Universal credit

Published 3 hours ago Share close Share page Copy link About sharing A baby bank has seen more demand for help from parents since the end of the universal credit uplift, staff said. Telford Crisis Support Baby and Toddler Bank takes in donations and then sends them out to help children from prenatal age up to about five years old. Coordinator Debbie Hughes said referrals had risen since the £20-a-week increase had been withdrawn. The charity is appealing for more donations of Moses baskets to keep up with demand. "If you are in financial crisis and you can get support with a basket like this, it is such a weight off your shoulders," Mrs Hughes said. "We send out about two parcels a week but we are seeing more referrals for just individual items, clothing packages, especially after the cuts to the universal credit." Latest news for the West Midlands The £20-a-week …

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THE number of Brits who have fallen behind on their debts is set to jump later this year as families face soaring costs this winter. More families are expected to default on secured loans - such as mortgages and credit cards - in the last quarter of the year, according to the latest Bank of England figures. This means that the number of households who will fail to meet their repayments on time or at all is forecasted to rise - which could land families into hot water. Missed payments can impact your credit score , making it harder to get accepted for finance in the future. Borrowers can also find themselves being hit with hefty late fees if they don’t make their repayments. It comes as a number of government help schemes have ended, leaving Brits and their finances in the lurch. Universal Credit claimants saw their weekly payments docked by £20 after the government axed the weekly uplift. The benefit was boosted by an extra £20 a week during the pandemic, …

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US Brits love a spicy curry - but are supermarket ready meals any good? Research by Foodhub last year found that 11% of people were eating the cuisine between three and seven times a week. A further 22% of those surveyed enjoy a curry at least once a week. And 45% of us say no curry is complete without a portion of pilau rice, while 64% of people need a naan on the side. While a tikka masala has been voted the nation’s favourite curry, this week we’re out to find the spiciest option on the shop shelves. We’ve tried five supermarket readymade jalfrezi curries to find out which one comes out on top in our taste test. We tasted options from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl and scored them on five factors: taste, spice, look, amount of meat, and value for money. Most read in Money URGENT RECALL Supermarkets including Asda and Morrisons issue recalls over safety fears KING OF THE LAND You can buy 14-bed …

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HAMLEYS has revealed its top toys for Christmas this year and they are expected to be a huge hit with kids. Dolls, action figures and board games are among the predicted top sellers, while favourite brands like Lego and Nerf are on there too. Prices of toys on Hamleys' list range from £11 for a cute soft toy, right up to £310 for Barbie's Dreamhouse. The London toy store said the most-wanted toys for Christmas 2021 encourage role play and creativity. Victoria Kay, head of buying at Hamleys, said: "Our 2021 top picks for the most wanted toys this Christmas include accessible toys that will really allow children to harness their creativity and imagination. "From the innovative and creative to the digital and classic toys on offer, we can see imagination really playing its part this year, bringing in-person 'together-play' back for the festive season." Here are the top 10 toys and where to buy them - shoppers have even be warned to get toy gifts early in case they …

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SAVVY savers can save over £1,400 by overpaying their mortgage by just a tenner a month. While setting aside an extra £100 a month could leave you over £11,800 better off and leave you mortgage-free over four years earlier than expected, exclusive data from Santander shows. When you take out a mortgage to buy a property, you agree to a minimum amount to pay back to your lender each month. If you overpay on your mortgage, it means you pay more than the minimum amount, either regularly every month or as a lump sum. Overpaying on your mortgage could save you thousands of pounds in interest in the long-run, according to Santander's research. If you coughed up just a tenner extra a month, you could save £1,431 in interest and be mortgage-free six months early. This is based on a mortgage of £150,000 on a 25-year term, with a current interest rate of 3%. You'll save even more by upping your overpayments. Squirrelling away an extra £25 a month to pay off your …

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ENERGY bills are rising so it helps to understand how much running your everyday household appliances can cost. Microwaves are a kitchen essential for many - even top TV cook Nigella . So how much does heating up dinner (or a cold cuppa) add to your energy bill? How much does it cost to run a microwave? The power of a microwave is measured in watts and that affects how much energy it uses - and how much it costs. But the more powerful the appliance, the quicker it will cook your food too. Microwaves in the home generally have a wattage of between 700 and 1,200 watts. A 700 watt model would use 0.7 kilowatts per hour (kWh) and a 1,200 model, 1.2kWh. Most read in Money URGENT RECALL Supermarkets including Asda and Morrisons issue recalls over safety fears KING OF THE LAND You can buy 14-bed MEGA mansion for £450k - but there's a pretty big catch QUIDS IN One of Britain’s cheapest …

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THE contactless payment limit will rise to £100 today, meaning you can spend more just by tapping your card. Most Brits use contactless , with the latest figures showing 83% of people living in the UK used the payment method at least some of the time. During 2020, the number of contactless payments in the UK increased 12% to 9.6billion as people preferred the touch-free method during the pandemic. Between January to July of this year, 60% of all debit and credit card transactions in the UK were made using contactless. This accounted for 6.6billion payments, with a combined value of £81.4billion. But it's not just a Covid phenomenon. In the past four years, contactless transactions have jumped from being 7% of all payments to 27%, according to UK Finance. Here's everything you need to know about the increase today - including whether you can set your own limit. What is the contactless payment limit? The contactless limit is the amount of money you can spend …

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The yin-yang journey of Hollywood’s two best bros. Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage A koan, courtesy BuzzFeed’s Tim Unkenholz : “When Affleck rises, Damon must fall. This is the balance of the universe.” He was responding to the events of this summer, as Affleck rode a tide of public goodwill over his romantic reunion with Jennifer Lopez, while Damon’s Stillwater press tour was derailed by his apparent admission that he had only recently stopped using homophobic slurs. (He later attempted to walk back the confession, leaving it unclear what he was actually trying to say.) But has the pattern held up over the course of their careers? Starting with their joint breakout on Good Will Hunting and ending with their most recent shared IMDb credit The Last Duel , let’s examine the shifting fortunes of the Matt-and-Ben brothership. Late ’90s: Just Two Guys Having a Good Time With their moms. Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage With Good Will Hunting , …

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Did you hear that the new Superman is bisexual? Or that the new James Bond might be black? And if this news excites you, you should probably stay away from the new Dave Chapelle special: He says things you may not like. Pop culture is being infected with an unappealing wokeness that activist creators think will either excite the masses or, perhaps, keep them from turning into a mob. Small groups of vocal activists are forcing artists to create their work through an equity lens. But those artists should choose entertainment and appeal over critical race theory and propaganda. There is no general clamoring for wokeness shoehorned into every aspect of entertainment. No one asked for Superman to be a member of the LGBTQ community. Audiences aren't demanding a black James Bond. No serious stand-up fans were concerned that Chapelle might offend them with jokes and commentary, because they would know it is part of his routine. Yet, we're being told that a new generation of consumers now …

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Election: McDonnell slams Rees-Mogg’s ‘arrogance’ over Grenfell Sign up for FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Shadow chancellor John McDonnell today announced Labour’s plans for the NHS at a Labour campaign event in London as election campaigning gets underway. Labour has pledged to outspend the Tories by investing an additional £26 billion in the NHS to rebuild “crumbling” hospitals and improve patient care if the party wins the General Election. Related articles John McDonnell lashes out at 'unforgiveable arrogance' of Rees-Mogg Labour manifesto 2019: Labour Party – what is in Corbyn’s manifesto? Mr McDonnell said his party was offering …

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