Lifestyle

By Jasmine Stephens, family editor Learning to swim is one of those critical childhood rights of passage. Like riding a bike and learning to read it opens up a whole new world of memorable experiences from holiday pools to super-fast flumes to ice-cold lakes. Not only that, swimming is a fantastic way to stay fit at any age and of course it's a skill that could one day save your life. The National Curriculum requires Primary schools to teach children...

By Mike Wragg Take one house, bought 15 years ago by David and Claire when their girls were just off to senior school and Claire’s parents lived nearby to help with childcare. Fast forward to now, with university done and dusted, elder daughter Sophie lives and works in Europe, but 22-year-old Rebecca has just arrived back home with a degree in hand and is struggling to find anywhere to rent, let alone buy. In the meantime, Claire’s parents have become...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  New research has found Brits throw away a massive £22,000 worth of items in their lifetime. A poll of 2,000 adults found that an average 59 non-perishable items are flung out or given away every year despite being in good working order. The lifetime figure includes nearly £3,500 worth of clothes and more than £2,000 worth of electrical goods. Non-perishable items commonly flung from the house included CDs and DVDs, clothes that no longer appeal...

By Jasmine Stephens, family editor When I was a child, our school summer holidays revolved around one thing: the Calendar.  This wasn't your ordinary everyday variety, but something we made out of a huge piece of lining paper left over from the time my dad attempted to decorate the hall which we hung on the back of the kitchen door.  We would draw up a grid and - with elaborate colour-coordination - would detail all our plans for the whole...

 By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent From speeding to stealing, avoiding travel fares to having sex in public – Brits are breaking the law on a regular basis, new research reveals. The average person breaks 17 laws a year and commits at least one crime every month, some without even knowing it. Speeding is the number one offence but having sex in public ranked closely behind with 43 per cent of respondents admitting to outdoor hanky panky. But despite this apparent...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent Young people have twice as many sexual partners, change jobs more often and move house with far more frequency than their parents did, according to a new study. Research commissioned by Samsung Galaxy S6 edge to mark the launch of the S6 switch kit, compared and contrasted behavioural differences between under-25s and over-50s. The survey of 2,000 respondents reveals a younger generation who are unafraid of change and who fully expect to 'switch and swipe'...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  New research has revealed the average woman spends almost five months of her working life choosing what to wear. The study found deciding what to wear for work, at weekends and for nights out mean women will spend more than an hour of each week simply considering their outfits. Over the average year, this amounts to the equivalent of almost three days – and almost 20 weeks between the ages of 18 and 65. It also emerged 45 per cent...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  In preparation for the much anticipated Red Bull Soapbox Race, soapbox supercars take to the streets of London to build excitement of the upcoming event at Alexandra Palace on 12th July. Soapbox versions of a Range Rover, Lamborghini and Bentley clad in metallic gold, a yellow finish and bright pink faux fur respectively, were seen by surprised passers by outside iconic locations in London including Harrods, the affluent Sloane Street and the Millennium Bridge. The...

By Jasmine Stephens, family editor It is a truth universally acknowledged that a grown adult in possession of small children, must be in want of a spa day. Universally, it transpired, with the exception of my husband, who only as we drove through the stunning Yorkshire Pennines, announced that he wasn’t sure he was going to enjoy ‘this spa thing’. I won’t deny that spas do appeal more to the female market, with mother-daughter days, hen parties and groups of...