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July 06, 2022 - 12:56 BST The Repair Shop star Will Kirk has opened up about the heartbreaking story behind his early career as a woodwork restorer… The Repair Shop star Will Kirk has revealed the heartbreaking story behind his early career as a woodwork restoration expert. MORE: The Repair Shop fans react after last-minute change to the show Chatting on The TV Carpenter Podcast , Will revealed that he used his inheritance money following his father's death to set up his own business. Loading the player... WATCH: The Repair Shop's Will Kirk surprises fans with epic transformation video After completing a course in antique restoration, Will went on to work at a furniture restoration company in London for a year before setting up his own business. "I started my own business," he explained. " My father had passed away and I inherited a bit of money but not too much that I could go wild but enough for me to … [Read more...] about The Repair Shop’s Will Kirk reveals heartbreaking story behind early restoration career

We tend to stash away our sex toys and lube in dedicated drawers or secret sex boxes. That’s about to change with sexual wellness brand Maude , which launches in the UK this month. If you’re buying vibrators or dildos from this label, you’ll want to have them on display – they so perfectly fit that sleek, neutral interiors aesthetic everyone on Instagram and TikTok loves right now that we’re tempted to use them as coffee table sculptures. The toys deliver on more than just looks, of course, but as an intro to Maude, that’s not a bad place to start. Maude is not, as you might be imagining, a vanity project from a famous Maude, but it does have celeb credentials. The sexual wellness brand launched back in 2018, with the aim of creative beautiful, well-designed sex products built on quality, simplicity, and inclusivity, but in 2020, Dakota Johnson (yep, the actress who played the lead in 50 Shades Of Grey, so she knows her stuff) joined the team as an investor … [Read more...] about Meet Maude, the Dakota Johnson backed sex toy brand that’s now in the UK

In 2009, a squad of part-time England players, earning just £16,000 a year, reached the final of the European Championship. Despite being thrashed 6-2 by Germany, it was a landmark moment for the modern women’s game – and an achievement not since bettered by any other England team. By then, the Football Association was starting to take the women’s game seriously. There were central contracts for the 17 best players in the country, a dedicated support staff for those on England duty, a strength and conditioning coach, a psychologist and a data and video analyst. But still there was an overwhelming sense football was just a part-time job. Even the best players had to find work to pay the bills. “Central contracts were a huge step in the right direction, and we were very grateful for it at the time,” said Rachel Brown-Finnis, England goalkeeper in 2009. “But when you’re in a final against some of the best players in the world, it showed us in pretty stark fashion that we still had a … [Read more...] about How England’s part-time Euros trailblazers paved way for this summer’s home favourites

H ere, lying in a stained carton, are notes on a refugee camp in Tanzania, where surviving Tutsis and their Hutu enemies lived side by side in blue tarp tents. It is 1994. The notes record that there are people everywhere, milling and moving in short parades on the main path in the camp, hastily constructed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Women wear colorful cloths, khangas , and carry yellow plastic containers of water on their heads. Children and old men push up against one another, as if at a bargain sale. They hold portable radios to their ears. A man in a brown rain hat drags a reluctant goat by a rope. White smoke mixes with the smells of fresh earth and excrement. At an outdoor butcher shop, a cow’s bloodied horn lies beside the animal’s astonished head. I greet a group of young Hutus in French. “Did you participate in the killings?,” I ask. “We did nothing,” one says. “Did you see others do the killing?” He says, “We saw nothing.” I ask, “How many … [Read more...] about The World Is a Thriving Slaughterhouse

A mum of two is left with only £27 per week after paying her bills as a result of the cost of living crisis . Stacey Victoria, from Huddersfield, has seen her electric bills rise from £102 to more than £150 per month, alongside soaring gas prices too – despite ‘not using any extra energy’. In total, she forks out almost £300 per month on gas and electric bills. The 35-year-old is left with no choice but to shop in the reduced section in supermarkets. To cope, she’s had to get savvy with her spending, hunting down yellow sticker deals and reduced price buys. As a result, she’s managed to cook meals costing no more than £1.40 per head. ‘The rising costs of everything have affected me massively,’ Stacey said.  ‘It has given me more of a drive to cut costs even more than I already have.’ Stacey shops around weekly to find the best bargains possible – and can make her family meals from as little as £1.33 per head a day. She said: ‘By living on reduced and free … [Read more...] about Mum feeds her family for under £1.40 a head as cost of living crisis leaves her with just £27 a week