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What the pandemic has taught us about community – how small local charities and voluntary organisations have ‘shown up’ and ‘stuck around’

A massive shakeup of the UK’s audit industry is on the cards. The Big Four, which audit all of the FTSE 100 and 21 of the FTSE 250, have been told by the accounting regulator to separate their auditing practices by 2024. It follows the collapse of Wirecard, a payments firm which recently admitted that €1.9 billion of the cash on its books probably never existed.

Peatlands were once widespread throughout the UK but their place in history has now largely been forgotten. Most of the debate around using natural habitats to draw down carbon from the atmosphere concerns planting trees and reforestation, some ecologists argue that a far better solution lies in restoring the peatlands that people have spent centuries draining and destroying.

As the vaccine brings hope that things will ‘return to normal’, we should aim for normal to mean something different. How about a normal that eradicates inequalities in healthy life years within a generation?

I have been tracking how people are expressing beliefs and values using folkloric practices today. It seems that during these dark times they are being used to visibly brighten our communities. Many of us will have perpetuated these customs simply for something to do – particularly families desperate for ideas to occupy children.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the whole of society over the last year in many ways. One demographic hit especially hard has been university students – a million-strong community across the country.

Green spaces in city neighbourhoods are critical for wellbeing. Policymakers know this, which is why they put local authorities under pressure to keep parks and green spaces open during lockdown. However, there is a large gap between what this research shows should be done to maximise the benefits of urban green space, and what is actually put in place in cities.

The pandemic has had unexpected effects on the housing market, causing a rush to sell. But is this the right moment?

This week we welcomed thousands of new and returning students to the University. There’s always a slightly more vibrant feel to the city when students arrive, a buzz that’s somewhat missing during the quieter summer months.

This time last week thousands of young people up and down the country were nervously awaiting their A-Level and BTEC results.