Catherine Meyer-Funnell

 This is not an article in the traditional sense. It is not an argument but rather a plea, a crying out for us to find a solution to a problem that seems to be dividing the fashion world. Neither side has currently offered up a feasible fix, yet their greatly opposing stances on this issue has only caused shoppers and fashion fans like me to feel even more guilty and confused about what I should be buying and wearing. What I'm talking about is slow vs. fast fashion. Fast fashion is one of those uncomfortable truths that has always existed on the periphery of our consciousness; we always knew deep down that the people who made our clothes didn't have the happiest lives or earn the most money, yet we managed to push it down. It happened in a far away place, it wasn't our fault, it was probably exaggerated or inaccurate information. But this year the Boohoo factory scandal in Leicester  made it harder for us to ignore it. All this negative publicity might have been the first s...

  Being able to worry about the future is a luxury. It may seem a strange statement to make, given the current state of the world. A recent art installation of a ‘Climate Clock' on a Manhattan skyscraper, a Doomsday style countdown on how long we have left to reduce our emissions enough to give Earth a 67% chance of staying below the 1.5 ° C of warming that scientists say is crucial to avoid catastrophic natural disasters like floods and wildfires states we have just over seven years. But this contemplation of an abstract and still preventable future peril will not be high on the list of priorities of those struggling to make it through each week. The move towards a more sustainable and considered way of life is necessary, yet it has a tendency to feel like quite a big commitment. The cost of saving the world is more than just financial - it takes time, energy and ambition. Initially I had planned to write this piece on how unattainable this goal can feel to many people. When there...

When we were all stuck in lockdown, what did we do? What indeed do we spend much of our weekends and free time doing? The concept of leisure is a relatively new one, given that most of our ancestors spent all their time and energy just trying to survive, but nowadays (especially in the surreal world that is 2020) we find ourselves with a lot of time to fill. This is in itself a good thing; the problems start to arise when we begin to feel pressured by the sheer volume of choices we have to make - and how that can spill over into other areas of our lives.  Perhaps this is something that only I and my fellow neurotic Type A's struggle with, but every single app and feed we are plugged into is streaming information at us 24/7, and keeping up with the cultural and political zeitgeist is starting to feel like a job in itself. The mood  du jour  now has the potential to change with greater rapidity than ever before; no sooner has a particular TV show or writer become this centu...

  8th May 2020 marked the 75th anniversary of VE Day, that wonderful day in history marking when almost 6 years of brutal and bloody war in Europe finally came to an end. The sheer relief felt by the millions who had endured through a level of conflict never before seen would surely be unimaginable to the British public these days. Naturally we use occasions such as this and Remembrance Day every year to remember the huge sacrifices that were made and be grateful for the alliances and peace in Western Europe that exist today.   The strength of character exhibited by those who lived through the war, their determination, courage and resilience are qualities we can all aspire to emulate. I remember as a child being visited by war veterans at primary school: they shared their extraordinary experiences with us, reminding us every time that there is 'no glory in war'. What they had been through was so traumatic, affecting them deeply for the rest of their lives, that they were d...

  ‘In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes’. So wrote Benjamin Franklin in 1789, ironically only one year before his own passing. The topic of mortality is one that has become especially pertinent topic during the coronavirus pandemic, and it does not generally sit well in a society so determined to avoid the subject. The general feeling is that life is good and death is bad, and must be prevented no matter what. We cannot believe our friends and family will not live forever, because life without them is too jarring a thought for us to contend with. Back in the day we would have seen death and lived with it in a way we no longer feel able to do so. The wonders of modern healthcare are of course an improvement on this, but is it possible we have lost something in the process? Keeping someone alive at all costs is not always the kindest thing to do, in fact in some situations it is nothing short of cruel. Terminal illness, the losses that become more...

Cosmopolitan article by Jennife Savin   As I sit writing this at my kitchen table on a Sunday afternoon, a blue sky shining above and upbeat 90's dance music blaring through headphones, it would be easy to paint a picture of my life as relatively carefree and easygoing. I'm planning on making chilli con carne for dinner, I have no need to get up early tomorrow and I have nothing more pressing to do than take my dog for a long walk in the countryside. Idyllic perhaps, if you're not a 24 year old degree-educated extroverted young woman who had to cancel her plans to travel to Australia earlier this year and has all but abandoned her hopes of moving back to London to become a journalist (which is me in case you hadn't guessed). I'm currently unemployed, having left my most recent supermarket job in hopes of finding something better, and I live with my family in a small village in one of Britain's many Brexit voting backwaters. I feel as if I am constantly stifling ...

  Why are so many people on Tinder? Sex. Pure and simple. Not that everyone would admit to that of course: according to the Big Tinder Project carried out in 2015 there are no less than thirteen different motives for people being on Tinder, with the most popular being amusement. The rest ranged from curiosity, to an ego boost, socializing and even finding love came in at number four. Casual sex only ranked at number eleven. But if we really explore the desires behind these reasons they all stem from the same basic need: to enjoy attention from someone of your preferred sexual orientation. It may be true that not all flirting leads to intercourse, but no one could deny the kick we get out of interacting with someone we find sexually attractive. Because if it was our conversation we wanted to be stimulating, we would just talk to our friends right? Recent data has revealed that Tinder has 57 million users across the globe, is available in 40 languages and is accessible in 190 count...