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Daily Mirror
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Parents could get £200 boost before the kids go back to school - here's how
The additional funds are there to help cover costs Parents in the UK could be entitled to an additional £200 before the children go back to school. This non-repayable cash is designated to help pay for school uniforms. However, it is only available to certain families on low income living in specific areas. In the majority of cases you will qualify if your child is eligible for free school meals. Consumer finance website Money Saving Expert (MSE), founded by Martin Lewis, explained more about who can get the grant. MSE said: 'Generally, the minimum UK-wide requirement to get a school uniform grant is to qualify for means-tested free school meals - even if you don't actually get them. Typically, to get means-tested free school meals, you need to be getting a specified benefit.' These include: Universal Credit (you're eligible after you've got your first payment) Child Tax Credit The 'guaranteed element' of Pension Credit Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance Income-related Employment and Support Allowance Income Support Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 However, the exact criteria for free school meals varies slightly around the UK. For more information on how to apply in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, visit the MSE website here. It's also important to note that local authorities can set their own school uniform grant eligibility criteria, and some councils include additional requirements. 'For example, in some cases your child has to be in a specific year group or moving from primary to secondary school to qualify,' MSE said. In England, the amount you can get will depend on your local council. Visit the MSE website here for a breakdown of which local authorities offer what. MSE said: 'In England, whether you can get a school uniform grant is a postcode lottery as it's down to your local council to decide whether to offer one, how much you get and the eligibility criteria.' Currently, only 22 out of 150 councils in England offer this grant. A further seven do offer financial support for uniforms but only in exceptional circumstances, for example, where you've suffered a fire, flood or have been made homeless. MSE said: 'If your council isn't listed above, ask if it has other help available. Under the Household Support Fund, councils in England can access funding to help those most in need with the cost of daily essentials, including school clothing in some cases. 'Each council can choose how to distribute the money, so eligibility criteria and what you can get varies – for example, some have given extra funding to schools to hand out, while others provide direct help to vulnerable households in the form of supermarket vouchers. 'The scheme is set to run until April 2026. After this, councils will continue to receive funding for a new 'Crisis and Resilience Fund', a long-term scheme which will aim to protect families from crisis. However, it's not clear yet how specific individual councils will use this funding. 'It's worth contacting your council to find out what it offers. If you can't access financial support under the Household Support Fund, your council may have other schemes in place that could help you.' Grants in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland School uniform grants are offered by all local authorities in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to anyone who meets the eligibility criteria. Here's a rough guide: The amount you get varies by council, but it'll be at least £120 The deadline to apply varies by council See for the link to your council's application form Wales: Northern Ireland: You can get up to £93.60 per child However, the deadline to apply was 25 July 2025
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Smoke signals: from Charli xcx's nuptials to The Bear, cigarettes are everywhere
Coffee and chocolates traditionally signal the end of a meal at a wedding. But now many couples are ditching the sweet stuff and doling out cigarettes instead. Bowls and trays piled high with fags have become the new party favour. Last weekend, guests at Charli xcx's nuptials were served Vogue Essence Bleue slim cigarettes from silver trays, and social media is peppered with wedding receptions featuring tiered dessert stands laden with smoking paraphernalia and dedicated 'smoking stations'. It can be an expensive addition to any wedding bill, considering the average cost for a packet of 20 cigarettes is now £14. Many modern brides take their inspiration from Mary-Kate Olsen, the child star turned fashion designer for The Row. In 2015, Olsen doled out mini bowls of cigarettes during her wedding to her now ex-husband Olivier Sarkozy. Emma Westblade, the editor-in-chief of the wedding planning directory the Wed, described the trend as 'a soft rebellion against the polished perfection long associated with weddings, in favour of something more unfiltered and deliberately nostalgic'. She added: 'It's controversial, yes, but it's part of a larger return to vice-coded aesthetics, plucked from the noughties and revived by gen Z for today's weddings.' At the online marketplace 1st Dibs, sales of items with cigarette, lighter, tobacco and cigar in the item title are up 11% this year compared with 2024. Trending items include 1930s cigarette dispensers, art deco cases and porcelain Hermès ashtrays from the 1980s. Getting a nicotine fix is also trending at fashion parties. In September, guests at a party in Paris for Kylie Jenner's clothing brand Khy were greeted by waiters holding silver platters of slim cigarettes and branded matches. At an event to celebrate her collaboration with the denim brand Madewell, Alexa Chung served guests ice cold martinis next to bowls of Camel Blues. And in November, at the launch of Lili Anolik's book Didion & Babitz at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont, cigarettes and lighters branded with the book's title were placed on tables. Last month, the sale of single-use vapes in England was banned. Perhaps traditional cigarettes never really went away, but they now seem to be having a resurgence. In March, research found that smoking rates in parts of England had increased for the first time since 2006. This is despite the fact that smoking is widely known to increase the risk of cancer and 94% of UK adults recognise this. The trend is also reflected in pop culture. Singers Lorde and Addison Rae both mention smoking in their recent singles, and Sabrina Carpenter uses a fork as a cigarette holder in the video for her new song, Manchild. In June, just before France's new smoking ban, Beyoncé lit up a cigarette on stage in Paris during her Cowboy Carter tour. Charli xcx was photographed smoking outside her wedding reception, while Dua Lipa and Paul Mescal are regularly spotted with a fag in hand. On screen, Seema (Sarita Choudhury) smokes everywhere in And Just Like That, including in her bed. Dakota Johnson's character, Lucy, is rarely without a cigarette in her new film The Materialists, and in the latest series of The Bear, even anti-smoker Sydney attempts to light up. Jared Oviatt who runs the Instagram account Cigfluencers described cigarettes as 'kind of like blue jeans. They've survived every trend cycle you can imagine.' Citing generational factors as playing a role in smoking's revival, Oviatt added: 'The dream of stability, owning a home, financial security feels increasingly out of reach. So the question becomes: why not do what you want? Why not smoke? Nothing matters!'
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Inside Liverpool's mission to dominate the Premier League and why rivals are running scared from the 'bullies': Turning 20 into 21, why Reds can afford Alexander Isak and how they could spend £200MILLION more
Arne Slot made a promise and a statement. In the final press conferences of Liverpool 's historic season where they became champions of England for a 20th time, the Dutchman told fans to expect a 'big summer' and then said the Reds will not stand still but look to find some 'new weapons'.
