By Fabian French, Chief Executive UK Community Foundation Blow, winds and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!* Recurring flooding shows that we need to have high quality plans in place to deal with natural disasters. UK Community Foundations need to take the lead in crisis planning for our communities rather than playing catch-up. Community Foundations in flood areas have demonstrated how quickly their adaptable and flexible procedures can be executed so that immediate and effective responses are made to alleviate the worst...

What does the future hold for historic pubs, posed Mike Waites in the Yorkshire Evening Post. As community centres, “life once revolved around nights out at the pub”. But better home entertainment, cheap supermarket alcohol, drink-drive laws, soaring land values and the smoking ban have sucked the life out of the once booming industry. The Wykebeck Arms is a stereotypical built-for-purpose Leeds pub of the World War era. With steeply pitched roofs and timber fittings it was designed to serve...

Sport News 24/7 By Sean Simara  @Sean_FootyMad So we're down to the final four teams in the race to Super Bowl 50.  Who will be heading to San Francisco?  Here’s my take on who will make it to the biggest game of them all. AFC Championship Game New England Patriots @ Denver Broncos We knew it would end like this didn't we?  Another chapter and probably the last chapter in the Tom Brady v Peyton Manning book.  I mentioned at...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Taking place each year in celebration of Scottish poet and writer Robert Burns, around the time of his Birthday on January 25th, Burns Night – or more traditionally Burns Supper – is just around the corner. Falling on a Monday this year, many Burns Night events will be taking place across this weekend, although many of London’s restaurants and bars are embracing the original date, with plenty having arranged special events or having crafted...

By Steve Taggart The cost of dying is increasing beyond the rate of inflation. Buying a grave, particularly within London and other urban areas is, in part, a reason for this. Land is at a premium and the financial burden of operating local authority cemeteries is high. The average cost of a grave within London is £3,250, this does not include the funeral director's fees which will usually add another £2,500. The most expensive borough is Haringey where a new grave...

This is the van causing big stirs in the pie world. The Bedford CF vintage caravan is pumping out acclaimed pies on the streets of London and is now ranked number three on the 400+ Pierate’s Pie Rankings for their steak and ale pie. It is also ranked as London's number 1 steak and ale pie and London's number 1 chicken pie by the Pierateers. In 2014 MYPIE was crowned the UK Sausage roll champion and in 2015 it was...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor GDP could grow in Europe due to migration through long-term boost to jobs market and greater state spending, says IMF report. It also claims that any negative effects will be short lived and won’t negatively impact on native workers in the long-term. The IMF believe the recent refugee arrivals will raise economic growth a small degree in the short-term – especially in Austria, Germany and Sweden. Also if they are integrated into the job market...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The Home Secretary plans to cut the influx of skilled non-EU migrants by 20 per cent a year and is planning to charge firms' employing these people a £1,000 levy, as part of her proposal. It is claimed the scheme could hit the teaching and nursing professions hard. The levy would be introduced per each migrant they employ from outside Europe, costing the organisation involved £1k a time. The levy plan is part of a...

29: In Praise Of King Rob Hello once again, dear reader – I hope you had a lovely weekend. Regular visitors to this dusty corner of the internet will remember that, last week, I told you I was off to Birmingham to perform our show, WiFi Wars and I’m delighted to report back that a lovely time was had. It was a special show for me and ‘King’ Rob for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we’ve never done a ‘full’ show...