Latest news with #WestonSuperMare
BBC News
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Top tips for taking children to Glastonbury Festival
Music, art, games, fields and "lots of fun". It is no wonder that festivals are an increasingly popular choice for families looking for summer Glastonbury Festival a go-to for adults and children alike, we spoke to three mums about their top tips for keeping all the generations was a popular choice - not the kind you get to the festival in, but the kind you can trundle your children around in, because festivals are very big spaces for little key advice is a healthy dollop of patience for parents and a comfy pair of shoes for, well, everyone. Kelly and her husband, both 41, from Weston-super-Mare, are planning their eighth and 10th visit to Glastonbury Festival this year. Their children, aged six and 10, are looking forward to their fourth said they are "incredibly lucky" to be able to enjoy two days of the festival before the children's grandparents bring them to the site on Saturday means the adults have two days before the children arrive, and the children do not miss said her top tips would be: Be flexible, don't over-plan, relax and most importantly, have fun!"Your festival experience is completely different when you take your children, so don't try and get them to fit into your schedule... go at their pace, explore with them and experience the festival through their eyes." Kelly's other tips include:Put a wristband with your mobile number on your child's wrist (or pick one up from the kidzfield)Create a meeting point in each spaceTake ear defenders for childrenAvoid big acts on small stages as crowds are overwhelming. If you go, stay at the back where there is space to danceSee as much as possible with your children. Kidzfield, Greenpeace, Glastonbury-on-sea, circus and theatreExplore the South-East corner during the day – there's lots of great stuff to see there and you'll avoid the crowds. And hunt down the dragon in the woods by the Stone Circle Melissa, 42, and her partner Ben, 37, live near Woolavington, in Somerset, and are taking their daughter Lexi for the third time this summer and Ben's son for the second has been to almost every Glastonbury Festival since she was 16-years-old, adding it must be about her 20th time going. She said life as a mum can get extremely busy, "so it's nice to wear what you want, be covered in glitter, make friends with strangers and party in a field".Melissa said that like Kelly, they also split Glastonbury week in two - allowing them to set everything up and catch up with friends before going home to pick up "some very excited children" on Saturday, have a shower and head back to the said her top tip for taking babies is a good carrier. "When Lexi was tiny she loved being in the carrier and we could just take her everywhere with us - even dancing," she said a solid pushchair is also a must and that the festival's Little Kids R&R tent is "amazing" as it has facilities for children and babies with bottle cleaning, sterilising and baby changing. Melissa's other tips include:Let the kids explore - there's so much for all the senses with the Kidzfield, circus, theatre and cabaret and "the pier is like another world"Take snacks - lots of snacks! Bubbles for the kids to play with Take a couple of changes of clothing for the days, and layers and onesies for evening A big blanket to put over the pushchair once babies/toddlers are asleep Vicky, 41, from Windsor, Berkshire, took her two daughters to Glastonbury Festival in 2023, when they were aged two and three, and said most people thought they were crazy, "but we had a lot of fun".Although unsuccessful getting tickets this year, she said she would love to take them again, and she is an admin of Glasto Families Facebook and her husband had previously attended the festival about five times and said key to the success of taking their children was hiring a camper van and going on the Tuesday so they were able to settle before a lot of people key piece of advice is to have a good mode of transport to take young kids around the site - with big wheels, "so if it is muddy, it can still manoeuvre well"."An all-terrain buggy or wagon, is vital, especially when you have young children," she said. Vicky's tips include: Be flexible - you never know when children may have a meltdown or need the looTake food, snacks and easy breakfast things - we took porridge pots which means they started the day with full belliesIf you want to see bands, take games, sticker books and colouring books so the children have something for when they get boredAnd, she said, see the festival through your children's eyes. Her four-year-old daughter watched the Foo Fighters and Guns N' Roses and now wants to join the rock band at school and play the drums. "It inspires them to do things they wouldn't do otherwise," Vicky added.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Child sexual abuse victim criticises ‘smug' Badenoch over grooming inquiry
A victim of child sexual abuse has hit out at 'smug' Kemi Badenoch as he accused the Conservative leader of politicising the grooming gangs scandal. Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde said he was 'really let down and disgusted' by Mrs Badenoch's party political response to the national inquiry. Labour's Dan Aldridge also spoke of his experience of 'sexual and psychological abuse' as a result of grooming, during the Home Secretary's statement in the Commons. The MP for Weston-super-Mare said he 'found it galling' to listen to Tory and Reform MPs 'who never once lifted a finger'. Mrs Badenoch earlier said it was left to the Conservatives to 'force' action on grooming gangs 'time and time again'. The Opposition leader said: 'They accused those of us demanding justice for the victims of this scandal as and I quote 'jumping on a far right bandwagon', a claim the Prime Minister's official spokesman restated this weekend, shameful. It has been left to Conservatives time and time again to force this issue.' She added: 'We went further than those recommendations. It was the Conservatives who established the grooming gangs taskforce, which supported police forces to make 807 arrests for group-based child sexual exploitation last year. So don't tell me we did nothing. 'There are legitimate concerns about institutions investigating themselves, especially as some of the most egregious cases of institutional failure occurred in Labour-controlled authorities. They can moan as much as they like but the people out there believe that is why nothing has happened yet.' Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Baroness Casey's report 'sets out a timeline of failure from 2009 to 2025'. She added: 'Repeated reports and recommendations that were not acted on, on child protection, on police investigations, on ethnicity data, on data sharing, on support for victims. 'For 14 of those 16 years, her party was in government, including years when she was the minister for children and families, then the minister for equalities, covering race and ethnicity issues and violence against women and girls, and I did not hear her raise any of these issues until January of this year.' Speaking of his own experiences of abuse, Mr Babarinde said 'the horror, the trauma, the guilt never leaves you'. The MP for Eastbourne said: 'As a survivor of child sexual abuse myself, I stand in solidarity with the many victims and survivors that the system has failed over many, many years. 'And I can say that the horror, the trauma, the guilt never leaves you, and I so hope that every survivor who is identified here receives the mental health support and otherwise they deserve to rebuild their lives. 'Survivors have witnessed very many promises, 20 recommendations, and the call of 'never again', time and again. What will the Home Secretary do and how will she reassure them that this won't be another one of those examples?' He continued: 'I am really let down and disgusted that the leader of the Opposition began her remarks with a party political assault on her opponents like this. Victims and survivors deserve more than a smug 'I told you so', diatribe. Victims and survivors deserve action.' In her reply, Ms Cooper said his speaking out would help other victims and confirmed the Government wants to extend therapy available for victims. Later in the session, Mr Aldridge said: 'I want to pay tribute to victims, survivors and campaigners. I am 40 years old, and it has taken me to be 40 to be able to talk about some of the abuse that happened when I was a child. 'As one of the countless victims living with the impacts of grooming, sexual and psychological abuse, I found it galling to watch Tory and Reform members who never once lifted a finger.' In response to groans from the Opposition benches, he added: 'No, you didn't. You didn't.' Mr Aldridge accused opposition parties of 'appointing themselves as defenders of abuse for political gain', adding: 'Does the minister agree with me that neither history nor the British people will be kind to the sickening political opportunism we have seen from the parties opposite?' Ms Cooper thanked Mr Aldridge for 'speaking out about his experiences, because to speak out as a victim of child abuse in this way is immensely difficult, and I think everyone should listen to what victims and survivors have to say'. She added: 'He is right that this should be something that everyone can agree on, because it's about the protection of children, it's about the tackling of serious crime, and I would hope that is something that all of us can do with respect and together.' Elsewhere in the session, Naz Shah, Labour MP for Bradford West, said blaming 'entire communities' does 'nothing to protect innocent victims'. She said: 'British Muslims stand on the side of victims and support the full force of the law against all perpetrators of abuse. 'But would the Home Secretary agree with me that those that display selected outrage or fan the flames to blame entire communities do nothing to protect innocent victims or further the cause of victims?' In her reply, Ms Cooper said 'the horror at crimes committed against children and particularly against young girls' is 'shared right across communities'. 'It is in the interests of those children and of those victim survivors that we have reforms now,' she added.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Six-bedroom home in town Brummies love - and it's less than £200k
We do like to be beside the seaside - and for generations of Brummies that only meant one place. Weston-super-Mare is so much a part of the city's history that it became known as Birmingham on sea, with thousands making the short hop down to north Somerset and many settling there over the years. Now a six-bedroom home is going under the hammer with a guide price of less than £200,000 - offering the chance for another family to relocate. READ MORE: Probe underway as fight breaks out inside Birmingham Tesco READ MORE: Exact date garden hedge cutting is illegal as offenders face jail time and unlimited fines READ MORE: Craig Upton, marketing director at auctioneers Bond Wolfe, said: "This is something a little different, within walking distance of the seafront and close to both the town centre and the railway station. "The property needs modernisation and may be suitable for development into a perfect B&B or other use, subject to securing planning consent. "Weston-super-Mare is a hugely popular seaside destination for people from the West Midlands – often referred to as 'Birmingham-on-sea' – and offers tremendous potential to a wide range of possible bidders. "We are expecting considerable interest when it comes up for sale at our July auction.' The substantial house dating from the 1900s is thought to have been the work of architect Hans Price, who was responsible for much of the development of Weston-super-Mare. Set back from the pavement, its extensive ground floor includes a hall, reception room, kitchen, office/dining area, two bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, a separate bathroom, toilet and rear conservatory. Off the landing on the first floor are four bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a kitchen and a separate bathroom, and there is a yard to the rear. Gas central heating and double glazing are fitted, but the property is in need of modernisation. Mr Upton said: "The property may be suitable for a variety of uses or development, subject to planning consents. "All interested parties should make their own enquiries with North Somerset Council to satisfy themselves of any use they may propose.' The double-fronted, end-terraced property at 48 Clifton Road will have a guide price of £195,000-plus in the livestreamed auction, starting at 8.30am on Thursday, July 10. For more details and to register to bid visit email auctions@ or call 0121 312 1212 or 01902 928 510.
BBC News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Retired neurologist behind new musical project on healing
A neurologist who spent 25 years reading thousands of studies has distilled his life's work into a new musical project. Now based in Weston-super-Mare, Dr Andrew Curran, 67, has combined his two "great loves" - neurobiology and music - to create a "part concert, part brain masterclass, part emotional awakening". Following the style of his bestseller, The Little Book of Big Stuff About the Brain, the new show focuses on how we can heal from the experiences that shape us. "I found the application of neurobiology so incredibly helpful in my own personal growth and unlearning of emotional damage - I absolutely have a desire to bring that to a much broader audience," he said. Dr Curran, who retired from his clinical work as a paediatric neurologist five years ago, told the BBC that working through more than 5,500 scientific papers over the decades he set out to work out both why he was "really not happy at all", and how he could help others to overcome the emotions that ruled their lives. "If you understand the neurobiology it takes all the magic and mystery out of psycho-emotional learning and unlearning," he said. "Because it actually just comes down to nerve cells and their connections." Growing up in a highly musical family, Dr Curran has spent decades playing and writing music alongside his medical career, as well training thousands of teachers to understand how neurobiology applies to their pupils. Working with South West folk musicians and supported by local organisations such as Front Room in Weston-super-Mare, he and his band The Promise are now putting the finishing touches on a show they hope to tour around the UK. "I've combined songs, some of which [...] are designed to carry you somewhere where you just experience aliveness, with the neurobiology I've discovered," he said. "The feedback we've got from audiences so far is that it's an incredibly powerful way of helping each and every person."
BBC News
12-06-2025
- BBC News
Taylor Wimpey fined after apprentice falls on building site
An apprentice bricklayer was "lucky to escape serious injury" after a temporary stairwell cover collapsed, a health and safety watchdog has 17, was working as a contractor for Taylor Wimpey on 450 new homes in Weston-super-Mare when he fell two metres to the ground along with about 20kg of concrete in August housebuilder has been fined £800,000 following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which said the incident could have been avoided had the right steps been taken."The failures of Taylor Wimpey resulted in a young man at the very beginning of his career being injured", said HSE inspector Derek Mclauchlan. "Charlie was lucky those injuries were not far more serious," he teenager, from Whitchurch in Bristol, sustained injuries to his fingers, hand, wrist and shoulder after a large area covered with a timber sheet caved in, the HSE had been loading concrete blocks into stacks on 22 August 2023, one of which was on or near to a temporary stairwell covering. The area was covered with a timber sheet material laid over joists, but it collapsed, causing Charlie to fall around two metres with around 20kg of concrete investigation by the HSE found the joists under the timber sheet should have been back propped. 'Potentially high risk' Taylor Wimpey UK Limited was also ordered to pay £6,240 in costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge after it pleaded guilty at North Somerset Magistrates' Court to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974."Everyone working in construction has a responsibility to ensure people are safe", Mr Mclauchlan said."Any work involving structural stability is potentially high risk and proper planning and implementation should be given."Lessons should be learned."
