asked if Taylan was proud of himself he gave the honest opinion of ‘I’m a hardworking person and I know and this is the hardest I’ve worked for anything in my life I had to cut weight, take punches, exhaust myself, push myself to new levels. I defiantly can say I am proud of myself but I does not mean I am stopping here’.

In addition to Taylan’s early boxing achievement he is also a high standard footballer. From young age of 3 he has been in a football team. Moving on to more recent times he has played for the likes of Welling Town and Erith town.

‘Football is my passion and my love, my heart will never not be in football. I have dedicated 16 years of my life to football’ is what Taylan said about how much football means to him.

Following up from this Taylan said ‘I grew up watching football, playing football, practically living football it will always be a part of me. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have love for boxing’.

When asked the near impossible question for Taylan to answer of what he has a bigger drive to succeed in, boxing or football, the response he gave was ‘its a question I hopefully won’t have to answer for a long time’.

‘My head is telling me boxing because I really do enjoy it, but my heart will always tell me to choose football . At the rate it is going I am probably let fate decide’.

‘If I had to really pick one it would be whichever one offered me some form of professional contract or job first. I have desire to pursue both sports but the most important thing to me is making my family proud’, is how he ended the debate between the choice he would have to make in time.

Diving deeper into how Taylan wants to make his family proud he was asked about people Taylan looks up to he answered with no hesitation ‘My dad. He’s my inspiration and my idol in and outside of the sporting word. He took me to every training session when I was younger, he taught me all he knows about football, he has supported me every step of the way. To make him proud would mean the world to me’.

Brining an end to Taylan’s story I am sure no matter what path Taylan ends up following, I believe it will be a name that will be around for years and hopefully a successful one at that.

Comedians are not only performers but also artists and being good at an art is always a talent, Russell Hicks in particular is a very talented comedian with years of experience. But the question is how did Russel live without preforming through 2 years of lockdowns.

Russell is a 38 year old comic from San Diego, California who left the United States to pursue his career by moving to the England.

He has now been in the United Kingdom for 7 years and has been a stand up comedian for 11 years headlining at places such as The Top Secret Comedy Club at Covent Gardens and Up The Creek Comedy Club in Greenwich.

Dealing with a global pandemic was difficult for various people due to their occupations, but some could argue that it would have been impossible for a comedian to proceed with their day to day life, let alone their job, Russell gave us some insight on how he found his time through the COVID-19 pandemic as a comedian.

He began by telling me ‘I didn’t find it as difficult as some comedians and even some people. As a comedian with financial stability and a name for myself it felt more like a time off than anything with the chance to take time away the trade’, however Russell did not get a complete two years off.

With zoom sky rocketing over lockdown Russell became part of stand up zoom call comedy where he said ‘I became very good at them while also finding them entertaining which really helped me stay on his feet with stand up’.

Russell went on to say ‘now there is an entire online medium of comedy which has definitely expanded through lockdown and potentially got bigger than we could have ever imagined’.

Russell himself started a Tik Tok social media account where he posted his stand up gigs from the past and other skits right at the begging of lockdown, by the end of it he had come out with an incredible 100,000 followers with the account @russellhickscomedy.

He went on to explain how ‘Tok Tok, YouTube, Facebook and all social media platforms have their own type of comedy which even experienced comedians can learn from and you can’t understand these skills until you experience it first hand, however it does make up and coming comedians life a bit more challenging. Almost like Blockbuster movie store in an age with Netflix’.

But lockdown done more for Russell than just give him a platform on social media, it gave him a chance to work on his career. Russell described himself as ‘a go getter, someone who wakes up and tries to improve on my abilities and talent, especially as a comedian that is hard on myself, the pandemic gave me the chance to grow not only as a person but has a comedian’.

Although, Russell did not always feel this confident in his craft, although Russell has told us that ‘he was born to be a comedian’, he also said ‘when I was young I had a few shows not go to plan with people I wanted to show my talent to coming to watch, I beat myself up about it all night thinking is this for me’.

He followed up from that with’ But you can’t do that, you can’t think you’re not good enough because you are’ and with this mentality it lead Russell to a great life in the comedy industry.

Russell spoke on his idol saying ‘Dave Chappell is a huge idol of mine, the man ran the comedy industry for years. The man inspired me to do great things’,

Moving to the United Kingdom from the United States can be challenge for anyone, but it is even harder for a person who is coming over to pursue their career.

But in spite of all that someone like Russell has managed to succeed in doing this, claiming that ‘British crowds are unique and interactive, they are like magic audiences and it suits me well’.

The American born comedian does go back to the states now and again to preform. After asking him what the difference between the United States and the United Kingdom was he told us ‘I implement my skills that I have learn in the UK into my shows back home’

The return to work situation after a nation wide lockdown was always going to be a challenge, Russell dealt with it much better than most did with his return to comedy coming at the Top Secret Comedy Club in Covent garden and claiming ‘I never lost a step. the online shows really helped’.

After a tough tow years I believe it is safe to say a comedian of Russell Hicks’s stature came out doing better than great. Getting back to comedy alone is a gift that someone of Russell’s ability can never be ungrateful for and will never take for granted.

The article ‘President Biden: Fact-checking his first month in office’ is a piece you can look into in detail, however there are a few factors that stand out. This article goes through all the rights and wrongs of Biden’s first month in charge.

The most noticeable detail of this article is the neutrality kept throughout, the unbiased views are expected due to it being a BBC published piece however it is still necessary that this has been achieved. Not only do we see the BBC use various different quotes and direct comments from Biden himself, they also follow up each point with statistics and facts to uphold their claims of this being a ‘Fact Check’. Fact checking Biden in particular is needed due to all the false claims and accusations made by the former president Donald Trump. 

The BBC have also compared the differences between Biden and Trump’s opinions and actions, displaying to the readers the impact both presidents have had with a side by side comparison. Comparing the news president and the former president is what draws the attention of a lot of readers, this is down to various members of the audience wanting to know if the United states is making a change for the better, or if it is getting ready for a downhill fall.

In conclusion this article is what is to be expected from a published BBC piece, it is neutral, factual and does not try to sway the opinion of their readership. It is also important to state that there is no extra input from the writers and the article delivered what the headline said it would.

Yanchao Gao is a 20 year old woman, born on the 26th May 2000. Yanchao is from Chinese descent, was born and raised in Shanxi which is in northern part of China quite close to Beijing, around 500km, and is now living in Hong Kong. Although Yanchao is living in China currently, the goal was to move into an accommodation in the UK to study journalism at UAL after taking a gap year. This did not go to plan due to COVID-19 restrictions, instead Yanchao is stuck at home studying online.  

Yanchao expressed some challenges she faced living in two different parts of China, the main being she had to be a lot more independent while living in Hong Kong. The reasoning for Yanchao moving away from Shanxi is due to her wanting to study alone. However this wasn’t the only struggle, the hardest was trying to learn Cantonese – “Most of the locals don’t know how to speak mandarin and I can’t understand cantonese. So I got problems with buying food”. Over time this has become easier for her, eventually grabbing a hold of the cantonese way of speech.

When asked about the difference in British culture compared to her own she spoke about the difference in their education system. She explained that she did not know much about british culture, however she knew it was much different to the culture she was raised in, the part that stood out the most was the difference in longevity when it came to school hours. Most British schools function from 8:30am to 3:15pm, Yanchao explained to us that most schools in china start at 6:30am and do not finish until 10:30 pm which I found very interesting as it blows the British education system away.

As previously mentioned Yanchao is studying Journalism at the University Arts of London, when asked why she chose journalism the response was “I like language culture. Journalism is not only about finding news to report but also about good skills that can be put to use, such as proper language. It is a challenge to me and I like adventure.” This answer prompted the follow up question of why was England the right place for you, which Yanchao led on to say how the appeal of England came from the fact she has never stepped foot in the UK before, and she does not want to limit herself. By coming to England her options are much wider. She did also mention her sister is studying law in London also. 

Marshall Bruce Mathers III, better known as Eminem, is a 48 year old who is a legend of the hip-hop scene. Marshall was born and raised in Detroit, and as a white male, he was not taken to nicely in his home town. Eminem studied at Lincoln High School throughout his teens, failing 3 times and dropping out at the age of 17 while also living in horrid conditions with a single mother and being trapped below the poverty line. Growing up Marshall knew he had a talent for rapping, from the age of 14 he tried for years and years to break into the hip-hop scene, until he met a soon to be famous Dr. Dre who gave him the opportunity to show the world how talented he could be.

Eminems rise to fame starts a few years after his underground music started to pick up, in 1996 Marshall realised his first album Infinity. This album some would say put Eminem on the map, grabbing the attention of a few rap lovers, but in 1999 Marshal made his first big breakthrough into the rap world, rising to stardom with the Sim Shady LP. This album attracted too much attention due to the crudeness and the talent of Marshall all being mixed in one place, this is without mentioning the birth of his alter persona Slim shady’. Slim Shady is known for being a sadistic, drug addicted murder who many found very interesting, some even believed Slim shady was Marshals real life persona with all the attention he would get from the news. Marshall became an A list celebrate when he broke boundaries with his album The Marshall Mathers LP. The two headlining songs; The Real Slim Shady and Stan, captured the attention from everybody in the world. Not only was Marshal the first white rapper to make it as a mainstream A list celebrity, but his two revolutionary songs where cemented in history. The real slim shady went platinum in 7 different countries and 4X platinum in the US. Stan on the other hand not only was an emotionally powerful song, but changed the meaning of the word Stan from a name, to a hardcore fan.

Marshall, to this day, has lived a very painful life; having an awful relationship with his mother, being in and out of divorces while fathering two children, nearly dying to an overdose and being hated on for his controversy is just the start of the list. Many look up to Marshall because of this, not only has he powered through everything he has been challenged by, including a drug addiction, but he as persevered through transforming, himself into a better man.

A U.S Airways flight heading to Amsterdam Airport from London City airport crash landed into the River Thames at 14:00 15th December due to 2 drones colliding with the planes engine, damaging the fuel pipe. The RNLI confirmed that the aircraft landed at the Purfleet RSPB Reserve approximately 100 miles from shore.

The Metropolitan police have taken this as a potential act of terrorism due to the 2 drones having the same tape on them as 2 IED’s. one IED was identified at Aberts Farm Nature Reserve in Essex and the other was found on Lookout Hill in Thamesmead. This has gone down as a criminal investigation due to the drone being specific British military models, where only 734 where made, the military are now contributing to this investigation.

The Metropolitan Police has also given information on the arrest of 2citizens, both citizens working in an oyster packing shed in East Mersey. The criminals have been charged with being in possession of explosives and currently in custody. Another suspect is being questioned due to being in possession of software and electronics to endanger an aircraft, the suspect can be charged for a minimum of 5 years. The suspect has been questioned due to having 20mm of copper pipping purchased form a local WIX.

None of the 42 passengers or 6 crew members suffered serious injuries at the forefront of the crash, with only 2 passengers reporting minor injuries. One passenger was later admitted to Queens Hospital in Romford, suspected of having a heart attack, engineered to be in a safe state, however was later cleared.

Purfleet Heritage & Military Centre started supplying passengers with food and drink once the passengers were rescued and returned to shore by the RNLI via rafts, then during this period they were encouraged to contact their friends and families. For those who did not have a way home, London City Airport assisted passengers seeking assistance in finding a way home, whether by taxi or another flight.

As it currently stands, with the Air Accidents Investigation Department, US Airways US312 is under repair. As soon as the passengers got off the aircraft and were relocated out of the river, the AAIB began to man the plane. It must be expected that the AAIB would carry the aircraft back to its usual state in a matter of a few days.

Although the idea of furlough is wonderful to those who must stay at home instead of working through these horrible times sounds great at first, but as time goes on employees tend to change their opinion on this.

The biggest problem that people seem to be having with furlough is that furlough is affecting a lot of peoples credit score, this not only affect those in there 30s onwards but also the younger employees who will have to; withdraw loans, apply for mortgages and much more which requires borrowing money if needs be.

Another issue that a lot of employees have raised concernces with is that employees will be payed 80% of their contracted hours. This is painful to those employees who work the maximum hours they can, using all of their overtime, to now be paid less than half of their usual monthly pay check. The stress that causes furloughed employees is unfair, some unable to pay their bills every month due to it.

Many People who have been furloughed over this Christmas period have been told they do not have a job to go back too, this is due to companies not bringing in enough income yet still having to pay employees. Not only Christmas temps have experienced this, many employees who are contracted less than 12 hours a week have lost jobs due to not being worth the money that the company have. this is not the companies fault nor the governments support systems fault, it is unfortunate that COVID-19 has caused this all.

Overall employees and employers do see some benefits to the furlough system, it is just stressful to deal with this situation not knowing the circumstances of the near future. Employees do understand that they are getting payed to not work, but it is out of the control of the employee that they can not work in this awkward cirucmstance.

A U.S Airways flight heading to Amsterdam Airport from London City airport crash landed into the River Thames at 14:00 15th December, where not long after the Thames River Police and the RNLI made way to the scene.

London City Airport established that the plane experienced engine issues, which was later confirmed to be caused by 2 drones striking the planes engine in a collision. The pilot did try turning the plane around, however there was not enough power to proceed.The RNLI confirmed that the aircraft landed at the Purfleet RSPB Reserve approximately 100 miles from shore.

U.S. Airways employees dealing with the incident later announced that all 42 passengers and all 6 crew members came out without severe injuries, with only 2 passengers sustaining minor injuries. One passenger, suspected of having a heart attack, was transferred to Queens Hospital in Romford was later configured to be in a healthy condition.

The first to let the public know that all was accounted for was a photograph of a passenger, Nadine Johnson, that was posted on social media. Nadine emphasised that the pilot is truly the brains of the operation, a hero to all the passengers.

Once rescued and returned to shore by the RNLI via rafts, Purfleet Heritage & Military Centre began supplying the passengers with food and drink. All involved was encouraged to contact their friends and families during this time. London City Airport supported passengers seeking assistance in finding a way home, whether by taxi or another flight, for those who did not have a way home.

As it currently stands, US Airways US312 is under repairs with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch. The AAIB started to men the plane as soon as the passengers got off of the aircraft and was moved out of the river. It is to be believe that the AAIB will have the aircraft back to its normal condition in only a matter of a few days.