riveronline.co.uk

Reform UK is gearing up for the next general election and young voters reluctance to vote will increase their chances of propelling Nigel Farage to Downing Street. Behind their rise is an immediate truth, young people, particularly students are far less likely to vote with turnout at the 2024 general election for 18-24 year olds being less than half.

Photo Soraya Gonzalez Navarro Not every journey makes sense at the beginning. For many students, it takes time, uncertainty and persistence before things start to fall into place. At the beginning of university, I didn’t always feel confident about where I was heading. As Marcus Aurelius once wrote, “what stands in the way becomes the way,” a reminder that the path we expect is rarely the one we follow.

Every year, Mother’s Day is one of the most commercialised dates, shaped by what we buy, give and share. But while the day is presented as a celebration of motherhood, not every experience of it fits that image. In the UK, Mother’s Day generates more than £1.6 billion in spending each year. Behind that, are experiences that are rarely seen.

Credit: Waymo I was walking around the town centre recently when in the corner of my eye, I saw a particularly… unattractive Jaguar I-pace stopped outside The rotunda. You may be seeing more and more I-paces with bits and bobs stuck onto them when walking around. No that’s not your eyes deceiving you, it’s Waymo scanning their way through the capital. Waymo hasn’t put a date out for when these will be prevalent, but is preparing for a commercial launch in late 2026.

A Kingston artist has been using discarded televisions and broken furniture to redefine how the local community understands waste. Led by Des Kay, founder of Save the World Club, the space has evolved into a creative hub where recycling becomes a performance, and a place to gather in their kitchen and events.

Ah, Christmas. That magical time of year when supermarkets collectively lose their minds and decide that everything should be “festive-flavoured” and rammed between two slices of bread. Cranberry sauce? Mandatory. Bacon? Essential. Stuffing? Obviously. Curry sauce? Apparently so.

At 7:12 am, the train from Surbiton to Waterloo is already full. Among the suits is a third-year student heading into an unpaid internship in Central London. They’ll be back by 8 pm – having spent £14 on travel, £6 on lunch and earned exactly £0. This is the quiet maths of London ambition. In a city packed with media houses, fashion brands, and political institutions, internships are no longer optional extras. They are entry tickets.

The Ashes are back in action, with the England cricket team heading out to Brisbane to face their old Australian rivals in the second of up to five tense test matches. While the series is a tradition that has been in place since 1877, the element of ‘Bazball’ is enthusing and confounding fans once again, not necessarily for the better.

Sadiq Khan has announced travel fares will rise by 5.8% this year. This follows after the London Mayor confirmed that bus and tram fares would be further frozen to July 2026. The fare increase has left some students panicking about the affordability of studying in London amid an ongoing cost-of-living crisis. An Economics student at Kingston University said: “It already feels like travel is expensive enough as it is, the prices just keep hiking, and the support isn’t.

With more young drivers passing their exams and joining the roads, they all face one hurdl: getting a car. Now there are many options; borrowing your parent’s car, buying a used car online or, financing. Many young drivers feel the pressure to buy something ‘cool’ and ‘flashy’ to show off for their first car. Usual culprits being BMW’s, Mercedes’ and even Tesla’s. So now what if you don’t have £40,000 to buy a new Golf GTI? Well you can go online and finance one –  and it’s never been easier.