Day: Oct 25, 2026

Kate Stanforth said she wanted to deliver more in-person classes, but costs were prohibitive

UK: Kate Stanforth Academy of Arts – Funding for Popular Disabled Dance School Required! (25.10.2026)

She said she wanted to expand in-person opportunities, but accessible venues and the subsequent fees for travel and equipment are “incredibly expensive”.

Currently, she is trying to raise £20,000 to allow her to keep the academy running.

“We’re not struggling because there isn’t a need for what we do,” Stanforth said.

“We’re struggling because making dance genuinely accessible costs money, and those costs aren’t always recognised.”

While she is thrilled some of her dancers have moved onto professional opportunities, Stanforth said the classes were about more than that.

“We’ve also seen people find joy in movement again after believing that part of their life was over,” she said.

“I don’t want another generation of disabled dancers growing up believing their ambitions are unrealistic.”

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The Coats Observatory in Paisley

UK: The History of “Changing the Clocks” [It’s About to Happen]! (23.10. 2026)

The campaign for British Summer Time came about at the beginning of the 20th century when parliament passed the Summer Time Act in 1916.

British builder William Willett led the movement, inspired by his love of the outdoors. He advocated for BST in his 1907 ‘Waste of Daylight’ pamphlet to increase opportunities for leisure and help reduce energy costs.

He suggested a plan which included 20-minute changes four Sundays in a row in April and September to minimise disruption to people’s biological clocks, arguing that they would “lose nothing and gain substantially”.

He died in 1915 before his vision would become a reality.

The following year, a simplified version of his proposal – a change of an hour – was introduced as the country suffered from huge coal shortages during the First World War.

It has undergone some changes: During the Second World War, Britain kept clocks one hour ahead of GMT through the winter and, from 1941, adopted British Double Summer Time, placing clocks two hours ahead of GMT during summer months. It was then returned to GMT at the end of summer 1945.

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