Accessing vegan food has never been easier – with more and more restaurants and brands offering plant-based alternative products.
But now you will be able to store your vegan favourites in your own freezer for whenever you want to enjoy them.
Vegan food company One Planet Pizza is set to launch its range of frozen pizzas in the UK and abroad over the coming weeks.
And the best news is that these pizzas have brand new cheese that the company describes as ‘melty, stringy and fully pull-worthy.’
It’s a far cry from the dense, rubbery vegan cheese you might be used to. Cheezly is said to imitate the taste and texture of traditional dairy mozzarella – and give you that all-important cheese pull that makes our mouths water.
The revamped range also features One Planet Pizza’s flaxseed enriched dough, homemade tomato sauce and hand-selected toppings.
The range – which carries four varieties of pizzas – was recently launched in online supermarket Ocado, and it is already sold in 450 independent health food shops around the UK.
‘We are super excited to start working closely with VBites to help bring delicious plant-based pizzas into the mainstream,’ Joe Hill, Co-owner of One Planet Pizza, told Plant Based News.
‘Here at OPP, we’re always raising the bar (and dough) when it comes to vegan pizza! That’s why we’ve been working closely with Vbites to develop this amazingly delicious new Cheezly that now melts, stretches and pulls like never before!’
‘We had to expand our production very quickly in order to meet the increasing demand for our pizzas, including the launch on Ocado, and it’s great that our fans and customers will now be able to order online across the UK.’
We know what we’re ordering for our next movie night.
If you love looking at cats looking silly and/or grumpy then you’ll love this new grooming trend.
Owners of fluffy cats are turning their kitties into little dinosaurs and they look fierce. Well, some of them do.
Humans have been trimming their cats’ hair to give them dinosaur-like triangular plates on their back and the trend has set off on Instagram.
#Dinocat and #Dragoncat hashtags on Instagram have amassed more than 12,000 results as people are giving their kitties a buzz cut to look like a stegosaurus or dragon.
Though owners are delighted with the final look of their feline friends, the dinocats don’t look as pleased.
They’ve been spotted looking unamused and tired of our human sh*t.
Some are getting into their dinosaur role play and are roaring away at their owners.
The look involves shaving or trimming off all the surrounding fur on the body and leaving a trail of ridges from the back of the head all the way to the tail.
Cheeto is one of the chunky cats that was less than pleased with her new look.
She grew into it as she was later spotted licking away at her paw and just enjoying her best cat life.
But the final straw came for Cheeto when she was spray painted to look a bit more the part, though we think she looks more like a unicorn than a dinosaur.
Here are some of the other cats who are doubling as dinosaurs:
Fire drills are important – we all know we need to know the safest way out.
But they are rarely very exciting. You hear the alarm, find the nearest fire exit and wait in the cold until it’s time to go back inside.
One woman though had the shock of her life when the firefighter who turned up at her fire drill was her boyfriend, who had a very important question to ask as she stood on the pavement.
Allison Hunt, a social studies and geography teacher at Manual High in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., was stuck outside waiting for the scheduled fire drill to end when the fire truck pulled up.
Her boyfriend Tom Cecil knew about the drill so the firefighter secretly switched his shift so he would be one of those to turn up to surprise her.
Allison told Louisville Courier Journal: ‘I had no clue, even … while he was pulling up. Other teachers are always joking, like, “Did you pull the fire alarm to get him here?” They’re always joking with me. So I was like, “I didn’t pull it!”‘
Once he got out of the truck, he got down on one knee in front of all the staff and students at the school.
He pulled the ring out of his uniform and Allison immediately said yes, as the crowd cheered for the couple, who have been together for two years.
Posting the pictures on her Twitter account, Allison said: ‘A wonderful day to say the least! Best fire drill ever!!!’
Once the school was cleared and the drill was over, both Tom went back to work and Allison took on the task of making sure all her students were present before heading back inside to teach her 10.50am class.
Ellie Rose Harris, just 15 months old, was diagnosed with Brugada syndrome – a condition which causes a disruption of the heart’s normal rhythm.
The toddler, from Cardiff, Wales, was playing with her family just before bedtime when she suddenly went ‘floppy’.
But instead of panicking, her grandma Joanne Rogers, 46, realised the tot was having a cardiac arrest and lept into action.
Joanne performed chest compressions and rescue breaths for six minutes before little Ellie opened her eyes – only for her heart to stop again.
Determined Joanne – who learned CPR at work just weeks earlier – once again brought Ellie back after three more minutes, before the paramedics arrived.
Ellie is now one of the youngest people in the UK with the condition to have had a pacemaker and defibrillator fitted inside her to stop her having a cardiac arrest again.
As medics checked that she was stable, Ellie began to have another cardiac arrest – this one lasting for 15 minutes, according to her parents.
But they were able to stabilise her.
Joanne said: ‘It was horrible doing CPR to a family member but it had to be done. I just thank my lucky stars I had that training.’
Ellie’s worried parents Matthew Harris, 25, and Rachel Hillier, 23, are now delighted with her progress and calling her a ‘medical miracle’.
But during the attacks, they felt so helpless.
Mum Rachel said: ‘It took five shocks to get her back. We just had to stand and watch. We were devastated but hopeful of getting our little girl back.’
It was another five weeks before Ellie was finally diagnosed with Brugada syndrome.
The rare but serious condition affects the way electrical signals pass through the heart and it can cause the heart to beat dangerously fast.
These unusually fast heartbeats can be life-threatening, and the syndrome is usually caused by a faulty gene that’s inherited.
When Ellie was finally well enough for her four-hour operation, surgeons said it was rare for such a young person to have the condition – and a pacemaker as well as a defibrillator.
Rachel added: ‘Ellie has begun recovery well, she is speaking as normal and every day her movement is progressing.
‘She can now sit up and roll over and it won’t be long before she regains the ability to crawl as there is nothing holding our little fighter back.’
If you’re a fan of McDonald’s and you love a good offer, you’ll be happy to know you can get up to £5 off your McDonald’s this week.
The fast food chain is currently running an offer where you can get £1 off a £5 spend, £3 off a £10 spend and £5 off a £20 spend.
It doesn’t matter whether you order a meal or twenty double cheeseburgers, you can still get the money off.
But of course, there is a catch.
This offer is only valid for those who have downloaded the McDonald’s app, which isn’t too big a deal.
All you have to do is download the app, and you’ll have access to all three offers.
You can use each code once within this week – starting from today, Monday 29th April, meaning you can get a total of £9 off if you are dining more than once.
You can use any of the codes at any time of day, whether you fancy breakfast or dinner, and it’s available to everyone, including McDonald’s employees, new and existing customers – you’ll just have to make sure you have the app so that you can apply the discount to your order.
This offer coincides with the launch of McDonald’s new Great Taste of America burgers, where six new burgers join the menu, each inspired by a different US state.
If you’re as obsessed with Glossier beauty products as we are, listen up.
The cult US beauty brand just dropped a new skincare product, aptly named Bubblewrap.
Yep, that’s right, Glossier have named their new eye + lip plumping cream after their iconic pink bubblewrap pouches, in which the brand packages and delivers its skincare and makeup items. Cute huh?
But we equally love their delivery bags as they’re perfectly sized to house beauty products, charging cables and even fruit – at one point they became so popular the brand sold them separately as ‘merchandise’.
Glossier’s Director of Product Marketing and Development, Melissa Souto explained how Bubblewrap was in fact the most requested product for Glossier to create:
‘We’re in constant conversation with our community and knew from their feedback that they wanted an eye cream from Glossier—it was actually our most requested skin care product.’ Melissa said.
‘We also knew that there was a great industry hack, especially among makeup artists, to use eye cream on the lips. Both those things inspired us to create a product that was more than just an eye cream.’
The eye + lip plumping cream has reportedly been in the works for nearly two years and contains hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid and sodium hyaluronate crosspolymer, that draw and maintain moisture levels to visibly smooth and plump skin.
The cream formulation is lightweight yet deeply hydrating with 94% of users reporting their eye area felt moisturized immediately and 85% said their lips felt smoother immediately during a clinical trial.
So what sets Bubblewrap apart from a traditional lip balm or eye cream?
Melissa Souto said: ‘Think of Bubblewrap as a daily treatment that’s designed to work in tandem with your lip balm: Bubblewrap, applied morning and night, actively adds moisture while a lip balm seals it all in so your lips stay hydrated all day.’
‘The skin on your face isn’t the same in every area; the eye and lip areas are the most delicate and deserve extra care that your regular moisturizer isn’t designed to give. They also tend to lose moisture the fastest which is why we formulated Bubblewrap with hydration as the key benefit.’ she continued.
It seems Glossier has given our most basic daily essentials a new and improved upgrade. And we’re here for it.
Glossier Bubblewrap
Key ingredients:
Hyaluronic Acid Group
Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid and Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer boost hydration in skin so it appears visibly plump.
Peptide Complex and Portulaca Pilosa Extract
Increase skin’s ability to hold water and promote softness.
Moisturizing Taskforce
Avocado Oil and Squalane unite to supply skin with intense doses of moisture.
Swertia Chirata Extract
An extract from a medicinal herb commonly found in the Himalayas, known to increase skin’s smoothness.
Vegetable Protein
Works to smooth the look of skin.
Blueberry Fruit Extract
From the superfruit, and rich in antioxidants.
Need to know:
Hypoallergenic, dermatologist-tested, ophthalmologist-tested, safe for contact lens wearers, safe for sensitive eyes, cruelty free, vegan.
Glossier Bubblewrap eye + lip plumping cream (£23), available online at glossier.com
Humans like to plan. We like to be prepared for whatever obstacle or adventure awaits us.
For example, expectant parents usually have a birth plan to ready themselves for what happens when the baby comes.
Couples sign a prenuptial to protect their assets when they get married. And now some parents are taking inspiration from that and using the concept to create baby-nups.
The contract is essentially to delegate responsibilities between mum and dad but it’s not a rigid document – there is some leeway for parents to make adjustments.
The idea is to help them divvy up chores and ensure they have an equal workload if possible.
Unlike a prenup though, baby-nups are obviously not legally binding.
The concept was shared by Parade Magazine and then later discussed on various American TV shows. People on social media don’t seem pleased with the idea.
Sad that marriage has risen to this state. If you need an agreement about baby chores you should rethink becoming parents.
Some parents feel that parenting should already be done equally and said they shouldn’t need a document to divide responsibilities between them.
Others argued that a baby is not a chore and doesn’t need to be divvied between the mum and dad.
A few people said that though the word may not be the right term, it’s just an organisational board that helps each parent plan their lives which can be turned upside down after a baby.
‘Seems like if you have to make your husband sign this, there’s a problem. And should they really be having a baby with him?’ asked one person.
Another person shared the same sentiments: ‘Why all the complications? Parents have raised kids together for thousands of years so about just both enjoy the children and split the responsibilities because that is the right thing to do.’
‘It’s called being a parent,’ echoed another. ‘Either embrace every good, bad, wonderful, and annoying thing that comes with it or don’t have kids.’
Until you’ve lived it, it’s really hard to know who will need extra support with what and when. IE- It’s hard to plan for postpartum. Sometimes one partner will need to carry the other. Just commit to loving each other and getting through the highs and lows. It’s worth it.
It’s a well documented phenomenon that in your late 20s you blink and suddenly everyone you know is having babies.
People who used to hold your hair back while you’re being sick or have dealers on speed dial suddenly know what an episiotomy is and have opinions about Montessori nurseries.
There’s no question about it, settling down and having kids changes your life. But does it change your friendships beyond survival?
A lot of my friends have recently had babies, all of which are adorable.
Every time I found out one of them was pregnant I was overjoyed but a little nervous that they might be lobotomized by the experience. An unfair concern, it turns out.
None of my friends who have kids have turned into mum zombies, and I was wrong to think that they might. But that doesn’t mean the relationship is easy and I’ve found that as ‘the child-free friend’ I have had to embrace a new level of selflessness.
Becoming a mum is a huge experience that you can only really understand if you’ve done it yourself. I haven’t. So when the conversation turns to anything child related, I can’t contribute much.
I can listen, or repeat things I’ve heard other parents say. But it’s not my life and this means that sometimes I’m not on the agenda – or that my advice isn’t of any interest.
There have been multiple times where I’d gone for coffee with a pregnant friend, or had lunch with a new mum, and come away without having been asked a single question.
Sometimes it’s because the new parent has forgotten to ask, and other times I suspect it’s because they don’t really want to be reminded of what child free life looks like.
It can be frustrating when over an entire conversation there isn’t one question about you and it can leave you feeling like your friend no longer cares.
But the truth is, I and you have been demoted and that is ok.
There is a new number one priority in your friend’s life, and you’re lower on the list. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t care, but it might mean missing out on hours of complaining to her about a job, housemates and Tinder.
Easy as it is to feel frustrated, I suppose that’s part of friendship. I can’t imagine meeting up with someone who had just taken on a huge promotion, or had major surgery, and not expecting her to chat about it.
We can all become self absorbed during major life changes.
We allow engaged friends to yap on about their impending nuptials for hours on end, despite the fact we really do not care if they pick roses or peonies, and we let friends who are buying houses bore us with details of light fittings and solicitors.
Sometimes being a friend means listening to a boring conversation.
The friendships which survive are the ones which are constantly moving and developing – giving and taking.
As a child-free woman with a child-having mate, you really do have to embrace selflessness. Friendships between child-free women and women with kids rely on the child-free woman to be unselfish, at least to start with.
It’ll be the child-free friend who makes the journey, who brings the flowers/snacks/gifts, and who listens to a (sometimes slightly repetitive) conversation. But as long as the person you are doing that for has done it for you in the past, and will do it for you in the future (whatever it is you do – have a baby, move to Spain, start your own yarn company) then it makes sense.
‘We’ll see her in six months’ I’ve heard friends say about other pregnant friends. If you don’t like babies, or talking about babies, then it can be a tempting attitude. But that’s not really how long, deep friendships work.
So yes. Child-free women can be friends with child-having women. But at least in the early stages, the burden will fall to the child-free to make more of the effort.
If you can stick that part out – and in my experience it only lasts a few months – then there’s no reason your friendship should suffer.
Are you an open mouth chewer? Do your friends and/or significant other give you a wide berth when you’re chomping away?
Then you might like the Cuisine Curtain which hides your mouth from the world when you eat. It’s a totally random and entirely extra creation made by Matt Benedetto – the brains behind Unnecessary Inventions.
The inventor from Vermont, U.S, likes to come up with more weird than wonderful contraptions that have no use other than sitting on his shelf of unnecessary inventions.
But still, the quirky ideas have been applauded on social media because we are fickle folks are easily amused.
One of the things Matt has come up with is a 100ft iPhone charger so your phone will never run out of juice no matter how far you stray from the power source.
Others include an earpiece to avoid Game of Thrones spoilers, a fur roller to make people think you have a dog, a beer can weight and chopsticks that hold your AirPods (yeah, us neither).
You can also expect an avocado on a stick roller, a ‘do not paint’ paint roller, a drone-operated umbrella, and a personal rear view mirror so you never miss a beat.
With all these bizarre creations, we just had to talk to Matt, the brains behind it all.
‘They are all made for fun at this point,’ he tells Metro.co.uk.
‘I have my unnecessary bookcase at my office where each invention goes to retire.
‘My mind somehow just operates that way and I am always coming up with new ideas to create.
‘I also fan-submit new ideas on Instagram as well, so every few inventions is created from a fan submission when it is just too good not to make. The AirSticks (chopsticks that hold AirPods) are one of my favourites as it’s what kicked off the entire project to explore a different side of creativity.’
It takes Matt anywhere from a few hours to a few days to make an invention. He uses 3D printing, sewing, mould making, and more to bring them from just ideas in his head to physical products.
Matt’s hilarious captions on the Unnecessary Inventions Instagram page also delight his 30,000 followers.
On the image of his FingerBeanies, Matt writes: ‘Get rid of those cold fingertips when you are out and about! Slip one of these cosy beanies over each finger and avoid dangerous frostbite. Sorry for the repost – I had these on and accidentally deleted the last post’.
A mum who is tired of stangers calling her child ‘naughty’ has designed a clothing range to make people more aware of the fact he has autism.
Oscar Barker was diagnosed with autism, along with epilepsy and a brain condition called global development delay, aged 18 months.
Since then, his mother Kellie said he has been told by strangers to ‘shut up’ and that others have said to her they would smack him if he was their child, because he often shouts or appears to be acting naughty.
The 41-year-old, from Herne Bay, Kent, said that because her son looks ‘normal’ the family often receive disapproving glances and barbed comments from people that think he’s being naughty.
So now she has started making clothes that have a message printed on them, pointing out that he has autism, so people are aware of children with the condition.
She said: ‘When we go out, it doesn’t look like there’s anything wrong with him – he looks like a normal run-of-the-mill kid.
‘Oscar does have unpredictable behaviour, though. He gets lots of looks and gets called naughty by adults.
‘We’ve had, “for god’s sake, shut up” because he can really scream.
‘We have experienced people saying to us before, “if he were mine, he’d be getting a smack”.
‘I’ve also been in meetings where Oscar isn’t referred to by his name and is only talked about when people say, “what’s wrong with him”. It’s really offensive.’
Kellie said comments such as these often make Oscar feel worse – he can become anxious in unfamiliar surroundings, or if he feels claustrophobic or uncomfortable.
She said: ‘It can trigger a meltdown with him.
‘Sometimes Oscar’s behaviour can make you go, “wow”; he could be on all fours in a public place taking his shoes and socks off.’
As a result, Kellie decided to establish Born Anxious, a range of clothing warning others about her son’s special needs.
The label sells t-shirts for children and adults emblazoned with messages like ‘be kind I have autism’ and ‘unpredictable and amazing’.
She said: ‘It’s about informing people in a really gentle way that he may need a wide berth when we’re out.
‘Someone could go up to him, say “hello, mate” and ruffle his hair without realising that could ruin our whole day.
‘I’ve had a really good reaction to the products. A lot of people have said that people have been kinder to them because of this.’
Naked holidays for nudists and swingers are being offered by price comparison site icelolly.com as part of its new Naked Holidays Collection.
Encouraging holidaymakers to leave their self conciseness at home and embrace the so called ‘naked vacation’, the collection includes deals from operators including Tui, The Holiday Place, LoveHolidays, Very Holidays and Exclusive Trips.
The collection is ‘designed for naturists, nudists, swingers and other free spirits embracing body positivity’, according to icelolly.com.
Commenting on the decision to include nudist and swinging holidays, product director Claire Willoughby said: ‘We are constantly looking at ways to improve our holiday and deals offering. Naturist, nude and hedonistic holidays were seen as quite niche in the past, but it is a rapidly growing sector, which is why we are giving it its own dedicated collection.’
There is a difference between nudist and hedonist holidays, even though they are grouped together. Nudist holidays are people who like to be naked, however nudism is not sexual.
Holidays on offer include an all-inclusive package to Temptation Resort, a ‘playground for grown-ups’ in Cancun; Hedonism II, an ‘exotic, adults-only’ resort in Jamaica; and Desire Resort and Spa, an ‘adults-only playground’ in Mexico.
If you haven’t already booked a week on the Costa del Sol, or a fortnight in a villa with a pool in the South of France, then perhaps it’s time to spice things up with a naked holiday?
If so, please remember to pack a lot of sun cream.
Gin fans, rejoice: B&M has released a range of gin-based drinks in three flavour varieties, for just 89p.
Yes, 89p for gin. Amazing.
The pre-mixed tins have launched in B&M stores nationwide.
Sharing the launch to their Facebook page, the store wrote: ‘We’ve got a great range of cans in store right now, ideal for the warm weather when it returns and perhaps Diane Abbott MP!
‘There’s something to suit any taste – perfect if you’re having a tinny on the train (not a TFL train). Which one of these would YOU try?’
The post poked fun at Diane Abbott, who was caught drinking a mojito on the train last week.
The drink comes in the standard gin and diet tonic and pink gin and tonic flavours, but most excitingly the range also features a rhubarb gin and ginger ale combination.
Customers are already super excited for the latter – with one person saying rhubarb and ginger is their favourite while another added they have already tried the drink and it tastes ‘great’.
Someone else said: ‘The rhubarb one is the best, absolutely gorgeous. It’s my new favourite drink.’
While another added: ‘Rhubarb and ginger ale does sound nice. But I like the pink gin and tonic poured in a glass over ice and finished with strawberries.’
One man even said he was stocking up on the tins for his wedding, saying that they’ll ‘make the best favours to give out at the end’.
Designer clothes worth £50,000, which includes pieces by Meghan Markle’s preferred fashion label, were recently dropped off at a charity shop.
The donation included a Prada skirt, Chloe handbag, Gucci wool coat, Rupert Sanderson shoes and a Mulberry dress – worth more than £900.
It’s been put on sale for less than half the price at £425.
The bundle also features a luxury silk shirt worth £1,180 by Canadian brand Ederm, favoured by the Duchess of Sussex. It’s selling for £245.
All of the items are selling at the Mind charity shop in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
The items all together would have originally cost around £50,000 – and staff are hoping to make at least £15,000 for the mental health charity.
Many items still had their original price tags on and had never been worn before they were gifted to the high street store last week.
Shop manager Alison Homewood said: ‘It’s fantastic to get all this stuff, it has just caused a huge interest.
‘We have had Prada, Gucci, Mulberry, Kate Spade and a lovely houndstooth check Burberry style coat by Gucci which went for more than £400.
‘We also had a beautiful Valentino dress we sold for £650 in plain black with a gorgeous ice-cream pleat in pale blue, yellow and pink.
‘It’s amazing. We are really really busy, but we are not complaining.
‘The Ederm skirt worth £1,180 has not sold yet, but I am sure it will soon – it is only £245, it’s a bargain.’
Staff unveiled the special collection in a shop window earlier this week and only a quarter of the designer items remain.
A generous donor gifted the collection last week and staff researched each item’s value in a bid to get the best return for the charity.
Alison, who has worked at Mind for 14 years, said: ‘I don’t know how much a Prada skirt costs and so I have to go on the Prada website and look which is why the collection didn’t come out until Wednesday.
‘The items came in at the end of last week – it is a regular donor and she donates stuff to us on quite a regular basis.’
The store has celebrated two decades in business and brought in more than £2 million for the charity.
While Alison is thankful for the high value donations, she does not want them to detract from the kindness of other donors that contribute to the shop’s everyday success.
She said: ‘It is exciting to see these glamorous, high fashion items.
‘But it is always exciting to look in any bag because you never know what you will find and more importantly, it is more money for the charity.
‘We treat every donor the same. It doesn’t mater if they are dropping off one item or 100 items, we are always grateful.
‘It’s fantastic to get all this stuff but it does not detract from the normal donations – the stuff we sell for £5 or £6.
‘Yes, it’s great to have this amazing quality clothing – but it’s amazing that people bring things in everyday otherwise we would not have been here for 20 years.’
The UK’s fastest-growing ethnic group is comprised of anyone with parents who have two of more different ethnicities – and the varieties within that group are almost endless.
The realities of being mixed-race are unique and often overlooked in mainstream narratives, but documentary maker Ryan Cooper-Brown wants to change that.
His new short documentary film Being Both tackles issues that directly relate to the mixed-race experience, from displacement and family conflict to racism and fetishisation.
But the film is also brimming with hope and shines a light on the many positives that come with having mixed heritage.
The eight-minute film condenses a series of compelling stories from the mixed-race community. It is an intimate and uplifting short that captures the shared challenges, emotions and histories of mixed-race people from the UK, Denmark, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Germany and Japan.
‘I hope the film is the beginning of a series of docu-shorts that will showcase the stories and experiences of mixed-race people from all over the world,’ Ryan tells Metro.co.uk.
‘It is amazing for me to be able to share the notion that mixed-race is more than black and white.
‘The reality is, there are hundreds of different mixes all over the world and they experience the same identity issues and the prejudices we do – sometimes even worse.’
Ryan is one of the founders of a social project – We Are Mixxed Up – that seeks to champion the mixed-race narrative and community through content and messaging.
Being Both aims to give a voice to the growing mixed community and educate people about the fact that ‘you can be a mix of black and white, you don’t have to choose a side.’
‘To be completely honest, I was sick of people – even those who are close to me – labelling me without thinking,’ explains Ryan.
‘Or equally as bad, not having any interest in the fact that I am mixed and what that means.
‘I would never expect anyone to be super interested in anyone else’s background. But for people to continue to call you one thing, when you identify as another, was and is beyond annoying.
‘And it was that frustration that was the catalyst that forced me to look back at my childhood and the situations that built who I am today.
‘After going through all those feelings, I thought – I cannot be the only one experiencing all this.’
Ryan’s quest is one of education. He wants to shout about the mixed-race experience until it starts sinking in as part of mainstream consciousness.
‘I want mono-racial people to think, be curious, listen and retain information,’ he says.
‘If someone tells you they are not fully ‘one race’, then stop calling them that race.
‘Listen to their stories. Lots of mixed kids come from one-parent families, so get to know how this affected them and how they may have been disconnected from one side of their heritage, for example.
‘I was raised by my white mother of Irish heritage, in a predominately white town and I attended very good catholic schools.
‘So, my experience of what society deems “black culture” or, more specifically, “black West Indian culture” was limited, and I think I was detectable. I definitely experienced some colourism from different communities.
‘I had no one to talk to about all this, I never felt I fitted in on either “side”.’
One of Ryan’s greatest frustrations is that his identity so often depends on how other people choose to label him. He wants people to be more sensitive when it comes to making snap judgements and sweeping assertions.
‘Even as a child, it was so frustrating when people would say, “but Ryan, you’re black” to me. I read that as people denying me the one side of my parentage that raised and nurtured me.
‘Take the skin colour away and think about identity. Think about someone never feeling like they fit in, think about those kids in school, young boys having to choose between playing with black kids or the white kids. And often not being accepted by either.
Often, the mainstream understanding of being mixed-race is limited to black and white. But there are so many variations that fall under the mixed category, and Ryan wants to see greater exposure and understanding for all of them.
‘These days there are so many more variations of mix, as we see the West African, Middle Eastern Chinese and Indian communities grow in the UK’ says Ryan.
‘Now is the perfect time to use this blending of races and cultures to bridge communities – you could say that mixed-race people are the future. Get into it!
‘We need to keep reminding people that we are a colourful group of people that are growing and can teach other people a great deal.
‘We are complicated and smart and able to navigate multiple cultures, we are an asset, we are here to stay, and we have a voice.
‘We will benefit from learning how to hold multiple perspectives, and this is something mixed people are born with.’
Annie Peverelle, 40, has been a surrogate to three families across the past six years but has had no desire to start a family of her own.
Annie, from Rugby, Warks, gave birth to her fourth baby in January 2019 for couple Amanda and Jason McKeane, 42 and 43, after giving birth to their first daughter, Effie, four years ago.
She said: ‘I adore being pregnant, it’s addictive, I have never had morning sickness and the last three labours were no longer than two hours and very easy.
‘I love the feeling of growing a new life for someone who can’t do it themselves and the thrill of seeing a positive pregnancy test.
‘I just feel really good whilst carrying a baby and I am fortunate enough to have no cravings or sickness.
‘Seeing that first scan and feeling the little kicks are just amazing.’
Amanda and Jason decided to try surrogacy after she was left infertile by endometrial cancer when she was 34.
They searched for a surrogate through charity Surrogacy UK, where they met Annie.
Both Annie and Amanda are now great friends, who meet up every other month as their bond has become stronger over the years.
Annie, an admin worker, is now planning to help give another couple a sibling before she stops being a surrogate all together.
She explained: ‘I was desperate to experience pregnancy, but I didn’t want to have a baby.
‘A colleague suggested surrogacy as a joke but that weekend, I couldn’t get it off my mind, so I researched it and before I knew it, I was at a social event with other surrogates and parents-to-be.
‘I have never looked back since; it isn’t just the helping people that I love but also the friendships I have formed from surrogacy UK.
‘The night before my first surrogate social, I met my husband Steve, 49, who has always been supportive and admires what I do.
‘I wouldn’t have my life any other way.
‘No surrogate will ever be out of pocket, as all expenses pre-pregnancy and during are covered by the family along with maternity leave from the workplace.
‘This includes travel costs, vitamins, food and loss of worktime, with Jude I went swimming so this was paid for too.
‘I get the privilege of seeing my friends fall in love with their baby from the second they hold them.’
Amanda, who is a veterinary nurse and her husband Jason were desperate to start a family and after miscarrying her first at seven weeks, she was unable to become pregnant again.
After two years of investigations, Amanda, then 34 was diagnosed with grade 1a endometrial cancer – she had a year to freeze her embryos before undergoing a total hysterectomy.
She said: ‘After losing my first baby, I was unable to get pregnant again, we were distraught, so we decided to have a break from trying.
‘Two years later, the tests continued to say negative, so the doctors ran some tests and what they thought was a fibroid, was actually the early stages of cancer.
‘I was in total shock; I had no symptoms and its uncommon for someone my age to have this cancer.
‘Thankfully, we found it at the very early stages, so It was cured after a hysterectomy, I didn’t need radiation or chemotherapy.
‘Surrogacy was our only option left, we froze 14 embryos and started attending socials and kept bumping into Annie, who was pregnant with her first surrogate baby.’
Surrogacy UK host events throughout the year which gives surrogates the chance to meet parents-to-be, before choosing who they want to carry a baby for.
Amanda adds: ‘We became friends with Annie and six months after she gave birth, we got ‘the call’, Annie had chosen us, we were thrilled as she was a natural.
‘We became anxious not only for the health of our baby but for Annie too but she coped amazingly.
‘Annie asked us if we would like her to be surrogate again to give Effie a sibling and of course the answer was yes.
‘Both our babies were overdue so there is something about Annie that made them want to stay, we were in awe with how she was so calm when she gave birth to Effie.
‘Not many parents can say they missed the birth of their baby, but we missed the birth of Jude by 20 minutes due to road works.
‘Effie knows that ‘mummy’s tummy is broken and auntie Annie carried her – I couldn’t thank her enough!’
A homeowner in Los Angeles was shocked to find a kitten under their home. To their surprise, the kitty was found without her mum and still had her umbilical cord attached.
They had spotted stray cats around their L.A home and presumed that the cat mum had left behind the kitten while moving around.
After searching the area, they decided to hand in the calico to the Alley Cat Rescue as she was underweight, weighing just 76 grams and needed medical care.
The folks at Alley Cat called the gorgeous youngster Pudding – she was smaller than a toothbrush when she first came in.
Now Pudding, with the help of her carers, continues to grow every day and is just a bit bigger than the bottle she feeds on.
Her wee legs are becoming active and Pudding is slowly starting to live her best kitten life.
The first step for the rescue team was to get Pudding fed. She struggled to with the bottle at first but pretty soon got used to drinking the formula.
‘We added probiotics into her Kitten Milk Replacer. She slept much better. Tiny kittens need around-the-clock care and weighing to ensure they are doing well,’ Desiree of Alley Cat Rescue told Love Meow.
‘She loves her food and gobbles it all down. She doubled her weight in a couple of days.
‘Pudding is growing and has a powerful set of lungs. Her weight steadily goes up every day. She loves belly rubs, but most of all she loves her food.’
Alley Cat Rescue is now working with the homeowner to see if they can find Pudding’s mum and get her spayed.
But while that happens, Pudding is reaching small milestones. She recently hit 100 grams, found her first purr and began kneading in the air with her tiny paws.
She has now been placed with a foster mum and cuddles up with her after every feeding.
Recently she was pictured with her big girl bottle which is just a bit smaller than she is.
Pretty soon the bottle will look tiny next to her.
A new season means loads of fun new beauty trends to try. From beach-wave hair and sun-kissed, glowing skin, to graphic cat eyes and plump red lips, there’s loads of simple yet striking looks to get on board with.
However, if you’re one of the UK’s 9.4 million smokers, these ‘effortless’ looks may not be so simple. We show you the effects smoking has on your appearance and explain why ditching the fags will help you make the most of 2019’s beauty trends.
Deadly dull
We’re all aware of the major health issues caused by smoking, but one of the lesser-known things it does is restrict the blood vessels.
As a result, your skin doesn’t receive enough oxygen, which carries essential nutrients that help your skin rejuvenate itself and keep its healthy glow. Therefore, smokers’ skin tends to look dull, grey, and often a touch on the yellow side.
This is not ideal if you’re hoping to achieve the ‘just back from holiday’ look this year, something which depends entirely on glowing, healthy skin that looks like it’s been delicately tanned – not stained a slightly sickly yellow by the toxins in smoke.
The patchy look
2019 seems to be all about naturally perfect skin. Whether it’s glossy and dewy complexions that have you looking like you’ve just had a facial, to golden-tinted cheeks for that ultimate summer glow, your skin needs to be looking its best.
Psoriasis might hamper your attempts at this. Admittedly, this skin condition is an autoimmune disorder and can happen to non-smokers too, but smokers double their risk of getting it as a result of their daily habit.
Not only that, but after 11-20 years of smoking, your risk of psoriasis goes up by an enormous 60%. It’s an unnecessary thing to risk if you’ve fallen for the easy natural looks that are leading this season’s beauty trends.
Not-so-flawless skin
It’s not just skin conditions that you can fall prey to if you’re a smoker.
Wrinkles are one of the most visually obvious things that smoking can cause. Because dangerous chemicals in fags like carbon monoxide constrict the blood vessels, your skin not only loses out on its glow and even tone, but it also isn’t able to maintain its collagen levels – the structural protein that stops you developing wrinkles during your youth and helps heal wounds.
The result? You age a lot quicker. So much so, in fact, that your skin can age as much as 10-20 years, particularly around the mouth where you’re likely to quickly form pucker marks. Not only that, but any injuries you have will take longer to heal – a real bugbear if you’re prone to catching yourself with the straighteners in the morning!
So, achieving that youthful glow is a no-go if you’re a smoker. Also, those bold and graphic eyeliner looks might look a bit dodge around all those wrinkles…
Yellow gnashers
Perhaps one of the most obvious results of smoking is yellowing – and even browning – of the teeth.
The toxins in smoke are the cause for this staining. No matter how clean you’re keeping your teeth, the chemicals and the tar will still change your smile from a dazzling white one to a slightly unpleasant tainted one.
You could, of course, get your teeth whitened. But this can run into the thousands – and what’s the point in spending that kind of cash if you’re going to continue smoking?
The other issues, is that rocking this season’s red lip won’t look so slick. They say red lipstick can make teeth look whiter, but it can’t perform miracles. It’s easier just to stub out the habit.
A hair-raising fact
Dreaming of long and luscious beachy waves or thick and healthy locks tinted with a funky pantone hue this season? Well, if you’re a smoker, think again.
The toxins in chemicals interfere with the structure of your hair follicles, which often leaves to thinning and more brittle hair. This can also mean that your hair goes greyer quicker and – more worryingly – you’re more likely to lose it quickly too. In fact, men who smoke are twice as likely to lose their hair as non-smokers.
For the sake of your hair – and for fashion – it’s time to stop smoking.
Advertisement paid for by Change Incorporated (VICE) for its Quit Cigarettes initiative. Philip Morris International funds this initiative but has no editorial input, so may not share the views expressed.
The last time robots threatened our jobs, there were riots.
The Napoleonic wars had taken their toll on Britain: food prices skyrocketed, taxes ballooned to fund the war effort, and labour-saving machinery had put textile workers out of jobs. Enter ‘Luddism’.
At night, the workers would meet secretly, on the moors, planning and practising for their attacks. They smashed their looms and razed mills to the ground, raging against their declining livelihoods.
The shift to using automated equipment threatened to oust the skilled workers making them obsolete. They attacked machines because of what they represented to the common worker: economic death.
We are a long way from the privations of the 19th century – yet today we share some of their concerns. As AI-driven automation radically changes the way we work, many people worry their own skills have a precipitous shelf-life.
There might be disagreement about whether automation will be ultimately good or bad, but change is already felt. Rapid technological advancement has led to the proliferation of AI-driven automation unevenly across sectors. A recent report from the Institute for Public Policy Research reckons that without policy intervention, automation is likely to exacerbate existing inequality rather than improve it. Does the rise of the AI worker mean the dawn of a new pay gap?
What is clear is that we’re not really discussing this with any sense of urgency. We need to start doing so
Dr Matthew Fenech is an AI consultant with Future Advocacy, a think tank that looks at how it will impact people and businesses. Their work supports policies to maximise the benefits of AI and minimise potential risks.
Are the machines really coming for our jobs?
Dr Fenech explains that it’s more accurate to think of each job consisting of potentially automatable tasks that should be considered separately. Roles comprised of more easily-automated tasks are most at-risk, whereas those with less are more likely to change.
He adds that the McKinsey Global Institute, a consultancy that analyses economic trends defines automation risk as specific actions with easily anticipated changes. Using this definition, they estimate 60% of all occupations and 30% of their constituent tasks are automatable.
He says one of the main challenges is the uneven impact of automation, across a number of dimensions, including employment sector, geography, age group, gender, educational attainment and socio-economic group. Most studies have found that jobs done men with lower levels of education are most imperilled over the next 10 to 20 years. What’s given less attention, however, is the disparity in impact across geography.
A Future Advocacy study found that despite the risk to jobs across GB (excluding NI) being 30%, this risk varies widely across the country, meaning a more significant impact as a result of automation in parts of the country. In places like Oxford and Cambridge, Fenech adds, the majority of new jobs are likely to be high-skilled professional jobs – jobs that are more resilient to further automation. But in the North, things are more troubling.
Blackburn, Sunderland and Bradford are likely to create more low-skilled, further at-risk jobs over the same period. ‘These cities could suffer a double whammy, worsening the North-South divide’.
What’s more, is that while automation has boosted economic growth since the 70s, the share passed on to workers has decreased. The benefits are being hoarded. Without intervention, this concentration of wealth is likely to worsen.
Dr Fenech says we need government intervention to mitigate the impact on the hardest hit: ‘They could become trapped in a state of precarious employment, shifting from one low-skilled, highly automatable job to another.’
For digital optimists, the appeal of automation lies in what it represents – a future in which humanity has engineered its way out of its social ills. Given pop cultural portrayals of slick machines and post-scarcity economies, we can readily conjure a dreamy vision of less work and more leisure benefitting society at large.
The reality at present is less rosy. The embrace of AI-driven automation is not happening in manageable increments. ‘Old’ jobs are being subsumed to automation faster than new jobs and are being created, and far quicker than humans can acquire the skills to do them. Automation is impacting people unevenly, and risks deepening the existing social divides.
If we continue to race ahead without government intervention, faster than people and markets can adapt, we risk concentrating the wealth in an even more troubling ratio than we see today. Instead of obliterating the pay gap, our uncritical adoption of automation without safeguarding those most at-risk may cause it to expand so rapidly that it becomes impossible to traverse.
So what can be done to decrease the risk of worsening inequality?
Dr Fenech says we need to better understand how impacts will be felt across demographics. He believes governments must start commissioning research.
‘Once we know a bit more about who is likely to be most impacted, we can target interventions,’ he explains.
We need to start having a conversation now, as a society, about what a world with less work for all might look like
These might included supporting businesses to upskill employees, as well as financial and psychological support to those affected. At the society level, financial aid like a Universal Basic Income is a potential alleviation – though the jury is still out on how useful it is in this context, Dr Fenech adds.
What’s vitally important, he says, is education reform. This will help us maximise the opportunities and minimise the risks of AI adoption.
It’s no use concentrating our efforts on STEM subjects and coding skills to future-proof our workforce – ‘there are already algorithms capable of coding new algorithms’.
He stresses the importance of lifelong learning, focusing on abilities that are likely to be the preserve of humans for longer, like interpersonal skills and creativity. ‘This will require a culture shift,’ he says.
Right now, he adds that the importance of caring professions like nursing and social care are overlooked. Revaluing these jobs would be good for two reasons: they offer long-term employment security, and demand will increase with an ageing population.
To protect those most at risk, and to prepare society for the radical changes ahead, Dr Fenech stresses that governments must take action. Society needs support for initiatives that train underrepresented sectors like women and minorities in AI development and deployment.
He states: ‘A tech community that is more representative of society at large may well help reduce the chances that minorities are disproportionately affected.’
Businesses also have a role to play: they must lead the way in ‘responsible automation’.
‘It is only by involving workers and local communities in decisions around automation that employers can avoid the risks of ‘techlash’,’ says Dr Fenech.
‘We need to start having a conversation now, as a society, about what a world with less work for all might look like. We want to avoid a dystopian future where wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few owners of capital.’
Preparing for an uncertain future that is changing at an unprecedented speed is no easy task, but the growing body of evidence must spur immediate action.
The most significant changes may seem far off, but the quality of life and the economic wellbeing of generations to come depends on the policies we put in place now.
Over eight weeks, we're taking one of the big issues - work, government, health, the web, sex, evolution, travel and people - on each week and breaking them down twice a day (published early each weekday morning).
From OBEs to CEOs, professors to futurologists, economists to social theorists, politicians to multi-award winning academics, we think we've got the future covered, away from the doom mongering or easy Minority Report references.
Talk to us using the hashtag #futureofeverything If you think you can predict the future better than we can or you think there's something we should cover we might have missed, get in touch: hey@metro.co.uk or Alex.Hudson@metro.co.uk