Tributes paid to ‘deeply loved’ man who went missing during Christmas Day swim

One of the two men who were swept away at sea during a Christmas Day swim in Devon has been named by his family.

Local antiques shop owner Matthew Upham was reported missing on Thursday morning after a “truly tragic incident” in Budleigh Salterton.

Emergency services were called to the scene after several people were reported struggling among large waves at the beach. Several were escorted to safety, but a man in his forties and a man in his sixties remain missing as of Boxing Day and have not been located.

After an extensive search, the operation was concluded on Thursday afternoon and the families of those missing were informed.

Mr Upham’s family wrote in a statement on his company’s Instagram page on Friday: “Our family is heartbroken by the loss of our beloved family member, Matthew Upham, who was reported missing on Christmas morning.

“Matthew is deeply loved and will be forever missed.”

It continued: “We would like to express our sincere and heartfelt thanks to the emergency services who responded, particularly the RNLI and coastguard for their dedication, professionalism, and tireless efforts during this extremely difficult time.

“We are profoundly grateful for their compassion and support. As we grieve and support one another, we kindly ask that our family’s privacy is respected. We thank everyone for their understanding, kindness, and condolences.”

A second man in his 40s, who has not been identified, is feared to have drowned while trying to save him, according to the Daily Mail.

Mr Upham ran the appointment-only Matthew Upham Antiques on Budleigh Salterton’s high street, offering “a captivating assortment of chandeliers sourced from various regions across Europe”.

His website also stated that the chandeliers offered by the business “beautifully complement our collection of 18th-century furniture, creating a harmonious blend of timeless elegance”.

The shop had originally been based in London for four decades before moving to the seaside town.

Tributes poured in for the businessman, with commenters describing him as “the kindest person” and a “shining star”.

The incident came amid a Met Office yellow weather warning for wind, which was in place for parts of southwest England and Wales on Thursday. Police urged members of the public to avoid swimming in the water on Boxing Day.

Footage from the day shows several people struggling to get out of the water as large waves crash against the shore.

Mike Brown, 60, who does the Christmas Day swim in Budleigh Salterton most years, told the BBC that the conditions on Thursday were the “worst” he had ever seen.

The local resident said that he was “unable to get out” after entering the sea and was helped by “two very brave men”.

Detective Superintendent Hayley Costar, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said: “Today, emergency services have been responding to a truly tragic incident in Budleigh Salterton.

“Our thoughts remain firmly with the families and friends of the two men who are currently missing and to all who may have witnessed and be impacted by the incident. The local community will have seen a significant amount of emergency services in the area throughout the day as extensive enquiries have been ongoing.

“As dark falls, a number of these searches have been stood down, with some police enquiries on land continuing this evening.”

Coastguard rescue teams from surrounding areas were assisted by search and rescue helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, along with police and ambulance personnel.

The Cure guitarist Perry Bamonte dies aged 65

Perry Bamonte, guitarist for rock band The Cure, has died aged 65.

Bamonte died after a short illness over Christmas, the band confirmed Friday. He was the band’s guitarist from 1990 through 2005, and then from 2022 until the time of his death.

“Teddy was a warm hearted and vital part of The Cure story,” the band’s statement read.

“‘Looking after the band’ from 1984 through 1989, he became a full time member of The Cure in 1990, playing guitar, six string bass and keyboard on ‘The Wish,’ ‘Wild Mood Swings,’ ‘Bloodflowers,’ acoustic hits and The Cure albums, as well as performing more than 400 shows over 14 years,” the statement continued.

“He rejoined The Cure in 2022, playing another 90 shows, some of the best in the band’s history, culminating with ‘The Show of a Lost World’ concert in London 1st November 2024. Our thoughts and condolences are with all his family. He will be very greatly missed.”

Born in 1960, Bamonte joined The Cure’s road crew in 1980 through his brother, Daryl, who was the band’s tour manager at the time.

After a stint as frontman Robert Smith’s personal assistant and guitar technician, Bamonte officially joined the band as the guitarist in 1990. He remained with the group until 2005, when Smith reimagined the group as a trio.

Bamonte went on to join the band Love Amongst Ruin in 2012.

He later reunited with The Cure in 2019 when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After rejoining the band in 2022, Bamonte slated to continue touring with the group through 2026.

Bamonte was included on the band’s 2024 album — Songs of a Lost World — its first in 16 years.

At the time of its release, The Independent’s Helen Brown wrote: “Songs of a Lost World is just eight tracks long, although it’s so immersive you’ll lose track of time. The album begins with four minutes of shoegaze instrumental before Smith’s vocals appear in the final third of ‘Alone’ – a disorienting warning at the start of the album that ‘this is the end… hopes and dreams have gone.’

“At times Smith has written songs of noise and dirge, but here he’s dialled into some lovely melodies, arcing upward, plunging downward and smearing their way into the creases of your brain like mucky kohl – all the while Smith is ‘staring at the blood red moon, remembering that boy and the world he called his own’ and lamenting ‘it’s all gone, it’s all gone.’”

‘I wore a face veil for the first time. Then a man tried to hit me’

Fatima Mahmoud* decided to wear a niqab, a face veil, for the first time this summer while getting on the Tube in London. A man on the platform at Whitechapel station stared and shook his head, before shouting and pretending to punch the air at her.

The man mimicked the niqab by putting his fingers over his eyes like goggles. Her friend took a picture of him, which led to the man running up to them and attempting to hit them, while witnesses confronted him.

Despite being a British-born and raised Muslim, the 23-year-old told The Independent: “I don’t feel safe at all here in the UK. I drive as much as I can and try to be wary of my surroundings. Public transport scares me now, especially because this incident happened in the afternoon. It wasn’t dark outside.

“I was scared to wear the niqab again until I rebuilt my confidence. I constantly look over my shoulder in case someone punches me from behind.”

Her story comes at a time when almost half of Muslim women (45 per cent) feel unsafe on public transport, compared to just 8 per cent of women nationally, according to a new report by Muslim Census.

More than one in three (34 per cent) of Muslim women said they have experienced Islamophobic or racist abuse whilst travelling, the survey of 1,155 people in November 2025 found.

These experiences range from assault, verbal abuse, being spat at, having their headscarf pulled, and even being urinated on, the study said.

Ms Mahmoud said she reported the incident to the police but has seen no progress. The British Transport Police (BTP) said the investigation has been closed pending new evidence coming to light, as all current lines of enquiry have been followed.

Nearly two-thirds of Muslim women believe they are targeted because they wear the hijab, niqab or other visible markers of Muslim identity.

Data from Tell MAMA, which stands for Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks, reveals that many visibly Muslim women “suffer repeat and multiple incidents of anti-Muslim hate throughout their lives”, and many have even removed their identifying clothing out of fear.

Tell MAMA director Iman Atta added: “We had cases reported where Muslim women wearing the niqab were denied access to services, and where bus drivers would not stop for them at bus stops.”

Furvah Shah was left shocked, confused and in pain at a Tube station after being physically assaulted by a total stranger.

The 26-year-old hijab-wearing woman told The Independent she was just entering Marble Arch station when a young blonde woman kicked her and said, “You deserved that.”

Ms Shah was kicked in early September, a week before the “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London attended by 150,000 people. This follows a wave of summer anti-migrant protests over hotels used to accommodate asylum seekers.

During far-right demonstrations, nearly all Muslims (93.8 per cent) feel less safe, and 84.9 per cent actively adjust their travel behaviour, according to the survey. For women, the figures are even higher, with 96.3 per cent feeling less safe and 90.7 per cent changing their travel plans.

Ms Shah said: “This is a symptom of rising far-right sentiment. People feel emboldened to do things like this, and we’re the ones who suffer. I’ve been more cautious of public transport and also on edge in general because I fear it is not a one-off incident.”

Ms Atta said far-right protests have psychological impacts and can “trigger feelings of fear and trauma effects”, particularly on Muslim women and young people.

Ms Shah reported the incident to the police as a hate crime, but in the end, she decided not to escalate the case.

Sumaiya Khan*, 24, was six months pregnant when she said she was subjected to a racial slur in August 2024, amid the Southport riots.

Ms Khan was waiting at a Luton station bus stop when a middle-aged white man sat next to her. She said he started saying “there were too many ‘brownies’ around. He then looked at me and called me an ‘f***ing P***’”.

She described feeling “angry” and “fearful to go out in public”, after assuming slurs like that were outdated from her parents’ generation. She did not report the incident to the police.

The survey found only 12.5 per cent of incidents are reported to BTP, local police or transport staff. Of those reported, 69 per cent felt unconfident that it would be taken seriously.

A majority of Muslims, 83.1 per cent, believe Islamophobia is treated less seriously than other hate crimes, as Home Office findings of prosecution rates for religiously aggravated offences remain low.

Ms Atta said: “Anti-Muslim hate or Islamophobia is on the significant rise and the rhetoric around Muslim migrants is adding to this. It gives settled British Muslims the impression that they are ‘the other’ and that they are not accepted.

“This can have real-world impacts for social cohesion, integration and extremism and also divides communities in the ‘culture war’ debates. Some politicians have a lot to answer for in the pursuit of power.”

Mandy McGregor, Transport for London’s head of policing, said: “We are absolutely appalled to hear of these horrendous incidents. Islamophobia and all forms of hate crime are completely unacceptable and we are deeply sorry [they] have experienced this on our network. We work closely with the police to stamp out hate crime on our network and we are following up with the police about these incidents.”

A BTP spokesperson said: “Abuse, intimidation, and violence – especially that which is motivated by hate – will never be tolerated, and we have acted swiftly and decisively when we receive reports of hate crimes on the network.”

Hate crime victims or witnesses are encouraged to report via text on 61016 or call 0800 405040.

The Home Office declined to comment further.

* Names have been changed

Stellan Skarsgård: ‘Truthfully, you can never be a good parent’

There is a scene in Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier’s Oscar-tipped family drama, in which an ageing director played by Stellan Skarsgård tells his estranged daughters, “You can’t write Ulysses driving to soccer practice.” Ostensibly, it’s an off-the-cuff comment about nobody in particular. Implicitly, it’s a defence of his own glaring absence from their lives growing up. Neither of the women are buying it.

For what it’s worth, the actor playing Gustav agrees with the statement. “It’s true. You cannot,” says Skarsgård, on a layover in London before flying back to Sweden for the holidays. The 74-year-old star of Mamma Mia!, Chernobyl and Dune is not ashamed to say he wasn’t the sort of dad to stick around at his kids’ football training. “It would be so boring,” he huffs with some melodrama. “I would die.”

The tug of war between art and family is one of many conflicts in Sentimental Value. In it, Skarsgård’s Gustav attempts to reconcile with his grown-up daughters Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas). Nora, a successful theatre actor, is caught off guard when he offers her the principal part in a film he has written for her. When she refuses, he casts a young American star (Elle Fanning) who becomes an unwitting participant in this family’s decades-long discord.

The film received a 19-minute standing ovation when it premiered this summer in Cannes; it scooped nine Golden Globe nominations and is considered a serious contender for next year’s Oscars. I speak with Trier and the cast across several weeks, some in person and others over Zoom from Norway. Lilleaas phones from her car in Oslo; elsewhere in the same city, Reinsve’s young son bounds over to show his mother a drawing mid-conversation.

“Sorry,” Reinsve says, admiring the artwork and scruffing his hair before sending him on his way. Reinsve is most famous for the self-searching 30-year-old she played in Trier’s prize-winning The Worst Person in the World. Released three years ago, that film awakened the world to Reinsve’s charms and skill on screen. She won the Best Actress award at Cannes for her performance, plus a Bafta nod.

Trier says he has since heard from some of the world’s most starry stars that they think Reinsve is phenomenal. Certainly, she is part of the reason Skarsgård signed on to the film. “She’s one of a generation, the kind of actor with translucence,” he says. “You can see all the feelings, what is going on inside; she can blush on cue.”

Working together again felt like the natural choice, Reinsve and Trier both say. He wrote Nora specifically for her, and indeed, she slips into the character so fluidly – Nora’s pain, humour, and prickliness conforming to her contours, the way water fills a vessel.

One hopes a similar breakout awaits Lilleaas, whose detailed, naturalistic performance as younger sister Agnes is among the film’s most touching. Unlike Nora, whose every facet of life feels coloured by her father’s abandonment, Agnes has found contentment working as a historian with a family of her own. Still, when Gustav comes crashing back into their lives, she finds herself bound by her identity as the family pacifist. And while Trier did not write Agnes for Lilleaas, the actor shaped the character in ways he did not foresee.

“We had been looking for someone who would be giggly and avoidant of emotion, someone who was trying to make everyone feel good, and Inga was not that,” says Trier. “She had a grounded sincerity, and I realised that’s much more interesting.” His comments chime with what Lilleaas told me a week earlier: “The role becomes a combination of you and the character – and it doesn’t have to be literal, but it is truthful.”

Lilleaas had initially been puzzled when her audition began with a 90-minute conversation about her life and backstory. Likewise, Fanning says she shared personal stories that Trier used to “rewrite my character a little”; when Rachel arrives in Oslo for rehearsals on Gustav’s film, she is out of place and out of sorts. She feels lost and is longing for something more meaningful, and hopes that this film will be it. As someone who has been acting since they were two, Fanning says she can empathise with those feelings of wanting more for yourself: “You can’t help but feel the ebbs and flows of being in this industry, and at times, feeling that defeat. I’ve certainly felt that before.” On what Trier sees in Reinsve for Nora’s character, Reinsve laughs and suggests she wouldn’t begin to pretend to understand.

As for Gustav, some men might be offended to learn that the role of an absent father and egocentric artist was written with them in mind. Skarsgård knows better. “It’s never an insult, because I don’t play myself usually,” he says. “I don’t think they can know my personality. And I never thought of Gustav as being like me in any way. Our situations are similar, but it’s totally different. Or at least, I thought so until my son saw the film and said to me, ‘You recognise yourself?’” He laughs. “I said, no! But of course, they see things that I don’t see – but you can never satisfy a kid. You can never be a good parent to a kid, because truthfully, they have things to complain about because we’re only human – and they’re not perfect either. So you’ve got to live with it.”

Unlike his character, Skarsgård has a good relationship with his eight kids, seven of whom have followed him into the business. But he admits now that he can see some parallels. “I realised more that maybe I wasn’t totally present when my kids were growing up,” he says, quickly adding, “but I have eight kids – it’s f***ing impossible.” Later, he says: “I have been very tolerant to my kids, and they have to be tolerant of me, too. I’ve let them go and do whatever they want, and they can let me go and do whatever I want.”

Family thinking no doubt impacts the way Trier runs his sets. “He is very family-oriented,” says Lilleaas. “We try to end on time so that people can go home. He’s very aware of what he’s asking people to sacrifice, because he’s making the same sacrifice.” It’s as much a result of having kids of his own – the home where they shot Sentimental Value was close enough to Trier’s apartment that he could be back for bedtime – as it is of having once also been a child, waiting for his parents to get home from set. Trier is a third-generation filmmaker, “so I know what it means”, he laughs.

These interviews all take place separately, but without fail, all four actors speak at length about trust and the unique way that Trier facilitates it through weeks of rehearsals. “The reason I do a lot of rehearsals with actors is not really to read the text or figure out the story, it’s to get into the groove of the trust thing, where they get accustomed to taking a risk doing something unexpected, and I catch them,” says Trier. “It’s like a trust fall exercise that you need to get warmed up.”

That trust fall is at the heart of his collaboration with Reinsve. “I know so deeply that I’ll be taken care of as an actor, so I can be free to mess up and f*** up a scene, or be really bad sometimes, because to be that free is very risky,” she says. “And it’s very scary. I wouldn’t dare doing that with anyone.” Likewise, Fanning says she can trust that Trier is “seeing everything you’re doing and what you’re trying to do, because he’s not off in a tent looking at a monitor; he’s right in the room with us in the scene.” It’s why Trier will never relinquish the final cut of his films. It’s not a power move with the studios, he insists, but “the actors put their trust in me, and if some third-party group would take that away, it would diminish that”.

Similarly, the point of the rehearsals is never to drill the scenes to perfection. “Joachim, he is very well prepared, but his preparations never become rigid,” notes Skarsgård. “He never says, ‘It’s like that. You should do it like this,’ but you investigate the role together. You feel relaxed and you can do anything.” In that way, Skarsgård continues, “this Trier is a lot like the other Trier”, referring to Danish director Lars von Trier, with whom he has worked several times. Skarsgård recalls walking onto the set of his first Von Trier film, 1996’s Breaking the Waves, and seeing a sign reading: “Make Mistakes.” There were no signs on the set of Sentimental Value, but the message was clear.

Trust and mistakes, and trusting someone enough to make mistakes, is how Trier hopes to capture something real. “You can allow yourself to go there, you don’t have to push to get to an emotion. You just see what comes up and that is very scary. But when you feel seen, you become very brave,” Reinsve says.

Skarsgård says pretty much the same: “As an actor, your experience gives you tools, but the tools are boring and the tools are dangerous because you can rely on them and make a film with your tools and think, ‘Oh, it looks pretty good.’ But it’s not good because it doesn’t have the irrationality of life.”

Trier will often give his actors the same note: “Go back to zero.” In his words, it means getting rid of intention. “Not using muscle memory but being brave enough to see if it can appear by itself.” Trier isn’t interested in seeing an actor’s quote-unquote skill, or – to borrow Skarsgård’s term – their tools. Going back to zero is how you get scenes like the one in which Agnes visits Nora’s apartment to convince her to read their father’s script. Talking afterwards, Nora asks her younger, more even-keeled sister how she emerged from their childhood seemingly less scathed. “I had you,” Agnes replies, weeping as she climbs onto the bed, hugs Nora and says, “I love you.” None of that was in the script.

All four actors have earned Golden Globe nominations for their performances, with Oscar nods perhaps soon to follow. It’s strange to think that for Skarsgård, whose career traverses more than a few watermarks, it could be his first. “I’ve done pretty well without them,” he laughs. “But of course it’s exciting and good for the film – and good for cinemas.” Skarsgård is speaking about Netflix, which is lightly spoofed in the film when Gustav sells his script to the streaming giant. “The biggest behemoth in the cinema industry is Netflix, who want only a one-week window for their films in cinemas,” says Skarsgård. Translation: “Kill the cinema! Netflix has an ambition to kill the cinema. It’s so f***ing scary.” He hopes the prestige and allure of the Oscars may help to keep Netflix at bay – and if he comes up against his actor son Alexander, in the running for his BDSM flick Pillion, this awards season? “The gloves are off.”

But before then, there is much campaigning to be done. In a stroke of marketing genius, at the film’s Cannes premiere, Fanning wore a T-shirt reading “Joachim Trier summer” – a play on the Charli xcx “Brat summer” memes proliferating at the time. So what does a Joachim Trier summer consist of? Trier laughs: “There was a newspaper that said it means walking into a party and feeling alone, or being melancholic in the morning, or lonely by the sea.” Maybe it is all of the above. Summer may be over, but as Fanning says: “I guess it’s a Joachim Trier autumn, winter, and spring, too.”

‘Sentimental Value’ is in cinemas

England emerge from chaos to salvage some Ashes pride with wild win

England’s long wait for an Ashes win in Australia is finally over as they came out on top after two days of mayhem in Melbourne.

Ben Stokes’ dreams of bringing the urn back home may already be over after three straight losses, but the grim prospect of a 5-0 whitewash is off the table after his side emerged from a batting graveyard at the MCG with a dramatic four-wicket win in the fourth Test.

England last won Down Under in January 2011, losing 16 times and drawing twice across four tours before finally ending the sequence here.

Chasing 175 may have felt like a lottery on a minefield of a pitch but, for once England, had the winning ticket as Jacob Bethell made a vital 40 on Ashes debut.

For the second time in the space of 24 hours England’s bowlers held up their part of the bargain, rolling over Australia for 132 in less than 35 overs, despite Gus Atkinson’s withdrawal with a hamstring injury.

In his stead Brydon Carse found some long-awaited rhythm as he claimed 4-34, with three scalps for Stokes and two for Josh Tongue.

The target was a slender one compared to some of the huge numbers this side have hunted on their best days, but it was also the biggest score of a match that was hurtling towards an indecently fast finish.

The jeopardy brought England back in touch with the wilder side of ‘Bazball’, having previously allowed their ultra-aggressive instincts to be curbed.

Ben Duckett, out of form and in the headlines for the wrong reasons, set the tone with a chaotic 34 against the new ball, Carse leapt from number 10 to number three in a revival of the so-called ‘nighthawk’ role once embodied by Stuart Broad, while Bethell even attempted a scoop shot off the first ball of the decisive evening session.

It was a bold, bewildering and oddly bewitching inversion of the hard-bitten Test cricket that is typically needed in this part of the world. But most importantly for an embattled team who have been run off the rails over the past seven weeks, and most of the past 15 years, it was successful.

Having travelled at turbo speed towards its end game, the match looked every bit a 50:50 bet as a fragile England line-up began their chase on a seamer’s paradise.

Duckett came out fizzing with intent, mixing four boundaries and a jaw-droppingly ambitious ramp for six off Michael Neser with a handful of addled hacks. He lasted only seven overs before Mitchell Starc had the final word with a pacy yorker, but in that time he helped England chip off 51, Zak Crawley weighing in with an audacious straight six off Neser.

England used Duckett’s dismissal to pull a joker from the pack, confusing everyone, including the stadium announcer, who initially called out Harry Brook’s name.

Carse’s arrival was an unpredictable move but had a predictable result, Australia setting the field back and waiting for a wild miss-hit. The gambit lasted eight balls and brought six runs before Bethell belatedly joined the action.

He and Crawley put on a settling stand of 47 either side of tea, beginning the final session still needing 98.

Bethell’s misjudged scoop off the evening’s first delivery suggested an excess of adrenaline, but he calmed himself to score some tough runs.

Batting remained a hazardous existence, Scott Boland trapping Crawley lbw for 37 and tempting Bethell to pick out cover, while Joe Root and Stokes both fell before the job was done.

Brook was there at the end with an unbeaten 18 but missed the rare chance to hit the winning runs, settling instead for four leg-byes that will go down as some of the most celebrated extras in English history.

England’s bowlers had set things up with an outstanding show in helpful conditions. Atkinson removed nightwatcher Boland in his opening burst but was soon limping from the field after four overs.

His exit hastened Stokes’ introduction and the skipper made short work of Jake Weatherald, bowling him with no shot offered in his first over.

Marnus Labuschagne was subjected to a brief and bitter stay, rapped twice on the glove in a spiteful over from Stokes before nicking Tongue to first slip.

The series’ leading scorer Travis Head quickly established himself as the primary threat, racking up 46 vital runs before Carse found a ball with his name on it. Fittingly, it was a beauty, jagging past the face of the bat before trimming the bails of the off stump.

Australia never quite recovered as they lost their last seven wickets in two swift clusters. Usman Khawaja was bounced out for a duck by Tongue and both Alex Carey and the timid Cameron Green poked softly to second slip.

Carse took out Neser and Starc with successive deliveries and Stokes wrapped the innings by ousting Jhye Richardson.

The door to victory was open and, for the time in a decade-and-a-half, England found their way through.

It’s about experience: Further Education teachers share what it takes

In the modern world, many of us are working longer than ever. Research based on ONS Labour Market data found that there are almost one million more workers aged 65 and above since the millennium and the state pension is set to rise to 67 by 2028 and 68 by the late 2030s. Subsequently, having multiple careers is becoming increasingly popular. And after decades working in a specific industry, sharing the work-based knowledge you have gained via teaching in further education is one of the most rewarding career shifts you can make.

Further Education teaching (defined as any education for people aged 16 and over who aren’t studying for a degree) allows you to switch up your working days and harness the skills and experience you have developed, all while helping shape the next generation of workers in your field.

To find out more about the role, from what it takes to the best parts of the job, we spoke to Further Education teachers who have switched from doing their day job to teaching it…

John Ryan, 51, from Weston Super Mare, worked for more than a decade on site in the construction industry, mainly in bricklaying and supervising roles, before an opportunity to become a Further Education assessor changed his path in his thirties. Travelling nationally to assess the work of new bricklayers in order to sign off their NVQs (National Vocational Qualification), the college John was associated with then started offering him some teaching work.

With no prior teaching qualifications, John completed these alongside his assessing and teaching roles with the fees picked up by the teaching college. “I liked the idea of passing on my knowledge and giving young people the skills and confidence to progress in a trade,” he says. “Teaching in Further Education felt like a natural next step because it would allow me to combine my practical background with coaching and mentoring.” There were practical draws too. “On site in the construction industry you are self-employed so you do not get holidays or sick pay. The stability of income and regular paid holidays was a big draw of Further Education teaching,” he adds.

Since his first assessing role 18 years ago, John has worked between assessing, teaching and jobs back on the construction site and now, he currently teaches bricklaying and groundwork full-time at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College.

John’s extensive site and supervisory experience has proved to be hugely valuable when it comes to teaching his students there. “I can explain not just the ‘how’ but also the ‘why’ behind industry standards,” he explains. “Learners often respond well to hearing about real jobs, site challenges, and the professional behaviours that employers expect. It makes the lessons more relatable and credible,” he shares.

“For example, I can share stories of accidents when teaching site safety, or explain how a mistake of a few millimetres on a construction site can cost you time to rectify, which in turn will cost you money,” he says. “These hands-on, real world experiences make the theory relatable and show learners the real value of getting it right.”

Coral Aspinall, 52, who became a full-time Further Education teacher 12 years ago, agrees. “My experience allows me to put my teaching into context,” she says. Coral started out her engineering career at 16 as an apprentice in a local engineering company. Following a BSc in Engineering and Business Management, she worked for many years in the engineering industry before enrolling on a part-time PGDE (Professional Graduate Diploma in Education) course for teaching. She’s now the Engineering Programme Leader at the Stockport campus of the Trafford and Stockport College Group. Here, they offer qualifications such as Level 2 Performing Engineering Operations as well as engineering-focused Level 3 T Levels and Level 3 Btec Awards. They also offer Level 3 apprenticeships across engineering including Technical Support, Engineering Fitter and Maintenance Management.

“Because I’ve been an engineering apprentice myself, I understand what the student needs to be successful in terms of skills, knowledge and behaviour,” she explains. “I also have contacts in the wider engineering community and understand what an employer is looking for in an apprentice, and can also share insights in terms of how the sector is shifting and evolving to help support their progress.”

Working for an extensive period of time in a field before passing on that knowledge gives teachers maturity and empathy which can be hugely helpful for students, especially those facing complex life situations.

Beyond the practical techniques, a big part of John’s role is helping learners build confidence, teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills that employers look for. “Many of my learners have different challenges, so they value teachers who are approachable, who believe in them, and who prepare them for real opportunities in work or further study,” he says. For John, his previous work experience has allowed him to do this. “On site, I worked with people facing all sorts of pressures, from work to life issues, which taught me to be patient and supportive,” he explains.

Coral has had a similar experience. “I see my role as more than imparting knowledge; it is about preparing the young person for the next stage of their journey. The students trust me to have their best interests at heart; they come to me for advice on their next steps and how they can achieve their aspirations, and I’ll support them with both practical advice and words of encouragement.”

For Coral, teaching later in life allows her to draw from a mature perspective, and teach her students positive workplace behaviours alongside skills and knowledge. “Students thrive when they have clear unambiguous boundaries, so I’m firm around expectations in terms of timekeeping, attendance and attitude. This is particularly important to succeeding in the workplace as employers value these behaviours as much as, or even more than having specific expertise or know-how (which can generally be developed).”

If you’re looking for a fresh career option, and keen to share your skills with the next generation, Further Education teaching could be a really enriching new phase. Further Education covers a huge range of career sectors including construction, law, engineering, digital, hospitality, tourism, beauty and more. This includes BTECs (Business and Technology Education Council qualifications), T Levels, NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications) or City & Guilds Qualifications.

Teaching in a mixture of colleges (often General Further Education Colleges or Sixth Form Colleges) and Adult and Community Learning Centres as well as workplace and apprenticeship settings, further education teachers share their years of real world industry skills with a diverse mix of people from those straight out of school aged sixteen to those making career switches later in life.

You don’t always need an academic degree or prior teaching qualifications to start teaching in further education. You can undertake teacher training on the job, often funded by your employer, so you can start earning straight away.. Furthermore, it doesn’t mean you have to stop working in your chosen field. Further education offers hybrid opportunities – so you could teach part time alongside your other commitments. This means you could have the best of both worlds, where you are still working in your chosen industry and teaching alongside it at a time that suits your schedule. Find out if it’s the right move for you here.

If, like John and Coral, you see the appeal in sharing the knowledge and skills you’ve developed with the next generation, exploring the option of becoming a Further Education teacher can be a great next step. As John shares, the reward is always worth it: “It never gets old passing on my knowledge to people starting on their journey, knowing I have made a difference and getting a smile and thanks in return!”

Looking for a new role that’s rewarding, flexible and draws on your current career? Why not consider sharing your experience where it matters most – helping inspire the next generation of workers in the field you love? Visit Further Education to find out more

Mixed sex wards used record 5,000 times in a month despite ban

The use of mixed-sex wards in hospitals in England has soared to the highest number in a single month for nearly 15 years – despite health secretary Wes Streeting slamming the practice under the last Conservative government.

Official figures from NHS England show strict rules against their use were breached more than 5,000 times in January, for the first time since 2011.

The most recent month for which there is data available, October, saw 4,801 breaches, higher than the 3,953 recorded during the same month when the Tories were in charge of the health service in 2023.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) hit out at the practice, which it said was “undignified and unsafe” as it called for urgent investment to increase both bed capacity and the ability for people to be treated at home and away from overwhelmed hospitals.

In response to inquiries from The Independent, the government said it was “not acceptable” for patients to share sleeping accommodation with members of the opposite sex, and it was reminding hospital trusts “robustly” on this point.

Before last year’s general election, Mr Streeting criticised the continued use of mixed-sex wards, which he said had gone “through the roof” under the last Conservative government.

Under official guidance that was updated in 2012, patients should not share wards overnight, share bathroom facilities or have to walk through areas occupied by patients of the opposite sex to get to the toilets.

The shadow health secretary, Stuart Andrew, said: “It is a disgrace that mixed-sex ward breaches are at their highest point in more than a decade.

“No patient should be left feeling exposed or unsafe, yet thousands are.”

Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, said that patients’ safety, dignity and clinical needs were always a top priority but added: “Sometimes caring for people in mixed wards can’t be helped as a result of extreme pressure on available beds.”

He said that NHS trusts do everything they can to avoid it but “on occasion it’s better to be looking after a patient in a mixed-sex ward, rather than have to treat someone in a temporary space like a corridor due to a lack of free beds – which can be down to lots of factors, including very high demand or delays discharging some patients well enough to leave hospital but who have nowhere to go.”

The last time the number of breaches was more than 5,000 in a single month was in March 2011, three months after the NHS started to record the numbers in the wake of the mass public outcry. By May of that year, they had fallen to below 2,000 a month and by the end of the year, numbered only in the hundreds.

And that is how they stayed until late 2017, when they began to climb again. Under the last Conservative government, there were a number of months in which the number of breaches totalled more than 4,000.

At the time, Mr Streeting said patients had been left at risk and feeling humiliated, but the first time the figure topped 5,000 in a single month was under Labour, in January, the official figures show. That month, the rules were broken 5,180 times, a breach rate of 2.7 per cent.

A year earlier, before Labour came to power, the figure was 4,404, a rate of 2.6 per cent. In December, the figure was 4,549, also higher than the previous year’s 3,522 (2.7 per cent vs 2.2 per cent). June also saw breaches higher than the same month the previous year, 4,559 to 3,881 (2.5 per cent vs 2.2 per cent).

Even during the Covid pandemic, the highest recorded figure was 4,929 in February 2020, although counting was suspended until October that year as the NHS came under pressure.

The Royal College of Nursing’s chief nursing officer, Lynn Woolsey, said: “Rising mixed-sex ward breaches is a sign of a health service under severe strain, which has too little space and too few beds to meet surging demand. It is common for patients to be placed in corridors and even store cupboards, with understaffed and overworked nursing teams forced to treat patients in crowded environments without easy access to life-saving equipment. The practice is undignified, unsafe and simply cannot go on.

“The secretary of state must act with urgent investment to increase bed capacity and improve nurse staffing levels in hospitals, and, vitally, funding for community teams to enable people to be treated at home and away from overwhelmed hospitals.”

Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Helen Morgan said: “A hospital stay is one of the most stressful and vulnerable situations any one of us can experience. It is utterly unacceptable that patients are being forced into mixed-sex wards – adding fuel to the fire of stress and worry.

“Every patient deserves to be comfortable and to be treated with dignity and respect, not left in inappropriate conditions because wards are overflowing.

“In the face of a winter crisis, this will only get worse. The government needs to bring forward an emergency package of extra social care places and more staffed beds or patients will continue to face unacceptable conditions.”

A government spokesperson said: “The use of mixed-sex wards soared under the Tories, and are another sign of just how damaged the NHS became under their watch.

“As we look to fix the harm they’ve done, we’ve been clear – the safety, dignity and privacy of patients is crucial, and NHS Trusts are expected to eliminate mixed-sex accommodation.

“Even with high flu cases and demand for services at unprecedented levels, it is not acceptable for patients to share sleeping accommodation with members of the opposite sex, and trusts are reminded robustly on this point.”

Four arrested after man shot in chest in Sheffield on Christmas Day

Four men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a man was shot in Sheffield on Christmas Day.

A 20-year-old man is fighting for his life after the shooting.

South Yorkshire Police said officers were called to Wilfred Drive, in the Darnall area of the city, just before midnight following reports a man had been shot in the chest.

People living in the area described how prayers were said for him at the mosque across the road at Friday lunchtime.

One man who lives near the scene said: “It’s such a shock. Nobody deserves this to happen to them, whatever he has got himself mixed-up in.

“This is a safe place. You can go about your business, no problem. But things just get out o hand with disagreements. I don’t understand it.”

On Friday afternoon, Wilfred Drive remained behind a police cordon, along with a 100m stretch of Wilfrid Road, with police cars guarding either end of the scene, which is just off the busy Staniforth Road.

A South Yorkshire Police spokesman said on Friday: “On Christmas Day, just before midnight at 11.27pm, emergency services responded to Wilfred Drive in Darnall after a 20-year-old man was reported to have been shot in his chest.

“The victim was taken to hospital, where he remains in a critical, life-threatening condition.

“Following the incident, detectives immediately began working at pace to understand the circumstances and quickly had four men arrested in connection to the incident.”

The spokesman said four men – aged 20, 22, 28 and 29 – were all arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remain in custody.

Chief Inspector Andy Knowles said: “This is an abhorrent incident that has left a man fighting for his life.

“Gun crime poses a great threat to the safety and wellbeing of our community, putting innocent people at risk of being caught up in an offender’s actions.

“It will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

“We are committed to taking firm, decisive action against anyone who chooses to engage in violence or carry illegal firearms, but we are stronger with your help – our communities support.

“We are thankful to those who have assisted officers so far in our inquiries and urge anyone who believes they have footage or information to assist to get in touch.”

The senior officer said police would remain in the area to deal with questions or concerns from the community.