If you’re a ginger man in the UK then there’s a chance one of your mates has already sent you Red Hot’s call out for redheads.

The Red Hot British Boys calendar has been recruiting guys for seven years to ‘rebrand the ginger male stereotype’.

And now they’re back and thirsty for more redhead Adonises.

So tell a colleague, a boyfriend, a mate or a brother (though you probably don’t want to see him oiled up and naked), who fits the description that they’re wanted.

That’s right, the calendar is back and this year they’re going full frontal.

Any brave souls ready to bare themselves for the Red Hot C**ks edition might want to get in touch with the folks.

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Writing on their Instagram page, they said: ‘Red Hot’s infamous calendar is back!

‘We are looking for 12 new guys to star in our new full-frontal Red Hot C**ks calendar. In order to apply you’ll need send some clear face and body pictures of yourself to this page.’

The calendar isn’t just an excuse for chiselled hot things to get naked, it’s all for a good cause.

In previous years, they’ve raised money for Ben Cohen STANDUP Foundation – an anti-bullying charity which helps groups doing real-world work to try and eradicate bullying – particularly in the LBGTQ community.

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The endeavour, started by photographer Thomas Knights, has also seen £55,000 raised for causes including The Diana Award and the Terrence Higgins Trust.

As well as ogling hot dudes in their birthday suit, you can also purchase underwear, posters and art books that celebrate the ginger male form.

Red Hot even puts on exhibitions and parties to really hammer home the message.

Anyone keen to apply for the latest Red Hot calendar can apply via their Instagram.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are happy to watch.

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The first time my husband walked out of our house intent on killing himself I thought, days later when we were reunited in hospital, that it would be the last.

Seven attempts later, he finally managed to take his own life.

On that first occasion, after breakfast one morning, Alastair just went out and failed to return.

At the time, we were both working from home, sometimes on joint projects, sometimes not. Lunchtime that day came and went. At 6pm, I called his sons (from his previous marriage) but they hadn’t heard from him. Worried, the eldest went driving around London to see if he could spot his father’s car.

I started to wonder if he’d had a heart attack, whether he was lying ill on a street corner. I switched to efficiency mode and took a tray where I placed three phones: the landline and my mobile for incoming calls and another landline to use for outgoing calls.

I took this tray with me around the flat, fearful of missing that phone call from my husband.

When I called the police, they said they would log his disappearance but couldn’t take action until he’d been missing for 48 hours. So I started to log all the calls I made – to whom I had spoken, at what time.

This copy book was added to the telephone tray. It was my way of coping. It was pointless being hysterical, I needed to keep calm and feel a sense of control.

That evening, his first wife came up from Kent to keep me company. She was as surprised as I was – Alastair had never done anything like this before.

I phoned him repeatedly; his phone went straight to voicemail. My voice messages went from pleasant to angry to desperate.

After 24 hours, I hadn’t slept and I started phoning around my friends – just to talk to keep myself sane.

I called the police again and they came over to take information, leaving with his hairbrush for DNA identification.

There are no words to describe the torment I felt at not knowing. At times like this, your mind is your worst enemy.

After 48 hours, I decided to keep an appointment with a friend in an attempt to get a semblance of normality. As I tried to sip my coffee, my mobile rang and a strange, small voice at the other end said: ‘Hello, it’s me’.

After three agonising days of silence, uncertainty and torture, I learned he had been admitted to Addenbrooke’s Hopsital in Cambridge.

Alastair had prepared his suicide with military precision: he had packed a plastic glass, 2 bottles of wine, a blanket and my father’s morphine tablets and driven off to Cambridge. He turned off his mobile so he couldn’t be located and removed the SW1 parking permit and the disabled badge from the car which would link him to my parents.

This was no random act.

I was shocked and hurt at the duplicity of my husband whom I thought I knew. But the relief washed over me when I heard he was alive.

I took the train to Cambridge and visited him – he was hooked up to countless machines, cleaning his kidneys, changing his blood, treating his hypothermia. In just three days, he – who had never been overweight – had become skeletal. There was nearly nothing of him left. Even his voice had changed as a result of the tubes that had been administered in his coma.

My first words to him were: ‘Do you want to live?’ to which he replied, ‘Yes, please’.

As I write this, I cry – hearing his little voice saying – so politely ‘yes, please’ – tears trickle down my cheeks.

By his bedside, I placed a happy picture of us together so that he could be reminded of the wonderful days we had known. I hoped this would further renew his desire to live.

Such was the extent of the damage he did to himself, Alastair stayed three weeks in Addenbrooke’s. But he was never referred to a psychiatrist. At the time, such treatment was rarely deployed to patients after their first suicide – you have to have had two attempts at taking your life.

Some people say suicide is a cry for help. But there’s no way that Alastair’s trip to Cambridge was to attract attention. He really meant to kill himself but thankfully, a dog and his walker intervened, finding him unconscious in the woods.

I hoped that the fact he had nearly lost his life would have brought attention to the severity of his condition. I suggested to him that he should see a doctor but he refused. At the time, I believed that he would not try to kill himself again.

Alastair and I met in the early 90s – through The French Chamber of Commerce. At the time, my role involved lots of events which I noticed he never came to. One day I confronted him and, from there, a romance started which led to my first and only marriage and Alastair’s second. That was on 21 May 1994.

Six months after his first attempt at taking his life, he tried again.

This time I knew he had gone off to kill himself. I find the term ‘attempt suicide’ a funny one because I know from personal experience you want to disappear in earnest. I tried twice when I was in my teens – the result of a domineering mother – but it’s not something I would have ever attempted again for not wanting to hurt my husband.

Just like the first time, there was no note and it was three days before I heard anything. This time, I was at a friend’s house when the police rang me on my mobile to tell me they had found him. This time he went as far as Scotland. After admitting to it being his second attempt, he was placed in a psychiatric ward.

As before, he had prepared everything to the last detail – including staying overnight in a B&B which he paid in cash.

He had taken himself to Royal Troon Golf Club where he used to play golf with his father as a young boy. And, while he did take an overdose with ample quantities of wine, he was not able to carry it through, walked back to his car, reassembled his phone and called for an ambulance.

He was escorted back to London by two nurses, where he was admitted to the psychiatric hospital in Vincent Square.

That time though, I could not find it in myself to forgive him nor could I find it in myself to touch him, let alone hug him.

Alastair received care from a wonderful psychiatrist, but he wasn’t given any anti-depressants, as they believed he had undiagnosed mild Asperger’s – not depression.

Alastair had also come up with the notion that he did not want to be a burden to me or his two sons from his previous marriage. He witnessed his mother disintegrate into Alzheimer’s, my mother with Parkinson’s and ultimately my father with dementia – and he didn’t want to do that to us.

When he was in the psychiatric hospital, he was allowed out for short visits but I have to admit I was frightened of him.

I thought I knew my husband but this secretive side of him has been revealed. During that time, I only met him in public places.

Though I didn’t disagree with the Asperger’s diagnosis, the authorities seem satisfied with his condition and eventually he was discharged. At first, he kept up his visits to a psychotherapist but, eventually, he stopped those too.

We managed to settle back in some kind of routine.

Alastair was made redundant which was a huge financial blow to us. But, we could cope. However, he was suffering from anxiety attacks so his GP prescribed beta-blockers, but no link was established with his former attempts to take his life.

So, life returned to its normal pace – except, occasionally, I would raise the subject of how his actions had hurt me and his sons. I would ask whether he understood that and he would say he did. I so wanted to believe him and continued to hope he’d never do it, ever again.

But, one day, he took himself off to one of his favourite childhood spots – the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park. I can no longer recall what happened on this occasion. It’s all a bit of a blur now. Perhaps my memory is sheltering me from the pain.

I do remember, however, it was after this attempt that we started sleeping in different bedrooms.

Then there was a fourth attempt – this time he burnt his foot badly. He wouldn’t tell me how this happened but I slowly learnt that he had jumped on to a train track.

From that day on, he had a limp.

I could no longer bear the torture of seeing him leave the flat and not knowing if he would ever come back.

Distrust had settled in. And, with the distrust, the respect I had for him had gone.

It was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done, but I asked him to move out. I hoped that he would understand that actions have consequences. In my own way, I was trying to save him.

He found himself a flat in Balham and changed his surgery, but he wouldn’t tell me the details of his new doctor or surgery and I suspected he hadn’t told them of his desire to take his life.

We would meet regularly – at least once a week – but when you love someone, as I loved Alastair, you develop a sixth sense about them.

One Friday afternoon, I called him but the phone went straight to voicemail. I tried repeatedly but couldn’t get hold of him. Again, I tried the next morning and left yet another message. But, at this point, I also called his younger son and, together, we agreed to call the police. Because he by now had a well-established history, they immediately went round to his flat.

This time there was a note.

Ultimately, it took my husband seven attempts before he finally took his life.

That was four years ago and it still hurts just as much to think about it now.

For a while after his death, I would stand in the kitchen doing anodyne tasks, like chopping onions, looking around, wondering where Alastair was.

We would often cook together, so much so that a friend called us ‘The Cradocks’ after the early TV cookery couple.

It’s strange, because I was not so aware of his absence when he was still alive, but living in Balham. Somehow, there is something in my conscience that reminds me that I will never see him again.

Only recently I have started to think about dating. I have come out of a self-protection ‘retreat’; I have been shielding myself from getting hurt again.

In my heart-breaking experience, I know my husband became incredibly deceptive, something which I’m certain other families mourning the loss of lives through suicide will have encountered with their loved ones when they piece together those last days or weeks.

For Alastair, I can only hope he now rests in peace.

Catherine has been a life and leadership coach for the past ten years but, since losing Alastair, she’s now also set up a coaching service for men and women aged 50+ to ensure that they have a safe and fun journey while internet dating. For more information visit datingguru.co.

Keeping fit is difficult, particularly when you have a busy life.

Even when we do manage to find the motivation, it can still be hard to stick to a workout plan because life always seems to get in the way.

But when it comes to making real, lasting changes to your fitness – whether that’s about becoming stronger, faster or slimmer – consistency is key. It’s no good going to the gym every day for a week if you’re then going to sit on the sofa for a month.

But how do you go about it? Is it possible to build a realistic, practical fitness schedule that you can actually stick to? We asked Joshua Pearson, fitness expert at Exercise.co.uk, for his advice on how to become a regular in the gym.

‘Integrating exercise into our frantic, fast-paced lifestyles is not an easy feat, by any means,’ Joshua tells Metro.co.uk.

‘Even the fittest of the fit have their off days from time to time. It’s only natural, after all.

‘One of the most effective and healthiest things that you can do for yourself, however, is to make your exercise routine a regular and consistent part of your life.

‘That’s easier said than done, I know, but I do have some creative inspiration to help you convert exercise into a long-term part of your lifestyle’

Find an exercise you enjoy

First and foremost, it goes without saying that if you want to have a chance at making your exercise a part of your regular routine, you need to find a way to exercise that you can enjoy.

If you hate your workout and cannot bear the thought of it, then it’s going to phase out in no time.

Find a way to exercise that you find fun – yes, we said it; fun!

If you hate the gym, go for a run instead. Not a fan of weight training? Try boxing and body-weight workouts. Don’t like getting too sweaty? Go for long walks a few times a week. Whatever makes you feel good for exercising that you don’t dread.

Make it practical

A close second is making your exercise practical.

If you are trying to find the time to go to the gym seven days a week when you absolutely do not have the time, things are going to get messy. And probably stressy too.

Try to find ways that you can make exercise fit around your existing lifestyle.

Condense your workouts to short, intense blasts. Is there a gym on your way to work? Have free space in a room for exercise equipment? Live near a nice open space? Do what’s practical in the long term.

Classes

Classes are a staple to a huge number of people’s fitness routines.

Some people think it is an absolute blessing to go to a class. There’s not too much independence, and you’re not lost or lacking motivation. You go, you work, you leave, done.

On top of all of that, they are usually specific, short, and at set times too. That means you know exactly what you are getting yourself into in the long term and that there are no surprises.

Friends

There are more social sides to exercise than a lot of people think, and working out with a friend or family member can be an awesome way to build and keep the motivation in the long term.

It’s an amazingly effective way to bring you closer together with people as you support each other to overcome hardships, sharing the load and coming out the side stronger and fitter together.

Effectively, you’re in the same boat, no matter what you’re doing. That’s great for both getting started in the first place, and keeping it up over time too.

There’s more than just being each other’s gym spotters too. You can compete against each other’s performances, swap workout favourites, or even try and take up something out there like team sports.

Plan

Planning your workouts is definitely an underrated way to keep up your fitness.

Most people know what a workout plan is, or are at least happy to google one and give it a try. The problem with that? It’s someone else’s workout plan. Sit down and take a serious look at you, not at someone else’s plan.

Set goals

Goal setting is pivotal to anyone’s training.

It’s what will get you to your milestones and help you keep pushing all the time.

There’s nothing worse than training four days a week for weeks on end and not realising what changes have taken place. Where’s the satisfaction in that?

Long and short-term goals are equally important, and in the long run, they will keep you going strong.

On the flip side, don’t beat yourself up and get fixated if you don’t reach them; any progress is still progress.

Variation

If your fitness is really going to be something that you keep up in the long term, it’s important to spice up your training.

Everyone gets bored occasionally, especially if you’re doing the same thing week in week out. Besides, your progress grinds to halt if you do that anyway.

Instead, take maybe one week a month to do something totally different. Try a new set style or training style, get outdoors, play a sport, anything that’s not the usual.

Variety is the spice of life, and fitness is for life, not for one goal.

Make it a habit

Make your exercise routine a part of your routine. Yes, that’s what these tips are for, but hear us out.

Making exercise a regular part of your mornings, for example, means that after a few weeks it’s just natural. It’s not new or daunting, or even much effort, it’s just a part of your day.

Exercising in the morning, especially, is a good call. There are too many excuses that pop up throughout the day not to do a workout after your busy day. In the morning though, you’re fresh, ready, and it’ll give you that feel-good feeling every day.

Be realistic and patient

You need to be patient when it comes to fitness.

Crash diets and new exercise fads aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. There are no quick fixes when it comes to being a healthier human being for the rest of your life.

If there’s one take away from all of this, take this one; patience and perseverance can be your most effective allies. You’re not on a path to a destination, you’re on a journey, and it will take time. One thing that is for sure; it is always worth it.

Mountain climbers are a killer full-body move – perfect for a finisher after a tough workout.

Elevate your heart rate while challenging your core and upper-body. Mountain climbers are all about speed, power and mental determination.

Our daily challenges are perfect to try at home, at the gym or in the park. They are designed to get you moving every day.

Throughout this Staying Active summer series, fitness experts Elia and Amanda – both qualified instructors at Flykick – will be on hand to show you how to do each challenge and give you their top tips.

Check back every day to see what the next challenge is – you could even film your progress to make a record of how far you’ve come.

The aim is to be active every day for six weeks over summer. Today’s challenge will test different muscle groups and help to improve your muscle performance.

These daily challenges can be done on their own, or you can include them in larger workout – it’s totally up to you. As long as you’re moving, that’s what matters.

We know doing the same fitness routine every week can get really tedious, trying a new challenge every day will keep your fitness fresh and fun – and you might even learn some new moves.

How to do perfect mountain climbers

Start in a press-up position, supporting your weight on your hands and toes, with your arms straight and your legs extended.

Keeping your core engaged and your shoulders, hips and feet in a straight line throughout, bring one knee towards your chest, then return it to the starting position.

Repeat the movement with your other leg, then continue alternating legs throughout.

Go for speed, but keep your form and remember to replace one leg securely before moving the other one.

Steff Kent, 32, has done the hard work of losing 12 stone, but her transformation isn’t complete.

The brewery worker has now been left with 15lb of painful excess skin after her dramatic weight loss, and is raising money to remove it through surgery.

Steff was 32 stone at her heaviest, and spent years feeling self-conscious of her weight.

After getting gastric band surgery and following a healthy diet, Steff lost a huge amount of weight – but has been left feeling insecure and uncomfortable with her body thanks to sagging excess skin on her stomach, arms, and legs.

She needs £17,000 for surgery so she can finally have the body she wants.

Steff said: ‘Having the skin removed would be life changing. I’ve spent my entire life getting gradually bigger regardless of the effort I’ve put into exercise or dieting.

‘I have never been slim, been able to wear a skirt or shorts without feeling horrific or getting dirty looks or comments made.

‘Being able to not feel like the biggest person in the room, being able to look in the mirror and like what I see will change my life.

‘I have always been overweight. When I was 2-years-old I weighed 2 stone, at 10-years-old I weighed 10 stone.

‘I’ve had people shout “run fatty” half way round a marathon from a pub bench whilst drinking beer.’

Steff decided to have a gastric bypass in December 2018, after years of an active and healthy lifestyle made little difference to her weight.

She had run several marathons in the years before, went to the gym several times a week, and worked a job that involved being on her feet all day.

The excess skin she has been left with doesn’t just make her feel self-conscious, but causes pain and discomfort, too.

‘Under my stomach and the top of my legs get sore and wobble with every step,’ Steff explains. ‘I get a rash on the skin on my arms.

‘I can’t really run anymore exercise-wise due to the pain of the bouncing skin.

‘At night I wake up due to pain in my neck and shoulders which means I constantly have zero energy.

‘I don’t like wearing short sleeves as my arms literally flap. You can also hear my legs clapping together as I walk which is embarrassing.’

Steff is raising funds for surgery to remove her excess skin, and will donate any money left over to charity.

She hopes that the surgery will enable to do all the things she’s dreamed of.

‘This is the first time I’ve put myself first. I’ve ran marathon’s for charity and done lots of things for other people.

‘I realise it’s a large sum but being able to raise this money on GoFundMe will change my life.

‘I’m trying to put myself first, I badly need the surgery to get my life back on track.

‘The pain can be pretty bad, I just want to get my life back.’

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Many of us go to the gym with a specific target in mind.

Which is why it can be really annoying when you don’t see the changes you want to see after working really hard – but that’s often because you’re not working out in quite the right way.

Getting active in any way is great. Moving every day, getting your heart rate going and working your muscles is all really beneficial for your overall health. But if you want to target specific areas – you need specific moves.

We asked Anthony Mayatt, personal trainer and founder of Breathe Fitness, for his top tips on how to build muscle in your legs and tone them up.

‘When building muscle you are looking to tear the muscle fibres so they have to rebuild and grow,’ Anthony tells Metro.co.uk.

‘This is done through overloading the muscles through weight training at a lower repetitions range.

‘Endurance athletes work at higher reps so depending on the goal depends on the reps you use.

‘Building muscle can work through and rep range from 5-10 so you are working very hard with each rep you are lifting.

‘A good way to know which weight to lift can be by performing a one rep max on a specified exercise then work at the right percentage for that lift.’

Try these exercises to build muscle in your legs

Squats

This exercise should always be the basis of lower body workouts. It is a compound exercise, meaning it works across multiple joints and works many muscles in the lower extremity.

Barbell deadlifts

Most trainers will regard this the ‘mecca’ of all exercises.

Another compound exercise and as well as hitting the muscles of the lower body, it is a posterior chained exercise, so great for full-body strength and posture.

Bulgarian split squat

A great unilateral exercise that works each leg individually.

The split squat tests your balance, so starting with a light weight to perfect your technique is vital.

Backwards lunges

Like a normal lunge, but stepping backwards rather than forwards.

This generally is a bit easier on the joints and easier to perform, so if you’re doing lots of lower body exercises in a workout then this is a definite to add.

Calf raises

The calf is a muscle that is usually forgotten. It is really important to work the calves so that there isn’t an unhealthy imbalance in the lower body when trying to build muscle.

Lynda Jager, 61, is – to put it bluntly – absolutely jacked.

She’s super strong, with a six-pack and muscly arms, and wants to show people that there’s no age limit to fitness.

Lynda is also a grandmother of six, a medical office administrator, and a personal trainer – and somehow she still manages to make time for bodybuilding.

Lynda, from Ontario, began working out in her twenties, but only got the confidence to join a gym when she was 30. It was there that she first became interested in bodybuilding.

She started to lift weights and fell in love with the activity. With the encouragement of her husband Mark, 55, she decided to start taking part in bodybuilding competitions.

But it took her 20 years to feel confident enough to actually compete, which she did for the first time at the age of 51.

All went well, and for the last ten years Lynda has been exploring her passion. She’s now a five-time bodybuilding champion, and hopes to inspire other women to get involved in the sport.

Taking part in and winning competitions has made Lynda feel more confident than she ever has before.

‘My husband loves the way I look,’ Lynda said. ‘He knows that I get some admiring glances and comments from other men but isn’t really bothered by them. He is very confident in our relationship.

‘He usually brushes it off and doesn’t say too much. He leaves it up to me to handle it, if it’s unwanted attention.

‘Sometimes I think they flirt when they don’t know he’s in the room and quickly stop when they realise he’s my husband.

‘The first time I stepped on stage, I thought I would faint and almost didn’t do it. The girl behind me actually had to give me a little nudge.

‘After my first competition was over, I couldn’t wait to do it again, as it gave me such a giant confidence boost.

‘My confidence through the years grew and my shyness and anxiety lessened immensely.

‘I believe it has given me the confidence to try new things and speak up when I need to. When I was in my thirties I was not as confident in my body or what I was doing to change it.’

Lynda hopes that by sharing her story, she’ll motivate other women to embrace weightlifting.

‘In the beginning I was a bit of a closet exerciser, as weightlifting and muscles on women were sometimes thought strange and not the “norm”,’ she said.

‘I would hide my muscles to avoid the comments. We’ve come a long way since then, realising that muscles on women is healthy.

‘I want to share my fitness experience and knowledge with others.

‘I want everyone to understand that being fit for life is possible, without pain, restrictive eating or drugs.

‘I hope to inspire others to get off the couch, get off the phones and tablets, and move.

‘It starts with a mindset; you should have a clear vision of your reasons for change and that vision becomes your motivation. Picture yourself achieving your goals.

‘With that clear vision in mind, seek out all the information you can and learn how to achieve those goals through informative magazines and books, reliable sources on the internet, or find a qualified coach or trainer.

‘I believe it all starts in the mind but continues in the heart. You need to believe in yourself.’

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Trying to find somewhere to live in London can be tough.

You’ve either got to sacrifice a lot of money, a lot of time on your commute, or your reluctance to live in a tiny box room with a rubbish toilet.

If you manage to find that magical trifecta of a nice place, a decent location, and a reasonable price, you’d better hold on to that renting opportunity, tight.

But also, we’d quite like you to share it with the world so we can see that a great place to rent in London does actually exist.

Our weekly series, What I Rent, shares these lovely places, the sh*t places, and all the properties in between so we can take a proper look at what renting is like.

Last week we were in Muswell Hill with Tessa and Rob, who pay £1,400 a month between them for a two-bedroom flat.

This time we’re hanging out with couple Ben, a 25-year-old motion graphic designer, and Emma, a 25-year-old graphic designer, who share a flat in West Norwood in London.

Hey, Ben! How much do you and Emma pay to live here?

Rent is £1,100 which we split between us, bills are around £247 a month including council tax.

We have one bedroom, a living room, a study, a bathroom, and a kitchen. So that’s five rooms and a balcony.

For the space we think it’s quite a good deal.

And you have a vegetable garden! Was that important when you were looking for a place?

Our balcony is a super important space for us in our flat, we love the outdoors and need a bit of that connection everyday.

Upon embarking on our journey into a more sustainable lifestyle we created a vegetable garden on our balcony which has helped us appreciate food a lot more.

We’ve had a decent harvest of carrots, lettuce and rocket this summer and are looking forward to growing more stuff.

How did you find the flat?

We found the flat on Rightmove, and have been here for 10 months now.

Are you happy where you live? 

We are quite happy where we are.

We both love the area for its green spaces and having Brockwell, Dulwich and Crystal Palace just a short walk away is great. We’re spoilt for choice when going for the Saturday morning Parkrun.

There is a good sense of community in the area, with monthly events like the West Norwood Feast.

It’s a very convenient location with the high-street a short walk away, which has some great eateries and independent shops.

The high street seems to be always developing with new shops and our current favourite is the ‘Sustenance’ pop-up, zero waste shop.

There are also some great pubs and breweries near-by, which is always a good thing to have if you’re craft beer lovers, like us.

It’s easy to reach Clapham and Brixton by public transport so we spend a lot of time there rather than in central London.

Do you feel like you have enough space?

It’s ideal amount of space and couldn’t ask for more. Our previous flat was only a one room studio so it’s a welcome change from that.

This place gives us room to do our own thing, such as working late into the night and not disturb one another.

We also now have enough space to have friends over, with the living room doubling up as a second bedroom using our sofa bed.

What’s it like living together?

It’s awesome living together, we both chip in and help each other out with cooking and cleaning which makes life so much easier.

How have you made the flat feel like home?

Our flat came unfurnished which at first we were dubious about but quickly became excited about after moving in. Furnishing the whole place has been lots of fun!

The furniture is mostly Ikea and we costomised our wardrobe shelves to suit our needs. Our aim is to kept each room quite minimal.

We both love plants so we made sure that every room has a few plants in to liven it up a bit. You’ll also find lots of prints from local artists and friends scattered around the house.

And there are some DIY bits…

We like to save money and help the environment wherever we can and feel like upcycling is a great and creative way to do that.

We’ve been pretty lucky and managed to find a load of wooden crates last winter which we have lined and turned into our planters for growing veg.

We also stacked some palettes from my work place and then stuffed some coffee sacks with pillows to create a sofa on our balcony.

We use lots of jars in the kitchen to store pulses and grains and use them in the bathroom to store homemade cosmetics.

Do you have plans to move again?

Not anytime soon, we really enjoy where we live.

And what about buying a place?

Not a chance, the cost is way too high and we don’t like the idea of being tied down.

We’re just excited about the veg garden, honestly. Shall we have a look around?

What I Rent is a weekly series that’s out every Tuesday at 10am. Check back next week to have a nose around another rented property in London.

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Airports are a truly surreal place. Fluorescent lighting shatters the concept of time, smashing pints at 7am is totally accepted and a bag of crisps and a bottle of water will cost you £10.

It’s brilliant.

But to ensure that we can safely experience both the experience of the airport and our travels, a lot of work has to go on behind the scenes.

One of the cogs in the machine of airport management is security. We all have our hand luggage checked and X-rayed, we walk through a metal detector and our checked bags are scanned and sometimes manually searched.

But before you enter the official security checks, anyone can go inside an airport. Hundreds of people filter in and out of this unchecked space, and for anyone wishing to cause harm this would be, theoretically, the easiest place to do it.

This is where dogs like Lola and her handler Ken Luke come in.

They are part of Gatwick Airport’s dog unit, an extension of Surrey and Sussex Police dog unit.

They work alongside the armed police to run random checks across Gatwick’s publicly accessible space.

Ken tells Metro.co.uk: ‘ My role here is to actively search for any explosive material or trace amounts of explosive material and any persons and there are any objects in and around the Gatwick Airport perimeter building.’

Each handler at Gatwick airport dog unit has two dogs, a people scanning dog and a proactive dog.

A people scanning dog does as their name would suggest, it scans people and their belongings. For instance, it would sniff both you and your suitcase or hand luggage.

PC Luke says: ‘With a person scanning dog they’re looking for the scent of explosives around that person, and they can follow it back and effectively chase that person.

‘Then they will stand in front [of that person] and indicate in a passive manner, which is why they were often called passive dogs.

‘And they will sit down in front of that person to let us know that person may or may not have explosives on them.’

Proactive dogs scan everything that is not a person such as buildings, luggage, corridors, car parks, vehicles and even aircraft.

‘It’s a different skill set and focus for the dog,’ explains Ken.

‘There’s different methodology in the training that we use.

‘The main thing is the height of the dog. So you could use a Springer Spaniel for a person scanning dog if it’s a very leggy dog. But most of them tend to be quite short.

‘So they’re not high enough that we require to be able to check the chest area potentially of a person, which is why we tend to use the larger dog.

‘The large dogs can sometimes interfere with some of the searching if they’re used in a proactive manner.

‘There are dual role dogs in the country. But here at Gatwick we still like to specialise in one proactive and one person scanning dog, just so that we can be confident in their search ability.’

Lola and the other dogs on her team are all explosive specialist search dogs.

Ken explains: ‘The dogs are capable of detecting drugs and explosives.

‘But if they were to indicate on somebody that had a small amount of drugs on them, it would be the same indication as if they were wearing a vest or a backpack full of explosives. So how we deal with that person should they want to run away is somewhat different.

‘And I can’t tell the difference in the indication from the dog because it’s the same. That’s why we can’t dual role because otherwise we may be using unnecessary force.’

As with all of the dog handlers we have met in our Dogs With Jobs series, the relationship between dog and owner is everything.

PC Ken Luke has two dogs, Lola, the three year old Springer Spaniel who we followed on our run through Gatwick’s bomb detection drill, and Ghost, a Labrador/Great Dane cross.

Ghost is a person scanning dog who came to work with PC Luke after being rescued after being abandoned in a flat.

Even though police dogs are required to live outside in kennels, they do get to socialise with the officer’s family.

When they do socialise with the handler’s family, it has to be in a controlled environment. For instance, PC Luke’s wife cannot be left in charge of Ghost or Lola because she is not licensed to do so.

‘As a dog handler, you are generally single crewed, so it’s just you and your dogs,’ explains Ken. ‘You’ll spend time exercising them through the police day, you’ll take them run across fields, obviously for a good run.

‘You are very reliant on their ability to sniff out explosives. So you could say that they’re the ones keeping us safe.

‘We owe our lives to them because they’re looking after us soon as it is very strong, very strong bond.

‘[The bond] just strengthens, the longer that you’re with them, the more the bond increases.

‘The trust comes from our consistency and approach. We believe in positive reinforcement. So if the dog does something that it should do, we really go over the top and make a big fuss at the dog.’

Given the fact that it is rare to find explosives in a British airport, it is hard to keep the dogs on the top of their game.

One way the force ensures that the doggy detectives are able to run successful sweeps is by running practice drills.

A drill is done by hiding a small portion of a controlled explosive substance somewhere in the publicly accessible parts of the airport with someone who the dog has not met. This ensures that the substance is supervised, the dog can still positively indicate despite human distraction and the dog will not positively indicate because he recognises the person.

‘It’s important to the dog that they don’t think every single time they’re going to get one,’ says Ken. ‘That can sometimes bring on a false indication.

‘If they’re expecting a reward every search, and then you do a negative one, they may give you a false indication just to try to get the ball and try their luck.’

Due to the nature of what they are looking for airport security dog units are reinforced by an armed unit. Some travellers may find this off-putting.

Ken says: ‘They’re not there to try and intimidate the average holidaymaker. We’re there to prevent some people that want to come to the airport and do anyone any harm.

‘So please don’t be alarmed if anyone sees us out and about. We are friendly, we are approachable, and we will help you.

‘In my 20 months here, we’ve certainly not located anything that could have brought anyone to any harm. There’s no need to be alarmed if you do see us.’

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Pastry maker Lisa Buck champions all things vegan. Even her business, The Vegan Owl, is dedicated to soucing plant-based goodness.

So when the 48-year-old from Norfolk spotted a transport truck full of pigs, it played on her mind.

Realising they were on the way to the abattoir, Lisa was grief-stricken.

But the universe heard her cries as one little piglet fell out of the truck, only to be found by Lisa’s friends.

Knowing Lisa is quite the animal carer, they phoned her up and gave her the piglet to take care of.

Naming her Peggy, Lisa and husband Bill have welcomed the piglet into their home where other lost and wounded animals have resided.

‘I’d say I’ve sheltered at least 200 birds over the years,’ said Lisa. ‘In fact, two of them, a jay and a rook, have never left.’

Other four-legged animals living in the caretaker’s home include a bulldog and terrier.

As soon as she sorted the admin side of things with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), she was able to introduce Peggy to the dogs.

‘I’d brought some blankets with me, swaddled her up and she fell asleep in my arms within seconds – I fell in love with her there and then,’ she says.

‘I tried to find out where she had come from by calling around farm contacts, but it remained a mystery, so I thought it was safe to keep her.’

Lisa, who was vegetarian for four years before becoming vegan in 2015, spent the rest of the day ensuring the outhouse was fully kitted out for Peggy – her pig in a blanket.

But she doesn’t want to keep Peggy as a pet for too long.

‘I didn’t want to push Peggy into being a pet,’ said Lisa. ‘I wanted her to feel comfortable doing whatever her natural instincts told her to do.

‘She’s already showing a desire to be domesticated, and I’m happy for that to be the case, as long as that’s something she has chosen herself.

‘It doesn’t mix with my ethics to force a farm animal to adopt the life of a pet. I think there needs to be a choice

‘There’ll always be a home here for Peggy.

‘We just want her to live out her natural life without ever having to be in fear, like she must have been on that terrible day when she was off to the slaughterhouse.’

Peggy, estimated to be two months old, is clearly loving domestic life, happily hogging blankets and making herself at home.

Lisa said: ‘She was grunting at the door, desperate to get in, and before we knew it, she was running around the house exploring.

‘She really is like a newborn baby and brings out all my maternal instincts. She sleeps, eats, and will occasionally kick about a bit before drifting back off.’

But while Peggy is currently smaller than Lisa’s pooches, she is likely to grow to seven feet long and weigh up to 40 stone.

‘I’m well aware just how big she’s going to get, but that’s fine, we live in an old farmhouse – so we have the space,’ said Lisa.

‘Although, if she’s going to insist on watching telly with us every night, we might have to get a bigger armchair, in fact, it might be best if she got her own sofa!’

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A farmer’s choice to propose to his partner with a ring placed on a cow udder has not been received well on the internet.

While he thought his proposal was perfectly on brand, others were horrified by the image of an engagement ring hanging off a teat.

After a woman from Singapore spotted the atrocity on her newsfeed, she shared it on Facebook group That’s It I’m Ring Shaming: The Wreckoning.

Followers of the 18,000-strong group were not impressed by the proposal and said that wedging a ring on a cow’s udder was practically animal abuse.

Of course, some people made puns. But they were all cheesy.

‘Shaming the ring and the whole photoshoot,’ wrote the poster, sharing an image of the thing.

‘The person is a farmer. Still doesn’t excuse his bad taste. And is this considered a nipple ring?

‘Also, the band is thicker than the centre stone. If my eyeballs are forced to suffer through this nonsense I’m dragging everyone down with me.’

Hundreds of users commented on the post, reacting with GIFS, puns and all the good stuff.

‘How dairy propose like that?!’ joked one person while others said it was ‘udderly ridiculous.’

In spirit of the group, lots of followers shamed the ring specifically, rather than the presence of a cow’s udder.

One wrote: ”This is udderly terrible. Sorry had to go for it. But really this is gross. The ring is a mess of clusters and the band is too thick. Like the person thought how can I make this ring bigger without spending any more money.’

‘Is that a tiny udder or a rather large ring?’ asked another.

Lots of people worried about the cow’s comfort: ‘He probably just shoved it on the poor cow’s udder. It may be a tight fit and the poor thing may be in some pain.’

Another echoed the sentiment, saying: ‘F***ing gross. This animal does not deserve being abused in this fashion.’

The rest didn’t realise the picture showed a cow at all, instead mistaking the udder for a penis.

‘I scrolled by too fast and had to look back at the picture because I legit thought someone posted a picture of a ring on a dick,’ admitted one user.

Another wrote: ‘My brain did not register this as an udder at first…’

Same.

MORE: Bride-to-be shamed for engagement ring inspired by her dead pet snake

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Recently, an unnamed woman caused an internet controversy by breaking one of the cardinal rules of wedding etiquette: don’t wear a white dress unless you’re the bride.

The dress in question wasn’t even ambiguous; it wasn’t off-white, nor was it cream. This was a full-blown, whole-ass wedding dress… which seems, objectively, like kind of a d*** move.

This woman isn’t the first white-wearing guest to have incurred the wrath of Facebook’s fearsome ‘wedding shaming’ community.

It seems like guests turning up to wedding dressed in white is an all-too-common occurrence. There have been a rash of cases of mother-in-laws turning up to their son’s weddings dressed in white.

But, as well-established a faux-pas as this is, is wearing white as a guest actually that big a deal? And even if we accept that wearing white is off-limits, where do we draw the line?

Is wearing cream a punishable offence? Should wearing egg-white see you publicly flogged in the town square? To find out, I spoke with a selection of brides-to-be, all of whom had a different take on the matter.

‘If it was out-right white, I’d probably be pissed off,’ Becca, 26 says. ‘But it depends on who was wearing it – if it was a young woman, I’d be more annoyed. But it wouldn’t totally ruin my day even if someone did.

‘I’d probably just bitch about them to my mum afterwards.

‘I would forgive anyone wearing something a little ambiguous – I probably wouldn’t even notice. As long as the dress wasn’t floor-length and white, it’d be fine.’ Her mother is planning to wear a cream dress, for instance, which Becca doesn’t mind at all.

Not only would Sophie, 25, be annoyed if someone wore white, she would be almost as irritated if someone wore egg-white or cream.

‘You can wear literally any other colour,’ she says, ‘just not those. I’m not that traditional except when it comes to that one rule.’

Why is it such a big deal? ‘Because you only get one wedding, and I want people to know that I am the one getting married. I’m not wearing a big, flamboyant, cupcake dress – so if someone else wears white, you won’t be able to tell the difference!’

Georgie, 27, on the other hand, wouldn’t mind if a guest wore white to her wedding. ‘I couldn’t care less,’ she says.

Why not? ‘Because it’s their choice what to wear. As long as they’re happy and comfortable, that’s what matters. It’s just a colour. I’ve never got this whole “bride goes mad at guest wearing white” headline – it’s absurd.’

But what are the official rules? According to… you know, etiquette?

‘When it comes to wedding fashion etiquette, guests should avoid wearing white unless the couple has given explicit permission or specifically requested guests wear white to their celebration,’ explains Shelley Brown, senior fashion and beauty editor at The Knot.

‘Dress code details are often listed on the wedding invitation or a couple’s personal wedding website.

‘For guests considering an outfit in the family of off-white or pale pastel, which could photograph as white, it’s a good rule of thumb to run it by the couple well in advance of their wedding day, or to error on the side of caution and choose another outfit, as a courtesy.

‘As a wedding guest, it’s important to choose attire that you feel great in but also doesn’t take any attention away from the newlyweds.’

Obviously, some brides won’t care much either way, but, when choosing your outfit for a wedding, it’s probably safer to swerve the white.

Trust us, you don’t want to end up on a wedding shaming Facebook group – those guys are vicious.

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If you’ve grabbed a salad bowl for lunch at Chipotle, Sweetgreen or the like, you may have been handed a cardboard container.

These supposedly compostable takeout bowls, thought to be better for the environment, may in fact be harmful to your health and the environment.

They contain PFAS, synthetic chemicals that don’t break down naturally and have been linked to several health problems.

A new study by the New Food Economy found that these items contain ‘forever chemicals’ that can taint soil, pollute water and ruin composts.

If they’re ingested, they can linger in the body for months before being excreted, increasing the risks of severe disorders, birth defects and conditions including cancer.

The problem with these man-made PFAS is that they’re ubiquitous, found in food containers, cosmetics, and clothing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

They’re found in many moulded fibre bowls, prevalent in loads of restaurants and takeaways.

These bowls are largely used due to their ‘water- and grease- repelling properties’, which make it ideal for holding hot and greasy food.

The New Food Economy tested fibre bowls from 14 locations of eight different New York City restaurants.

‘All moulded fibre bowls contain PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a broad class of more than 4,000 fluorinated compounds that do not biodegrade naturally in the environment,’ said author Joe Fassler.

‘This means that the bowls used at restaurants like Chipotle and Sweetgreen aren’t truly compostable, as has been claimed.

‘Instead, they are likely making compost more toxic, adding to the chemical load of the very soil and water they were supposed to help improve.

‘And rather than degrade quickly, they contain potentially hazardous ingredients that never break down. Not in five years, and not in 500.’

Some of the health concerns that arise from the worst PFAS chemicals include colitis, thyroid disorders, kidney and testicular cancers.

The current amount of fluorinated chemicals found in these include 2,000 parts per million of PFAS, or 0.2% of the bowl’s total material.

This doesn’t surpass the US Food and Drug Administration’s threshold of PFAS that can be found in food packaging.

But the way they linger in the body (by being absorbed through polluted sources such as water) for months causes risks, argue researchers.

To add, the bowls are not compostable or biodegradable meaning they will remain in the environment for many many years.

We’ve contacted Chipotle for comment and will update the article if they respond.

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A milkman has been entertaining his customers by dancing on their lawn during his round, even doing requests they leave on notes.

Paddy Leanoard was first caught on CCTV pulling off ballet moves when he was delivering milk to 32-year-old Laura Paul and her partner Michael Flucker, 35.

They only noticed Paddy’s moves after they watched footage back in June.

Laura, from Renfrewshire, was so impressed that she decided to leave Paddy a note asking him to do another routine.

The note read: ‘Hello dancing milkman we loved your moves the other night. Can you show us more?’

After the note, Paddy dedicated his next dance to a John Travolta impression weeks later.

He then danced again, this time pulling off Michael Jackson’s moonwalk on 15 July, Gangham Style on 25 July and the Floss on 1st August.

Laura, who runs Erskine’s Infusion Dance Company, said: ‘He started dancing at the end of June.

‘We were just looking through our camera and my partner noticed it.

‘I have got a dance school logo at the side of my car and it has a twirling ballerina on it so he copied that.

‘We just started laughing, it was so funny.

‘After that, I left him another note asking him to show us more moves.

‘I just handwrite notes for him and sellotape them to the wall outside our house.

‘He didn’t show us any more moves until two weeks later when he decided to be John Travolta.

‘I shared the videos with my dance school and everyone loved them.

‘We all laughed at it.’

Shortly after posting the videos online, members of the public started tagging the mystery milkman.

And Laura, mum to eight-month-old Esme, revealed she has plenty more up her sleeve for the dancefloor king.

She also hopes Paddy will show up for her dance school’s end of year show.

The mum of one added: ‘He’s a great sport.

‘The next request we give him will be the macarena.

‘I started to let the kids at the dance school to decide what they want him to do.

‘The kids would love to meet him.

‘We do an end of year show, so we’d love to see him there.’

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We’ve all been there. Waking up to a new day, only to discover that our boobs have made a bid for freedom in the night.

These, flimsy, strappy pyjama tops are clearly no match for our rampant bosoms – which clearly cannot and will not be contained overnight.

So when a shopper discovered a Primark mannequin was modelling this common morning predicament – it was, hilariously, just like looking in the mirror.

The shopper, called Charlie summed it up in a simple tweet: ‘This Primark mannequin is accurately demonstrating how women wake up when they sleep in a strappy top.’

And thousands agreed.

The tweet has already totted up more than 1.5k shares and 11.4k likes – which shows just how prevalent this pyjama wardrobe malfunction is for women across the globe.

This Primark mannequin is accurately demonstrating how women wake up when they sleep in a strappy top pic.twitter.com/IitWIe3JVH

— c h a r l i e 🍂 (@charlougray) July 24, 2019

One woman replied to the tweet with a painfully relatable anecdote: ‘I got out of bed once looking like this, my little nephew was staring at me and said’ “Auntie Dee, dress yourself”.’

Another added, ‘yes mate. Mine fall out the middle.’

‘My boobs get tangled in the straps,’ said someone else – adding another layer to this uncomfortable predicament.

So what is the answer to preserving your modesty as you sleep?

We’re not sure there is one to be honest. It might be best to ditch the PJs altogether and be at one with nature.

‘This is why I don’t bother wearing anything,’ replied one woman on Twitter. We think she might have the right idea.

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Draped in a traditional Bengali sari, transgender bride Trista Das was all smiles as she married Dipan Chakraborty, who is also transgender.

The couple, who have both undergone sex reassignment surgery, got married in Calcutta, India, at a wedding attended by friends and family.

Trista, a 38-year-old activist and actress for several Hindi and Bengali films, met Dipan while working at a transgender legal clinic.

When Dipan arrived as a client, the two confided in one another and quickly developed feelings.

They then got engaged in April, on India’s National Transgender Day of Visibility.

Four months later they tied the knot in a ‘rainbow wedding’, becoming the first wedded trans couple in Bengal.

‘I always believed love has no gender and Dipan and I have proved it,’ said Trista.

Dipan’s transition is more recent and his family are still struggling to come to terms with it. They did not attend the wedding.

The preparations for the wedding could have been halted if Dipan’s new identity documents were not sorted in time.

Luckily they were and, with the help of friends and neighbours, they had a special traditional ceremony.

‘I am extremely lucky to have Tista as my wife. This is the best day of my life,’ said the groom.

Trista’s family are supportive and her mum, Subrah, had words of praise for the bride.

‘I am happy to see my daughter settle down with someone like Dipan,’ she said. ‘We have been through a lot of hardship but parents should always support their children.’

Aparajita Bose, a member of Human Rights Law Network Kolkata also had sweet words for the newlyweds.

‘This wedding will boost the transgender community. It will have a huge impact as the trans community fears being rejected by society.

‘I wish Dipan and Tista a happy married life. They are both wonderful human beings.’

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A woman nearly lost her finger after a salon manicure went wrong.

The woman, whose name hasn’t been shared, went to a salon in Tuggerah, Australia that she had been to before with no issue.

After getting infills done, the woman noticed that her finger tip was painful and swollen. The next day she took herself to A&E, where she was sent home with antibiotics and a referral for the fracture clinic.

The next day the woman took her antibiotics, but noticed the swelling and pain was getting worse. The day after, the swelling had spread.

When she went to the hospital, the woman was told she had such a severe infection that she would need surgery to cut it away.

By this point her finger had turned black.

‘By Friday morning the pressure of the infection had gotten so much that the finger had literally popped and the ooze was leaking all over the place,’ wrote the woman on Facebook.

Thankfully surgery went well and the infection was cleared, but the woman shared her story on Facebook to raise awareness of the risks of salon manicures.

She believes that the infection was a result of technicians using tools without sterilising them between clients, and warns people to always check that the tools used to trim their cuticles are fresh from the package or have been sterilised right before use.

‘The whole purpose of this post is to warn others what can happen after getting their nails done at nail salons,’ she wrote. ‘Looking back I don’t recall their hygiene practices being overly great.

‘The tools are taken with each nail technician from client to client, with no evidence of sterilisation in between clients.

‘I hadn’t really worried about it thinking nothing bad would ever happen….until now!!!’

The woman isn’t the first person to face serious infection thanks to dirty manicure tools.

Earlier this year Brittany Guyatt, from Swindon, claims she was cut by a ‘rough’ technician while getting acrylic nails fitted.

What started as a bruise developed into a blood blister then grew rapidly. Soon Brittany was in unbearable pain.

The growth extended off her finger by more than a centimetre and ‘filled with smelly pus’.

When the growth, called a granuloma, turned black, Brittany was told she needed surgery or would face losing part of her finger.

Let this be a lesson to us all to take caution when going to a salon for any treatment. Read reviews carefully, take hygiene practices and ratings seriously, and keep a close eye on any tools to ensure they’re being sterilised and cleaned before use.

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If you shop online at Ocado, you may find a suggestion to swap your items for an alternate item with lower calories.

The tool tells you the exact calories you may save with a different option, and the amount of exercise you’d need to work it off.

The calorie saver option, which pops up automatically, has been around for some time and has continued to be met with criticism.

People feel that the focus on calories could be triggering for those with eating disorders, who may obsess over every calorie they consume.

When editor Rebecca Reid pointed out the issues with the calorie saver tool, a spokesperson told her to simply turn the option off under her My Ocado settings. .

‘When you’re obsessed with food, it takes over your entire life,’ wrote Rebecca. ‘Food shopping is the ultimate battle. When food is the enemy, the supermarket is the scariest, most stressful place in the world.’

Hi Cora, we're sorry about this. If you go to your My Ocado > Account Settings > Calorie Saver, you can turn this option off.

— Ocado (@Ocado) September 29, 2016

The tool isn’t accused of causing eating disorders, but of being upsetting to those who have experienced disordered eating patterns, prompting them to become mentally invested in the number of calories in everything they eat.

Charity Beat tells Metro.co.uk that their concerns for the tool are the same as for calorie-counting apps and fitness trackers.

A spokesperson for Beat said: ‘Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses with complex causes, so use of calories counting apps or features would not be the sole and direct reason for someone developing one.

‘However, many people with eating disorders count calories or track weight loss to the point of obsession, and calories-counting apps or websites can facilitate or exacerbate such behaviours and make recovery harder.

Just noticed the "calorie saver" option on @Ocado. Next step: judgmental face when the AI predicts I add it to Pimm's? Or carbon footprint? pic.twitter.com/9C8BsohWSk

— Heloise (@Tartineaubeurre) August 8, 2017

‘There needs to be greater awareness around the risks that calories counting apps can pose to people with or vulnerable to eating disorders.’

The charity is unimpressed by the calorie saver being a default setting which you must opt out of.

Years after the tool’s launch and the ensuing criticism, the tool still remains a default for online shoppers. People have to opt out of receiving the ‘calorie saver’ message.

Beat said: ‘Companies that produce websites or app promoting calories swap need to ensure that notifications or messages do not come on automatically so that people are not unwillingly exposed to intrusive messages that can trigger their eating disorder behaviours or thoughts.’

We’ve reached out to Ocado for a comment and a spokesperson has said: ‘We value feedback from all of our customers and take it into account as we continually evolve the customer proposition.’

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The Greggs Festive Bake is an undisputable staple of the Christmas period.

The holiday season doesn’t officially start until you’ve had that first hot bite of flaky pastry, succulent chicken, some kind of stuffing-type thing, an unidentifiable creamy sauce and a healthy splodge of cranberry.

It is the perfect festive mouthful.

Which is why we have all been on tenterhooks waiting to find out when the beloved Christmas cult classic will return to our lives.

The good news is, we don’t have too long to wait.

We know, we know – it’s too soon to talk about the c-word. But is it? Is it really?

The nights are drawing in, there are jumpers back on the shelves, it’s almost mid-August, which is essentially the depths of Autumn. Let’s just accept it. Christmas is coming.

Greggs has announced that the Festive Bake will be available to buy from Thursday 7th November. And the countdown is officially on.

That means it’s probably time to turn the heating on, unpack your big coat from under the bed and start buying presents. Winter is here.

It has been a long old summer for Festive Bake fans, but the more savvy among you might have been enjoying the pastry treats all year-round.

Last winter, Iceland announced that they were selling frozen Festive Bakes, so if you’re smart with your shopping and your freezer space – Christmas truly can be every day.

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First shrinkflation came for our Freddo bars, and we, well, whinged quite a bit.

Then shrinkflation hit Mini Eggs and Quality Street, and we wept.

Now the tides have turned against the sweet and innocent Curly Wurly. Surely we cannot stand for this.

Mondelez – the same people behind the Toblerone redesign – has announced plans to reduce the size of snacks so they contain 100 calories or fewer by 2020.

That means that a number of Cadbury products you know and love will become smaller.

Mondelez say this is for the health of the children, which is noble and all, but we’re still very sad about the decision.

The reduction in size will affect some products sooner than others.

Mini Fingers snack packs and Animals, for example, will shrink next month, with an individual pack of Mini Fingers dropping to 19.3g to 22g and a pack of Animals going from 19.9g to 22g.

Packs of Oreo Mini, Mini Fingers, Animals and Freddo Faces will become smaller from 2021.

Mondelez hasn’t confirmed the exact reduction of Curly Wurly bars or when the chop will occur, but given that they currently weigh 26g and contain 118 calories, they will definitely be on the shrinking list.

The same goes for your dearly beloved Chomp and Fudge.

Mondelez said: ‘We are not prepared to change the recipes of these much-loved products as we know that taste is the most important thing to consumers.

‘In order to make the calorie reduction, we have taken the decision to slightly decrease the size of the products to achieve the calorie threshold.

‘We’re committed to taking action to tackle childhood obesity and portion control is recognised as one of the most effective ways of tackling it.

‘We want to support parents when they choose to give their children a treat and introducing this calorie cap will make it simpler for them to find a treat under 100 calories that children will enjoy.’

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