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Fewer than a quarter of local authorities in England have enough holiday childcare provision for parents working full-time and costs have risen across Great Britain since last year, new research has found. Six weeks of summer childcare for each school-age child could cost almost £1,000, according to the Coram Family and Childcare charity’s annual survey. It said families in Great Britain face costs of £943 per child for this holiday period, which is £538 more than they would pay for after-school childcare in six weeks of term time. The research, based on surveys from local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales between April and June, found that the cost of holiday childcare has risen 3% since 2022. A place at a holiday club now costs an average of £157 per week – 2.3 times higher than the cost of an after-school club during term time, the charity said. Wales has the highest weekly price at £168, followed by Scotland at £157 and England at £156. While costs have risen, availability has decreased, according to the charity, with just 24% of local authorities in England saying they have enough holiday childcare for parents working full-time, down 2% on last year. Provision for eight to 11 year-olds has dropped by 7% on last year, with 23% of local authorities saying they have enough for this age group. The high of cost of holiday childcare is going to put a further strain on families’ already stretched budgets Megan Jarvie, Coram Availability of holiday childcare for disabled children in England has also continued to fall, Coram said, with just 5% of local authorities reporting they have enough to meet local demand, down from 7% in 2022. In Scotland, there has also been a drop in the proportion of local authorities reporting sufficient childcare – down 15% for 12 to 14 year olds, down 14% for children living in rural areas, down 12% for parents working full time and down 11% for eight to 11 year olds. No local authorities in Scotland reported having enough holiday childcare in all areas for disabled children, working parents, parents working atypical hours or children in rural areas. While Wales also has low levels of sufficient childcare for disabled children (5%) and 12 to 14 year olds (5%), the proportion of local authorities reporting sufficient childcare in all areas across all categories of holiday childcare, except parents working atypical hours and children in rural areas, has risen. Local authorities in Wales report the highest level of sufficiency of holiday childcare in all areas for parents working full time (18%), followed by four to seven year-olds and eight to 11 year-olds at 14%. Costs and availability of holiday childcare varies depending on where families live, the charity said, stating that parents in inner London pay up to 25% more than those in the East of England – £177 per week compared to £142. In the East Midlands, some holiday childcare places cost 104% more than the national average, while others are 58% less, Coram said. The charity is calling on the Government to extend childcare funding announced in the Spring Statement to include support during school holidays. Megan Jarvie, from Coram, said: “The high of cost of holiday childcare is going to put a further strain on families’ already stretched budgets. Even if families are able to afford these costs, many will struggle to find a place as we have found shortages right across the country. “Starting school doesn’t mean that childcare needs end. Instead, many find that it becomes more challenging to find options that are right for their family, particularly during the long school holidays. “New Government funding to help improve childcare options during term time is welcome – but families need childcare right through the year.” Coram is also calling on those in charge in England, Scotland and Wales to increase support for family information services to provide good quality holiday childcare information and ensure access to local provision that meets families’ needs, expand provision of school holiday activity and food programmes, and improve the accessibility of holiday childcare for children with special educational needs and disability (Send). Rapid price increases in essentials like food, housing and energy bills have left a growing number of the families we work with stretched and barely keeping their finances afloat Jamie Masraff, OnSide chief executive The Local Government Association (LGA) said “concerted investment and recruitment of quality staff” is needed to ensure correct provision for disabled children, and said it was “disappointing” that the Government had not extended childcare support to include summer holidays. Councillor Louise Gittins, chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, said: “While councils recognise the importance of ensuring there is sufficient provision available for children with Send, it can be difficult to ensure the right provision is available, particularly given the challenging situation that many providers face at the moment.” A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Our Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, backed by £200 million per year to 2025, provides healthy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families over the holidays. “We are also investing £30 million to test new and innovative approaches to short respite breaks for families of children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities.” Youth organisation OnSide called for the HAF scheme to be expanded to working parents, saying it is “increasingly hearing from working families who don’t qualify but are struggling to afford holiday clubs”. Its chief executive, Jamie Masraff, said: “Rapid price increases in essentials like food, housing and energy bills have left a growing number of the families we work with stretched and barely keeping their finances afloat. For too many, there’s simply nothing left to pay for vital summer childcare.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live How to create a kitchen herb garden What is trail running and should we all be doing it? These are the women making waves in the cycling world

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A video claiming to show food going to waste at Starbucks has gone viral, despite the company previously pledging to donate all unsold food. Aidan Stockin, who works at the coffee chain, alleged that throwing away “perfectly good food” has become common practice at Starbucks. In a clip that has been viewed 2.2m times and liked by more than 189,000 viewers, the 23-year-old showed food waste allegedly left over at the end of his shift. “It’s not just one restaurant, it’s all of them,” the biology student from Massachusetts told NeedToKnow.co.uk. “I’ve worked in several over the past seven years and every single one says that they have a food donation service, then turns around and throws out a substantial amount of food daily. “It made me feel sick to be forced into throwing out so much perfectly good food when the homeless shelter is 10 minutes down the road.” In the video, he began by showing a shopping cart being filled with different packaged food items. He then revealed another trolley filled to the brim with pastries, before showing a picture of all the alleged waste in total. Users have taken to the comments to share their reactions, with many left upset and confused. “Nooo why can’t they donate it,” one viewer asked, while another said: “I would legit cash app you right now for those chocolate croissants.” “Just call your local Salvation Army to pick it up,” someone else suggested, while another viewer claimed the food waste should be “illegal”. In 2016, Starbucks announced its “FoodShare” programme, where it said it would donate unsold food from 100 per cent of the US stores. In 2020, it was alleged that Starbucks locations were throwing away unsold food, as investigated by the New York Post. According to Aidan, food is allegedly still being thrown away in 2023. Referring to the incident in the TikTok, he said: “The exact same scenario happened with our savoury sandwiches two days prior, in which two full carts were thrown away. In total, five carts were thrown out in less than three days. “I felt trapped and conflicted because if it were up to me, I would have loaded the food into the back of my car and drove it straight down to the homeless shelter.” Jam Press contacted Starbucks for comment. A company spokesperson said: “At Starbucks, our goal is to donate 100 per cent of approved to donate food, including perishable items like salads and sandwiches, furthering Starbucks resource positive commitment to reduce waste by 50 per cent by 2030. “Since 2016, Starbucks has been committed to supporting hunger relief through its innovative Starbucks FoodShare food donation program in partnership with Feeding America, Second Harvest Canada and other hunger-relief organisations. “Expanding our efforts to rescue food and divert from landfills is key to helping us reach our aspirations. We have developed a process which enables us to donate our fresh, ready-to-eat food items in addition to the pastries that we have been donating for years. Our commitments and FoodShare programming are carried out in company-owned stores. We encourage our licensed store partnerships to include Starbucks donations in their existing food waste reduction and donation programs.” Read More How can you save money on your wedding food? Woman praised for telling guests not to eat the food at her sister’s wedding 7 TikTok food hacks that actually work Schoolboy almost dies from swallowing magnets for TikTok challenge Woman shares honest review of New York City apartment TikTok mom slammed after making 5-year-old son run in 104 degree heat

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Lewis Hamilton has told Max Verstappen to stop complaining after his rival criticised Formula One’s maiden race on the Las Vegas strip as “99 per cent show, and one per cent sport”. Verstappen’s controversial remarks – which will irk F1’s American owners’ Liberty Media following their estimated £400million gamble to bring the sport back to Sin City for the first time in 41 years – arrived just moments after a glittering Superbowl-style opening ceremony on Wednesday night. John Legend and Kylie Minogue were among a number of high-profile artists to perform in a dazzling 30-minute show designed to kick-start the penultimate round of the season, billed as the greatest show on earth. The grid’s 20 drivers were also presented to the crowd ahead of Saturday night’s 50-lap race which F1 executives are using to build on the sport’s growing popularity in the United States. The race in Nevada joins Austin and Miami as the third in America. But moments after a fireworks display brought the curtain down on the glittering welcome party, Verstappen, crowned triple world champion in Qatar last month, was quick to pour scorn on the event. “It is 99 per cent show and one per cent sporting event,” said the 26-year-old. “I was just standing up there, looking like a clown. “I guess they (F1) still make money whether I like it or not. So it’s not up to me. But I’m not going to fake it. “I voice my opinion on positive things and negative things. That’s just how I am. And you know, some people like the show a bit more. I don’t like it at all. “I grew up just looking at the performance side of things. And that’s how I see it as well. I like to be in Vegas, but not so much for racing.” However, responding to criticism, Hamilton, 38, said: “I hear there are a lot of people complaining about the direction that (F1 CEO) Stefano (Domenicali) and Liberty has gone. But they are doing an amazing job. “The sport continues to grow. It is a business and you will still see good racing here. It is a country to tap into and really captivate the audience. “We needed to have at least two races in the US, one wasn’t enough, and this is one of the most iconic and unique cities that they have here. “It is a big show for sure, and it is never going to be like Silverstone, but maybe over time, the people in this community will grow to love the sport. “Maybe the track will be good, and maybe it will be bad. It was so-so on the simulator. But don’t knock it until you try it.” The debut race on the strip, which starts at 10pm local time, comes after three consecutive rounds in Austin, Mexico and Brazil and ahead of next weekend’s concluding race in Abu Dhabi – a weary time swing of 12 hours. The circuit itself features 17 corners over 3.8 miles along the famous Las Vegas Boulevard, and against the backdrop of Caesars Palace, the Venetian and the Bellagio. It is expected that the drivers will hit speeds in excess of 210mph, but Verstappen said: “The track is not very interesting with not many corners. “It will depend a little bit on how grippy it is. It doesn’t look like there’s much grip.” Verstappen has won 17 of the 20 rounds so far, while it is approaching two years since Hamilton, in his Mercedes, has tasted victory. Hamilton, who will get his first taste of the street track in opening practice at 8:30pm local time on Thursday (4:30am GMT on Friday) continued: “From a racer’s perspective, you want to have the best show here. “If the track provides a race like Baku – which is one of the best races with lots of overtaking – than that would be amazing, rather than just one car disappearing into the distance. “Everybody I know in Hollywood is coming and there will be a lot of business going on this weekend. “It will be a good spectacle to watch, even for those back home who have never been to Vegas. They will get to learn what it is all about.” Read More Toto Wolff fuelled by ‘personal anger’ to help Lewis Hamilton win eighth title On this day in 2010: Sebastian Vettel becomes youngest ever F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton ‘counting down days’ to end of season after another poor race Max Verstappen thwarts Lando Norris’ bid for first F1 win with sprint victory On this day in 2015: Susie Wolff ends her bid to get on an F1 starting grid Lando Norris ‘gutted’ to miss out on Brazilian GP pole after McLaren blunder

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A few weeks ago, a coworker reached out via Google Chat to ask if I knew of Fashivly, the TikTok-approved virtual styling service that uses a questionnaire to put together outfit and product recommendations based on your taste. I must admit this was one of the few TikTok trends that had fallen through the cracks of my compulsive FYP-scrolling behavior. So, when I saw the video she linked, in which a creator tried on outfit ideas put together by Fashivly stylists, I was mesmerized by the proposition this service was daring to offer.

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