The thirst for Le Creuset is real.

And just in time for Christmas, the crockery brand has a new, limited edition range, aptly named the Holly Collection.

The line includes red and white pots, casserole dishes, bowls and pans emblazoned with a leaf design, as an ode to the festive season.

At the affordable end of the line, you can also get your hands on mugs and jugs for as little as £13.50.

There are two Stoneware Holly Cappuccino mugs, available in wintry red and white, both at £13.50 while a bigger version will cost you £15.

Keeping to the coffee theme, you can also get a Le Creuset cafetiere but it will set you back £57.

In the same colour range you can also get the brand’s signature Stoneware casserole dishes in petite sizes, for £20.

But the cast iron soup pot will cut a hole in your pocket, with both red and white versions costing £245.

You can also get your hands on the iron cast saucier pan for a slightly cheaper price of £190.

If you’re not about the pots, pans, and mugs or you want to complete a set then you can opt for the Stoneware Holly serving bowl which costs £42.

Whichever takes your fancy, you’ll need to act fast as it’s limited edition and Le Creuset is a pretty popular brand.

Over on its website, it states: ‘Limited edition Holly is an ode to Christmas, enamelled in a distinctly seasonal cherry red hue or a gentle matte white cotton that calls to mind winter snow.

‘Every piece is decorated with a delicate, embossed holly pattern. Beautifully crafted, they make the perfect centrepiece for your table when you’re entertaining friends and family.’

You can shop the range on the Le Creuset website.

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As a child, I never thought being an artist could be my actual job. 

Growing up in the Welsh valleys, I never really saw anyone’s dreams coming true, so why should mine? 

That’s probably why I still pinch my time every time I get to present a piece of work to someone I admire, or receive a tweet of approval. 

In August of this year, I was commissioned as patron for the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board to create a piece to celebrate the week of Pride Cymru. I decided on a portrait of Welsh rugby legend, Gareth Thomas, using red paint dotted onto the canvas with my fingerprints. 

The red paint simulates blood, the fingerprints represent identity, and the concept was to help break down the stigma around HIV and getting tested. People have such negative connotations towards HIV, which I think is down to lack of education, and there is a generation who still remember derogatory headlines about HIV/AIDS from back in the 80s. Today, it’s about knowing your status, owning your health and erasing the taboo. 

Knowing Gareth personally, and having created several pieces for him in the past, I knew he would be on board with it. He’s so passionate about raising awareness and turning his story into a beacon of hope for people in the same situation.

The artwork itself took me about five hours to create. I often experiment with unusual ways of making art, and countless unorthodox mediums from dirt in the back garden to hundreds of pounds worth of caviar, painting with my tongue and feet instead of my hands.

Fingerprints have such a childlike innocence, and to be used for such a powerful statement gives it that added emotion.

For me, the process of creating is equally as important as the final outcome so I recorded the making of this work in time lapse – something I’ve been fond of doing for my social media followers for a decade now. 

I get to improve my skills and I have fun whilst doing so. Creating art by yourself is a very isolated process but recording it and allowing others into your world is quite revealing. I’m excited by that.

The day I unveiled the artwork to Gareth and the team at Cardiff Royal Infirmary Department Of Sexual Health (where it was due to be put on permanent display) was probably one of my proudest moments to date, not just as an artist, but as a person.

Gareth had tears in his eyes as he gazed in awe at his own likeness. He explained that, for him, the hospital building was once ‘shrouded in shame’ and that now the picture is going to hang ‘with great pride’.

He added that he had never been sure how his dad felt about his diagnosis, but upon hearing about the painting, his dad sought out the image online. This finally made Gareth realise that his father really is okay with it.

As a proud LGBTQ person, that really hit home and I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with pride that my work could evoke such a reaction.

2020 in general has been extremely tough for so many people, but I’ve never felt more inclined to create art that speaks to people, that boosts their morale. Art really can speak to people when often words cannot.

At the start of the pandemic in March, I put out a Facebook call out for people to send in selfies to be included in a digital collage of a healthcare worker wearing a face mask.

The final piece was printed on 15 foot tall banners outside most hospital sites in Wales, reproduced on the front page of newspapers and spoken about on talk shows in America. It was even featured in the opening credits of ITV’s This Morning for three months.

I also created a collage of footballer Marcus Rashford in recognition of his campaign for free school meals. This time, I used images I was sent of children who benefit from the scheme.

I relied on free school meals myself as a child so it meant a great deal to me personally but it was still incredible to have Marcus thank me and share it on social media. It’s always an honour to get the approval of the subject. 

I have an independently-released book celebrating 10 years of my work coming out this year, and my next dream is to have my own TV show in the same vein as Art Attack, making art using anything but maybe for a slightly older audience, with an edgier angle. 

For now, I have an ever growing list of ideas and concepts I want to try, which I keep close to my chest.

Whether it’s the obviously fun aspects of my work, such as Marmite on toast and pizza portraits, to the more political pieces, my overall aim is to make people smile.

My work often has a message behind it, but it’s always one of love.

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Fancy doing some baking that requires minimal effort and ingredients, but delivers maximum deliciousness?

Try this recipe for a chocolate chip loaf cake.

Shared on the Crockpot/Slow Cooker Recipes & Tips Facebook group, the recipe needs just three ingredients to make.

Plus, you can make it in your slow cooker, so there’s hardly any faff involved.

All you need to make the cake is flour, condensed milk, and chocolate chips.

You mix it up, pour it into a cake tin, pop it in the slow cooker for a few hours, then slice and serve.

The recipe has proved to be a massive hit in the Facebook group, with hundreds of people trying it out and sharing photos of the results.

Some warned that their attempts turned out the be disastrous, burning after an hour, so keep an eye on your cake and adjust the time depending on your slow cooker.

Others suggested adding cocoa powder to make the cake double chocolate, while others added more chocolate chips.

Here’s how to make it…

Ingredients:

• Two and a half cups of self-raising flour
• One can of condensed milk
• A handful of chocolate chips

Method:

1. Mix your ingredients
2. Pour into a cake tin (one that’s small enough to go inside your slow cooker!)
3. Cook for two and a half hours on high

Do you have an easy recipe to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

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Forget the presents and decorations, the festive season is really about one thing: hot beverages.

Think about it.

There’s the excitement of themed coffees the second the temperature drops.

The pure festivity of drinking an indulgent hot chocolate by the fire.

And, of course, sipping the quintessential Christmas drink: mulled wine.

So we rejoice at the news that someone has taken the best part of Christmas – yes, mulled wine – and ran with that theme to create an entire spa day.

You can now book a snazzy new experience that’s entirely themed around mulled wine; a spa day at Shrigley Hall in Cheshire.

What does said spa day involve, exactly? All kinds of delights.

Upon your arrival, you get a complimentary glass of mulled wine. Then you get to enjoy a frankincense massage, followed by a brown sugar, cinnamon, and orange body scrub, to get you feeling like a smooth Christmas pud.

But the most exciting bit has to be the mulled wine hot tub.

This is a hot tub filled with mulled wine, with all the orange, cinnamon and star anise you’d expect from the classic spiced beverage. It’s been treated to make sure it’s a safe neutral pH, so the treatment will actually be pleasant rather than just gimmicky, but you can finally fulfill your dream of bathing in mulled wine.

If you fancy booking in the spa day in time for Christmas, you can find out more information on the SpaSeekers website.

Prices for the Mulled Wine Spa Day will start at £60 per person.

Jason Goldberg, CEO and Founder at SpaSeekers added: ‘Christmas is upon us and at SpaSeekers we cannot wait to announce the new trend coming to spas in the UK – The Mulled Wine Spa.

‘Mulled wine contains a high level of antioxidants from punches of orange, cinnamon and star anise – giving you a wonderful detox just in time for the party season.’

We’re not so sure about the promise of a ‘detox’, but we think simmering in mulled wine sounds pretty great regardless.

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We can all agree that lockdown is tough.

For those with poorly understood mental health conditions, it can be even harder. 

Visual artist Luisa Freitas knows this better than most, as she struggles with a condition called trichotillomania. 

According to the NHS, trichotillomania (or trich, for short) is a condition in which sufferers feel ‘an intense urge to pull their hair out, and they experience growing tension until they do’. It is not an impulse that sufferers can easily control, and there is no cure.  

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While it is estimated that up to one in four people in the UK are affected by trichotillomania, it is unclear what causes the condition. It is, however, thought to be linked to stress, hormone changes, and to other mental health conditions such as anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. 

With stress and anxiety being common triggers, the coronavirus crisis and associated restrictions have created a difficult environment for trich suffers. 

Michelle Harper from Trichotillomania Support says: ‘Lockdown has definitely had an impact on the mental health of many people, and an increase in levels of depression, stress and anxiety could increase the urges to pull that a person with trich experiences.

‘Uncertainty about the future, finances, or a fear of becoming unwell, combined with lack of things to distract themselves with and many support services being unavailable, means that a lot of people are finding this to be a very tough time.’

Luisa, 27, has had trichotillomania since she was 11 years old, but prior to the UK’s first lockdown, hypnotherapy had helped her go ‘three blissful months pull free.’ 

‘Not only did I not pull during this time, but I also didn’t feel the urge,’ she says. But then, back in March, the first lockdown hit, ‘and I was back at it within two weeks.’

‘To be honest I was surprised by how fast I went back to my old habits, and quite ferociously as well, almost undoing all of the hair growth progress I had made. It’s very typical to have setbacks in stressful situations, but the quarantine months were some of the most difficult months I dealt with in terms of trich.’

At the same time, she was also trying to figure out ways to ‘maintain some level of sanity’ during the lockdown, and was thinking of potential projects she could do to pass the time. 

‘I stumbled upon a vague note I’d made on speaking out about trich, and had been thinking for quite some time about coming forward about my condition to raise awareness,’ she says. ‘So I figured, what better time than now?’

She decided to create her Trichotillomania Lockdown Calendar, a diary-style blogging project that explores ‘the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine on my mental wellbeing, focusing on its effects on my trichotillomania’.

Every day of the first lockdown, Luisa wrote a short blog post in which she spoke about her struggles with the condition, as well as the circumstances in her day-to-day life that caused her to pull more (or not pull at all).

Beside each post she also included a visual representation of how much hair she had pulled that day. 

‘Trich took centre stage in my project because I wanted to reach out to anyone who might be suffering and let them know they are not abnormal for experiencing it, especially under the exceptional quarantine pressure,’ she tells us.

Initially, she found it to be a daunting task, but says: ‘the more diary entries I wrote the more comfortable I was sharing my reality with people’.

Some days were better than others, as tends to be the way with trichotillomania. In fact, there were some days where she didn’t pull at all.

‘These days made me feel really proud of myself,’ Luisa says, although they often took ‘an enormous conscious effort’.

The thing is that trich can be just as hard to manage when you’re calm or bored as when you’re anxious, and ‘in the same way that hair pulling can be caused by emotional distress, it can also be caused simply by muscle memory,’ says Luisa. So, ‘when you aren’t working and you can’t keep yourself busy,’ trich sufferers will often find they’ve been pulling without even realising. 

Heavy pulling days can be upsetting, and Luisa started to notice how how much her overall mood was dependent on not pulling hair – ‘even if it was just a few strands’.

‘I realised I needed to change the mentality that my worth was correlated to not taking hair,’ she explains. ‘[This] was the first step to slowly learning to accept my condition and embrace the idea that I can be proud of myself regardless of the state of my hair.’

Luisa learned some other valuable lessons, too. For example, she realised just how much her lifestyle was affecting her hair pulling, and it particularly surprised her to discover a connection between hair pulling and sugar consumption.

‘The sugar connection relates to me on a personal level,’ Luisa says. ‘I have a problem with chocolate, and I didn’t realise that I was pulling more hair on the days that I consumed the highest quantities of chocolate. After realising this I tried to cut sugar as much as I could, and the difference shows.’

Beyond that, she says that the most important lesson she learned ‘was to admit that I have a permanent condition and that trich will always be a part of me’.

‘People with trichotillomania tend to be in denial and jump through hoops trying to justify its temporary status,’ Luisa says. ‘Acceptance is a long personal journey, finally being able to just be with the condition instead of fighting it has brought me huge relief.’’

Luisa believes it is important for awareness to be raised about trichotillomania, because it isn’t a well-known or well-understood condition. As a result, a certain amount of shame and social stigma surrounds it, and ‘hundreds of trichsters feel alone and confused, leading them to isolate themselves and not speak out.’ 

Luisa has noticed that on the online trich support groups she is part of, ‘dozens of users have come forward about their feelings of desperation and potentially giving up. Many others have also claimed that trich destroyed their relationships with family members, friends and partners due to their lack of understanding and support.’

She adds: ‘It is not only important but crucial to raise awareness about this topic and inform the public as best we can, to further break down the stigma around mental wellbeing and incentivise people to support each other.’

To talk about mental wellbeing in an open, judgement-free space, join our Mentally Yours Facebook group.

Do you have a story to share? We want to hear from you.

Get in touch by emailing metrolifestyleteam@metro.co.uk.

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A woman who survived a Nazi assassination attempt, a horror plane crash, breast cancer, and coronavirus over the course of her life has celebrated her 100th birthday.

Joy Andrew, who has dementia, celebrated the milestone with fellow residents and members of staff at the care home where she lives.

Sadly her daughter Michele Andrew, 57, wasn’t able to attend due to the circumstances and Joy wasn’t able to celebrate properly due to feeling under the weather.

However, she did receive a birthday card and personal message of congratulations from the Queen, as is tradition in the UK for those who reach triple digits.

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Michele said: ‘I’m so proud of my mum for reaching her 100th birthday.

‘She has lived the most colourful and amazing life and this milestone is another thing to add to her brilliant list of achievements.’

Joy was born in north London in 1920 and raised there before joining the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force as a sergeant during the war, where she served in the Operations Room at Bomber Command.

Bomber Command controlled the RAF’s bomber forces from 1936 to 1968 and is most well remembered for the central role it played in the bombing of Germany in World War II.

After the war, Joy joined the British Army of The Rhine, an occupation force in Germany created after both the first and second world wars.

She was posted to Dusseldorf where she lodged with an elderly couple who she became very friendly with, but who had a daughter who was a Nazi.

While in Germany, Joy, who was from a German Jewish family, was allocated a driver to take her wherever she wanted to go.

Michele said: ‘This included a trip to Berlin, where she wandered alone in the remains of the Reichstag.

‘She also went to the Nuremberg Trials. This was obviously important to her.

‘One day the driver picked her up and, en route to the destination, deliberately crashed the car in an attempt to kill her.

‘She still bears the scar on her face from the assassination attempt. The driver was arrested and turned out to be a Nazi.’

After the war Joy joined the British Overseas Airways Corporation as one of the first air hostesses, which saw her travel internationally, especially in Africa.

Michele said: ‘One day the pilot made a dreadful mistake and flew off course, running out of fuel.

‘The plane, a comet, crashed in Libya and broke upon impact.

‘The crew survived but one passenger died. They were all stranded in the desert and rescued by Bedouins – a nomadic Arab of the desert.’

Soon after that, in the 1950s, Joy married husband David Andrew, a Squadron Leader in the RAF, and in 1963 the couple adopted Michele.

In the 1970s Joy defeated breast cancer and she spent the subsequent decades as a housewife before David sadly died of cancer in 2013.

Michele then moved her mum up from St Albans to the care home in North Yorkshire.

Joy had lived at Minster Grange happily until she tested positive for Covid-19 in May.

She was placed on end of life care but care home staff watched on in disbelief over the subsequent weeks and months as Joy recalled her wartime spirit to miraculously defeat Covid-19.

Michele added: ‘My mother survived an assassination attempt in post-war Germany by her chauffeur, later identified as a Nazi, she survived a crash landing in the desert as one of BOAC’s first air hostesses and was rescued by Bedouins, and she survived breast cancer. She certainly wasn’t going to let coronavirus defeat her.’

Joy doesn’t have any grandchildren but is beloved by her two nieces, four great-nephews and nieces, and thirteen great, great-nephews and nieces.

Unfortunately due to the lockdown none of them have been able to visit her.

But Michele hopes to have a delayed party once visiting rules have been relaxed.

She said: ‘I haven’t been able to see my mum since March, before that I was going in three times a week.

‘I’m worried that she feels like I have abandoned her. Hopefully I’ll be able to go in some time soon, not just to see her but also celebrate her birthday.’

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2021 is already looking up, with a new naked calendar from a group of tree surgeons on sale ready for the new year.

For the calendar, workmen from Marvan’s Tree and Landscape Services, based in Ramsey, Essex, stripped down to their undies (at most), and posed provocatively amongst the bay trees and power tools they have on site.

Not quite a calendar full of lumberjacks, this grinning group of lads are all about male empowerment.

However, managing director Danny Marvan says that not everyone felt all that comfortable about taking off their clothes.

Still, where there’s a will there’s a way, and thankfully all 20 of his team were featured in the calendar.

Danny says that the shoot was hysterical, with everyone ‘wandering around the site with hardly any clothes on.’

‘Some of the ideas they were coming up with were brilliant,’ he said, ‘and it was so funny. Everyone’s personality really comes through in their photographs.’

Danny came up with the idea along with his finance officer Lisa Youngman, and they have had 1,000 copies printed, on sale for just ten pounds each.

All the proceeds go to the North and Mid Essex branch of mental health charity Mind, which is a cause close to the teams’ hearts.

At Marvan’s, the management are dedicated to ‘ensuring our team’s mental health is as well cared for as the grounds and gardens we maintain,’ explains Danny.

‘Some of my team have said to me that in their previous jobs they would be told to “man up” if they had any concerns about anything. But here, I really listen to my staff, and they respect me because they feel like they can come and talk to me about things.’

A spokesperson for Mind has spoken on their appreciation for the project, thanking Danny and his workers for their work in helping to ‘break the stigma around openly talking about mental health.’

You can purchase a copy of Marvan’s 2021 calendar on their website.

Do you have a story to share? We want to hear from you.

Get in touch: metrolifestyleteam@metro.co.uk.

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Get ready for the day ahead with your daily horoscope for your star sign, today for November 24, 2020.

Aries, you might be keen to dive into a mystery, while Taurus will have a new ability to sense how people are really feeling.

A positive Mercury-Neptune tie could bring on creative potential for some star signs, while the Moon angling towards Pluto can add some intensity to the day.

Capricorns should use today to finish up a project, while Libras should be cautious with spending.

Read on to see what today has in store for you…

What star sign are you?

• Aries: March 21 to April 20
• Taurus: April 21 to May 21
• Gemini: May 22 to June 21
• Cancer: June 22 to July 23
• Leo: July 24 to August 23
• Virgo: August 24 to September 23
• Libra: September 24 to October 23
• Scorpio: October 24 to November 22
• Sagittarius: November 23 to December 21
• Capricorn: December 22 to January 21
• Aquarius: January 22 to February 19
• Pisces: February 20 to March 20

Aries

Dreams and reality combine to bring a creative sparkle to your plans, helping you stand out from the crowd.

With Mercury in Scorpio aligning with Neptune, you may be keen to get to the bottom of a mystery.

Taurus

Friends seem to know what’s on your mind without you saying anything, which may be disconcerting.

Even so, you too will have the ability to connect with others and sense what’s going on with them.

Discussing something awkward could be freeing.

Gemini

A positive Mercury-Neptune tie brings an imaginative touch to plans.

It might be your suggestions that give a fresh perspective on an issue that seems to be going nowhere. If you can get others on board with your plans you could go far.

Cancer

A budding romance might seem to shimmer with a dreamy light and, if things have been building up, then you may be convinced you’ve met someone very special. What can persuade you is that you seem so in tune with each other.

Leo

With Mercury aligning with Neptune, you may be in two minds, especially if you feel vulnerable at this time.

But if you trust someone enough to share with them, it could be very healing. You might feel such relief that your energy levels pick up.

Virgo

With the Moon angling towards Pluto, your first meeting with someone could be intense. An imaginative Mercury-Neptune link may encourage you to make something beautiful together.

Libra

Money makes the world go round but you may be tempted by something and then find it wasn’t what you thought.

Before you click the ‘buy now’ button or open your purse, read some reviews.

Scorpio

Things may not be as they seem. At the same time, you may not want to look too closely at something that you are enjoying. Why spoil it?

You could use this influence to channel a creative or artistic skill that needs an outlet.

Sagittarius

It’s not your usual style to keep secrets but it might seem the most appropriate way to navigate through a difficult issue.

You may be your confident usual self in all other respects. You likely have things to do and places to go.

Capricorn

As the Sun moves further into a private and spiritual sector, you may find yourself reflecting on matters you have been too busy to look at.

Tie up remaining loose ends or find closure on situations that now need to be resolved.

Aquarius

There may be so many reasons to want to socialise, particularly with charming Venus urging you to network.

There’s so much you can accomplish by extending the hand of friendship and showing interest in what others are doing.

Pisces

It may be time to toot your horn and let others know about your triumphs, skills and readiness to take on new challenges.

You could get caught up in other matters that involve someone far away.

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

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Let’s be honest: Baby Yoda is really pulling his weight when it comes to getting us through the year.

He’s an adorable delight, whether he’s messing up connecting cables or snacking on blue macarons.

Just as he gulps down eggs, we’ll eagerly gobble up whatever merch comes out with his face on it.

So naturally, we’re pretty excited about the existence of hot chocolate bombs – those trendy chocolate spheres that melt to release hot chocolate powder and marshmallows when you pour warm milk on top – with a Baby Yoda twist.

The team over at Galerie has created a The Child version of a hot chocolate bomb, which hides a Baby Yoda marshmallow inside.

All you need to do to give your winter drink a Star Wars: The Mandalorian theme is pour hot milk on the milk chocolate sphere, which will melt away to reveal your edible Baby Yoda.

Give it a mix so it’s nice and chocolatey, allow Baby Yoda to float to the top, and enjoy.

Try not to feel too bad about eating The Child’s squishy little head.

Now for the bad news. We can’t find any UK stockists of this joyous product, so if you’re desperate to have it, you’ll likely have to be a hefty delivery cost.

The hot chocolate bombs are available for $3.99 through Galerie.

We did also find the product on Amazon, which offers delivery to the UK, but it’s currently sold out.

Cross your fingers that it’s back in time for Christmas.

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Baking trays have a funny way of ending up looking absolutely filthy.

It’s not our fault, we swear. We use baking paper and foil most of the time, but it seems that just a few incidents of popping food straight in the tray and putting it in the oven quickly adds a layer of built-up grime and oil that just won’t budge.

Sure, you can give your trays a wipe down after each use, but we’re usually too busy eating dinner to be bothered.

Then, suddenly, you look at your tray and it’s absolutely gross. You can try soaking it or scrubbing with a sponge, but that brown stuff seems to just stick around.

This hack can help – and it requires just a few basic household items.

It’s not a new cleaning trick by any means, but has recently been shared by @hazz_jazz on TikTok, who claimed the trick got his baking trays ‘so clean I can see my face in it’.

Here’s how you do it.

Dump a load of baking soda (that’s bicarbonate of soda in the UK) into your tray, then pour white vinegar on top. It’ll quickly start to fizz and foam.

Use a sponge, steel wool, or a Brillo pad to make sure the mix is worked into the sides of your tray, then leave to soak for half an hour.

When you come back, give it another quick wipe, then rinse out the solution and get scrubbing – you can use steel wool or just the rough side of the sponge.

You’ll still need to scrub for a while, but the solution makes a big difference in lifting off the brown gunk – and requires much less scrubbing than usual.

The trick has attracted a mixed response, with some thanking @hazz_jazz for sharing the technique, but most suggesting he should have just bought new trays.

Others recommended their own cleaning techniques, including using The Pink Stuff or picking up oven cleaner and using that instead.

We tried it ourselves and yes, it does work.

I used the solution on a tray with months of caked-on grease, and despite not having any steel wool and using a sponge instead, I still managed to get it looking much cleaner in a matter of minutes.

Do you have a cleaning trick you’d like to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

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In a year which has seen a global push for racial equality, a new report has revealed almost half of UK Black and mixed-race workers have experienced some kind of workplace discrimination.

The study from job site Indeed, also revealed a worrying number of workers who are disabled (51%) and over a third (39%) of lesbian, gay and bisexual respondents have also lived through workplace discrimination of some kind. 

47% of Black and mixed-race (Black and white) workers say they feel the need to hide parts of themselves, their personality or their identity from colleagues, compared to just 29% of all workers who feel this pressure.

The pandemic has also been shown to be having a negative impact on the wellbeing of minoritised groups at work.

More than a third of workers (34%) believe Covid-19 has delayed efforts to improve diversity, inclusion and belonging in their company.

The survey of more than 1,500 workers from a range of industries and business sizes, found nearly a fifth (18%) of respondents thought that the pandemic has also had a negative impact on job opportunities for minority candidates, rising to a third (31%) of those from Black or mixed-race backgrounds and a quarter (25%) of those with a disability.

In addition, in March 2020 the Government Equalities Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission suspended the enforcement of the Gender Pay Gap Report due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

This means that for this year no organisation is required to report data on its gender pay gaps, avoiding any subsequent court action. A third of workers (32%) believe this will have a negative impact on equal working opportunities between men and women in the UK. 

‘Employers are rethinking their attitudes and behaviours to make workplaces the best they can be and for that to happen people need to feel that they belong,’ says LaFawn Davis, VP of diversity, inclusion and belonging at Indeed.

‘That’s difficult during a pandemic when millions more people are working remotely but there are steps leaders and managers can take to embrace and nurture diverse talent. 

‘Building that culture starts from the top and should focus on bringing a greater sense of community to the organisation. That involves creating plans that involve all and are reflective of the entire workforce and the barriers experienced by different populations.

‘Human decency and understanding other individual’s circumstances also go a long way to truly making someone feel like they belong. 

‘While our research shows that in many cases this is already happening, the deficit between words and actions suggests there is still some way to go before all employees feel valued and understood.’

Do you have a story to share? We want to hear from you.

Get in touch: metrolifestyleteam@metro.co.uk.

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Welcome back to What I Rent; our weekly series exploring the ins and outs of renting a home.

Each week we take a look around someone’s rented property and chat with them about their experiences renting – from the teeny-tiny studio flats the the beautifully decorated houses they call home.

Last week we chatted with Rosie, a fashion graduate paying £700 a month for a one-bedroom flat in Southsea.

This time around we’re hanging out with Megan Porter, 29, a mum-of-two who runs her own design business and co-owns a creative studio.

Megan rents a house in Falkirk – right between Glasgow and Edinburgh – with her partner, William, and their two children.

Hey, Megan! How much do you pay to live here?

We are just over £400 a month on rent and about £200 on house bills.

And what do you get for what you pay?

We have three double bedrooms, one bathroom and a wee loo at the front door.

Do you feel like you have a good deal?

Definitely! Our house is rented through the local council so is a lot cheaper than a private let, which we have done in the past and we paid more for a tiny flat.

Do you like the area?

We are about a five minute drive from the town centre, which is great for work, although our house is in a quiet area with barely any traffic, which is ideal.

We live right on the canal, which is amazing for walks and getting out with the kids.

How did you find the house?

We only moved here in February of this year through a mutual swap which you can do between others in social housing.

I couldn’t believe my luck that someone wanted to downsize as our previous flat was a LOT smaller than this house.

How have you made this place feel like home?

When we moved in there was a lot of bright green and blue so we painted everywhere to freshen it up.

We plan to be here for quite a while so we decided it was worth getting new carpets too.

Since we haven’t been here long we still have a list of jobs we want to do… we want to modernise the kitchen by painting the cupboards and eventually get new flooring in there along with the front hall.

We are in the middle of redecorating the living room too, which I can’t wait to finish.

A lot of our furniture is second-hand, which I think makes the place a bit more interesting.

I’m a fan of bold design so can’t wait to get more on the walls and fill the rooms with a bit more colour. I love plants too so they help the place feel more homely.

I wouldn’t really say we have a flowing theme or anything through the house it’s very much a mix of what I see on Pinterest and making the place practical for the kids too.

Have you found it difficult to decorate when renting? Is your landlord happy with you doing bits?

One of the huge perks of social housing is when you get the keys the place is pretty much yours to do as you wish – unless you’re changing the actual building somehow – so we can basically do what we want.

When we private rented in the past I hated that you needed written permission (which took forever!) for literally every. single. thing.

The main things that bug me is that changing the big things isn’t really an option for us. I know we can if we want to but I just can’t justify paying to get a new kitchen or bathroom in a rented property even if we plan to be here for a long time. We are lucky that they are ‘fine’ but they will forever annoy me.

The bathrooms are all tiled, which is actually pretty good for a rented place but just feel a bit dated. I painted the top of our wee loo bright blue to try and modernise it a little which has helped.

I think it’s finding a balance of what you can afford/what is worth changing for the length of time you plan to live there.

Do you feel like you have enough space?

It is the weirdest thing getting used to space after being in a flat!

Our kids had to share a room in our old place but now they have a room each, we have built-in wardrobes, a weird wee room under the stairs that we have just shoved all our crap into for now and an actual dining area – so yes more than enough space, which is amazing!

Are there any problems with the home you have to deal with?

As I mentioned with social housing, it’s a bit different to private so we had quite a few things to sort especially with it being a swap.

The weird wee room under the stairs has never been completed (the previous tenants built it themselves) so we will need to finish all the walls in it at some point.

We had to get a new fence built outside too and the garden needs quite a bit of TLC.

Do you have plans to move again?

Probably not for quite a few years. I can’t see us outgrowing this place and location-wise it’s amazing.

I think this is the only council owned house left on the street.

Do you want to own a place some day or are you happy to rent?

Someday but we are in no rush, I feel like renting is seen as something you do in your 20s then it’s expected that you buy.

Social housing can get such a mixed rep as well, if we were to privately rent somewhere of the same size in this area we would easily be double on rent alone.

I think if the council ever gave tenants the opportunity to buy their house again we would definitely go for it.

Makes sense. 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 another nose around a rented property.

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When Jay Adler, 30, went through a breakup in July, he decided he wanted to make a dramatic change.

Rather than just going for a haircut, Jay decided to quit his marketing job for a charity, leave his three-bedroom town house, and move into a 20ft by 8ft shipping container on a farm.

Jay spent just £3,000 buying the shipping container on a decommissioned farm just outside of Cheltenham and transforming it into a micro-home.

He says he couldn’t be happier with his new downsized lifestyle – and not just because his outgoing have been slashed from £1,025 a month to £325.

Jay said: ‘For everyone, 2020 has been a bit crazy.

‘Splitting up with my partner was my catalyst for change and living simply was always something I wanted to do.

‘I had a house, a wife and an office job, as well as a very standard life. I never really signed up for that, it kind of just happened.

‘My marriage ending was such a big change already, that living simply was just the next step.

‘So, I asked the owner if I could buy and move into the shipping container – renting land and utilities from her.

‘She agreed and I began living there from July.’

Jay had experience transforming shipping containers, as he and his business partner Matt Nolan, 30, previously opened a pub, The Outdoor Inn, based in two shipping containers.

He’ll work in that pub full-time when Covid-19 restrictions allow.

‘When we were working on the bar, I saw how convenient and useable shipping containers are,’ said Jay.

‘After that, using one for a home seemed to be the perfect fit.’

£3,000 bought Jay the shipping container and luxury fittings, including a kitchen, insulation, storage space, a bed, and an attached 6ft by 4ft shed, which contains his bathroom, complete with a shower and toilet.

While Jay’s new home sits in an ‘exposed’ part of the farm, Jay says it’s not ‘100 per cent off-grid’.

‘I do have a water feed from the farm and I do have an electricity supply, which is constantly running,’ he explained.

‘I also use a fan heater for circulation, because shipping containers are prone to condensation and moisture build-up, so that helps with that problem.

‘I’ve insulated the walls, too, and have another heater, so that really helps now we’re coming into winter.’

He uses mobile hotspots for an internet connection rather than getting wifi.

And while Jay did have to give away some of his possessions, he has kept plenty of treasures to make his home comfortable, including a TV and a mobile record player.

Jay absolutely loves his new minimalist life, and has no plans to go back to his old ways.

‘Despite the restrictions on the hospitality industry this year, saving money wasn’t my main motivation for doing this,’ he said.

‘But saving £700 a month is certainly welcome.

‘I still drive to work in a company van, but I have stripped a lot of unnecessary stuff away and that’s brought me real joy.

‘The things that I have in the container serve a purpose.

‘I do have to take my clothes to a launderette in town but, basically, I have everything I need to live comfortably.

‘There is definitely something to be said for simple living. I think people can, to a degree, become obsessed with material items and possessions and the way society is, it becomes a big part of your life.

‘It feels like there is never an end to it, you always want more.

‘Yet, when you strip it all back, you can find yourself really enjoying yourself by living simply.

‘I walk a lot more than I used to. I read a lot more and listen to way more music. In fact, I have ended up doing far more of the things I really enjoy.

‘I’ll definitely be here for the foreseeable future – I love it.’

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

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Now that wearing masks in public spaces has become the norm, you might have found it’s harder to interact with people.

With more than half of our faces covered up it can be hard to know whether someone is flirting or scowling, joking or being deadly serious. And it is making social interaction quite difficult.

New research has revealed that 76% of Brits struggle to read others when they are wearing a face covering, with more than half mistaking their expression completely.

Now body language expert Judi James has revealed her top tips for reading people – and not surprisingly, it is all in the eyes.

‘The human animal has always depended on facial expression as a way of social and workplace communication and over the years the key focus has been the mouth,’ says Judi, speaking on behalf of Vision Direct who commissioned the research.

‘We have come to depend on this widening of the lips as a rapport-building social shorthand, which is why the wearing of face masks has caused worries in terms of closing down our ability to communicate.

‘The good news is that our eyes are more than capable of taking over the job of transmitting and reading non-verbal signals, in fact one of the reasons we tend to direct attention to our mouth expressions is that our eyes are such strong (and more honest) conveyors of moods and emotions.’

The study also found that six in 10 adults admit to having not understood what someone was saying when they had a mask on, and 42% put this down to not being able to see their lips.

55% have mistaken someone’s expression – with seven in 10 now trying harder to study and read someone’s eyes to guess what face they are making behind the mask.

How to read someone’s expression behind a mask

Here are Judi James’s top tips for recognising emotions and reading people’s facial expressions even when hidden behind a mask:

The eye-smile

‘Smile like a cat’, suggests Judi. She says cats ‘smile’ by narrowing and softening their eye shape.

‘A genuine-looking eye-smile should involve some wrinkling at the corners and the rounding of the cheeks that occurs when we perform an authentic smile will push the lower lid upward slightly too.’

The eye flash

The eye flash can work like a micro-handshake and Judi says it can suggest good humour and a liking of the other person. 

‘The eyes narrow in the eye-smile but the brows pop up and down again in one rapid movement,’ she says. ‘It can also be used as a momentary tie-sign with other people, even strangers. 

‘The eye-flash has another use, though. In a social situation like a bar or club it is often thrown to flirt as it can signal “I like what I see”.’

Fun and humour

This is an important one. Judi says we tend to be attracted to people who can lighten and boost our mood, so it’s important to be able to recognise the signals.

‘Fun is a two-part eye ritual,’ she explains. ‘Part one involves a rounding of the eye to suggest shared excitement, but with the brows kept in their normal position to avoid looking scared or shocked.

‘Part two is the narrowing, eye-smile shape, with a subtle lowering of the top lid.’

Dislike/disgust

When we dislike something, Judi says we tend to mimic the rituals of a baby rejecting food. Here’s how to recognise this feeling in other people:

‘For the eyes this involves a puckered frown, narrowed eye shape and a wrinkling of the skin at the bridge of the nose,’ says Judi.

‘This is one of many facial expression rituals that are linked directly to the survival response. When food smelled bad it would cause this automatic closing of the mouth and eyes and often a shaking of the head to make eating it impossible.’

Love/attraction/liking

If you’re on a socially-distanced date, you have to be able to pick up on this important emotion.

Judi says the eyes are a dead-giveaway if someone likes you.

‘Our eye expression softens when we see someone we like and it forms “the look of love” when we gaze at our partner,’ she adds. ‘There’s a very dramatic non-verbal give-away too though that only comes from the eye.

‘Pupil dilation is a physiological response when we look at someone we like or love and as it occurs naturally and can’t be simulated it’s one of the greatest “tells” in terms of our body language.’

Fear

How can you tell if someone is afraid just from one half of their face? Judi says it isn’t very complicated.

‘Fear is primarily an eye expression and involves a rounding of the eye shape and a small puckering together and upward of the inner brows.6’

Surprise/shock

‘This is another eye expression that is prompted by the survival response as the widening of the eye would allow for better vision during a surprise attack,’ says Judi.

‘The eyebrows raise in an arch and the eyes widen so that the white of the eye is visible nearly all the way around the pupil.’

Concern/empathy

We all need empathy from our loved ones right now, and it’s important to be able to tell when they are showing this.

‘The brows need to be pulled into a gentle frown but the eye shape itself needs to be softened to avoid the frown looking angry,’ says Judi.

‘A small head-tilt signals active, empathetic listening.’

Anger

Judi says that eye signals can vary depending on the levels of anger, but there are some things that always happen when someone is pissed off.

‘A classic expression would be knitted brows that come as low as possible over the eyes plus a hard eye-stare with the eyes slightly rounded,’ says Judi.

‘The head would be tilted forward slightly, too. 

‘Another signal of growing anger or feelings of being under pressure is the eye-stutter where the blink rate quickens.’

Disbelief/distrust

‘When we’re confused or puzzled or suffering from mixed emotions the facial expression becomes asymmetric, meaning parts of the face will be sending out contrasting signals from others,’ explains Judi.

‘With the eyes, you might see one brow raising while the other is lowered or remains neutral or even one eye crinkling in a smile while the other stays more rounded.’

Do you have a story to share? We want to hear from you.

Get in touch: metrolifestyleteam@metro.co.uk.

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Looking after ourselves is the best way to get the most out of the season ahead. Here’s our guide to protecting your wellbeing during the winter lockdown and beyond…

After a spring/summer lockdown filled with long walks, gardening and cycle rides, it can feel like a challenge to stay healthy at home in winter. But during the colder months, when we’re more susceptible to infection, it’s more important than ever that we protect our wellbeing. 

‘Cold and flu viruses survive better in colder, drier weather,’ says Dr Kate Bunyan, Chief Medical Officer at Doctor Care Anywhere. ‘Now that we have Covid-19 to contend with, we all have to work a bit harder to stay well.’

The good news is, there are lots of ways to keep healthy, even when it’s wet and windy, from useful apps to kicking bad habits. It doesn’t have to be a major change, but the benefits can start immediately.

So, what are you waiting for?

VITAMIN BOOST

During the summer months, our major source of vitamin D is from sunshine, although at this time of year, sunlight doesn’t contain enough UVB radiation for us to produce it. Supplementation is the best option between November and early March for keeping our bones and muscles healthy.

Dr Bunyan explains: ‘Vitamin D is also really important to keep our immune system working well. This winter, getting the right intake is especially important, as many of us have been indoors more than usual during the spring and summer.’

Vitamin D is available at most pharmacies and supermarkets. Just 10mg a day is all you need, and that’s the same for the whole family.

THREE SOURCES OF VITAMIN D FROM FOOD

1. Oily fish (salmon, sardines and mackerel)

2. Mushrooms

3. Egg yolks

GETTING ACTIVE

When it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle, how much physical activity is enough?

‘Adults should aim to get some kind of exercise every day,’ says Dr Ross Perry, GP and medical director of Cosmedics.

‘That could be 75 minutes of vigorous activity across the week or 150 minutes of moderate activity.’

With gyms closed across England, we’re all looking for alternative ways to get active, whether it’s walking apps like Active 10 or squeezing in an online class such as yoga or Pilates. But we don’t have to do it alone – involving the family is a great way to bond and improve motivation.

Dr Perry adds: ‘There are huge mental and physical benefits from exercising together. Doing something you all enjoy, like a family bike ride, will increase endorphins, burn off excess energy and work the major muscle groups.

‘It’s also a great way to build lifelong healthy habits, which help connect physical activity with fun, family and community.’

THREE FAMILY EXERCISE IDEAS

• Friday night disco

With the lights down and music turned up, have fun dancing around the front room together for around 30 minutes.

• Mini assault course

If you’re missing family days out, build your own assault course in the back garden to keep them active and entertained.

• Ball Games

Mix up your weekly activity by introducing different types of ball games that can be played in the local park or within a safe place at home.

HEALTHY HABITS

Spending more time indoors can exacerbate bad habits, such as snacking on unhealthy foods, smoking or excessive drinking.

During the spring lockdown, almost a third of us admitted that we were consuming more alcohol than usual*, which can affect our weight, sleep and mental health.

‘You don’t have to give up drinking completely to feel the benefits,’ says Dr Petra Simic, clinical director for Bupa Health Clinics.

‘Instead, aim to drink fewer than 14 units a week – that’s roughly six pints or a bottle and half of wine. Wherever possible, spread these units over a few days to reduce the strain on your health and how you feel day-to-day.’

THREE TIPS TO CUT BACK

1. Let loved ones know you’re cutting down so you can socialise in ways that don’t involve drink.

2. Switch to smaller wine glasses or from full pints, to halves to train yourself to slow your pace.

3. Alternate between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks – soon you may not notice the difference.

A range of apps and quizzes to help with getting healthier can be found at nhs.uk/better-health/

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Now that it’s cold outside, we’re likely to be more sedentary than we were in the first lockdown, during which 48 per cent of us said we gained weight*.
If you’re overweight or obese, losing weight can reduce your risk of some potentially serious health problems**.

Dr Kate Bunyan says: ‘Keeping weight off can help reduce your risks of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, back pain and some cancers.’

One way to lose weight steadily and effectively is with the NHS Weight Loss Plan. Using the free app, follow a 12-week diet and exercise plan to help develop healthier eating habits, be more active and start losing weight.

‘While slow weight loss is much more sustainable,’ adds Dr Bunyan, ‘quickly you’ll feel more energetic and find moving easier. Getting outdoors is one great way to get those steps up initially – even if we have to stay local for now.’

THREE GREAT ENGLISH WALKS

1. Mineral Tramway Trail, Cornwall
From Portreath to Devoran, this 11-mile route across the peninsula and through Cornwall’s mining heartland is perfect for coast-to-coast hiking or cycling.

2. Jubilee Greenway, London
Take advantage of the capital at its quietest with a walking tour of the city’s famous landmarks,
from Kensington Palace to Shakespeare’s Globe.

3. Blickling Lake Walk, Norwich
Enjoy a family-friendly, dog-friendly, low-energy walk through the National Trust’s Blickling Estate, which remains open to the public during lockdown for booked visits.

EXERCISE TIPS FOR ANY LEVEL

Feeling uninspired by exercise? Take a few top tips from Manchester personal trainer Sam McGowan (@samsays_pt) to help you get fitter and stronger in lockdown. samsays.co.uk

•Do something you love, often. The key to improving health and fitness is consistency, so it doesn’t make sense to do things we don’t like. If you love dancing, try Zumba. If you like the outdoors, get cycling. Or try HIIT sessions for short, sharp bursts of energy.

• Fun, achievable and totally free, the Couch to 5K app
is a great programme designed for those who want to introduce running into their workouts. It’s an ideal way to build up fitness gradually, whatever level you start at, making it easy to invite your household to join in.

• It sounds simple but get your steps in. Walking is the most underrated activity for staying active and it’s something that is both easy and accessible. Each week, focus on increasing your daily step count average, starting with around 5km per day. An ideal target would be 10km, but aiming for any increase is a great way to start.

For more tips on how to get started, visit nhs.uk/better-health/get-active/

STRATEGIES TO STOP SMOKING

Smoking is one of the most common coping mechanisms in times of increased stress, but
it can have a dramatic effect on our health. Even though quitting isn’t easy, the benefits can start from day one. Here, Dr Petra Simic shares her tips on how to stop.

Distractions

Identify times in your life when you lean towards cigarettes, such as stress or work pressures. Distract yourself in these situations by taking a walk or making a cup of tea to keep the the cravings at bay.

Location, location, location

Cravings can start when you are reminded of smoking. Avoid places where you go to smoke and remove paraphernalia like ashtrays from your house. Once these associations fade, smoking will become a thing of the past.

Think of the savings

Why not save the money you would have spent on cigarettes and treat yourself to something special? Not only will you feel physically better for cutting it out, you will be rewarded emotionally.

Ask for help

Talk to a health professional about how to stop smoking. They’ll be able to give you practical tips and support along the way to help you achieve your goal.

For more free support to help you quit, visit nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/

GET YOUR FLU JAB

Vaccination offers the best protection against seasonal influenza (flu), an unpredictable but recurring virus we face every winter. The flu vaccine is recommended for:

• Those aged 65 and over

• Pregnant women

• Those with long-term health conditions, such as chronic respiratory or cardiac disease

• Those who are immunosuppressed

• Main carers of an older or disabled person

• A child aged two to 11 years old on August 31, 2020

• Household contacts of someone on the Covid-19 shielded patients list

Visit gov.uk/government/collections/annual-flu-programme

This is UK Government information for readers in England only.

*King’s College London and Ipsos MORI survey, May 2020 ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2020-05/kings_charts_28.5.20.pdf

**nhs.uk/common-health-questions/lifestyle/what-are-the-health-benefits-of-losing-weight/

Ironing ranks pretty highly among the most hated household chores, but one Aussie mum has found a way to swear off doing it forever.

All you need to mimic her are hangers, pegs and a suitable place to hang your clothes.

The woman shared her method on a Facebook cleaning group, writing that she first washes her clothes on a gentle cycle.

When the cycle is finished, she shakes each item of clothing she wants creaseless to get rid of any wrinkles.

Then she puts them on hangers, making sure they’re hanging so that they dry in the right shape.

Afterwards, she takes the pegs and attaches them to the washing line outside, and hangs the clothes hangers from the pegs.

This is meant to stop the clothes from moving too much in the wind and getting creased as they dry.

When the clothes are dry, all you need to do is move the hangers to your wardrobe – easy.

The mum’s post has proven popular in the group, earning more than 900 likes so far.

She wrote: ‘I’ll never iron again!’, while one commenter said: ‘Fantastic idea, thanks for sharing.’

Admittedly this exact method requires somewhat more trustworthy weather than we’re used to having most of the year in this part of the world.

Instead of waiting for summer to try this trick out, you can hook the hangers over your usual clothes horse and let your laundry dry that way.

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk

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One savvy mum who wanted to have a quarantining elf on her shelf this year has made her own… using a condom.

Sapphire Grimes-Williams wanted to have her daughter pop a ‘quarantine’ balloon after the elf spent two weeks isolating inside.

She was not impressed with the £16 price tag on the balloon she found, however, and soon realised that the poor elf’s head wouldn’t fit inside normal balloons.

The 24-year-old thought about buying larger balloons online but said they would take too long to be delivered.

She then tried using a condom and was happy to find the toy easily fit inside.

The condom expanded to a suitable balloon-like size when inflated, although Sapphire said she had to wash it first.

Now the contraception looks totally different, decorated as it is with sequins, smaller balloons and bows inside with the elf.

Sapphire also wrote ‘Warning, Isolating’ in big red letters on the outside of the condom.

Her five-year-old daughter Alaya was thrilled when she saw the elf on the shelf, and now Sapphire is looking forward to thinking up different antics their elf can get up to once the his isolation comes to an end and the condom is popped.

Sapphire, who works as a personal assistant, said her daughter’s reaction was ‘brilliant’, adding: ‘I put it down in the evening and she woke up to it in the morning, and all I heard from her was, “mummy come here now”.

‘I said, “what’s the matter, what’s wrong?” and she said, “come here”. I walked into the living room and she said, “the elf is back – in a balloon”.

‘I read out the letter to her and she was like, “mum, do we get him out now?”. I said, “no baby, he’s got to stay in there because he needs to self-isolate”.

‘She has picked up on the virus quite well so she understands he’s got to stay in there because he’s come from the North Pole. He’s got to isolate.

‘A lot of people are just saying how ingenious and clever it is. A couple of people have asked if it was slimy for my daughter to touch, but I’ve clarified I’ve washed the condom first.

‘It’s been a really good response. I thought, with a child touching a condom, there would be a lot of mixed reviews from people asking why I let my daughter touch a condom, but obviously to her it’s a balloon.

‘I know it’s a condom, but to her it’s a balloon.’

The mum-of-one, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, shared pictures of the isolating elf on a shelf – as well as her creative condom method – online and received over 3,000 likes and comments praising the idea.

She said: ‘I’m a bit overwhelmed by the attention I got. I wasn’t expecting it at all.

‘My sister was like, “to be honest with you, it is an absolutely amazing invention” but my family are used to me doing things like that. I wasn’t expecting that reaction.

‘We did Elf on the Shelf last year – a bit late because I wasn’t going to do it. She remembers some of the things we did and thought it was really funny.

‘I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it again this year as I just couldn’t be bothered. I saw someone advertising them and selling them properly. I thought they were amazing and I wanted one.

‘I messaged that person and they were charging £16 and I was like, “I am not paying that”. It’s a lot of money just to pop a balloon on December 1.

‘It was a balloon with the elf in there and blown it up. You can get really big balloons online.

‘I was going to order one and do it that way, but it would have gotten here on the 25th November so it was too late.

‘I had to think really quickly. That’s what came to my mind [to do] a condom. It was the only thing I had in the house at the time.

‘I had been out and bought normal balloons but I physically couldn’t get the elf’s head in it. I have a really funny photo of the elf with his head sticking out of the balloon.

‘His whole body could get in apart from his head. It looked quite funny but I physically couldn’t get the elf in.

‘I thought about using a jar but I liked the idea of my daughter popping the balloon on the day. It just wouldn’t get in the balloon so [I had to use a condom].

She added: ‘It went into the condom really easily. I was quite surprised about it, but it worked.

‘I didn’t really think of it being a funny idea but I sent it to my sister and she said, “Sapphire, that’s absolutely amazing”.’

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk

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You might have missed out on Stir-up Sunday if you haven’t already made your Christmas pudding, but it’s not too late.

If you want to mature a Christmas pudding in time for December 25, it’s best to do it this week to give it some time.

And for a particularly special recipe, Buckingham Palace chefs have released the one enjoyed by the Queen every year.

It’s a straightforward process, following the traditional superstition to make the pudding with 13 ingredients to represent Christ and the 12 apostles

Posting the recipe at the weekend, the chefs said: ‘Today is Stir-up Sunday: traditionally the day when home cooks ‘stir up’ their Christmas pudding mixture on the Sunday before the Advent season – and the countdown to Christmas – begins.

‘This year, chefs in the Royal kitchens have shared their recipe for a traditional Christmas pudding. We hope that some of you enjoy making it in your own homes.’

Ingredients

The recipe will make two 1kg puddings.

• 250g raisins
• 250g currants
• 185g sultanas
• 150g mixed peel
• 250g suet or vegetarian suet
• 250g breadcrumbs
• 90g flour
• 12g mixed spice
• 2 whole eggs
• 180g demerara sugar
• 275ml beer
• 40ml dark rum
• 40ml brandy
• If you don’t want to use alcohol, you can substitute for orange juice or cold tea

Method

1. Combine all the dry ingredients -raisins, currants, sultanas, mixed peel, suet, breadcrumbs, flour and mixed spice and sugar. Stir them together in a bowl.
2. Add the eggs and liquid and stir together.
3. Grease your pudding basins and press the mixture into them. Cover the top with a piece of greaseproof paper.
4. Cover the basins with muslin or foil and place in a deep saucepan. Fill up with water to 3/4 the height of the pudding basins.
5. Cover the whole saucepan with foil and cook for steam for six hours, refilling the water if necessary.
6. Once cooled, wrap the puddings well and keep them in a dry, dark and damp place until Christmas,
7. On Christmas Day, reheat your pudding in a bain-marie for 3-4 hours. Remove from the basin using a rounded knife or palette knife, flip out onto a plate, garnish or flambé and serve with brandy sauce and cream.

Do you have an easy recipe to share?

Get in touch at metrolifestyleteam@metro.co.uk.

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Whatever you do, don’t call Stuart Holt a property developer.

‘You won’t catch me wearing wide-collared shirts and driving a Range Rover,’ insists Stuart, the founder of Birmingham-based design and building company Javelin Block.

Instead, you are more likely to find him in jeans and beanie, behind the wheel of a 1962 Land Rover.

Similarly, for Stuart, any talk of ‘luxury living’ and ‘price per square foot’ is absolute anathema – building integrity, craftsmanship and artistry are the values he admires most.

Since leaving the military and moving to Birmingham in 2005, Stuart has made a name for himself as a maverick on the city’s property scene.

On long runs around the canal networks, his realisation that so many former industrial buildings lay unused and derelict was, for him, a kind of epiphany.

These beautifully engineered buildings, he says, are hallowed spaces, built by hard graft and which are still alive with the memories of the men and women who worked in them.

‘I saw they had a future that needed to be harnessed,’ he says.

With the founding of Javelin Block, he has turned his attention chiefly to Birmingham’s atmospheric Jewellery Quarter and Gun Quarter, authentically restoring and reanimating 1920s and 1930s former factories and industrial sites into edgy apartments, such as the Derwent Works and Comet Works schemes.

All have as many of their original materials reused as possible, with concrete floors and metals such as brass, zinc, copper and steel, which age beautifully, featured liberally throughout.

But it’s Stuart’s most ambitious project to date, created to serve as his own, private retreat, that has caused the biggest stir.

The Compound, on Water Street in the Jewellery Quarter, is not just a jaw-dropping 10,000sq ft home. With triple-height gabled ceilings soaring to 35 metres and panels of skylights it boasts three self-contained living spaces, an artist’s studio, office, speak-easy bar and a 25-seat cinema.

It has also won a clutch of prestigious architectural accolades, including three RIBA awards and a spot on the shortlist for the Stephen Lawrence Prize in 2017, and was used as a shoot location for Ed Sheeran’s 2014 album, X.

Most gratifying of all for Stuart, however, was when Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg and his production team took the place over for nine days in 2016, using it to film key scenes in the blockbuster version of dystopian sci-fi novel Ready Player One.

‘It was incredible to have one of your icons sitting on your sofa,’ says Stuart, who bought the derelict former textiles factory in 2012.

‘And at the end of the day’s filming we would go down to the cinema to watch the latest rushes. I didn’t realise how the place would resonate with people – it was just somewhere I wanted to live.’

Considering the sheer scale of The Compound, it seems extraordinary that Stuart – who has two children that live overseas – had only ever envisaged it as a home, not a commercial space, or even a home office.

‘I work off my phone from pretty much anywhere,’ he says.

‘I really do use the whole place – although I think most people thought I was completely crazy when I took it on. The agent who showed it to me suggested it would make a good car park. But the whole point of Javelin Block is to show people how we can work with these historic buildings, not against them, and how to live in them.’

It’s certainly living large. Beyond a huge shutter and salvaged 1960s prison door lies a home of limitless possibilities.

The building’s original steel frame has been exposed, with a new roof dropped on the top, and under-heated concrete floors poured on.

A beautifully engineered curtain of black, steel-framed Crittall windows spans the entire length of the ground-floor space, delineating the double-height inner courtyard from the residential areas.

The huge volume of the warehouse – used over the years as a guitar-laminating workshop and a cannabis factory – is criss-crossed by walkways and bridges, with cosy, intimate spaces for lounging, working and reading carved out beneath.

A welder’s bench, serving as a kitchen island, is a focal-point for the largely open-plan ground floor, and on an upper floor lies the main bedroom, with timber-clad walls. But most enchanting of all is a fully insulated, interior ‘winter garden’, with architectural greenery softening the industrial look.

However, much of The Compound has been furnished from Stuart’s incredible stash of old factory fittings, furnishing and machinery, salvaged from various projects and brought to him by locals keen to have them repurposed, and which he stores in a 20,000sq ft warehouse.

‘Some of the 3,000 or so industrial lights I’ve got are, quite literally, bomb proof,’ Stuart says.

Copper lights from a decommissioned submarine hang in one of the white-tiled and brass-accented bathrooms.

Each period piece has its own unique story to tell, but Stuart – who also sculpts his own works – has mixed them up with contemporary street art, including a Banksy, and overscale, satirical prints of vintage Penguin book covers by Harland Miller.

Among all the big names, though, his favourite is a drawing of an iPad sent to him by his young daughter.

Despite acclaim for The Compound, Stuart has now put it on the market, for £2.75million, to focus on his next project: a 100-acre farm in the Oxfordshire countryside, where he is rebuilding the farmhouse and plans to rewild the land.

‘There is still so much untapped potential here,’ he says, ‘There are so many great buildings that need the right people to look after them.‘We are only guardians, and if we do them right, they are going to last a lot longer than we are.’

See more at Savills and The Modern House.

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Turns out electricals and beauty products aren’t the only things you can get on offer this Black Friday.

Developers are offering fantastic deals and savings on new-build homes.

From rent deals on shared ownership flats to free furniture, we round up the best homes on offer.

Chilmington Lakes, Ashford, Kent TN23, from £399,995

Hodson Developments is tempting purchasers with a number of deals on these rural three, four and five-bed houses: a reduced £99 fee, £2,500 cashback for reservations by the end of December, and £2,500 towards agency fees when using the assisted move programme to sell your current home.

SO Resi, Ealing W13, from £105,000 for a 25% share of £420,000

You’ll have the option of six months’ rent-free or £1,000 towards legal fees if you reserve a one, two or three-bed shared ownership home by November 30.

Similar rent-free deals, running until January 31, 2021, can be found at SO Resi Times Square in Welwyn Garden City and SO Resi Forster Oaks in Stevenage.

Valley House, Charlton SE7, from £92,500 for a 25% share of £370,000

Reserve by December 20 for free rent up to £2,000 on recently-launched one, two and three-bed shared ownership apartments.

The offer’s also available at Williamson Heights in Wembley, Colindale Gardens and Greenway at Beckton Parkside. See more at Peabody Sales.

The Chain, Walthamstow E17, from £93,125 for a 25% share of £372,500

One of 17 London developments by L&Q where various incentives are available until November 30.

Here, you can reserve a one or two-bed shared ownership apartment with private outside space for £99 and will be rewarded with up to £5,000 towards moving costs. See more at LQ homes.

Strawberry Fields, Great Yeldham, Essex CO9, four and five-bed houses from £395,995

You’ll get an entertainment package including a 55-inch smart TV, sound bar, iPad and Amazon Echo Dot, worth around £1,500 in total, when reserving between November 27–29.

This deal is also available at four other Linden Homes sites across Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk.

Acton Gardens, Acton W3, two-bed apartment, £650,000

Nearly £40,000 of freebies await the lucky buyer of this spacious sixth-floor Acton Gardens home, featuring two bathrooms, a balcony and underfloor heating.

The incentive is made up of a £25,000 parking space, a £6,840 furniture pack and stamp duty paid, saving £7,500, and is on offer until November 29.

Noma, North Maida Vale NW6, from £700,000

Ideally positioned for swift access into the West End and canal-side walks at Little Venice, these two, three and four-bed apartments are ready to move into.

From November 27 to December 4, Latimer is paying all stamp duty above the first £500,000 (currently tax-free), saving purchasers at Noma Westminster least £10,000.

The Glebe, Storrington, West Sussex RH20, £667,500

The buyer of this four-bed semi-detached house – the last one left for sale – only needs to bring a suitcase and toothbrush, as £30,000 of furniture is thrown in.

It comes with double beds, sofas, dining table and chairs and even wine glasses, cutlery and art for the walls. See more at Millwood Designer Homes.

Chapel Riverside, Southampton SO14, from £93,750 for a 50% share of £187,500

To celebrate this weekend’s unveiling of the show home at its latest shared ownership development overlooking the River Itchen, St Arthur Homes is giving away a £2,000 Ikea voucher to purchasers reserving a one or two-bed apartment between November 27-29.

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch at metrolifestyleteam@metro.co.uk.

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