Mapperley top new build

A BROKE mum became a millionaire after coming up with her own baby mat idea while on maternity leave - starting a company now worth £3m (US$4m). Mum-of-two Alana Hands, 41, saw a need for nicer looking, and safer, foam play mats for her kids after spending $300 (£169/US$240) on a "very ugly" design which led to her son's injury. When her first child Chloe was born in 2013, she purchased the pricey foam mat with pull-out letters which she also used three years later for her second baby, Rupurt. But Alana, from Brisbane, Australia, said she'd turned away for a minute and in that time he'd "pulled he puzzle pieces apart", fell forward and hurt his head. That's when she got the idea to create her own, and within just 30 minutes of launching a website she'd sold her first one - which led her to rake in over $200k (£113K/US$160k) in the first year alone. Alana told her story to Kidspot: “Rupert was six months old, trying to crawl on our ABC playmat and he’d pulled the … [Read more...] about I was a broke new mum when I came up with a genius baby mat idea – now my company is worth £3m

A SAVVY couple managed to double the value of their house with a smart renovation - and it’s now worth £2 million. Mum Tracey Gill and her husband bought the house in a small village near East Sussex in 2016, and have been transforming it ever since. Tracey says her husband gave her a fairly wide brief when house-hunting, explaining he said: “Find a house ripe for transformation in the prettiest location. I knew I could change any house we bought so the important factor was the land and location.” The house, which they bought for £1.25million, dates back to 1730 in places and had low ceilings - not great for Tracey's 6ft4ins husband. Describing the state they bought it in, the mum-of-two said: “It was covered in cream pebble dash with concrete roof tiles, a north facing conservatory on the front of the house, modern leaded light windows, low ceilings, dark rooms, artexed walls, cheap fittings, decades old carpets, pink shag pile in the bathroom and an unimaginative … [Read more...] about Couple double the value of their house with stunning renovation and it’s now worth £2million

A UN climate change report has found that global efforts to reduce CO2 emissions "fall far short of what is required" and that nations must "step up" to fulfil promises made under the Paris agreement. In a stark warning ahead of a make or break COP26 climate conference in Glasgow later this year, countries were criticised over their emission reduction plans - known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) - and urged to make "more ambitious" commitments. Following a legally binding international treaty on climate change signed in Paris in 2015, almost 200 countries set a goal of limiting global temperature rise by 2C - or ideally 1.5C - by the end of the century. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 'It's too late to avoid climate change' The Initial NDC Synthesis Report looked at how close 75 of those countries - representing approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions - were to meeting those targets. But UN … [Read more...] about UN report warns governments ‘nowhere close’ to climate targets

Uncertainty around the future of the Northern Ireland protocol has seen the construction of purpose-built inspection facilities at ports halted. There will still be checks on agricultural and food products, but these will be carried out in existing buildings that have been repurposed for the post- Brexit task, the country's agriculture minister has said. Gordon Lyons of the DUP said that recruitment of inspection staff for the new port facilities at places like Belfast and Larne had been stopped, and charges levied on traders bringing goods from Great Britain into Northern Ireland were also shelved. Mr Lyons said his decision was based on "practical difficulties" caused by the protocol, which came as part of the UK's trade deal with the EU. The agreement struck saw trade checks enacted on products travelling between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, however these regulatory and customs checks were moved to the Irish Sea to avoid a border on the island of … [Read more...] about Brexit: Northern Ireland halts construction of import inspection facilities

The final anti-HS2 activist from a group who had spent at least a month underground in a network of tunnels has been removed. As the man, known as Bradley, emerged from the site under London's Euston Square Gardens and was transferred to an ambulance, he raised two fingers in a peace/victory sign. A crowd gathered nearby cheered and shouted "we love you Bradley". Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 16-year-old Rory Hooper - the son of veteran environmental campaigner Swampy - joined the protest The network of tunnels near the London station was dug in secret by protesters objecting to the redevelopment of the area as part of the high-speed railway line. They were first discovered in their underground bunker on 26 January. Advertisement But on Friday, HS2 Limited, the government-owned company building the project, said the final person had been taken out of the site. A total of nine protesters have been … [Read more...] about Euston HS2 protest: Final activist removed from tunnels – and raises a peace sign