Journalism - Student Portfolio

Netflix has yet again decided to challenge the known laws of storytelling with its new limited series, ‘Kaleidoscope’. First it was Bandersnatch, with its interactive story and multitude of viewer-dependent endings, now it's a series of eight completely randomised episodes. According to Netflix, there are over 40,000 different orders the show can be watched in, each one supposedly providing the viewer with a unique experience. In a story spanning nearly 25 years we follow Leo Pap, a disgraced heist-man assembling the ultimate team of colourful and untrustworthy characters to pull off one last job, a job that could potentially set them all up for life. The plan is to intercept and secure $7bn worth of bearer bonds trapped in a maximum security vault. The bonds belong to a trio of eccentric euro bankers accurately named ‘The Triplets’, but ultimately the heist is just as much an effort to disgrace and frame head of security, Roger Salas, Leo’s apprentice turned nemesis. The ensemble ...

As doctors and nurses across the country continue to strike, thousands of UK residents can expect to miss out on crucial surgeries and appointments, however, not all healthcare workers feel their needs are being represented by Unions.  Keith Glazebrook, 56, is a healthcare assistant at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry. He believes healthcare assistants are being unfairly overlooked in current discussions between Unions and the Government, “ The nurses striking at the moment have every right to, we all work in the most vital field there is.”  “We see horrible, deeply saddening things day in, day out but they also fail to understand that we’re there with them; we’re taking samples and helping around the wards but even if nurses are successful with their strikes, us HCA’s [healthcare assistants] are still stuck in the mud.” Unlike doctors and nurses, who require years of medical education, healthcare assistants only undergo a training course of 15...

On Saturday 21st January, The Wah Lei Chinese Association flooded the streets of Chester with traditional music, lion dancing and Tai Chi demonstrations to usher in 2023, the year of the rabbit. Chester crowds lined the city streets and shop balconies, eagerly awaiting the upcoming celebrations whilst lion head puppeteers prepared to bring extravagant costumes to life. Before the event began, I spoke to Jonothan Alton, a lion head puppeteer from the Hung Gar Kung Fu Academy, Liverpool. He said, “ Normally we do see pretty good numbers but considering the type of weather we’ve been having recently we didn’t expect quite this turnout .” Joining the other performers in the cold Jonothan added, “ It’s been tough keeping warm so far but after the performance, I’m sure we’ll all be dripping in sweat.” “The lion heads are a mixture of bamboo, gauze, fabric and a sort of paper-mache mixture process. The ones we tend to use here, in the Western world, can be between 10 and 20 pounds which is st...

After the debut of Netflix's Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the most controversial game in recent history is receiving unprecedented amounts of players, new and old, venturing into Night City.  Like so many others I was heartbroken at Cyberpunk-2077's launch. The day review embargoes were lifted, the game was vitriolically dismantled and labelled a lazy, disappointing release that would drag one of the most highly regarded game developers (CD Projekt Red) to its demise, however, despite the technical issues and community backlash, back in 2020 I still had a great time with the game. It is important to note that even after all the patches and performance updates, this game can still be a bug-filled mess and for many, this will kill the experience, but beneath surface-level issues, this game is a phenomenal and fun experience. In 2022, Night City is more than ever a setting filled with landmarks and characters that truly feel alive and will resonate with players. The story is uniquely m...

One of the many Children supported by Down Syndrome Cheshire, recipient of ‘Cheshire Crowd’ funding - Lucy Liddiard, Down Syndrome Cheshire  On January 9th 2023, the Cheshire West and Chester council announced they had pledged more than £425,000 to the ‘Cheshire West Crowd’ campaign to support local projects and initiatives. Launched in 2021, the ‘Cheshire West Crowd’ is an online crowdfunding initiative established by the Council in partnership with Spacehive, that attracts funding for community-led ideas. £5,000 of the recent crowdfunding round was awarded to The Boat Shed Theatre Company in Ellesmere Port, to develop an in-house art space.  Co-founder of the Boat Shed Theatre Company, Teresa Newton, said: “ We already run a number of activities throughout the week but we plan to use the recent funding to set up a place for visual art, a professional gallery.”  She added, “The visual arts are very important to me personally as I went to art school so it’s something I’v...

 Chester By-election announced for December 1st.  A s  the cost of food, housing and energy bills rise exponentially across the country, the cost of living crisis is at the top of everyone's mind.  According to Cheshire Live, Chester tracker mortgage borrowers can expect to see payments increase by nearly £49 per month and almost £600 annually.  (PA Graphics) Election candidates are eager to ease Chester residents' fears with their plans to tackle the cost of living crisis locally. Tory party candidate Liz Wardlaw had this to say " My mini-manifesto consists of not only supporting the Countess of Chester hospital but also securing any Conservative 'levelling up' money we can get. I want to invest in the town centre and support local businesses. I want to improve digital connectivity, especially in rural areas, and improve transport, connecting Chester to places like London, Manchester and Liverpool." She also assured voters  "I will listen, I will lobb...

Rev. Andrew Glover and 'Warm Hub' project coordinator Abi Lycett of the Crossroads Community Hub.  T he Cheshire West and Chester council has joined the national 'Warm Welcome' campaign in establishing designated 'Warm Hubs' across the county for members of the public seeking shelter from   the cold amid surging energy prices. As temperatures fall below zero and the cost of living continues to exceed household budgets,   many can no longer afford to heat their homes through the winter. This year alone,  the energy bill price cap has risen three separate times with a further increase of 20% announced for April 2023. The Warm Welcome campaign aims to give those who struggle to pay their bills a space to escape the cold and currently provides over 3000 Warm Spaces nationally. In Chester this includes council-owned venues such as public libraries, Brio Leisure and the Grosvenor Museum, as well as many other independently registered spaces in the surrounding area suc...

As Household bills continue to soar, lower-class households could be forced to spend nearly 58% of their incomes on bills alone, for many already without stable housing the idea of affording a place to live is now both unrealistic and near unattainable.  According to the latest information from the Joseph Rowntree foundation a single person needs to earn at least £25,500 a year to reach a minimum acceptable standard of living. While households with an average median income of £33.900 annually can expect to pay an average of 25% of income on rent, the lowest-earning fifth of the population earns on average only £14,6000, spending 58% of income on housing prices alone according to the ONS . Earlier this year, the Government also withdrew many COVID-19 homelessness prevention measures that kept vulnerable people off the street. The 'Everyone In' scheme alone saw 37,000 people experiencing homelessness and sleeping rough moved into emergency accommodation according to Crisis.org ...

After a nearly 60-year hiatus, more research is being conducted into psychedelics than ever before. I attended a talk held by Dr. David Luke, associate professor of Psychology at the University of Greenwich and self-proclaimed "psychedelic Indiana Jones," to learn about the history and effects of Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and Ayahuasca. DMT vs Ayahuasca: Ayahuasca was a ceremonial drink brewed by Indigenous and South-American tribes using various herbs, it was believed to establish a connection to higher beings and is one of the oldest recorded methods of DMT consumption. Pure DMT however, is a substance that naturally occurs in plants, animals and even the human brain; the only way to experience its psychedelic properties is to smoke it. Whereas Ayahuasca is described as a 4-8 hour slow-burning psychedelic 'trip', Dr. Luke described the pure DMT experience as "10 hours of every drug you've ever read about crammed into 30 minutes, it's like being punched b...