Each week, Ben Hopkinson looks back at a serious, crazy, and happy news story from the past week.
Serious News
On Tuesday, City Hall issued a high alert for pollution.
The high alert comes as the warm weather and pollution has blown towards London, as forecasters from the Imperial College London recommended the Mayor of London’s office to send the second alert of the year.
Londoners were then asked to walk, cycle or take public transport to commute and refrain from bonfires.
Since 2018, there have been 14 high pollution days and 186 moderate pollution days.
Crazy News
A funeral firm wants to “break the taboo” regarding death by offering custom-made coffins.
Designs include a Greggs sausage roll, TARDIS, pints of lager or pop culture franchises such as Star Wars, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Harry Potter and Only Fools and Horses.
The company who are based in the north-east and Scotland says that no ideas are off limits.
One coffin was designed as a Dyson box for someone who had a history of repairing old hoovers.
Scott Purvis who is the general manager says: “Most of our coffin designs come from having honest conversations with the person when they are still alive. A lot of people are now arranging their own funerals before they die. This gives them a chance to break the taboo of talking about death with their families”.
Happy News
Tash Frootko has been painting houses in Gloucester since 2018, giving free makeovers for streets within the city.
She has now unveiled her street of 63 “rainbow homes” which have both created a better atmosphere for positive living, as well as pushing the home values up by 30%.
The 44-year-old who is also a property developer painted the homes in Hopewell Street in bold, vivid colours and says: “I started these transformations because there was such negative morale about the appearance of the city”.
The community’s response has been overwhelmingly positive.
