“It’s a tick box exercise”: Kingston pub staff on the ‘Ask for Angela’ scheme

It has been almost five years since the local council found that over half of women and girls in Kingston did not ask for help when they found themselves in danger.  

Since then, more bars and pubs have adopted the ‘Ask for Angela’ scheme, which allows people to discreetly ask for help in venues using the code word ‘Angela’. Local participants included The Antelope, The Waggon and Horses and nightclub Pryzm.

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Tamil New Year: Inside the local school keeping the ancient language alive

Tamil is one of the world’s oldest languages, primarily spoken in southern India and Sri Lanka. It is also one of the most spoken languages in Kingston upon Thames.

Puthandu, or Tamil New Year is marked by reflection, hope, worship and traditional dishes, such as Mango Pachadi, which combines sweet, sour, bitter and spicy flavours to reflect different life experiences.

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National Literacy Trust survey shows 40% drop in boys’ reading enjoyment

Reading for pleasure is on the decline in the UK — but it’s boys and young men who are switching off the fastest. 

According to a recent National Literacy Trust, a UK based literacy charity’s survey, just one in three children (34.6%) said they enjoy reading, and only one in five (20.5%) read daily. These are the lowest figures recorded since the trust started measuring in 2005.

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