The rise in students flats in Liverpool

I attended a journalism workshop which was run by the Media Trust with the Liverpool Echo last month thanks to UpRising. I was asked to film a Vlog on my opinion of the rise of student flats in Liverpool.

As there is a rise in students coming to Liverpool to study, more accommodation is needed for these students to live in. However I believe they're building far too many student flats then there are actual students. Nearly every block of flats in the city centre is student flats. Yes are thousands already here & more coming but realistically do we need that many?

Where are all the residents going to live if all the flats are for students?  There's expected more than 3,000 beds set for the new academic year (September 2015). Reports by September 2017 there will be up to 25,000 purpose built students rooms on offer with it potentially rising to 35,000 by September 2020! 

Currently there's around 50,000 students enrolled at the University of Liverpool, John Moores, Liverpool Hope & LIPA but most of the 12,000 first years will stay in university halls or residence. These students flats are mainly accommodated by second years onwards. 

You can hear my super Scouse voice & opinion here & the other young people's views of the rise of student flats in Liverpool.

Hope Street/Myrtle Street

Vita, Crosshall Street

Hatton Garden

The paramount London Road

New complex in Bootle

All these new flats do looking amazing & I'm a little jealous that I'm not going to be a student living in them but is the money better well spent on other things? Many choose not to stay in the centre as it is cheaper to live outside of the city in places such as Smithdown Road of Aigburth even it is further away from uni campus. 

There's currently a review being held to see if all these students are going to go ahead with questions being asked on if there is too many.

Let me know what you think of my video & what you view is whether you're from Liverpool or not or if you're a student thinking of coming to study in Liverpool.

All photos & information were taken from The Liverpool Echo website .

Twitter || Instagram || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Google+ || Last.fm

The UpRising Reunion

London!

Yesterday me & Holly went to London for the UpRising Reunion. (We've not met most of the people before so not much of a reunion). We had to meet at Lime Street for 7:20am which meant I was up at 5:30am! It was a real struggle to get up :( We got given our train tickets, it said carriage H which was really far down the train then we realised it was first class! We didn't even see it on the ticket to realise until we actually got on the train.

It was the second time I'd got a Virgin train so was actually a little excited to be in first class. We got given a Danish apple & custard pastry (which wasn't that nice), an apple & orange juice. Got free WiFi but the plugs weren't working so I couldn't charge my phone.

I wanted to sleep but Holly kept talking to me! 

There was 20 of us but only 7 from our group counting me & Holly the rest were from the younger group who did their social action via social media.

We were delayed by 20 minutes so got to London around 10:25am. The actual introduction start was 11:30am so we had time to get there. But we waited for a good 20 minutes outside Euston station while Carolyn sorted out our tube tickets. We had to get the black Northern Line to Bank then change onto the red Central Line to Mile End. It was being held at Queen Mary University. We got there at 11:45am but didn't miss much as they were running late. 

On the agenda we were meant to have an hour lunch it turned out to only be 20 minutes with sandwiches & some fruit. We then attended a workshop. Me & Holly chose Impact and Influence. Stand out with dynamic and confident speaking with Richard Newman. 

Richard was really good & the advice he gave was so beneficial. At first he was making us stand up, pretend we were a New York cop on one side of the road & there was a robber on the other side but in America their roads are massive & have 5 lanes. We had to get the robbers attention & shout in a New York accent "Hey you, stop in the name of the law!" Didn't really know what he was getting at or why he was making us stand up & go round shaking people's hands but it all made sense in the end. 

He was showing us that using different tones, body language, how we present ourselves changes the message received by other person you're interacting with. He was really engaging & knew what he was talking about. His company Body Talk trains international celebrities, UK Parliament, London Business school, many of the FTSE 100 & Fortune 500 campaign. I would love to be trained by him but don't think I could afford it! 

We then had talk from Stuart Pickford from the Mayer Brown law firm who were sponsoring the UpRising Reunion. It was actually really boring & the thing he was talking about weren't really relevant unless you plan on being a lawyer & working in law. He was using a lot of jargon so unless you studied law or have a friend who has like Holly, you'd have no idea what he was on about. He just had no presentation skills especially after how good Richard was he should've been sitting in that workshop & taking tips on how to give a good presentation! He was just reading off sheets of paper & was really nervous!

We then had another workshop straight after, we were going to Hogwarts for campaigners. A taster of successful campaigning by Genevieve Dawson. We followed the group of people into the room but then thought we were in the wrong room so left & ended up back in the main lecture theatre. It turns out we were in the right room but didn't want to awkwardly go back into after leaving. We went to a talk about how you can create change by campaigning & using petitions. It was led by Katherine Sladden a campaigner at Change.org. 

After the session we left, our train back was at 6:07pm so we had to leave at 5pm to get the tube back. At this time it was half 4, there was meant to be a tea break at 4 but that didn't happen as they were running well over time so we didn't want to have to awkwardly leave in the middle of a session. They did end up have a really short 5 minute break which they weren't even going to give us become they were running over time. But the day had been so long that people were getting bored & restless, they definitely needed the break if they were going to carry on till 6pm!

We got the tube back to Euston, we had some time to get some dinner for the train back. Me & Holly got food from Itsu. I got an original chicken teriyaki rice potsu £6.89. Holly got avocado baby rolls 14 pieces for £3.69, chicken teriyaki salad £3.99 & a raw veg cleanse smoothie - spinach, apple juice, ginger, coriander, avocado, cucumber & ice £3.99. I asked if mine had coriander & the girl behind the counter said don't think so, think only the smoothie has it in. The description on the board didn't mention coriander so I got it.

We should have got the salmon & avocado sushi then gone halves but I didn't even realise Holly got the sushi! I took a spoonful & realised it had a coriander in it when the girl told me there wasn't any it so I ended up having to try & pick it out. Good job I'm not allergic to it & that I just really hate it otherwise they wouldn't know what's hit them! I sent them an email earlier on about this & they've offered me lunch on the house the next time I visit them which is a bit of an issue that I don't live in London so I can't exactly take them up on that offer! I was actually quite disappointed with my dinner, I didn't really enjoy it thought it was too salty. Won't be having a potsu again maybe sushi as for the amount you get is good for that price especially in London!

We got back to Liverpool at 8:20pm it had been a really long day. I couldn't wait to get a shower & get into bed! I was actually falling asleep during the talks. But I'm so glad we got the train as speaking to Manchester people they got the coach there! They were up at 4am. If we were going by coach there was no way me & Holly were gonna go! We felt bad for them especially after going first class there (we were standard back but that's still a million times better than a coach!). I was probably in bed before the Manchester people were even home.

It was a fun day trip to London, I wish we had time to actually explore London rather than being on the uni campus all day but I guess I can't complain too much as it was a free trip to London on a Virgin train with the first class experience (apparently it's better in weekday mornings you can have smoked salmon for breakfast!!). Hopefully taking a trip down to London over the summer! Thanks UpRising!

Twitter || Instagram || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Google+ || Last.fm

Tavern Night

It was Hannah's 22nd birthday on Friday. We went to The Tavern Co on Smithdown Round. Me & Kelly arrived first at 7pm & was informed it would be a 15-20 minute wait, just as we went to sit down for the wait we were asked if it was ok if we got a 6 seater table. We asked for a table for 3 so really didn't need such a big table when there were other people waiting who had bigger parties. Their seating system just doesn't work giving large tables to small parties making people having to unnecessarily wait.

We ordered the spicy chicken nachos as a the starter to share between the 3 of us. I got tacos thinking the last time I went I got fajitas turns out it was nachos so was a little disappointed as I wanted to try something different. (I was debating on getting a burrito.) Kelly got the beef chilli burrito and Hannah got the spicy chicken enchilada. When it came she was like I don't remember it looking like this, it came on a sizzling platter last time. She'd mistaken it for the fajitas & that was what she wanted. I don't get how she could mistake the enchilada for fajitas I mean I know I did with tacos but they are similar since you made it yourself with a flour tortilla... She blamed this on her old age hahaha

Can't say I'm a fan of American Mexican, definitely prefer the authentic classic!

Hannah was struggling to eat hers but was determined to finish it all even though the portion was massive!

Me & Kelly were finding it painful watching her trying to finish it. But she did eventually give in.

We then went to the Richardmon Tavern (see the Tavern theme?) pub which is just around the corner. It's been done up really nice & modern inside. Danielle met us there as she finished work at half 8. We actually all made it for Hannah's birthday this year as last year for her 21st we were international.. I was in Florida & it was my cousin's wedding day & (That has gone so fast, can't believe it's been a year & they have a baby now! Wish I was in Florida now!) Kelly was in Paris it was only Danielle who celebrated Hannah's birthday with her.

It was "Fizz Friday" so they got a bottle of prosecco for £8. They ran out of champagne glasses & wine glass so were given half pint glasses.

Hope you enjoyed your birthday Hannah!

Twitter || Instagram || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Google+ || Last.fm

Nike Photosynthesis Pack

The Photosynthesis Pack

Loving this floral photosyntheses pack collection which you can get from the Nike site.

LunarGlide 6 - £115.46 (Men's)

LunarGlide 6 - £105 (Women's)

Free 5.0 - £105 (Men's)

Free 5.0 - £105 (Women's)

Air Zoom Pegasus 32 - £85 (Men's)

Air Zoom Pegasus 32 - £85 (Womens')

Men's Running T-Shirt - £25

Women's Running Tank - £25

I don't understand why the men's LunarGlide is such a weird price like why isn't it a round price & the men & women's are different priced when everything else is the same? Strange.

I do like the LunarGlide or Pegasus. I'm currently looking for a new pair of gym shoes as mine are a year old now & are pretty worn out. I want another pair of free runs & a pair of LunarGlide but they're expensive!

Twitter || Instagram || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Google+ || Last.fm

The Kazimier Summer Vintage Fair

Kazimier Gardens

Me, Holly & Gabby went to the summer vintage fair they had at The Kazimier today. We'd never been to The Kazimier but have been wanting to go for a while just haven't had the chance to yet! It was a lot smaller than what I was expecting but it was nice though.

There was a few stalls selling vintage clothes, hand made jewellery, art, vinyl, food, drink & a live DJ. Holly bought RUN DMC It's Tricky record for £3 & Gabby got handmade pom pom earrings for £9. I sadly left with nothing.

It's nice to see local businesses being supported as it can be really hard to start up your own business when well known brands & high street stores are so well known. Many people don't realise the hidden treasures that can be found. Especially with things being handmade just makes it that little bit more special, unique. More effort, time & love is put into it compared to the same manufactured thousand of the same product. Getting yourself known definitely takes time everyone has to start somewhere! Having events like these brings people together to find things they never knew existed, find something new & exciting. There should be more events like this, I wished there was more stalls. 

It's sad that The Kazimier will be closing it's doors as a venue on New Year's Day 2016! It's due to redevelopment plans for the surrounding area. Reportedly the owners have been offered a new site within the new development plans but obviously it won't be the same as what it is now. It's a well known gig venue for many new & upcoming bands, & has lots of events all around the year. It's definitely a nice place to enjoy a drink or two in the summer! So it'll be sad for it to close. Hopefully I'll be able to visit it more within it's last 6 months!

Standing on a street corner while Gabby put her new earrings in.

Cropped Top - Fruit of the Loom, Amazon (Cut myself)

Necklace - New Look

Belt - Vintage

Lee Shorts - Vintage

I finally got myself a pair of vintage Levi shorts! I've been wanting a pair for years but I couldn't find a pair which was the right fit & colour! I found them in Pop Boutique on Bold Street which is a store that sells vintage clothes as well as their own label clothing. They have stores in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, London & Gothenburg Sweeden. They were £15 I then got student discount so they were only £13.50. Which is the cheapest as other vintage stores & Urban Outfitters are selling them for £25. I'm now on the hunt for Levi jeans! 

 Twitter || Instagram || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Google+ || Last.fm