We’re packing our bags already.
After months of dull skin, I decided to make a change.
Hottest front-room seats: the best theatre and dance to watch onlineFrom live streams of new plays to classics from the archive, here are some of the top shows online now or coming soon – this page is updated regularly Barnstormer … Natalie Kassanga as Coco from Fame in The Secret Society of Leading Ladies Photograph: -
A further postponement would cause dismay in the travel industry
Self-catering breaks within your household are (all being well) back on from April 12. Then come June 21 all restrictions are due to lift under the Government's roadmap out of lockdown. Foreign trips could also be a possibility from May 17. However, UK travellers appear to be backing domestic breaks as the safest option this summer. The key school summer holiday weeks in July and August and booking up fast, with self-catered cottages, country houses and cabins all in high demand. We've tracked down the remaining the last of the summer breaks among some of the best operators. Here are the options you can still book (at the time of writing) for July or August. The Landmark Trust has 198 historic properties on its books. An August 2 arrival date, however, returns just seven results, or 3.5 per per cent of its portfolio – and only three of them are in the UK (the other four are in Italy). Lynch Lodge, near Peterborough This two-storey Jacobean porch is salvaged from a great house once beloved by the poet and playwright John Dryden but long-lost. Lynch Lodge was re-erected around 1807, serving as a grand entrance to the three-mile long drive to Milton Park. It sits on the edge of Awalton village, with plenty of countryside walks and pubs nearby. Sleeps two; four nights for £700 (landmarktrust.org.uk).
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Rocks took us on a magnetic journey through survival, friendship and trauma set against the contrasting backdrop of London skyscrapers and tower blocks. I meet Bukky over Zoom at the end of February. She’s zipped up in a black hoodie, soaking up the sun from her bedroom window in east London during the UK’s third lockdown. “The last lockdown I was a champion, running every day. Then the second one slapped me in the face, I was so lazy. But I’m blessed, I’m happy and healthy. The recent weather has been really beautiful, I’ve been lacking in vitamin D.” Bukky’s performance as 15-year-old Jamaican-Nigerian Olushola — nicknamed “Rocks” — earned her the Young British/Irish Performer of the Year honour at last month’s London Critics’ Circle Film Awards and she has been longlisted for the BAFTA Award for Leading Actress. Other names on that list include Kate Winslet, Viola Davis and Carey Mulligan. And today it is announced that Bukky has also been nominated for BAFTA’s public-voted EE Rising Star Award alongside Kingsley Ben-Adir, Morfydd Clark, Conrad Khan and Ṣọpé Dìrísù. Previous winners include Letitia Wright and Daniel Kaluuya. “I can’t articulate the feeling because I’ve never felt like this before,” she tells me. “I guess I just feel blessed but blessed doesn’t cut it, I feel lifted.” Her agent told her the news while she was in a cab, returning home from a COVID test. “I was like, ‘What are you lot saying?’ I was flabbergasted and shocked. That feeling is crazy. I’m gassed about the awards but I’m not fussed about it because I know who has won it previously and has been nominated in the past. That feeling of being on the same pedestal as Letitia Wright is crazy.” Bukky had no professional acting training before being cast in Rocks; she was plucked out of a number of girls Gavron discovered in an east London girls’ school. “I thought about acting once when I was really young but I just typed in ‘how to be an actor’ and it’s like typing ‘how to be an astronaut’,” she says. “It’s one of those careers that is so out of reach. Just seeing white people everywhere is one of the things that I’m facing in my head right now because I don’t look like an actor.” Despite feeling nervous on set – “It was like being naked in front of everyone” – Bukky was a natural. Towards the end of the film there’s a hard-to-watch scene when Rocks breaks down as her brother Emmanuel (D’angelou Osei Kissiedu) is taken into care. Screenwriter Theresa Ikoko told her it was her “Viola Davis moment”. Although Bukky has found her passion in acting, she’s acutely aware of the glass ceiling for Black and brown women in the industry. “There are so many barriers of entry for Black British women, especially when you don’t fit into the ideal. I try not to think about it and try to focus on the performance element because essentially that’s all that matters,” she says. “You train and you try to be a good person and a good performer and you read and listen to people but in this world that we live in, that’s not enough.” It’s startling to hear someone so early in her career talk so bluntly about where she feels she fits or doesn’t fit in the industry as a Black woman. “This is what I mean about not being in love with the industry because it’s not really going to love me,” she says. “It’s not going to love these Black women that I have met who are outstanding. They [the industry] really do pick what they want to pick, and I want to be picked. I don’t want to be picked last on the sports team. I want to be captain because I’m not just doing it for me but for people around me.” Bukky kisses her teeth and cites Michaela Coel’s recent Golden Globes snub as a harsh reminder that Black women aren’t appreciated. “I always say Black women are my livelihood but if you ask me who my favourites are, I don’t know. Obviously Letitia Wright is up there. I know a lot of Black British women who are absolutely amazing and I’ve had conversations with them, but I wonder, How does the rest of the world not care for you? Knowing you were supposed to win doesn’t cut it anymore, we’ve been knowing what we deserve.” She is reminded of another conversation she had with Ikoko. “She told me to not make acting the love of your life because it’s the only thing that is never going to love you back fully,” she says. “It is the love of my life but I know that unrequited love is heavy, boy. It’s heavy.” The impact of Bukky’s role in Rocks has been relatively positive for young Black and brown girls, who are so rarely depicted in British cinema. Some have reached out to Bukky on social media to thank her. “I can’t believe it, I’m like, to me? Really? But then I’m always going to have imposter syndrome,” she laughs. “Being an influence on young Black and brown girls, it’s insane to me,” she continues. In an acting class (after filming Rocks), another student told her that big Black girls could never be leads, only secondary characters. “I was like, ‘Baby girl, it’s happened’. So I guess to be that reference for anyone is amazing.” Bukky wants to continue along that path. In many ways, Rocks felt like a personal project and unlike the normal industry experience because “the dynamic between the cast was such a nice relationship, everyone was so giving and receiving, and everything flowed on set,” and she’s excited to work on more meaningful feature films that show range in Black women. “I want to dive into narratives that people don’t see people like me [in],” she says. “I love receiving a script and seeing that it has been written for someone else so I can show the directors that I can do this.” She continues: “I recently was shown a script in which the character was super skinny and that is not me. I ended up getting that role and I felt really proud of myself because I was able to change the writer’s mind of how they viewed the character. That’s what I want to do.” Bukky adds that acting is a form of escapism for her. “We all want to be that Black girl who is unapologetic but it’s hard when you lack confidence. Acting allows you to do that.” That doesn’t mean she wants to do everything, just for the sake of it. “Not everything is for you. You have to allow people who are meant to tell these stories to tell these stories.” She’s a huge fan of the show Insecure and wants to star in a UK version. “We need one. It would be so crazy. I cried at the end of Insecure because I relate to Issa Rae. I’m also an awkward Black girl,” she laughs. “I watched it in quarantine and it was like living my life through her screen. Yes, I’m team Issa. Sorry, but Lawrence was a bum. There’s a difference between being a bum and trying, and he wasn’t trying at the start.” Like everyone else who watched the finale of season 4, Bukky wanted Issa to have a happy ending. “I wanted her and Lawrence to get back together or [for her] to get back with Nathan. I wanted her to have a wedding and the family. But it’s not going to happen in the final season,” she sighs. “And Molly? I don’t know how she messed it up with Asian Bae.” But it’s Barry Jenkins who is top of Bukky’s list of directors to work with in the future. “He was the first time I ever saw someone really focus on human beings, he’s really obsessed with the human condition and what makes a body,” she says, giddily. “When I watched Moonlight for the first time, I saw Black people well-lit, he paid attention to the colours and palette, and his attention to detail is insane. His work is like a painting.” Bukky is hugely passionate about art as a subject. “I started painting and art is one of the only things I was good at in school. I try to paint here and there and I sketch using pencils but because I do it in school, it’s not really as fun as it used to be. I’m looking forward to finishing school and being able to paint for leisure and pleasure,” she says. While she waits to finish her final year of sixth form, the future is looking bright. Bukky is booked and busy filming for the rest of 2021, including feature films which are yet to be announced. What kind of roles would she like to go for in future? “I would really love to play a lawyer or something,” she says. “I want to be able to tell stories and tell important stories [about people] who are, again, heightened bits of myself. I’m excited for my body to pick its roles in the room it ends up in.” During lockdown she has watched The Last Black Man In San Francisco and Judas and the Black Messiah for inspiration and binged The Wire (“I had time”). She also read bell hooks‘ All About Love. “I’m hooked on bell hooks,” she laughs. “Although I wish it didn’t have that title because I think the word love has been diluted nowadays. I really respect bell hooks’ writing, it’s inclusive. She talks about feminist theory that is so palatable and would make even a non-reader feel empowered.” “The book made me look at feminism differently because in school I saw different feminism. I was marginal, the only Black girl in some of my classes. And while I loved my friends at school, I couldn’t see feminism through their gaze. I couldn’t identify. There are so many layers to intersectional feminism, which is why it’s so important for me to learn about it because if I lived my life from only what I see, it would be a disservice to myself and other human beings around me.” Bukky has contributed an essay to gal-dem‘s Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff’s Black Joy, a collection of writing on race and belonging which is being published in September. For the remainder of lockdown you’ll catch Bukky listening to Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Unplugged, André 3000 (“his pen is crazy”), D’Angelo and Sade, as well as learning to play the guitar and piano. She’s always wanted to write songs for others but doesn’t believe it will happen in this lifetime. “It’s not about not believing in my sauce; the industry has no respect for women so I can’t be arsed. I like to be behind the scenes, I just want to have a friend who is a musician so I can be in the studio, I’d have the best time.” Like everyone else in England, Bukky is excited for 21st June to arrive. “Me and my friends are gonna link up. The link-up is due. I just want to chill outside for a long time.” If there’s one thing Bukky truly understands, it’s the power of being humble. Even at such an early stage in her career, she’s hopeful that her position in the industry will help others to believe that they too can be successful. But she won’t let her achievements go to her head. “A BAFTA doesn’t make you a good person,” she tells me. “How I treat people around me matters, how I treat my brothers and my parents matter, the people I work with, how they see me is the most important thing.” “At the end of the day, when most people ask for advice, they know what they want to hear but they need to hear it for a second time. Listen to your own advice and believe in what you preach because you’re preaching the good news.” Public voting for the EE Rising Star Award is now open at ee.co.uk/BAFTA and the winner will be announced at the EE British Academy Film Awards on Sunday 11th April 2021. Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?'Rocks' Is A Vital Story Of Schoolgirl FriendshipsBlack & Brown Women Reclaim Roller Skating CultureBlack & Brown Women Are Reviving Tarot & Astrology
They're stylish, they're comfortable and they're about to be your spring/summer go-to.
What a sweet gig.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has called the unsubstantiated theory 'nonsense'.
For some it’s the first snowdrop, bravely nuzzling through the hardened ground of late winter. For others it’s when dusk manages to hold off until after 6pm, allowing us to leave our workplaces with at least a small feeling that there’s something of the day left for us. But for Julian Clary, who never disappoints, it is the sight of roofers stripped to the waist. To him, it seems, that’s a sign spring is coming. “Is there a competition for the first sighting of a shirtless roofer in 2021?” Clary wrote on Twitter earlier this week, “If so, can I enter myself? (Don’t answer that).” The line accompanied a photograph of, yes, a bare-chested roofer, roofing it up like it’s at least 18 degrees warmer than it actually was on Monday. It does raise an interesting point, though. We each have our individual signs that spring has sprung in Britain, but what are they, really? Wildly confusing clothing choices A group of four walking through the park. Like a rubbish version of the Village People, one person is dressed as an Arctic explorer, another shivering in a light spring jacket, chinos and trainers, another in a T-shirt but with a woollen overcoat draped over their arm just in case, and a fourth in shorts, vest and flip flops.
Airline calls on UK government to ‘accelerate their plans’ for restarting holidays
Going to university in Britain is expensive. Today's students pay up to £9,250 a year in tuition fees alone and then have to pay all the costs of living — rent, food, bills — on top of that. The average student now faces the prospect of graduating with debts of £50,800. It's hardly surprising that so many university students are currently on rent strike. Last September, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, students were encouraged to travel to university and stay in halls or rented accommodation – even as lectures and seminars moved online. As a result, thousands of students across the country have been locked down, isolated and denied the university experience they've paid for.As the pandemic continues to threaten jobs, wages and career progression, the vast debt students have racked up can feel impossible to pay off. Ahead, we speak to graduates across the UK about the amount they owe, how much they pay each month and what they think about student debt. Age: 27University: University of Birmingham (2012-2015)Degree: ChemistryOccupation: Chartered accountantTotal cost of degree: £37,605Total owed: £43,000Repayments each month: £170Plan: 2"Any time I get the yearly statement through for my outstanding student loan, I am always shocked. I feel like it goes up every year and I cannot make a dent in the amount, despite working full-time in a finance role since leaving uni. It can be disheartening speaking to others on Plan 1 (£3k) who manage to reduce their balance and have some sort of end in sight, knowing this is likely not going to be the case for me. "I really don't think I will ever be able to pay it off so I'm trying to view it more as a 'graduate tax' than a loan and will just celebrate the day it is written off when I am 51!"I really feel for students right now, they are being completely robbed — at least paying £9k per year I had the full uni experience to go along with it."Age: 29University: University of Hertfordshire (2010-2013)Degree: LawOccupation: Compliance officer, financeTotal cost of degree: £11,500Total owed: £22,000Repayments each month: £178Plan: 1"I think that student finance enables students to attend university and without this option it wouldn't be possible. Unfortunately, I found it wasn't clear how it would affect my pay when I started working. Most months I don't notice my student finance repayment deductions from my wages as it is removed by my employer. The shock for me came when receiving an annual bonus: my student finance payments increased quite substantially and I certainly wasn't aware this would happen — nor were most others in my position at the time. "When I took my student finance out, it was advertised as an 'interest-free loan' which isn't the case. The loan is only interest-free while studying. It was quite a shock when my first annual statement came through and I had only reduced the loan by about £200. I still have around £12,000 to pay off but I was quite lucky that I went to university when it was cheaper and I dread to think how much the waves of students with higher fees will be paying in interest. It is unlikely many of them will ever pay their loans off."Age: 31University: Goldsmiths (2009-2010) then London College of Communication (2010-2013)Degree: Media and communicationsOccupation: Content creator Total cost of degree: £9,000Total owed: £36,000Repayments each month: £168Plan: 1 (since 2009)"My attitude has relaxed a lot more. I graduated in 2013 and employment wasn't swift. I worked at a football stadium from 2007-2012 and it was about £250 a month after receiving all the training I needed. I then worked in a content role in 2015 and incurred interest on my loan repayment. "I was in my bedroom a few months ago and found an old SLC (Student Loans Company) letter and can you believe I actually owed more years after university than when I graduated? I owed £33,716.66. I need to sit down. I need to lie down. I started uni in 2009. I've only repaid £3k in that time. This girl is shook and tired."Age: 29University: University of Liverpool (2011-2014) and Sussex University (2015-2017)Degree: Philosophy (then law)Occupation: LawyerTotal cost of degree: £9,870Total owed: £21,662.35Repayments each month: £28Plan: 1"I really hated studying this degree. I felt like the tutors really did not care and offered little support. To think I paid all that money for a terrible experience (which led me to do a whole other degree after). It was clear the undergrads were there to fund the uni and its research, rather than help and support us. "In an ideal situation, university would be free for everyone. While I believe anyone can get a student loan, we cannot ignore the fact that for some, they absolutely cannot justify acquiring this debt. Being in an industry that is rightly criticised for its mobility issues, you can't help but question whether things would be different if we abolished fees altogether."Age: 28University: London Metropolitan University (2011-2014)Degree: BA JournalismOccupation: Assistant PR managerTotal cost of degree: £10,305Total owed: £19,204.93Repayments each month: £50 Plan: 1"I don't mind paying off my student loan because it feels quite like the 'normal' thing for young people, plus I know all of my friends are in the same position. I do think that paying off the loan seems quite unattainable because not only do I have to pay the student loan back, I also have to pay the interest fee on top per month. "I'm glad I was lucky enough to go to university and get a degree as it helped me get into my current career but then I recently found out that it can work against me when applying for a mortgage. So I guess it is bittersweet."Age: 27University: University of Cambridge (2013-2017)Degree: Classics and educationOccupation: Freelance journalistTotal cost of degree: £65,000Total owed: Repayments each month: £0Plan: 1"I think that education is a universal right, and being university educated is a key part of social mobility in modern Britain. Therefore, it cannot be right in our society that the poorest students carry the highest amount of debt. It leaves graduates from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds paying effectively higher amounts of income tax than their wealthier counterparts, making their route out of poverty even harder. "For university to be truly accessible, fair and equitable, tuition fees should be abolished universally — or at the very least abolished for those from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds, who are carrying eye-watering levels of debt which is constantly accumulating interest and making it harder to become socioeconomically secure."Age: 25University: Kingston University (2013-2018)Degree: PharmacyOccupation: NHS pharmacistTotal cost of degree: £60,000Total owed: £50,000Repayments each month: £200Plan: 2"It's extortion! It's completely unfair that we are taxed for pursuing higher education, particularly when the degree is in public service (medicine, pharmacy). When reviewing jobs for their salary, I can always predict that my actual take-home pay will be substantially less because of my student loan. It's just a thorn in our brow that we have to bear."Age: 29University: SOAS (2011-2015)Degree: Middle Eastern studies & history of art / archaeologyOccupation: RecruiterTotal cost of degree: £23,114Total owed: £26,000Repayments each month; £30-£40Plan: 1"My attitude towards student debt now is that it's a necessary evil for most people because without university education, you are limited in the jobs you will be eligible for. Additionally, I felt learning is an essential part of my life experience. However, now that I'm looking to buy a home which I can ill afford in London, I need to take this debt into consideration when applying for a mortgage. "I'm also working towards saving to pay off this debt in annual chunks to avoid the interest. It's basically like being given a small mortgage when you're young, inexperienced and for me, a little ignorant."Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?Meet The Student Rent Strike OrganisersI Might Need To Use A Food Bank To Finish My MAStudents Are In A Crisis. Who Will Save Them?
Forget trying to social distance on a beach, opt for your own private pool instead.
Oprah Winfrey's interview with Meghan and Harry will be two hours long.
It also comes in a two-piece set.
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Many of the participants were frail with underlying health issues.
Leading cruise line will offer ‘short break and week-long UK cruises’ instead
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