tag2 | Westminster World

Mar112015 by Steff HummNo Comments

Country music grabs a new generation at C2C festival

The abundance of youthful faces at the Country to Country festival shows that the future of country music could well lie with its audience. Reporter Steff Humm Conjure up an image of a stereotypical country music fan and you probably don’t think of English twenty-somethings, tweens and children gleefully crowding round a stage to bop along to songs of whiskey and heartbreak. The annual Country to Country (C2C) music festival, which attracted 50,000 people to the O2 arena, proves that the idea that country music belongs to middle aged, Stetson-wearers doused in rhinestones is outdated. Instead, the genre has evolved to encompass all age groups, from those that remember the days of Hank Williams to the generation too young to watch Miley Cyrus videos. Music manager Peter Christoph

Mar32015 by Deeksha SharmaNo Comments

“Would you like a coffee in a lavatory? Yes, please!”

Culture, Specials

A Victorian lavatory abandoned after the Second World War has been renovated into a café. It is located near Oxford Street amidst some frilly restaurants . By Deeksha Sharma Subeditor Mutave Mutemi In a junction of fancy restaurants, on the street down by the BBC 's Broadcasting House, The Attendant cafe is located. It is called so because the counter of the attendant has been retained from where food is served. Having a latte in lav may sound gross, but in reality the coffee is refreshing with some freshly whipped cream, if that’s how you like it. After the Second World War, many public toilets were left abandoned. But with the encouragement of officials, these were sold off to businesses and were opened up as cafes and warehouses. Under an iron shed are the stairs

Keeping London’s libraries open

Audio, Harrow

Public libraries are closing across London due to cutbacks in local government funding. Cristiana Ferrauti Twitter: @Cristiana16492 meets a volunteer who aims to keep a library open. Sub-editor: Sonal Gupta Paul Lorber, Liberal Democrat leader at Brent Council, is director of the Friends of Barham Library - charity trust for bringing back the community library. The Crabbs House, in Barham Park, was the building hosting the local library. It opened in 1952 and has been active until October 2011, when Brent Council closed it as part of the Libraries Transformation Project During Saturday afternoon, Lorber volunteers at the temporary shop premises in Wembley High Road. It is a library and second hand bookshop opening three times a week. In 2013, another voluntee

Feb112015 by Alex LeonardsNo Comments

March for homes: London’s urgent call for affordable social housing

News, Politics

The benefit cap for working age out-of-work households has resulted in an average estimated decline of £62 benefit income per week, according to homelessness charity Crisis. This has impacted an estimated 52,000 households and families in England, almost half of these live in London. By Alex Leonards. Sub editor Sohini. Bright-eyed tourists sit in a quiet café by London Bridge station. They chew on organic oatcakes, and slurp soya milk Lattes, blissfully unaware of the nearby crowds that gather. Frustrated protesters stand side by side outside City Hall. Thousands have marched from opposite ends of the city. One group from the south, Elephant & Castle, the other East London’s Shoreditch; joining in solidarity at the heart of the capital. The crowd addresses a growing crisis tha