Scottish rockers Bay City Rollers and pop star Gareth Gates will lead London's New Year's Day parade alongside 8,000 performers from around the world. The free family event runs two miles from Piccadilly to Parliament Square and has raised millions for charities across the capital.
Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge has bought a flat in London and is letting early-career writers live there rent-free, with residents paying only bills. The Writers' Block scheme, which also has financial backing from several well-known writers, aims to help playwrights from underprivileged backgrounds afford accommodation in the capital.
Twin brothers Marc and Tony Stevenson run a Kent workshop in Bethersden that makes and restores rocking horses for customers, including older models for families wanting to keep childhood memories. Customers often become emotional when they see their restored horse again, and the brothers, both recently turned 70, say they still enjoy the work and feel it keeps them young.
Brenda Willison, a town crier from Norfolk, has been named in the Guinness World Records as one of the world's loudest women. She holds two records, for the loudest female town crier and the loudest female shout, after reaching 105.9 decibels while fighting a cold.
