When I was younger, my parents had a rule on family holidays that we could not eat at McDonald’s or Starbucks when we were away. A way of preserving the cultural experiences of our trips, this unfortunately didn’t always work. A late night McDonald’s after a delayed flight and a Starbucks early the morning after…
Arts, Venue
Should art be free and accessible to everyone?
This is definitely a difficult one! In an ideal world, art would be free and accessible for everyone. However, I don’t think this is realistic. One example that comes to mind is theatre. Free theatre events are fantastic, but so many people come together to work on a show that really need to be paid…
Science
Brexit and engineering
Brexit commences the end of free movement across the EU, which has allowed jobs in the engineering sector to be filled for many years. A large proportion of the active workforce is from abroad, and changes due to brexit leaves these workers uncertain about their residency. While some suggest that a skills-based immigration system will…
Features
Better recycling: plastic bottles
While many people in the UK believe we are doing our fair share of recycling, there is much more that could be done. In over 20 countries worldwide there are deposit schemes for the recycling of plastic bottles and cans; something that should be considered here too. These nations have deposit machines in supermarkets which…
Music
The Sound of Social Justice
For as long as music has existed, it has bought society together and been used to share ideas. A prominent example: Band Aid. The charity supergroup, formed in 1984, raised funds to help stop the Ethiopian famine. Though they have faced much criticism for their methods, their hit ‘Do they know it’s Christmas?’ features on…
Travel
The transformative nature of travel
While I’ve always loved travelling, it was only through difficult circumstances that I realised quite how transformative it can be. After finishing school, I found myself on an unplanned gap year due to a mental breakdown, in the most medical sense of the term. I’d hidden the symptoms of mental illness for years, burying them…