Teenage girls are spending fewer evenings with friends, feeling isolated in their communities and dodging school sport at higher rates than boys, according to a report into England’s “bedroom generation”.  Polling of 15-year-olds for the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) finds that more than one in five girls (21 per cent) now spends no evenings out with friends during a typical week, compared wi…

Northern Gas Networks is encouraging university students kick-starting their new term and student life in rented homes to carry out two potentially lifesaving checks.

Dear Editor, Like most of us, I don’t think twice before hopping on a bus or train to go to work, meet friends or do a spot of shopping. However, for millions of people across the country who are deaf or have hearing loss, barriers on public transport can make even every day journeys feel impossible.

Millions of older homeowners are sitting on a retirement lifeline worth hundreds of thousands of pounds — but as Andrew Palmer reports the research shows those in the North are far less likely than southerners to ever consider using it It sounds like a story about poverty.

New polling by Opinium for Carers UK reveals that 3.33 million people have given up work to care for a family member or friend who is older, disabled or seriously ill, with 1.1 million leaving their job in the last two years alone – more than 1,500 people a day.

The UK stands to lose a multi-billion-pound economic opportunity and risks letting investment, jobs and energy security slip away, say the authors of the 2026 Economic Report from Offshore Energies UK Energy security is national security in an increasingly volatile world where conflict in the Middle East is constricting global oil and gas supply.

With the biggest ever Great North Run just days away organisers of the world’s greatest half marathon announce that the BALLOT FOR THE 2027 event is now OPEN. The Ballot runs from Monday, 7th September at 8am until midnight on Sunday 20th September, at which point ballot applications close. The draw takes place on Monday 21st September with applicants notified of their results soon after.

Consumer confidence increased by 0.9 points movement in August 2026, according to the latest data from YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). The Consumer Confidence index rose from 105.5 to 106.4. Any score greater than 100 indicates positive sentiment, while a score of less than 100 indicates negative sentiment.

The UK’s third tallest structure, Caldbeck transmitter station, is celebrating 65 years of keeping communities across Cumbria and South West Scotland connected through television and radio services. The transmitting station, which first went on air on 1 September 1961, serves around 280,000 homes and has become one of the UK's most important broadcasting locations.

Nominations are now open for the Better Tomorrows Awards 2026, a celebration of outstanding youth work across Cumbria. The awards will shine a spotlight on the people and projects making a real difference in the lives of young people. Public nominations are now open for three categories: Youth Worker of the Year, Youth Project of the Year, and Young Volunteer of the Year.