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Emily Hughes was a maths teacher and Head of Maths for 15 years, and now runs myrevisionplanner.com together with her husband Paul, who was a teacher for 16 years. She is the author of the GCSE Survival Guide For Parents. Here’s her advice for the final pre-exam stretch.

Advice for parents

Make home a sanctuary: Do anything you can to take the load off your teen. They are under huge pressure, so give them a few weeks off from unloading the dishwasher or other chores. And maintain normal life: if they normally play football with mates on a Thursday evening, stick to the routine. Hobbies offer a mindful reprieve from the academic pressure.

Prioritise sleep, nutrition and hydration: The night before an exam, the most important thing is to get a good night’s rest, so help to implement a sleep hygiene routine. If your teen is worried they won’t sleep, exercise can help to tire them out, or switching off with a silly TV show might be a good distraction. Make sure that you are feeding their brain the most nourishing food. The temptation when stressed can be to reach for the sugar, but slow-release foods like porridge, bananas, whole grain bread and eggs ensure stable blood sugar levels. The brain does run on fuel and a sugar crash halfway through an exam is not ideal. Encourage them to avoid sugary energy drinks and drink lots of water. If the brain is dehydrated, it really has an impact; it is akin to driving drunk.

Encourage active rather than passive revision: It is not about quantity, it is about quality. Instead of re-reading notes, suggest using flash cards and mind maps and ask them to teach you about the Cold War or Macbeth. The more actively the brain processes information, the more links it makes between topics, forming stronger memories to access when needed. There is also strong evidence for “spaced learning”: taking a break to do something completely different, then returning to the material, helps information stick more effectively. And activities that boost mood, such as playing sports, can improve motivation and wellbeing. Music can also help; a playlist can help create routine and support recall.

Work with their brain: For teens with a diagnosis of dyslexia or ADHD, there are lots of ways to revise that don’t involve having to read actively. If they are dyslexic, have them record videos or voice notes for themselves rather than writing a bunch of notes. If they have an autism diagnosis and you know they need a rigid structure to work with, help them by creating a rigid structure. With ADHD, finding ways to gamify revision helps because it is all about the dopamine.

Play the long game: The exams are a six-week slog. If your child is working solidly all the way through, they will be shattered. They need a recovery period in the middle to give them time to reset, reflect on the papers they have done, and work out what to focus on in each subject. Over the half-term break, encourage them to take a couple of days to just switch off and relax; maybe treat it as a work week, working 9-5 from Monday to Friday, then taking both weekends off to rest.

Praise the effort rather than the outcome: Keep reassuring them that you are proud of them, whatever happens. Say: “I know how hard you have worked today; I am so proud of you.” Try not to compare with siblings, and ask them directly if there is anything you can do that will help, and anything not to do because it stresses them out, for example, asking how the exam went. If you both feel that you are nagging, ask how you can better support them.

Be as positive and encouraging as possible: Remind them that grades do not define them. If it does not work out, they can retake exams, choose different A levels, or open doors to other things they might not have thought about doing before: a different qualification, a foundation year at university, or a degree apprenticeship rather than university. There are so many different pathways for young people now.

Advice for teenagers

Focus on past papers: Exam technique matters as much as cramming knowledge. It is not just what you know; it is whether you can show it. At this point, the absolute best way to revise is past papers. Use the mark schemes to mark your own work, so you become familiar with what the examiner wants and what easy marks you may have missed out on. The more familiar you are with exactly what is wanted, the better. It’s not like a pub quiz where there is a one-word answer: you have to be able to explain and show what you know. I use the analogy of a driving test in which the instructor needs to visibly see that you are obviously looking around you, checking for other vehicles, in order to pass. And the mark scheme really helps you understand what they want you to say.

It’s never too late: Even close to exam day, there are still things you can do; there always is. Identify topics you are less sure of using past papers, then make a cheat sheet: an A4 paper with notes on the topics that just won’t stick. Keep distilling and reducing it and use that to focus revision in the immediate run-up. You can do the same with formulae or quotes you have to memorise. Last-minute reminders do help, so take it with you on the day and re-read it when standing in the queue for the exam. Then you can do a quick brain dump on rough paper when you are allowed to start writing.

Focus on exam-day strategy and mindset: Your state of mind when you go into the exam has a massive impact. If you are stressed out, it is not going to help you. Breathing is key. Pause for a moment on your way in and take a couple of deep breaths, which will do a lot to slow things down and soothe adrenaline. Be time-aware. If it’s an hour-long paper for 60 marks, that is a mark a minute, so a five-mark question should take about five minutes. Have a fair idea of how long you have got.

Don’t forget the golden rule: As a teacher, I used to write RTFQ on the board, meaning Read The Full Question. Then read it again. It is easy to misinterpret the question if you skim read and make assumptions. And some exams ask you to answer two out of three questions, so knowing which bits you are supposed to answer is important because you don’t get bonus points for answering all three. If you finish early, go back and check that you have answered what they are looking for.

Ask: Can I add anything? Have I done anything daft? Have I shown my working out in the case of maths? There is always something more you can do. You are stuck there till the end, so make the most of every minute.

I’m told I was an ugly baby. My mum cried in hospital because my head was so misshapen with my eyes off at a strange angle; the midwife who comforted her by saying I didn’t look “that bad” didn’t reassure her at all. I don’t think any photos were taken of newborn-me so I can’t vouch for my lack of looks but I do know the reason for my asymmetric face: forceps.

During my birth, my heartbeat dropped dangerously low and my dad had to be ushered away as a medic yanked my head with what is essentially a giant, terrifying-looking pair of scissors, first introduced to help with childbirth in the 16th century. I’m hugely grateful to those metal forceps: they doubtless saved my life, and the tale of my heart stopping before I’d seen the world has always added to my sense that life is an incredible gift to be appreciated.

But there’s no doubt that in enduring that procedure to get me safely into the world, my mum experienced significant trauma. She told me that within about six months my features had settled, though to this day I still have a very slight indentation on my skull.

My mum’s birth experience sounded so scary that it informed my own. When I was pregnant with my eldest, Astrid, now nine, I planned a hippy water birth. My due date came and went and despite my encouragement – the standard walking up stairs sideways, existing on a diet of pineapple, curry and raspberry leaf tea and going for reflexology sessions to bring on contractions – Astrid remained comfortably inside.

Eventually, a week overdue, I agreed to the hospital attempting to induce my daughter by putting prostaglandins – hormone-like lipids that soften the cervix and encourage contractions – in my vagina. But I only agreed on the condition that it was written on my notes that before I was moved onto an oxytocin drip, which brings on strong contractions, I’d be offered a C-section.

Obstetricians and midwives agree that induction involving an oxytocin drip induction is far more likely to end up in an assisted birth, in the form of forceps or a ventouse, a vacuum-suction cup which looks similar to those used by plumbers to unblock drains, than spontaneous births. I didn’t want my daughter’s arrival in this world to be as traumatic as my own.

When I learnt this week that eight NHS trusts are now offering a new way to help women with assisted delivery, I was delighted. The OdonAssist, invented by an Argentinian mechanic who had a dream about it after seeing a cork being removed from inside a bottle by blowing up a plastic bag and using reverse pressure to encourage it out, was given funding by the Gates Foundation. It’s a soft air cuff that surrounds a baby’s head and helps doctors assist birth during contractions. It has now been used in more than 300 births and was officially launched in the UK this week. In time, it might replace rigid birth instruments.

Gary Cohen, co-founder of Maternal Newborn Health Inventions (MNHI), which brought the product to market, says that the OdonAssist contrasts from forceps and ventouse deliveries, which are currently used in one in eight births in the UK. “It is gentle,” he explains. “Newborn pain scores [measured by a baby’s facial expression] indicate no pain or very low pain and we see [baby] behaviour very similar to a spontaneous vaginal birth. Pain scores with other devices are considerably higher and can affect newborn behaviour. When I hear how the joy of childbirth is enhanced by having a baby with no or low pain, without marks or bruises, that’s a big reward. We’re all working to try to enhance the joy and reduce the trauma.”

At £250 in the UK, it is also not an expensive device. For comparison, the average caesarean section birth costs the NHS between £1,700 and £3,000. “We don’t want price to be a factor that inhibits use,” Cohen says.

Immaculate Figueiredo, a 38-year-old head of human resources for an IT consulting firm, gave birth seven months ago in east London at the Royal London Hospital to her son Kai Figueiredo-Shaikh, with the help of the new device. “On the morning of delivery, my son’s heart rate was fast and I had a temperature. My husband Kashif and I were told clearly that we would have to rush the delivery. Our doctor explained this new device and its benefits compared with forceps, with less birth trauma to both me and the baby. We were very reassured.

“My son arrived quickly and was put on my chest. I could feel tension in the room and felt very nervous as it took two or three seconds before he started breathing. There was absolutely no bruising on him, no one would have known he was born with assisted delivery. And there was no physical trauma or tearing to me, so my recovery was good. I wish this device was available to mothers at all hospitals.”

Georgina Kelly, midwife and MNHI employee, says that on the postnatal ward, midwives hear babies in pain from the way they cry. “Some of those babies [born with forceps or ventouse] do require pain relief in the postnatal period,” she says. “The OdonAssist reduces tissue trauma and bruising to babies.” A forceps or ventouse birth also changes the midwife’s role. “You change the tone of your voice because you know a doctor is about to produce some forceps, and move them down the edge of the bed, and it’s a very scary time for a woman,” she explains.

Emily Hotton, obstetrician and investigator of the clinical trial at Southmead Hospital, at the University of Bristol, agrees the experience is “completely different” to forceps or ventouse deliveries. “It offers a gentler, more controlled approach, rather than applying traction with rigid instruments,” she explains. “In trials, there were no device-related bruises or marks on the baby’s face or head; a key difference compared with traditional instruments.”

Hotton doesn’t believe that the OdonAssist will immediately make other instruments obsolete, but that it will have an effect over time. “As clinicians gain more experience, its use will increase and it is likely then that the number of births assisted with ventouse and forceps will decrease,” she says. She believes this is such an exciting innovation because “women’s health research has historically been underfunded and underrepresented.”

The history of inventions in assisting with childbirth

1500 – First successful c-section performed by Swiss pig gelder Jacob Nufer on his wife

1590s – Forceps invented by Peter Chamberlen the Elder, a member of a French Huguenot family that migrated to England

1840s – Ventouse invented 

1920s – Spinal epidurals first administered

2026 – OdonAssist now being used by eight UK healthcare trusts following successful trials 

Cohen believes that it has huge life-saving potential in developing countries, particularly in rural settings, where childbirth risks are high. He hopes that in time profits from the OdonAssist will subsidise the device in countries where affordability is a huge issue.

Kelly also believes it will play a part in reducing the rising maternal mortality rate in the UK, which is currently at its highest in two decades. In the two years until 2023, 257 women died in pregnancy, birth or the first six weeks post-partum. “The thing we can look at reducing is women’s need to ask for a maternal choice-caesarean section. Cesarean sections have higher risks [than vaginal births]. If there’s an option for women who come into labour thinking, ‘I don’t want forceps’ and they can have a more gentle assisted vaginal birth and that reduces the need for maternal request-caesarean sections, then we are playing our part to try to reduce that mortality rate,” she says.

Dr Jenny Barber, vice president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “Most babies born through an assisted delivery are well at birth and do not experience any long-term problems, but forceps and ventouse do increase the chance of bruising to the baby and vaginal tearing. We welcome innovations in maternity care where these have robust data on safety, effectiveness and appropriate training for NHS maternity teams.”

My daughter Astrid ended up arriving by a very calm c-section, after the prostaglandin pessaries didn’t push me into active labour. I was overwhelmed with relief, joy and love when she was placed in my arms. The midwife later told me that at over four kilograms, she wouldn’t have arrived naturally. In the absence, almost a decade ago, of a gentle way to assist births, I am very glad that I pushed to be offered a c-section before forceps or emergency surgery was involved.

Andy Nyman has started an impromptu Ouija session on the cafe table between us. “A ouija board works on a thing called ideomotor syndrome,” he explains while skimming his hands like metal detectors scanning for buried treasure. “You and I would put our hands on the glass – or the planchet, as it’s called – and that would move around, spelling out a word or whatever… We’re both pushing it, but you’re unaware of the fact that you’re pushing it. And you feel that the other person is doing all the work. But more importantly, this thing ends up going on a journey that neither of you could have planned.”

I could say the same about that answer to my question about his creative process. But then, this is a man who’s made a 40-year career out of, among other things, mystifying audiences with supernatural thrills and mind-bending mentalism. One of the peak examples is Ghost Stories, the fright-filled theatre show he created with best friend Jeremy Dyson in 2010, which explored the fear of being a bad parent. The show has had numerous UK and international productions, as well as a film adaptation in 2017.

Despite loving magic and horror since he was a teenager, Nyman turned down a multi-year deal from Channel 4 to perform mentalism. The job was eventually taken by Derren Brown, with whom Nyman has worked on all but two of his shows – he co-created and co-wrote Derren Brown – Mind Control and Trick of the Mind, among others – and who he says gave him the confidence to write Ghost Stories. “We sort of pioneered a new way of doing mind-reading stuff,” the 60-year-old says of their alchemy. “My skill base really was taking very old-fashioned effects, and revolutionising them, giving them a sort of modern version. Derren had this brilliant, cutting-edge way of thinking. And it was like this marriage of these two tastes.”

Nyman’s “first love”, though, is acting, having starred in glossy West End musicals, including Fiddler on the Roof and, more recently, The Producers. His eyes twinkle when I ask if he considers himself – to borrow the title of one of Brown’s shows – a showman. “If someone asks me what I do, I say I’m in showbusiness,” he says, letting out an appropriately flamboyant guffaw. “Showbusiness is such an old-fashioned, glamorous, drive a Rolls-Royce, smoke a cigar, big coat sort of answer that I love.”

But he’s not disheartened that a solo vehicle for his talents is yet to come back his way. “Life’s too short,” he says. “There are too many painful bumps in the road. If I can craft a life whereby I’m doing what I love and it makes me happy, that’s all I care about. I’m not interested in fame, I’m not interested in being rich for the sake of selling my soul… But could I do a one-man show? Oh, yeah – and probably will at some point.”

For now, he’s reuniting with Dyson on their latest collaboration, The Psychic, opening this week at York Theatre Royal, where we meet after rehearsals. The thriller follows a TV psychic as she tries to restore her reputation after being dragged through the courts and the papers as a fraud, losing a fortune in the process. Coming in the slipstream of shows like Paranormal Activity and 2:22 A GhostStory, the play arrives at a time when supernatural horror is enjoying a sunny spell in theatre. He believes the genre fell out of fashion due to a snobbery around horror, tending not to elicit a “cerebral” response. But “when you see a good one, Oh my god, there’s nothing like it. And that’s what our intention with The Psychic is… I’d love to think that we could rebirth that genre.”

He’s infectiously nerdish about the “delicious” analogue and the practical effects they hope will achieve that. “If we get it right, the reactions are going to be unbelievable,” he says. “It is mischievous, it is puckish, and it is naughty, but it also really delivers incredible plot twists, surprises, shocks, and big laughs. It’s all the things that make Jeremy and myself thrive.”

With theatre tickets costing “a sh**load of money” today, the duo feel a greater pressure to deliver. But what bothers Nyman most is the perception these prices create. “It’s such a misnomer to think the arts are just for the elite,” he says. “What the arts generate financially in this country is gigantic… It needs to be nurtured so that everybody has access to it. And I know that sounds like another boring actor banging the lefty drum about theatre, but it isn’t about that. You’ve got it at the same time as you’ve got what looks like rises in street crime and disenfranchised people. People need to feel fulfilled… It’s an absolute saviour for people – I really profoundly believe that.”

Nyman talks with the gentleness of a father reading a bedtime story and seems innately optimistic, so what draws someone like that to the darkness of horror? “[People] often think it’s really subversive and demented and can’t understand why you’d swim in those waters,” he says. “I think ultimately there is something very life-affirming about horror.” That’s why he thinks supernatural thrillers endure, quoting a line from the play: “‘Look, we are all the same: we’re sh**-scared of dying, sh**-scared of being broke, sh**-scared of being ill.’ And it’s the truth. And the need for answers is massive… So of course we’re fu**ing obsessed with trying to make sense of the biggest thing in the world, which is: we’re gonna die, and the people we love are gonna die – and how do you deal with that? How on earth do you square that circle?”

They’re particularly resonant questions for Nyman, following the death of his wife of 35 years last June after a 16-year illness. “Grief and suffering are not something that’s adjacent to my life; that’s a part of my life,” he says. “There are themes and ideas in [the play] that are touching on that world, and are interesting and potentially helpful and healing – and maybe painful as well.”

It’s still visibly raw for him, so I ask whether making the show has helped. “If you put it out there fearlessly, just put it out there, that is the only way you can truly touch people and heal potentially with your work,” he says. “And that isn’t something to be embarrassed or guilty about or shameful about. I think it’s an essential part of trying to create work that is truthful and honest and impactful.”

I wonder whether, looking at other figures in the public eye today, truthfulness is becoming as old-fashioned as his magic tricks. “What’s changed is, back in the day, if someone’s revealed to have done something sh**ty, there seemed to be repercussions,” he says. “We seem to live in a world where that doesn’t seem to happen anymore… It fascinates and terrifies me that we live in a world where the notion of truth is just in flux. It’s extraordinary to me to watch that happen. So I love holding it up and shining a really bright light on it… The strapline of the play is: Is any of it real? And it’s sort of the question at the heart of everything.”

‘The Psychic’ is at the York Theatre Royal until 23 May (yorktheatreroyal.co.uk)

Dean Burnell, 47, says when he was younger, pensions were not talked about much, and as a result he has not saved as much into his retirement pot as he would like.

He has only been able to add small amounts to his pension when working in a number of part time jobs, so far saving a total of £24,000.

Dean is aware that for a comfortable lifestyle, he would need much more and says “everything about retirement worries me”.

He started working in recruitment in 2001 when he was 23 and although a few of his friends encouraged Dean to open a pension, at the time the thought of retirement was “a long way off”.

“Back then, workplace contributions were not in place, and it was not compulsory for employers to contribute and it was not compulsory for employees to have a part of their wage set aside for it.

“Thank goodness that’s changed now as future generations will benefit from this policy. However, I do believe that those of us born between 1975 and 1990 especially, who are going to retire between 2045 and 2050 are potentially going to be in trouble,” Dean, from London, said.

He spent 16 years in the recruitment industry and in 2007, opened a private pension and deposited £8,000 into it.

“The thought of that being off limit until I was 65 [when you can generally access pensions] was very daunting but at the same time made me feel good that I’d put something aside.

“What I didn’t realise then was that in total I would really need around £500,000 by the time I retire to say I had enough in the pot to keep me going and that would be a supplement to the state pension,” Dean said.

According to Pension UK’s Retirement Living Standards, a single person would need £31,700 a year to have a ‘moderate’ standard of living and £43,900 a year to have a ‘comfortable’ retirement.

This doesn’t include rental or mortgage costs so for those still paying these bills, they would need much more.

After leaving recruitment in 2016, Dean has worked in various part-time roles since then, adding small amounts into his pension pot.

He said: “I have no other savings expect £200 in premium bonds and been holding onto that for dear life just with the hope of winning something in the monthly prize draws.

“My circumstances changed and by the time the compulsory saving for pensions started, my potential career high had passed.”

Dean is in receipt of housing benefits as well as £76.60 a week in personal independence payments (PIP) and says he will have to rely on his state pension when he comes to retire.

“Everything about retirement worries me. What will the retirement age be in 2048? Will there be a state pension in the way we know it now?

“Pension credit exists now but would it in the future? The cost of rent in London is very high and the thought of even higher rents in the future causes me apprehension already.”

Dean pays around £800 a month in rent and is worried he will struggle to find rentals that will accept him as an older renter.

He said: “I am wondering if I need to seriously consider moving outside of London, but then would I have a better chance of increasing my retirement pot by leaving London?”

There are also many things Dean cannot afford and says his only luxury he allows himself is his Netflix subscription.

“I have on occasion asked the council for discretionary food vouchers. I have to factor in emergencies, so I am not having any luxuries. I haven’t had any kind of holiday since 2008 and I used to like trips to the theatre but not anymore, they are too expensive,” he added.

Dean says looking back when he was in this twenties, he didn’t think about illness or becoming unemployed and how that may affect his retirement.

“It’s great that the government made it compulsory for part of your salary to go towards your pension and that employers pay a contribution.

“However, I think there will be many people with low private pension pots who are going face very difficult times when they retire. People in benefits with long-term disabilities might never secure a job that pays enough to give them decent pension contributions,” he added.

Staffordshire isn’t generally a place of big-name attractions. In fact, many people might be able to name only one: Alton Towers, which recently reopened for the season and will have received a good chunk of the 37 million visits to the county last year.

But as someone who’s lived in Staffordshire for more than 15 years, I’ve come to love the county’s lower-key charms. It’s the creative crafts and stunning landscapes – including the southwest corner of the Peak District – that set this place apart.

So if you come for the rollercoasters, be sure to stay for the pottery, heritage and brilliant hikes. Here are some of my favourite places to visit in Staffordshire.

Shorts – Quick stories

Fridge or cupboard?

This is your definitive guide on where and how to store your foods at home to maximise the quality and shelf life, from ketchup and butter to nuts and jam.

Where to store the basics

• Keeping butter in the fridge maximises food safety and freshness.
• Ketchup and mayonnaise can be stored in the cupboard but once opened, are best in the fridge.
• Bread shouldn’t be refridgerated due to the starch molecules. A bread bin at room temparture, or an airtight container is best.

LIFESTYLE

6 min read

How and where to store food items

There is a fine line between ripe or matured and spoilt.

Jam

Keeping it in the fridge will help it last longer.

Eggs

Storing them at a constant cool temperature, preferably in the fridge, will keep them safe to eat.

Berries

Keeping them in the fridge slows down mould growth and keeps them fresh.

LIFESTYLE

5 min read

Where to store your food

Tomatoes

Ripe ones should be kept on the counter uncovered if you’re going to enjoy them in the first few days after purchase.

Potatoes

They need to be in a dry, dark place like a cupboard. Exposure to light or moisture can rot the skin.

Bananas

12°C is best, as they will ripen quicker if they are too warm, so a darker space with no direct sunlight is ideal.

Fridge or cupboard?

• 1Apples are best in cool to cold temperatures so the salad compartment of the fridge is ideal to keep them crunchy.
• 2At room temperature lemons stay good for a week but in the fridge it stretches to two.
• 3Ripe avocados should go in the fridge to slow down the ripening process but if they’re firm, a warm sunny spot is best.
• 4Soy sauce, due to the high levels of salt, is best in the cupboard – even once opened.

Where to store your food

Nuts

Nuts are fine in the cupboard but keeping them in the fridge in an airtight container helps prevent spoilage.

Garlic

This suits dry, dark places so a cupboard is ideal.

Onions

Low temperatures can transform the starches of the onion into sugars, making it soft, and potentially mouldy.

Are you ready for a change?

One career expert shares the surefire signs you’re ready for the next step in your career, and how to turn fear into excitement for new opportunities.

The research

Our research shows almost half of all workers (45 per cent) are ready for a complete career transition, but 49 per cent feel stuck on what to pursue next. The rapid shifts brought about by AI can be intimidating, but it will also create opportunities…

CHARLOTTE DAVIES, LINKEDIN UK CAREER EXPERT

Signs you’ve outgrown your role

It’s an energy drain

If you’re clocking in and out with zero energy, that could be a sign of burnout by boredom.

You’re not learning

If you can handle all tasks on autopilot, you are not challenging yourself. Instead you’re operating purely on muscle memory.

You don’t feel valued

It can be extremely demotivating, and if it occurs consistently, it’s a strong signal that it might be time to consider moving on.

Your brain has started a side project

When you are seeking out professional development and learning opportunities elsewhere that should be happening at work, it’s a huge signal that you need a job that keeps up with your ambition.

LIFESTYLE

7 min read

You don’t see a path to promotion

If you go into a meeting asking for a growth plan or a promotion roadmap and all you get are vague promises and non-committal language, that’s actually your answer: they aren’t planning for your potential. 

A manager who truly values you should be able to list specific training, projects or goals to get you to the next level. 

What to do next

You don’t need to make drastic moves.

• The very first step is to diagnose the root cause if things feel unsettled, and don’t just assume it’s the job itself.
• Find someone trustworthy to talk to. This isn’t a complaint session, it’s about getting perspective. 
• Refresh your LinkedIn profile and start reviving your in-person network.  
• Thinking of a new field? Check out a short course or certification to ‘test the waters’ before jumping. 

Can you learn to love pigeons? A much-unloved animal in the UK

Features writer Kasia Delgado went on a safari to see if she
could look past their rat-like nature

The tour guide

People think pigeons are stupid but lots of studies have shown them to have amazing memories, that they can identify people by their facial features, and they have an extraordinary sense of direction.

Florence Wilkinson, author of Wild City: Encounters with Urban Wildlife, took Kasia on a tour.

Positives of pigeons

War heroes

During the Second World War, carrier pigeons were routinely used to send messages, and they saved thousands of lives.

Homing ability

Scientists have put them in blacked-out vans and put miniature goggles on them to blur their vision and still the pigeons manage to return home.

The Dove family

We think of them as all grey, but they vary in shades, and some of them are quite amazingly coloured, says Florence.

Kasia’s feeding test

As I gingerly chuck some seed, wincing slightly, 15 or so flap their wings at me. I wouldn’t say I feel content or relaxed but I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would.
I can see they’re not going to do me harm and after all, they’re just enjoying some free food.

A common myth? 

Disease carriers

Research has found that between 1941 and 2004, there were only 207 reports worldwide of pathogens transmitted from pigeons to humans.

Not all walks are
created equal

Read on to find out how to supercharge yours into an unbeatable health-builder

How to supercharge your walk

Get a bit breathless

All walking paces are linked with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease but there are additional gains made by those who walk at a moderate-to-vigorous intensity.

Walk uphill

Try to find varying inclines to increase energy and muscle burn.

Add weights

The extra resistance challenges your heart to work harder, increasing cardiovascular fitness.

How to supercharge your walk

Uneven ground

Mountainous and uneven terrain work your stabilising muscles harder, increasing the difficulty and output from your walk.

Go Nordic

Using poles engages the arms as well as the legs and core, turning walking into a full-body workout.

A walk is beneficial at any time of day, but after eating could be best. Research has found that 10- to 30-minute walks taken 10 to 30 minutes after a meal can reduce the peak blood-sugar measurements reached.

Slower and lower blood sugar throughout the day reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

How to supercharge your walk

Go green

Walking in nature has more psychological benefits than concrete. It’s shown to significantly reduce anxiety and depression.

Improve your posture

Staying tall through the spine, open your chest and keep your eyes forward (not leaning over on your phone..). 

Meet outside

Walking is a good time to have conversations, whether with your boss or a friend.

Mistakes to avoid

• 1Focusing on step count – most research suggests that benefits plateau at 7,000 steps a day.
• 2Using ankle weights – they can tug at the hip flexors and the knees.
• 3 Doing one-and-done – just hiking for three hours on the weekend, and nothing throughout the week, means you’re missing out on benefits.
• 4Thinking it’s not a workout – walking packs in cardio and brain-boosting effects without the recovery time of intense exercise.

Eight million people in the UK are living with heart or circulatory disease

And while chest pain is a well-known symptom, there are more subtle signs you should be aware of too.

Overlooked signs of heart disease

Dizziness and fainting

An abnormal heart rhythm can cause a dizzy feeling. While much dizziness is not serious, it can be associated with life-threatening complications. 

Increased breathlessness

This breathlessness could be due to blockages and reduced blood flow in the arteries.

Swollen ankles

Unusual swelling can indicate a problem with the body’s circulatory system and kidneys.

Worsening fatigue

Ongoing and worsening fatigue can indicate an underlying health issue, and it could be a sign that your heart isn’t working as effectively as it should be. If persistent fatigue is impacting you day-to-day, the best thing to do is speak with your doctor.

Ruth Goss, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation

Overlooked signs of heart disease

Indigestion-type symptoms
Discomfort in the stomach, chest and ribs, or a burning sensation in the chest area, could all be symptoms of heart disease.

Erectile dysfunction
If it’s an ongoing issue, there could be an underlying health problem, including atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries), diabetes or high blood pressure.