Great Britain’s most remote community still hasn’t celebrated Christmas, for one huge reason.
It’s only been two days since the 25 December, though that is when most of the world celebrated Christmas.
However, other countries such as Russia, Egypt and India celebrate the day on different dates as part of their cultures and religions.
But people inhabiting this British island will also celebrate the New Year a fortnight after the rest of the UK.
The remote island celebrates Christmas in the new year (Getty Stock Photo)
The island is just three and a half miles in length, with a width of two and a half miles, as well as a population of just 30, working out to just three people per kilometre when it comes to population density.
It’s called Foula, and it’s located in Shetland, Scotland.
A whole 16 miles from mainland Shetland and 100 miles north of mainland Scotland, it’s on the same latitude as southern Greenland.
The community only got running water in 1982 and electricity by 1984, via a diesel generator.
To get here in the first place, you’d need to take a ferry from Walls in Shetland’s mainland for two hours, or a flight from Tingwall for 15 minutes.
Best known for its wildlife and for being used for 1937 film The Edge of the World, Foula also has the second highest sea cliff in the UK.
But why do they celebrate Christmas in what would be our first week of January?
Flying to Foula is the quickest way to get there (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
It’s all to do with the ancient calendar that they follow, called the Julian calendar.
The ‘feast days’ of the Julian calendar, known as Yule, is on 6 January, while their Newerday (New Year) is on 13 January.
Foula’s inhabitants boast strong Norse traditions, and the islanders often spend Christmas in one house to exchange gifts, much like the rest of us do with our families.
Most of the world uses the Gregorian calendar, named after Pope Gregory XIII, who first introduced it in 1582, with Britain starting to follow the calendar in 1752.
This was due to the fact that the Gregorian calendar only has a 0.002 percent correction on the length of a year, though the difference in days went from Julian being 13 days behind to 12 in 1900, when the Julian calendar didn’t have a leap year in 1900.
They aren’t the only ones that use the Julian calendar in the 21st century, though.
Squint hard enough and you’ll see that Foula is purple – those following Julian calendars celebrated Christmas on 7 January this year (Getty Stock Photo)
The Julian is used by the Berbers of the Maghreb in the Berber calendar, while Ukrainian Orthodox Christians celebrated Christmas with everyone else for the first time in 2023, despite using the Julian calendar.
Russia now follow the Gregorian calendar though, as most of their residents do.
When interviewed by the DailyMail on the difference in days, a Foula resident explained: “It is not just part of our tradition but the world’s. It is everybody else who changed, not us.
“We are not unique, other parts of the world such as areas of Russia, still celebrate the old calendar.”Featured Image Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images / Getty stock
Topics: Christmas, History, UK News
Joshua Nair
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Published 15:10 25 Dec 2024 GMT
Reason why King Charles broke Christmas speech royal protocol for the first time in 14 years
Did you notice a difference in this year’s King speech?
Here is the reason why King Charles III decided to break royal protocol with his 2024 Christmas speech today.
Royal broadcasts have been a staple in British programming on Christmas Day, with most of us used to seeing the late Queen Elizabeth II – and now Charles – pop up on our TVs with a 10-minute speech at 3.00pm.
The speeches typically take place within Buckingham Palace or from somewhere else in the royal estate, with eagle-eyed viewers scrutinising the photos of family members in the background.
However there was none of that this year as the King opted to break protocol with his 2024 address.
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King Charles broke Royal protocol with this year’s speech (Aaron Chown – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
The speech – which had been pre-recorded on 11 December – was filmed at Fitzrovia Chapel, a former chapel of the Middlesex Hospital which is now closed and demolished.
This marked the first time in 14 years since the staple speech has not been filmed in a building of the royal estate.
So, what’s the reason for the change in venue?
The Grade II* listed chapel featured in this year’s speech features a ‘richly decorated’ interior which offered a place of ‘peace, prayer and reflection’ for both patients and healthcare workers at the former hospital.
Acknowledgement and appreciation for doctors and nurses were a key part of the King’s speech, after several members of the Royal Family underwent their own health battles earlier in the year.
The interior of Fitzrovia Chapel, which features Byzantine-inspired architecture (Getty Stock Images)
As you’ll remember, the King began treatment for an unspecified form of cancer earlier back in February and made sure to pay tribute to ‘selfless’ healthcare workers during his speech. Kate Middleton also revealed that she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy a month later, with the Princess of Wales confirming she was cancer-free in September.
“From a personal point of view, I offer special, heartfelt thanks to the selfless doctors and nurses who, this year, have supported me and other members of my family through the uncertainties and anxieties of illness, and have helped provide the strength, care and comfort we have needed,” he said.
“I am deeply grateful, too, to all those who have offered us their own kind words of sympathy and encouragement.”
King Charles III stood in Fitzrovia Chapel (Aaron Chown – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Elsewhere in the speech, the King revealed his ‘deep sense of pride’ in seeing how communities came together after a series of riots rocked the nation in the days following the devastating Southport stabbings which killed three girls.
“I felt a deep sense of pride here in the United Kingdom when, in response to anger and lawlessness in several towns this summer, communities came together, not to repeat these behaviours, but to repair,” he added.Featured Image Credit: BBC
Topics: Christmas, King Charles III, UK News, Royal Family
Brenna Cooper
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Updated 12:40 23 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 12:32 23 Dec 2024 GMT
People warned about grim reason you shouldn’t cook pigs in blankets in air fryer this Christmas
More than half of UK households now own an air fryer
What do all air fryer owners have in common?
They won’t stop talking about their air fryers.
With more than half of UK households now having one, ownership has increased by a whopping 70 percent from 2022, reports leatherhead food research.
Christmas gift card warning
Credit: ITV
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And there’s no doubt that users will definitely be taking advantage of theirs this Christmas. From air fryer roast potatoes to crispy brussel sprouts, there’s all sorts of Xmas classics you can try. You can even do an air fryer turkey breast by wacking it in for 25-30 minutes, flipping it halfway.
But according to the BBC’s Good Food section, there’s one food you should avoid air frying – pigs in blankets.
Those savoury little sausages wrapped in crispy bacon perfectly compliments your roast dinner, and Yorkshire puds (controversial, but essential).
However, putting bacon in an air fryer can be a big issue.
More than half of UK households now own an air fryer (Getty Stock Images)
As dietitian Brenda Peralta explains, the fat content in bacon – though being the reason it tastes so good – can actually be a bit of a disaster for air fryer cooks.
“It is a fatty food, and when it is cooked in an air fryer, the fat can drip down and cause smoke or splatter,” she told the Huffington Post.
“This can make the bacon difficult to cook evenly, and it can also produce a lot of smoke and odours.”
The uneven distribution of fat content in the bacon can make it difficult to cook the meat evenly. By putting pigs in blankets in the air fryer, you’re at risk of not cooking it all the way through.
No one wants food poisoning from uncooked meat, especially at Christmas time.
Cooking pigs in blankets in an air fryer this Christmas might be a problem (Getty Stock Images)
As Brenda mentioned, the fat content will also make your air fryer smoke the place up like Winston Churchill. Not only that, but if the fat splatters out of the pot, you could accidentally burn yourself.
When it comes to pure bacon strips, there’s also the issue of trying to scrape them out of your air fryer once they’re cooked. If you don’t use a baking sheet, they can quite easily stick to the bottom, which isn’t ideal.
Brenda added: “A bacon strip is a small and delicate food, and it can be difficult to flip or remove from the air fryer basket without breaking it. The air fryer basket may not be large enough to accommodate a large quantity of bacon.
“This can make it difficult to cook a lot of bacon at once, which can be inconvenient if you are cooking for a group.”Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Published 15:55 20 Dec 2024 GMT
‘Best boss in UK’ explains why he rewards staff with holidays to Maldives and Rolex watches for Christmas
Staff do have to be in the office every day though…
You might be buzzing if your boss lets you finish an hour early on your last shift before Christmas, or maybe just made up with the bottle of fizz they bought you from the supermarket.
But imagine how you’d feel if they spent thousands on you as a festive treat.
Well, get a load of this. The ‘best boss in the UK’ has explained why he rewards staff with holidays to the Maldives and Rolex watches for Christmas.
Benjy Leslie is the CEO and founder of Connect Management, the largest social-first talent agency in the country.
Always having believed in treating staff well means they have more motivation to crack on with work, the 25-year-old takes them on all kinds of getaways like trips to Disneyland Paris.
The ‘super amazing’ team get treated to all sorts. (SWNS)
And for his ‘Santa Leslie initiative’ he spent £20k on gifts with the team member making the highest revenue that day getting to pick out a present.
Gifts for that ranged from Celebrations and Lego to headphones and a Rolex.
Leslie reckons it’s all ’worth it’ to have happy staff and a positive work environment.
The Londoner says: “I love giving back. Business owners sit on huge amounts of profit.
“For me it’s about sharing my gratitude. I have got a really happy work force – with 89 per cent staff retention.
“We wouldn’t have profits if the staff were not happy.”
Back in 2019, the lad quit his advertising job and set up his business a year later and achieving success, he wanted to share that with his team.
He said: “I took them all to the Maldives for the first year of the business doing well.”
Expecting his influencers to make a whopping £18 million this year, the CEO is able to give back lots of different incentives.
Leslie gives away a holiday every month with a ‘tombola’, which gives his staff ‘that buzz and excitement’.
“The more revenue they deliver to the business the bigger slice of the pie you get,” he adds.
Staff get treated to holidays for their hard work. (SWNS)
With the chance to win every day this Christmas, he already has his staff coming into the office daily because he believes working from home is ‘lonely’ and ‘less productive’.
So, Leslie apparently creates a fun office environment and makes someone bring in a game to play each morning.
He said: “They bring a game and that brings the energy in the morning.
“On a Friday afternoon we do gratitude. Each person has to say something to someone that they are grateful for.
“It’s just a reminder – it’s such a fast-paced world we live in and people need to be shown thanks.”
Leslie took his staff to Disneyland Paris for this year’s Christmas trip as a ‘thank you for everything’.
But he does ‘expect a lot’ from his staff, who he describes as a ‘super amazing team’.
“A lot of work places people resent their bosses and come in and do the bare minimum. I don’t feel we have that. You can’t buy that loyalty from staff,” he added.
“You can only earn it by being genuine.
“We do expect a lot, but we hire the right people. If I treat people well, they will work harder for me.”Featured Image Credit: SWNS
Topics: Business, Christmas, Jobs, Travel, UK News
Jess Battison
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Updated 18:22 20 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 17:38 20 Dec 2024 GMT
Official Christmas number one for 2024 has been announced
It’s another record-breaking year in music
The official Christmas number one for 2024 has been announced.
With festive tunes of past and present having filled pretty much every public space for the last month or so, we’ve all got our favourites.
And this year, it felt like there was some tough music competition in the UK for the top spot. Of course, there’s always Mariah Carey and Slade, but 2024 had some new faces in the mix with Tom Grennan’s ‘It Can’t Be Christmas’ and Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘A Nonsense Christmas’.
Andrew Ridgeley celebrates Christmas Number One
Credit: Official Charts
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What song has been named the official Christmas number one?
But for the second year in a row, it’s ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham! that’s taken the place of the UK Christmas Number 1 2024.
To many fans’ surprise, last year was actually the first time the bop claimed the title despite knocking about since 1984.
It’s a biggie for the George Michael creation too as Official Charts confirm ‘Last Christmas’ is the first song in chart history to ever clinch two consecutive Christmas Number 1 victories. Also, it marks its 40th anniversary as the most-streamed and physically purchased song of the week.
The track secured the spot through both digital and physical domination, with a whopping 12.6 million streams.
WHAM!’s reaction
Speaking to Official Charts, WHAM!’s Andrew Ridgeley says: “37 years to get to Number 1, 39 years to Christmas Number 1, and then like London buses they all come along at once!
Andrew Ridgeley of Wham! (Official Charts)
“I’m especially pleased for George, he would have been utterly delighted, his fabulous Christmas composition has become such a classic, almost as much a part of Christmas as mince pies, turkey and pigs in blankets.
“It’s testament to a really wonderful Christmas song that in a lot of people’s minds evokes and represents Christmas as we would all wish it to be. I’d like to thank everyone who has listened to, downloaded, bought, streamed Last Christmas and been a part of history. Thanks so much and Merry Christmas!”
Who else has Christmas number ones?
This second Christmas Number 1, puts Wham! in the rare group of acts to achieve it multiple times. Their peers now include: Queen (two), Spice Girls (three), The Beatles (four) and the current record-holders, LadBaby (five).
They’ve done it again (Wham!)
The second place in the UK Official Singles Chart for Christmas is taken by Gracie Abrams’ with ‘That’s So True’.
She’s followed by Mariah Carey’s now 30-year-old ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ with Tom Grennan landing in fourth.
ROSÉ and Bruno Mars round off the Christmas Top 5 with their track ‘APT’.
Not necessarily getting the number one single, Sabrina Carpenter does however take the title of Official Christmas Number 1 Album with Short n’ Sweet.
The UK Official Singles Chart Top 10 for 20-26 December 2024:
- ‘Last Christmas’, Wham!
- ‘That’s So True’, Gracie Abrams
- ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’, Mariah Carey
- ‘It Can’t be Christmas’, Tom Grennan
- ‘APT’, ROSÉ and Bruno Mars
- ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’, Brenda Lee
- ‘Messy’, Lola Young
- ‘Jingle Bell Rock’, Bobby Helms
- ‘Santa Tell Me’, Ariana Grande
- ‘Fairytale of New York’, The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl