. 11 Simple Ways to take #ClimateAction 2 green commute 3 plant a garden 4 line-dry your clothes 5 change your thermostat 6 trim your waste 7 chose renewable energy 8 use less hot water 9 fly less weather.com/science/environm… 🌎🌍🌏

A group of Spanish-speaking families living in Belfast has told of how a weekly park meet-up has grown into a thriving language community and helped their children feel connected to their culture. Raíces NI started out in 2022 when a small group of mothers from Spain decided to meet in the park to get to know each other and encourage their children to speak Spanish.

John Healey pledges cheaper marmalade and gherkins in clearest sign yet that he makes some really weird sandwiches

Last Wednesday, we were delighted to welcome Sarah Adcock OBE, Director for Consumer and Competition Policy at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, to the launch of our 2026-2032 Corporate Plan at Parliament Buildings. Sarah brought an important UK-wide perspective to discussions on consumer-led reform and the role of government, regulators and consumer organisations in shaping markets that work for everyone. A special thank you to Sarah for making the journey to Belfast and contributing to such an important conversation. Our new Corporate Plan sets out how we will continue to represent, protect and empower consumers across Northern Ireland over the next six years. Read more about it here: bit.ly/4z4iEeo

£1 billion of renewable energy wasted in Northern Ireland since 2021 EnergyCloud is working with partners to use some of this waste to tackle #fuelpoverty @NIElectricity @soni_ltd @BudgetEnergy @clickenergychat #ShareEnergy @sseairtricity

What are you doing with your extra hour today? 🕐 Why not make it worthwhile by checking out our free online energy saving tools and advice to see how much you could potentially save on your energy bills this winter? ✅ To find out more about our Switch On to Savings campaign and check out our free tools, visit: bit.ly/4dWRY6W

Green Skills play a vital role in shaping the future of our local economy. Explore our Green Skills careers bulletin and accompanying Quick Guides to discover career options, transferable skills and the many pathways into greener jobs. From energy and construction to engineering and transport, check out the roles, skills and pathways for a career in shaping a greener future. Find out more ➡️ economy-ni.gov.uk/topics/car… @NorthernRC2024 @swccollege @S_ERC @nwrc_college @OpenUniversity @QUBelfast @daera_ni @CommunitiesNI @bfastmet @UlsterUni @NIElectricity

The @DWPgovuk is keeping secret the number of people who get a state pension above the personal allowance this tax year (FOI rejected; appeal in) but in 2025/26 ~2.4m old (30%) and ~732k new (13%) state pensioners got state pension alone above personal tax allowance. That ~3.1m (23%) is probably ~3.6m this tax year. And millions more in 2027/28.

A two-year pilot managed by the charity @coolearth gave 211 people in three communities in Peru a basic income of 1,032 Peruvian soles each – roughly equivalent to £2 a day. "Over the course of the trial, researchers found almost 90% of participants adopted environmentally beneficial practices, such as collective reforestation, restoration of critical water sources and reductions of forest burning." This project is the first to offer an unconditional basic income to an Indigenous community in the Amazon. theguardian.com/environment/…

🚆✈️ Straight off the train and into Manchester Airport. Imagine that! Heading home from BIPA, frustrated at the slow progress on reopening the Knockmore Line. The track is already there! Connecting Belfast International Airport, as well as communities in Ballinderry & Glenavy to Lisburn & Belfast would be a game changer. Time to actually deliver! @CircleLineBT #knockmoreline #laganvalley

One of my household chores as a boy.

A core memory unlocked.