Good News Roundup 2021

Include this article in your Skills Builder Journal. It could help you develop...  

Well, we’ve made it to the end of another strange year. And while the COVID-19 pandemic started to seem a little more under control than in 2020, it was still a bit of a tough one to slog through. But, there were also a load of amazing things that happened that brought joy, hope and happiness to everyone across the country. Let's take a look back at some of our favourite news stories of 2021…

JANUARY

The year started off with a big win for people who use menstrual products, as the tampon tax was scrapped, officially. The tax, which required EU members to tax tampons and sanitary towels at 5%, treated these products as non-essential, which caused a lot of uproar and campaigning against it, and rightly so! It was seen as largely sexist, and generally just quite ignorant. As of January 1, the tax was scrapped. Read the full story here. 

FEBRUARY

In February, ex-Love Islander, podcast host, and A&E worker, Dr Alex, became the newly appointed Youth Mental Health Ambassador during Mental Health Week, and a member of the Mental Health in Education Action Group. He will help shape policy and advise on support for young people, hooray! Read the full story here.

march

March saw nine-year-old Tobias Weller marching for a good cause, literally! After being inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore, Tobias took to the streets near his home in Sheffield and walked a total of 26.2 miles (that’s a marathon!), to raise money for his school, Sheffield Children’s Hospital, and Paces - a charity supporting those with Cerebral Palsy (like Tobias) and motor disorders. Tobias had an original goal of £500...and ended up totally smashing that and getting over £150,000! Read the full story here. 

april

One of the big heroes from 2020 was Marcus Rashford, who campaigned for Free School Meals to continue throughout lockdowns, and did all he could to help feed young people all over the country. As of April 2021, it was reported that Marcus and his fans had officially helped give out more than 21 million meals since the first lockdown. And, food redistribution charity, FareShare, who Marcus partnered with, have also given out 128.5 million meals. Amazing! Read the full story here. 

may

In May, an experimental form of gene therapy, developed by researchers in Great Ormond Street Hospital and UCLA, successfully treated 48 of 50 children born with a rare inherited disorder that leaves them without an immune system. Adenosine Deaminase Deficiency (ADA-SCID) is caused by mutations in the ADA gene that creates an enzyme which is essential to a functioning immune system. The therapy gives a copy of the ADA gene to the children in hopes that it will continue to produce a supply of healthy immune cells. In more than 95% of the children in the trial, the therapy appeared to have corrected their underlying immune system problems. Absolutely brilliant! Read the full story here.

june

June saw the beginnings of an ambitious plan for Glasgow, when the Clyde Climate Forest pledge was put into place. The pledge will see ten trees planted for every adult and child in Glasgow City Region over the next decade - which means around 18 million trees in total will be planted, increasing woodland cover in the region to 20%! Read the full story here. 

july

University student Joseph Bentley made headlines in July when he invented a device that first responders can use to help ‘stop the bleeding’ of violent knife crimes and help seal wounds. The device, known as the rapid emergency actuated tamponade - or REACT - inflates a silicon balloon-like sleeve, applying pressure to the wound allowing any blood to clot. When the balloon needs to be removed, it’s deflated slowly and gently, allowing the clots to remain intact, and potentially saving a life. Woohoo! Read the full story here.

august

They say dogs are a man's best friend, but perhaps cats are a woman’s. For Piran the black cat and her owner, this is certainly true. When Piran’s 83 year old owner went missing, her neighbours launched a search party through the local countryside, but had no luck. Until someone noticed that Piran was meowing loudly by a gate next to a cornfield, and walking back and forth. The team went to investigate and found that Piran’s owner had stumbled on a step and fallen down a 70 foot ravine. Thanks to Piran’s loyalty, she was rescued and had no major injuries! Read the full story here. 

september

Saving lives continued into September when 14-year-old Lily Swanson came to the rescue. On a walk with her dog, Lily started to smell burning, and spotted black smoke coming out of an apartment building. She ran home, called 999, grabbed her dad and a ladder, and went to help people in the building until the fire engines came. Lily says her quick thinking came from being obsessed with a Disney+ show called 9-1-1 which is all about emergency services in America. Incredible! Read the full story here. 

october

A cute good news story for October, comes in the form of a grey seal called Yulelogs (cutest name ever?). In 1989, Yulelogs was a big attraction in a marine park. When the park shut down, he was released into the wild, however, he’d become so dependent on humans that three months after his release he was rescued by the RSPCA after people found him on a beach chasing down buckets of fish! The RSPCA have looked after him ever since, and in October this year he turned 31. Yulelogs got given a big birthday cake made up of layers of coloured ice, with a few fish stuck in the top. Now that’s a showstopper worthy of a Hollywood handshake! Read the full story here.

november

Bzzzzzz, do you hear that? You should! Because in November, 800,000 honeybees were found in an ancient oak woodland at Blenheim Palace. Some of the bees were thought to be extinct and experts believe they could be the last remaining descendants of the original forest honeybee populations. Filipe Salbany, a bee-keeping veteran, found 50 separate colonies in the estate’s forest and called it a true ‘rewilding’ experience. Read the full story here. 

december

And just like that, the year came to an end. And ended on a high, with 2021 set to be a record-breaking year in renewable energy use. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), new renewable power capacity rose to roughly 290GW globally this year, which is 90GW up from 2020's record of 200GW. And to top it off, the most renewable energy growth came from China, who is also the world’s biggest carbon emitter. Let’s keep it up next year! Read the full story here.

Here’s to 2021…see you in 2022!