Parent Pages new website

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Boy ,5, makes heartfelt plea on YouTube to raise funds for life-changing surgery.

Last updated at 1:45 PM on 4th March 2011

A five-year-old boy has posted a heartfelt video appeal on YouTube to raise thousands of pounds for an operation to help him walk.Kieran Forde-Thain needs to raise £55,000 in three months for surgery in America in June. On a website set up for his appeal, the brave youngster from Urmston is shown on video making a plea direct to camera.….Continue Reading

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Spending watchdog warns of risk from business sponsorship, funding cuts and few measures to detect short-term cash problems.

By Jessica Shepherd, education correspondent

The number of universities at risk of going bust is likely to rise over the next few years, the government’s spending watchdog has warned. The National Audit Office (NAO) has found there are insufficient measures in place to detect universities with short-term money problems. Its report on the checks and balances of universities’ finances calls for public disclosure of institutions at high risk of financial failure. At the moment the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce), which distributes public funds to universities on the government’s behalf, waits for three years before it publishes a list of universities at high risk of financial failure. This delay, it argues, is to help the institutions recover.….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

When it comes to spending it would appear that credit cards don’t count as real spending at all, that’s according to a third of teenagers in the UK.

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 5:10 PM on 2nd March 2011

And around 34 per cent of young people admitted they regularly run out of cash – despite considering themselves savers rather than spenders, says a new study. The report into spending habits in the 16 to 24 year age group also reveals how a third of 22 to 24 year olds still rely on handouts from their parents to survive. And as many as one in four unemployed youngsters and 13 per cent of those aged 16 to 24 constantly run out of money. The report found that 75 per cent of young adults had saved in the past twelve months but that the money was being put aside for gagdets and clothes.….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

The country’s brightest are being lured to university by top companies promising to foot the bill for their education.

By LYDIA WARREN
Last updated at 1:56 PM on 2nd March 2011

Pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is the latest company to promise financial support for students throughout their university education. GSK has announced it will pay up to £27,000 for between 50 and 100 graduates on its training programmes. It joins leading accountancy firm KPMG in lightening the financial burden of education for its future employees. KPMG announced earlier this year that it is offering school-leavers the chance to study for free at a top university for free. It will pay for students’ accommodation at Durham University – with a £20,000-a-year salary thrown in.….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

Education knight and deputy quizzed over school funds.

By KATE LOVEYS and CHARLOTTE GILL
Last updated at 8:12 AM on 2nd March 2011

A knighted  ‘superhead’ and two colleagues have been arrested amid claims that they siphoned off close to £1.6million in bonuses while classrooms crumbled. Sir Alan Davies, 64, decorated for his services to education, was held yesterday with his deputy, Dr Richard Evans MBE, and Dr Evans’ wife Lesley. Both Sir Alan and Dr Evans have been lauded for their work in the state education system with Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron all visiting their former school.….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

It makes sense for employers to fund students and choose the best of the bunch, argues Jeff Randall.

By Jeff Randall 8:00PM GMT 01 Mar 2011

Just before he bowed out last month as director-general of the CBI, Sir Richard Lambert threw down a gauntlet to the captains of British industry. It was time, he said, for private enterprise to help fill the cracks created by an unprecedented financial squeeze on higher education. He was not talking about occasional bursaries of £500. “Inevitably, the private sector will have to find ways of putting funding into university systems over the next few yearse_SLps the global skills challenge means we have all got to up our game considerablye_SLps this is a shared agenda.”….Continue Reading

Source: BBC NEWS

Three people have been arrested by police investigating the alleged misappropriation of funds at a north-west London school.

1 March 2011 Last updated at 19:48 GMT

A 53-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud Copland Community School in Wembley.….Continue Reading

Source: BBC NEWS

The Gwynedd city of Bangor could soon have its first skateboard “pod” with funds raised in memory of an 18-year-old fan.

1 March 2011 Last updated at 11:59 GMT

Darren Frost died in a road traffic collision on Boxing Day 2009. If it has planning permission the pod – a small kidney-shaped bowl – will be at King Georges Field in Beach Road. A Gwynedd council spokesman said it would form part of a development to promote the use of sustainable transport. The teenager’s mother, Hazel, has told the BBC that her son would have enjoyed having somewhere to go to practice his sport.….Continue Reading

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Three held by police in north-west London over claims they conspired to defraud a school in Wembley.

By Jessica Shepherd, education correspondent

A former headteacher who was knighted for services to education has been arrested over claims that he and his senior colleagues mismanaged more than a million pounds of his school’s funds. Sir Alan Davies, who received his knighthood in 2000, has been arrested in relation to conspiracy to defraud Copland community school in Wembley, north-west London. Davies has reputedly entertained four prime ministers, one US president and Nelson Mandela in his more than 20 years as head. He is believed to have boosted his £100,000 salary by an £80,000 bonus.….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

Struggling families will be more than £4,000 worse off this year as a result of the spending cuts and the struggling economy, according to a new study.

By DANIEL MARTIN
Last updated at 8:34 PM on 27th February 2011

It found that, over the next decade, middle income families will be much more badly affected by a hike in living costs than poorer or richer people. This is because their wages are not likely to rise in line with the growth in the economy. Richer people will profit from the growing economy, while the poorer will be cushioned by benefits. The Resolution Foundation found that inflation over the past 10 years has impacted harder on families on low to middling incomes (a couple with no children earning between £12,000 and £30,000)- making those families £150 worse off every year since 2000.….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

Former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was branded ‘naive’ last night for demanding that the pornography industry funds ‘real’ sex education in schools.

By CHRIS HASTINGS
Last updated at 10:17 PM on 26th February 2011

Ms Smith, who claimed Commons expenses for two lewd films watched by her husband, has investigated the porn business for a Radio 5 Live show being aired on Thursday night. She told the sex industry: ‘Put your money where your mouth is. Fund real sex education in schools, promote safe sex and invest in relationship counselling for those who can’t tell the fantasy from reality.’ But David Turtle, of anti-porn group Mediawatch UK, retorted: ‘The adult entertainment industry is only concerned about its profits. It’s naive to think it is going to be effective in helping teenagers who are at risk from this material.….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has been accused of breaking his word that he would boost school repair budgets after it emerged that funds had been slashed by £86,000.

By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent

Amid the outcry over the Government’s decision to cancel the Building Schools for the Future programme last summer, Mr Gove insisted that the move would free up more cash for repairs because of the reduced costs of bureaucracy. He said that primary schools in particular would receive “more money,” as funds could be spent flexibly in areas where they were most needed.….Continue Reading

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Tuition fee rises drive up expense of university years as parents feeling the pinch.

By Jill Insley

The cost of raising a child from birth until the age of 21 has soared to £210,000, according to research by the insurer LV=. Although the cost has risen by 4.5% in the past year – just 0.5% more than CPI – it has spiralled by 50% or £70,450 since 2003. The cost now equates to an eye-watering £27.50 a day, £836 a month or £10,040 a year.

Childcare and education account for the biggest proportion of this, costing parents £67,430 and £55,660 respectively over their offspring’s childhood. The cost of education, which excludes private school fees, but does include school uniforms, after-school clubs and university tuition fees, has grown by 5.3% in the past 12 months.….Continue Reading

Source: BBC NEWS

Eighty years ago the British teddy bear industry was booming. Factories up and down the UK hand-stitched teddies.

21 February 2011 Last updated at 14:28 GMT

Now, only one factory remains. Merrythought is a family-run company which has been making teddy bears in the same way since 1930.….Continue Reading

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Families are putting their plans to have more children on hold as the cost of raising a child reaches almost £300,000, new research discloses.

By Myra Butterworth, Personal Finance Correspondent

The total figure of £271,499 equates to more than £1,000 a month spent on each child up to the age of 21. It is the latest evidence of the squeeze on British households amid dramatically rising inflation due to soaring food and fuel prices. It leaves 58 per cent of parents with one child saying they are not planning to extend their family, according to the survey by insurer Aviva.….Continue Reading

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With a seven-year-old and a new baby, one young couple want to rearrange their finances to make sure they give their kids the best possible start in life.

By Esther Shaw

The Patient

Liz Booth, 35, has just returned to work after maternity leave, and is now keen to get her finances back on track. Liz, who is from Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, has been married to her husband, Neil, for nine years, and the couple are determined to provide the best possible start in life that they can for their two children, aged seven and 10 months. Before going on maternity leave, Liz worked for the Halifax, but when she returned to work, at the end of January, she moved to the Yorkshire Building Society as a customer representative….Continue Reading

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A government meeting this week offered no fresh help to borrowers. But there are solutions out there. Simon Read reports.

Saturday, 19 February 2011

Housing minister Grant Shapps chaired a mortgage industry summit on Tuesday. The subject? First-time buyers or, to be more specific, what lenders can do to help people climb on to the property ladder. Lenders are obviously worried about this because the fewer new borrowers there are, the less profits they can make. The government is keen to kick-start the market as it will, in turn, boost the economy. Part of the perceived problem is people think lenders won’t grant mortgages at the moment. It’s true that the days of easy borrowing have disappeared, but there are a few decent deals appearing, especially for those who can raise a ten per cent deposit. That’s relatively positive compared with a few months ago when it looked terribly bleak for anyone hoping to buy their first home. The best deals then were only being offered to those who could raise a 40 per cent deposit – far beyond the means of almost all first-time buyers….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

Snow-covered village was ‘a muddy field with a nativity scene’

By PAUL HARRIS
Last updated at 8:41 AM on 19th February 2011

• Brothers face jail after 10,000 tickets were sold in advance
• Tickets were £30 each and it cost £10 to take in children under two

It was billed as a winter wonderland – a magical, snow-covered theme park with log cabins, a nativity scene, sledge-pulling huskies and even a polar bear. But Christmas in the New Forest version of Santa’s Lapland featured fairy lights strung limply from the trees and a broken ice rink beside a muddy field. The polar bear was plastic and the huskies looked so miserable that someone called the RSPCA.….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

Young people need to earn 55 per cent more to afford the lifestyle that their parents enjoyed at that age, a new study reveals.

By Myra Butterworth, Personal Finance Correspondent

A person in their mid-20s needs a salary of almost £40,000 to enjoy the same milestones reached by their parents, including buying a house, paying for their wedding and having their first child. It means many mid-20s today are being forced to delay such milestones because they cannot afford them. They are struggling to afford the lifestyle that their parents took for granted because their typical salary of just £25,000 is failing to keep up with the sharp rise in the cost of living, according to the survey of 2,000 adults by first direct.….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

How young need ‘twice the salary to match parents’ lifestyle’.

By BECKY BARROW
Last updated at 10:44 AM on 18th February 2011

Young workers would need to earn twice as much to have the lifestyle their parents enjoyed at the same age, research reveals today. The dramatic salary increase would make it easier for them to marry, buy a home and have children – choices within easier reach of earlier generations. The report said the average twenty-something earns about £21,000 – but would require £40,000 to match their parents.….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

The Bank of Mum and Dad must be one of the most generous lenders on the high street as new figures suggest two thirds of children never pay back their loan.

By Myra Butterworth, Personal Finance Correspondent

The majority of parents lend their children aged between 12 and 18 at least £10 a week in addition to pocket money, according to the research. But despite lending them a total of £520 a year, just 22 per cent said their children repaid the money. A survey of almost 1,400 parents by the website MyVoucherCodes, found that 65 per cent said their child never gave the money back, while 11 per cent said that the money was rarely returned.….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

Tory backers pay party £2,000 a time to buy their children work experience at top City banks and hedge funds.

By SIMON WALTERS and BRENDAN CARLIN
Last updated at 5:28 PM on 13th February 2011

David Cameron was accused of ‘gross insensitivity’ last night after it was revealed that internships with City hedge funds were sold to wealthy Tories’ children for thousands of pounds to raise cash for the party. At the Conservatives’ Black and White Party, millionaire Tory supporters paid around £3,000 each for their children to have the golden chance of spending a week or two with a number of top finance companies and banks. If they do well and win a full-time job, they could join the ranks of City tycoons who earn multi-million pound bonuses. But Labour claimed the auction was ‘grossly insensitive’ when tens of thousands of young people cannot obtain jobs.….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

A mother who claimed thousands of pounds in benefits despite her husband earning £130,000-a-year has walked free from court.

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 1:36 PM on 11th February 2011

Lisa Spindler, 40, raked in £22,500 in benefits as she claimed to be a single mother struggling to make ends meet. But she was in fact living with her high earning husband who made £130,000 a year. Spindler admitted fraudulently claiming benefits for three years between 2006 and 2009 and was handed a suspended prison sentence at Basildon Crown Court in Essex. The court heard Spindler from Benfleet in Essex started claiming income support when her husband was jailed for 12 months for assault .….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

Parents would receive tax breaks worth thousands of dollars for taking their children out of the state school system, under a controversial plan in one American state that some fear could lead to pupils not being educated at all.

By Jon Swaine, New York

New Hampshire, which has the motto “live free or die” and is renowned for its low taxes, could deduct $3,500 (£2,175) from families’ annual bills for every child they withdraw from a state school. Unlike voucher systems, in which parents are handed public funds assigned to their child and can top this up to buy private schooling, the scheme would not ensure the money is spent on education. The proposal has been made in the state legislature by a group of Republicans, whose party took control last November amid a surge in support for the Tea Party, the anti-government conservative group.….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

Britain is seeing a savings boom as parents begin putting money aside to pay for tuition fees, according to new research.

By Myra Butterworth, Personal Finance

A quarter of parents have either started a university fund or increased the amount they put away following the Government’s proposed tuition fee rises, the latest savings survey from ING Direct suggested. It led to a 3.6 per cent boost in accessible savings in the last three months of last year. Saving for a child’s university is most common among parents of children under five, leading to the rise of long-term savings plans where parents often start saving decades in advance.….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

Parents are starting to save more partly because of a hike in tuition fees, new research revealed today.

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 9:27 AM on 9th February 2011

With student course rates rocketing to £9,000 per year many parents are starting special funds to help pay the course bill or increasing their existing savings. A third also said they are putting more money away each month so they can pay off credit card debts and loans, the ING Direct survey found. After the rate of saving declined throughout 2010, it increased significantly in the final quarter – and it is thought to partly be in response to tuition fees. Cambridge University announced yesterday that they will charge the maximum £9,000 per year – and many others are expected to follow suit and set the highest possible rates.….Continue Reading

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A desperate mother has condemned Microsoft after her 11-year-old son racked up a £1,000 debt on her debit card – through his Xbox.

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 12:33 PM on 7th February 2011

Brendan Jordan racked up a bill of £1,082.52 on his Xbox without realising all the purchases were being charged to his mum Dawn Matthews’ card. The schoolboy made the payments to buy accessories and new games on his console after it saved the details of a previously registered card. Single mum-of-two Dawn, 37, from Strood, Kent, has now complained to Microsoft but claims the computer giant is ignoring her. She said: ‘When I put my card details in 18 months ago I thought it was just for his membership to play online with his friends.….Continue Reading

Source: GUARDIAN >> Read full article and comment

Setting up a tennis academy gave Peter Jones his first taste of business.

By Graham Snowdon

In the 1980s when I was growing up in the Berkshire town of Maidenhead I was heavily into tennis. It was the era of Borg and McEnroe. I used to spend hours hitting balls against a wall, imagining I was beating them both.

A lot of my friends were doing milk rounds and getting up at ridiculous o’clock in the morning. They’d tell me how much they got at the end of the week. But I’d think, nah. It wasn’t that I was lazy but I just didn’t want to work so hard for so little money.….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

Poor succession planning means family businesses are risking their future, according to an expert in family business law.

By James Hurley 6:26PM GMT 04 Feb 2011

Sue Medder, partner at law firm Withers, said a “conservative estimate” puts the proportion of people in the UK that don’t have a will at 70pc, but this is likely to be higher among family business owners because of a “horrible tension” between commerce and emotion.

“What’s best for the business in terms of the commercial succession is offset by the emotional attachment they have to ensuring that there’s equality between children,” said Ms Medder.….Continue Reading

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Fledgling children’s channel KidsCo is already an export hit, but cracking the UK is less easy.

By James Hurley, Business Club Editor

Like the one-man travelling redundancy machine portrayed by George Clooney in Up In The Air, Paul Robinson has spent so long in planes recently he’s become used to the trappings. Since founding children’s TV channel KidsCo in 2007, the 47-year-old has racked up enough air miles to pay for a return flight to Los Angeles for his family holiday.

“If there are no frequent flier benefits in the hotels I stay in, I get very disappointed,” he adds. The globetrotting has yielded some enviable results for his business, too: KidsCo is shown in 95 countries, 18 languages and has 20m subscribers. Where many UK small companies are over-reliant on UK sales and are reticent about exporting, KidsCo has the opposite problem – it has struggled to break into its home market.….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

Audiences were expecting a dark Spanish tale brimming with passion and desire. But when those attending a new production of Carmen were greeted with the sight of naked breasts and buttocks, it was too much for some to bear.

By Victoria Ward 8:00AM GMT 04 Feb 2011

One school party walked out after the first act, while others wrote to complain about the explicit nature of the Opera North production. Some have demanded refunds on tickets they bought anticipating a “traditional” opera.….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

Senior family members are choosing to pass on their businesses to the next generation more quickly than “prudent” to avoid advisers’ fees running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

By Richard Tyler

Changes to trust law in 2006 require family trusts to be reassessed for tax purposes every 10 years and a 6pc charge is levied on the value of the trust assets at that time.

While most family trusts can avoid the charge because business property assets attract a 100pc exemption from inheritance tax, the new fees associated with the reviews run into “six-figure sums”, says the Institute for Family Business (IFB).….Continue Reading

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College chiefs are outraged by changes to funding for pastoral care and extra-curricular activities.

BY Andrew Mourant

Sixth-form college principals fear their institutions could end up as A-level factories as the government plans a drastic cut in the funds that pay for pastoral care and extra-curricular activities.

Moreover, the educational consequences of a widening social gulf between the haves and have-nots fill some principals with horror.

For 16- to 19-year-olds, particularly those from deprived backgrounds, pastoral guidance and learning go hand in hand. Continuing education at this age can offer the first glimpse of a wider world. “Some kids here have never seen the sea,” says Dr Dick Smith, principal of Wyke sixth-form college in Hull – something hard to imagine with the east coast a few miles away. “So when we go to New York or South Africa with students, we give them a very significant experience.”….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

Mother sent £80,000 to a man she thought was a charming U.S. soldier… but it was really Nigerian fraudsters.

By CLAIRE ELLICOTT
Last updated at 1:07 AM on 31st January 2011

Divorced and lonely, Kate Roberts thought her luck had changed when a charming U.S. soldier started chatting to her on a dating website. When he told he loved her, she thought it was almost too good to be true. And sadly, it was. The ‘soldier’ was in fact a member of a sophisticated Nigerian gang set up to exploit vulnerable women and convince them to hand over money.….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

Fashion entrepreneur George Davies has admitted defeat with his latest womenswear fashion venture, Give.

By NEIL CRAVEN
Last updated at 10:12 PM on 29th January 2011

Fashion entrepreneur George Davies has admitted defeat with his latest womenswear fashion venture, Give.b Davies has closed down five of his eight Give outlets in the past three months. He now aims to rebrand the three remaining stores to sell childrenswear. The fashion mogul will be supplying the shops using stock designed for his newly created FG4 chain.….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

Parents who are forced to take time off work when their child’s school is closed will be able to buy insurance against this for the first time.

By Rosie Murray-West

Towergate Insurance has launched a £30-a-year product, which will cover parents in the event of snow, flooding or boiler failure closing their child’s school. There is no requirement for the parent to prove loss of earnings or increased childcare costs to be able to claim.

More than 19,000 schools in England closed in the first week of December last year, because of heavy snow and freezing temperatures. The policy will cost no more for those who live in areas of Britain that are more prone to poor weather and will pay out after schools are closed for more than one day.….Continue Reading

Source: GUARDIAN

With starting pay at a standstill, businesses are using other means to attract and keep high-quality recruits.

By Anna Tims

In wealthier times employers used money to tempt the best graduates. When university fees increase next year, however, rewards are unlikely to rise in proportion, according to a survey just published by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR).

With starting salaries stagnating for the third year in a row, business is having to use other tactics to win talent. “Companies can’t afford higher wages, so instead they’re investing at university level to build their brand and their relationships with students,” says AGR chief executive Carl Gilleard.….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

The world’s largest jigsaw puzzle that is available to buy has been unveiled a the London Toy Fair, promising hours, or even years of frustration.

By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor

At nearly 18 feet long, it will not fit in most people’s sitting room, but it will certainly keep most families quiet for the weekend.It contains 32,256 pieces, all of which are just half an inch long at most. Worse than that, the picture — by the pop graffiti artist Keith Haring, called ‘Double Respect’ — has just seven colours in it, including thousands of pieces of pure white. Ravensburger, the jigsaw company that has manufactured the mammoth puzzle, believes that there enough enthusiasts in the puzzle world who will want to take on the fiendish task.….Continue Reading

Source: BBC NEWS

Economists have warned that the UK’s economic growth has slowed over the last three months of 2010,

25 January 2011 Last updated at 11:04 GMT

Economists have warned that the UK’s economic growth has slowed over the last three months of 2010, but the BBC’s Simon Jack visited the UK’s Toy Fair in London, to take a look at an industry which is performing well, with sales up 6% on last year…..Watch Video

Source: TELEGRAPH

Baby Zilli, the organic baby food company founded by celebrity chef Aldo Zilli, is preparing to sell a 20pc stake in the business.

By Ben Harrington

The company has appointed advisers from Cavendish Corporate Finance to raise up to £2m in a deal that is likely to value the start-up Baby Zilli at £10m.

The new funds will be used to finance Baby Zilli’s expansion plans. These include growing the company’s sales and operational support team, and developing further the organic baby food range, such as creating “finger snacks”.….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

The outrageous behaviour of Oxbridge students during a skiing competition has so appalled the sponsors that they have vowed never to back the contest again.

By Robert Mendick and Nigel Rosser

Maybe it was too much to hope that a skiing trip for 2,500 students from Oxford and Cambridge Universities was ever going to be refined.But the conclusion of this year’s Varsity trip to the Alps descended to such levels of debauchery, one of the event’s chief sponsors has vowed never to get involved again. The antics of the students has appalled management at Scott Dunn, the up market travel firm which is now distancing itself from the event faster than a downhill skier on a black run.….Continue Reading

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If you are worried that you will be dragged into the higher-rate tax band, and thus lose out on child benefit, there are some things you can do to bring down your tax liability if you are near the threshold.

5:49PM GMT 21 Jan 2011

For example, you could use a tax-efficient salary sacrifice scheme to bring down your total liability, leaving you below the threshold.

Childcare vouchers are an excellent example of this. If your employer participates in a scheme, you can buy these vouchers to pay for your childcare out of your pre-tax income, reducing your tax liability. You can buy nearly £3,000 a year of vouchers, which could be enough to pull you out of the higher-rate tax band.….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

Superfit girl, 11, runs and cycles to raise $250,000 for research into cancer after it killed her father.

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 2:46 PM on 21st January 2011

• Schoolgirl smashed 22-year-old half marathon record for under 12s
  

An 11-year-old girl whose father died of prostate cancer has raised more than a quarter of a million dollars to help fight the disease – and she broke a child marathon record. Winter Vinecki has dedicated herself to raising funds through sport after Michael Vinecki, 40, died from the aggressive cancer surrounded by his family two years ago.His superfit daughter has recently smashed an under 12s half marathon course record and has set her sights on achieving $1million for charity.….Continue Reading

Source: BBC NEWS

Sixth forms in England are to receive extra funds to refurbish buildings and meet the demand for additional places.

By Katherine SellgrenBBC News education reporter

The cash injection of £91m includes £57.4m for sixth form colleges for building needs and £30m for school and college places for 16 to 19-year-olds.A further £3.9m maintenance grant will given direct to sixth form colleges.The announcement comes as MPs debate the government’s decision to abolish the Education Maintenance Allowance and teenagers rally against the cut.….Continue Reading

Source: BBC NEWS

The rising cost of essential items is the biggest concern for families facing stretched finances, according to a survey.

19 January 2011 Last updated at 11:04 GMT

More than half of those asked said that the higher price of necessities was among their greatest concerns in the near future and in the next five years. The poll by Aviva comes the day after official figures showed UK inflation jumped to 3.7% in December. This was the highest rate for eight months, driven by food and fuel prices….Continue Reading

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Insurer Aviva’s Family Finances Report reveals a third of families in the UK have no savings, 67% have unsecured debts, while 93% do not feel sufficiently protected.

By Rupert Jones

Almost two-thirds of single-parent families have no savings to fall back on, and most have no life insurance either, according to latest research which highlights their “vulnerable” status. Insurer Aviva’s first Family Finances Report, launched today, looked at the financial pressures faced by the 84% of the population who live as part of a “UK modern family”, including couples without children. The company found that a third of families have no savings, and 40% save nothing each month. However, single-parent households were the most likely to struggle on this front, with 60% having no savings, even though they are arguably the most vulnerable due to their reliance on one salary and, potentially, part-time employment.….Continue Reading

Source: BBC News >> Read full article and comment

Social mobility will be “thrown into reverse” by scrapping the Education Maintenance Allowance for teenagers, Labour’s Andy Burnham has told MPs.

The shadow education secretary wants the government to abandon its plan to end the means-tested support.

Mr Burnham said it was an attack on the aspirations of young people.

Ministers say the allowances of up to £30 a week for students in England aged 16 to 19 are wasteful and money should be targeted on the poorest. … Continue reading

Source: GUARDIAN

A series of new books is likely to open up fresh controversy about the way we bring up our children; some demanding strict, regimented parenting, others a more laid-back approach.

By Vanessa Thorpe

The hapless mother who innocently mashed up some sweet potato last week, before sliding a spoonful into the mouth of a six-month-old, is now at the centre of national controversy. Although this woman (for it probably was a woman) might have believed she was following up-to-date weaning advice by giving her child their first taste of solid food, it turns out she was wrong. Parents should give their children “solids” from the end of their fourth month, according to an edict from British child health experts.

The revised thinking is that an early experience of different fibres and flavours will help to prevent iron deficiency, coeliac disease and allergies. The theory has gone down badly with many midwives and with campaigners at Baby Milk Action, who point out that three of the four doctors who wrote the report have acknowledged previously receiving funds from the baby food industry.….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

Inheritance tax has been with us since 1986 and superseded capital transfer tax, which itself replaced estate duty.

2:08PM GMT 14 Jan 2011

We have, in fact, had some sort of tax on assets owned at death since the late 17th century, when probate duty was introduced, and there has been a reluctance to pay it ever since. This unpopularity is not just because IHT brings together the two unfortunate certainties of death and taxes, but because many see it as a tax on wealth that has already suffered tax. If income is earned, or investments grow, there is generally tax to be paid on that income or growth. So is it fair to subject those remaining sums to tax again?….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

One minute I was sitting down with the entire family for a New Year celebratory meal and the next I was being given the Heimlich manoeuvre.

By Paul Farrow 3:43PM GMT 13 Jan 2011

A near-death experience certainly gives you a jolt. OK, maybe I’m being a little melodramatic, but one minute I was sitting down with the entire family for a New Year celebratory meal and the next I had my father (a retired GP), my sister (a nurse) and my brother-in-law (a policeman) performing the Heimlich manoeuvre on me outside on the patio as I choked alarmingly on a tasty piece of medium-rare topside.….Continue Reading