And so, the end of another year has arrived, where do the years go? This year has brought many interesting events, so sit back and relax with a cuppa and a biscuit or 2 as we take back over the year.

The year began in the usual way with Big Ben chiming his bongs, A display of 12,000 fireworks and hundreds of drones filled the sky above the river Thames, as crowds of 100,000 gathered on the banks to watch the extravaganza. Those of us at home, watched these fireworks sandwiched between the New Year’s concert this year hosted by Rick Astley.

Of course, the fireworks in London followed those that had already occurred in the time zones to the east, for example at L ’Arc de Triomphe, France, and before that in Marina Bay, Dubai, and even earlier at the Sydney Opera House.

January

Don’t give up on us, baby
Don’t make the wrong seem right
The future isn’t just one night
It’s written in the moonlight
Painted on the stars
We can’t change ours

Lyrics by Tony Macaulay

We start our review of January in Estonia, where a law came into force on the 1^st that gave same-sex couples the right to marry. This makes Estonia the 36^th country in the world where same-sex couples can marry.

Following the happy news on New Year’s Day, we turn to an event that horrified us as we watched the news on the 2^nd. A Japan Airlines A350-900 aircraft collided with a Japan Coast Guard Dash 8 Aircraft on the Runway of Haneda Airport, Tokyo. The collision caused a huge fireball. All 379 people on the Japan Airlines flight were evacuated to safety, but 5 of the 6 on the coastguard plane were killed. The CCTV images of the collision will stay in the memory for a long time.

On the 3^rd of the month, the first big sporting win was secured by Luke Humphries as he won the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship, the first time that he had won the trophy.

We find our first celebrity death on the 4^th as David Soul did at the age of 80. David had a career that spanned 5 decades, rising to fame as Hutch in Starsky and Hutch in 1975, a role he would play until 1979. He also achieved a number 1 single – Don’t Give up on us. Through these 2 mediums his legacy will live on!

On the 5^th an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max9 lost a door section of its fuselage in midair. It had to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, luckily there were no major injuries reported. This incident caused the grounding of all 737 Max9 aircraft until the 24^{th of} January providing inspection processes had been completed and the aircraft had door plugs fitted.

It was also on the 5^th that South African former Paralympian athlete Oscar Pistorius was released from prison on parole having served 8.5 years for the murder of his then girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

As is always the case in January on the 7^th the 81^st Golden Globe Awards were held, this year the big winner was Oppenheimer, the film won 5 awards. Also, on the night Lily Gladstone became the first Indigenous women to win Best Actress for her performance in Killers of the Flower Moon.

Also, on the 7^th the football world lost the ‘Kaiser’ as he was known, Franz Beckenbauer at the age of 78. Widely regarded as one of the best footballers of all time, he is also one of 9 players who have won the:

• FIFA World Cup,
• European Champions Cup, and
• The Ballon D’Or.

Staying in the Sport world as Ronnie O’Sullivan won the Snooker Masters for the 8^th time on the 14^th of the month.

On the 18^th we turned our attention to Space as the European Space Agency probe Mars Express found huge deposits of dusty ice beneath the equator of Mars. This was the largest amount of water ice found near the planet’s equator!

The following day the JAXA Lunar probe SLIM achieved the first ever soft landing of a Japanese Spacecraft. This was a big event for the Japanese in their mission to land on the lunar surface.

On the 23^rd North Korea demolished the Arch of Reunification in Pyongyang as its leader Kim Jong Un ruled out peaceful reunification with its neighbour South Korea. The monument had opened in 2001 to commemorate reunification proposals put forward by Kim II Sung.

Over in America on the 25^th the state of Alabama executed convicted murderer Kenneth Smith using Nitrogen Hypoxia, the first time that this technique had been used!

The first tennis grand slam of the year, the Australian Open was won over the weekend of the 27^th and 28^th, firstly Aryna Sabalenka won competing under a neutral flag as she is Belarusian, and the following day Italian Jannik Sinner.

We end the month of January with environmental protestors who threw pumpkin soup over the Mona Lisa in the Louvre on the 28^th. This publicity stunt luckily did not affect the painting as it is protected by bullet proof glass and was therefore not damaged.

February

Who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler,
If you think we’re on the run?
We are the boys who will stop your little game.
We are the boys who will make you think again.
‘Cause who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler,
If you think old England’s done?

Lyrics by Tavener Perry

We start February in Northern Ireland, where on the 3^rd a power-sharing deal was brokered and saw Michelle O’Neill become the first Minister of Northern Ireland. It was the first time that an Irish Nationalist had held the position. As part of the deal, the Democratic Unionist Party’s Emma Little-Pengelly became the Deputy First Minister.

The following day saw the 66^th Annual Grammy Awards, and Miley Cyrus took the Record of the Year award for her 2023 single Flowers. The other big prize of the night went to Taylor Swift, who won the Album of the Year, Midnights. She took the opportunity to announce hr next album release The Tortured Poets Department, which was released on April 19th.

It was on the 5^th with that it was announced that King Charles III had been diagnosed Cancer, he would therefore be taking on less engagements to get the treatment that he needed.

On the 11^th Dad’s Army’s Pike, Ian Lavender died. Ian was the last surviving cast member of Dad’s Army. Although he was famous as Private Pike, Ian Lavender played other roles, including a small role in Keeping Up Appearances as the alarm salesperson, and in Goodnight Sweetheart where he played Gary’s grown-up son, Michael. He was also well known as the voice of PC Pinkerton for the BBC. Ian died at the age of 77.

On the same day, there were 2 Sporting wins in 2 different sports, In the African Cup of Nations saw the Côte d’Ivoire take the win beating Nigeria 2 – 1 in the final.

Over in America, Super Bowl LVIII took place and saw the Kansas City Chiefs win for the second consecutive year in a row, the first team to do so since 2005. This year the City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 25 – 22.

The radio world lost an absolute legend on the 12^th with the death of Steve Wright at the age 69. He was best known for his afternoon show on Radio 2 which ran for 23 years, he also hosted Steve Wright’s Sunday Love Songs for 28 years.

The early months of the year are always taken over by the glitz and glamour of awards ceremonies, The second one in February took place on the 18^th, the 77^th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs). This year, just like at the Golden Globes in January, Oppenheimer did very well and won 7 awards of the 13 it was nominated for. This is the biggest haul at any event!

On the 21^st Coronation Street fans mourned the loss of John Savident, who had played Fred Elliot for 12 years from 1994. He had an interesting career starring in classics such as A Clockwork Orange, Ghandi and Yes Minister. John died at the age of 86.

It was on the 22^nd that the first private company successfully landed a spacecraft on the surface of the moon. The Intuitive Machines Nova-C Lunar Lander Odysseus successfully landed near the lunar south Pole.

Staying with the wonderous worlds of our Solar System as 3 new moons were discovered on the 23^rd for the planets of Uranus and Neptune, the discovery has brought Uranus’ moons up to 28 from 27, and Neptune’s from 14 to 16. These moons were discovered using powerful land-based telescopes in Hawaii and Chile.

Our final event of February is the sad death of one of the Hairy Bikers, Dave Myers, who died on the 28^th. Dave sadly passed away at the age of 66. He will always be most famous for traveling the country on his bike for his cooking show with his TV partner Si as well as their online weight loss program: The Hairy Bikers Weight loss club. Dave also famously appeared on the Dancefloor in pursuit of the Glitterball trophy on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, sadly he did not win the show, but did get through to week 7.

March

I’ve been meaning to tell you
I’ve got this feelin’ that won’t subside
I look at you and I fantasize
You’re mine and tonight
Now I’ve got you in my sights

Franke Jon Previte/Franke Previte/John Denicola

In March we go with the news of the death TV’s Bullseye legend Tony Green who died at the age of 85. Not only was Green famous for Bullseye, but he was also the commentator for the BDO World Darts Championships from 1978 to 2016.

Each election cycle in the USA features Super Tuesday, this yar it took place on the 5^th. It is the that the most primaries take place to find the nominee for each party in the Election race later in the year. This year the primaries that took place were:

Both President Joe Biden and Donald Trump win their respective contests with one third of the delegates, although Nikki Haley beat Donald Trump in Vermont, and Joe Biden was beaten in American Samoa by Jason Palmer.

On the 7^th Sweden officially NATO, making the number of NATO allies 32.

Another awards ceremony took place on the 10^th, this time the 96^th Academy Awards. As with previous award ceremony Oppenheimer walks away with big prizes including Best Picture, Best Director, and the coveted Best Actor Award. The notable winner on the night was that of 20 Days in Mariupol, which focuses on the siege of the city of Mariupol, scooped the Best Documentary Oscar.

It was on the 11^th that we lost another musician in the form of Eric Carmen at the age of 74. He will be best remembered for Hungry Eyes. He was also lead vocalist of The Raspberries. As his music is played, Eric will live on.

In the Sport world on the 16^th, we see Ireland be victorious in the Rugby 6 Nations. Ireland won the trophy for the 16^th time, and only lost once on the way to doing so.

Over in Russia, the results of their election were announced on the 17^th. The election result returned President Putin back to power, and this term will be making him the second longest serving President of Russia behind the 30-yar term of Stalin. He won the election with a total of 87% of the vote, although external observers have noted he had no real opposition.

In the same day as the election results, Steve Harley died at the age of 73. Steve was the front man of the band Steve Harley and the Cockney Rebel Band, and their most famous hit was “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me), their only number 1, although they did have a further 6 UK hit singles.

Also on the 17^th, Bai Yulu won the World Women’s Snooker Championship in Dongguan, China. Bai beat Mink Nutcharut of Thailand 6 frames to 5 in the final in her home country.

On the 20^th Leo Varadkar announced his resignation as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael, which triggered a leadership election. Varadkar remained as Taoiseach until his successor as party leader was elected, on the 24^{th of} March. Varadkar’s successor was Irish education minister Simon Harris. At the age of 37, Harris became Ireland’s youngest ever Taoiseach upon taking office.

There was more sad news for the Royal Family on the 22^nd Catherine, Princess of Wales announced that she had been diagnosed with Cancer following her recent abdominal surgery. She would then take time to get the treatment and chemotherapy that she needed throughout the year. Catherine was hardly seen in the public eye throughout 2024.

Following a strike by the container ship, Dali, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland collapsed on the 26^th. The collapse caused multiple vehicles to fall into the water below. After the collapse, President Biden announced that the Federal Government would pay for the full cost of the bridge to be repaired.

Staying on the water, this year’s Boat Race took place on the 30th, and saw Cambridge beat Oxford in both the men’s and women’s races. It means that the Cambridge men lead Oxford in the all-time standings 87 wins to 81, with the Cambridge women winning 48 to 30 race wins.

April

On the second day of the month, sadness fell as we heard of the sad news coming out of Istanbul. At least 29 people were killed and 8 injured when a fire engulfed Istanbul’s underground Masquerade nightclub during daytime renovation work. The Turkish local authorities blamed an accident during the work, but also stated that there had been no application for works at the night club! The fire broke out 12:47 p.m. (0947 GMT) in the Gayrettepe district of Istanbul.

On the 7^th Joe Kinnear died at the age of 77. During his 10-year playing career, he played for Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton and Hove Albion, winning 5 trophies along the way, and being capped by his country 26 times. He went on to manage India, Napal as well as Doncaster Rovers, Wimbledon, Luton Town, Nottingham Forest, and Newcastle United. Joe Kinnear will long be remembered by football fans across the country.

Over in North America on the 8^th, there was great excitement for the Solar eclipse that was witnessed by 30 million people across 15 States from Texas to Maine. It was the first time that the total eclipse had been seen in the States since 2017 and will not be seen again until 2044. The view was greeted by wonderment and emotional scenes along the path of the eclipse.

Back on shores, attentions turned to Liverpool and the hallowed turf of Aintree, as once again the most famous horse race took place. The Grand National this year was won by French Horse I Am Maximus, trained and rode by the Irish pair of Willie Mullins and Paul Townend. The horse was the 7/1 joint favourite for the race and is already at 16/1 for next year’s race.

On the 16^th, The European Space Agency announced that their Gaia mission had found the second-largest black hole in the Milky Way and is only 2,000 light years away from Earth.

We turn to the pop world for the release of Taylor Swift’s latest album on the 19^th, The Tortured Poets Department. This Double Album broke the record for streams in a day on Spotify (313,747,178), Swift had already held the number 1 and 2 spot in that record before this album! Taylor now holds the record of the most streamed artist in a single day!

Every April, Hundreds of thousands of people line up on the streets to raise money for charities close to their hearts. This year was no different as the London Marathon took place on the 21^st. The marathon was the 44th to take place, with a world record 578,374 applications to take part in a ballot! The winners this year were:

Kenyan Alexander Mutiso (Men) 02:04:01
Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir (Women) 02:16:16

Suisse Marcel Hug (Wheelchair Men) 01:28:35
Suisse Catherine Debrunner (Wheelchair Female) 01:38:54.

On the 23^rd a prominent figure in our Safeguarding Course Den passed away. Frank Field, Baron Field of Birkenhead died at the age of 81. Back in 2010 Field had written, The Foundation Years: Preventing Poor Children Becoming Poor Adults. This was a review by the UK Government on Poverty and Life Chances which he headed up. In the report Field argues for an expansion of provision for children in their early years and a downgrading of efforts to reduce income poverty.

On the 25^th the start of the end for the second shortest serving first minister of Scotland began, as the coalition between the Scottish Nationalist Party and Scottish Greens collapsed. As Humza Yousaf announced his intention for his party to continue as a minority the Scottish Conservatives called a no confidence cote against him. It was 4-days later that Humza Yousaf announced that he would resign from office and started the process of a leadership contest to replace him leader and first Minister.

After all the trials and tribulations of not having a home rink due to the flood back in September, our Swindon Wildcats qualified for the Coventry Final 4 weekend, for the first time in several seasons. Sadly, it was not to be any more than a Semi-final for the boys, as they lost to Leeds Knights 7-3. It was Peterborough Phantoms who went on to win the trophy that weekend, with the Streatham RedHawks winning the NIHL1 Playoffs.

Also, on the 27^th in the sport world, The Women’s 6 Nations ended with a win for the England Red Roses.

May

Welcome to the show,
let everybody know
I’m done playin’ the game, 
I’ll break out of the chains
You better buckle up,
I’ll pour another cup
This is my bohème, so drink it up, my friend

Lasse Nymann/Benjamin Alasu/Tom Oehler/Nemo (CHE)/Wojciech Kostrzewa/NYLAN

We start May on the 6^th firstly with a new Snooker World Champion, Kyren Wilson who beat Jak Jones 18 frames to 14 in the final.

On the same day, it was all change up in Scotland as the Scottish National Party got a new leader in the form of John Swinney following the resignation of Humza Yousaf. It was not until the following day that Mr Swinney took the role as First Minister following a vote in the Scottish Parliament to confirm his appointment. He was elected with 64 votes in favour and 7 astentions.

Excitement started to build in France, as the ship Belem arrived in Marseille carrying the Olympic Flame, ready for the torch relay to begin across France for this year’s Olympics. The ship docked on the 8^th.

Who knew that the Eurovision Song Contest could be so controversial?! This year there were 2 controversies! The first saw the Dutch act Joost Klein disqualified over verbal threats, which Swedish authorities investigated. This is the first disqualification in the history of the event. The second controversy was from Norway, as their announcer Alessandra Mele withdrew from announcing the results of their vote whilst declaring her support for Palestine in the ongoing war. And, after all that there was still a competition to be won, and that went to Switzerland and their act Nemo who sang The Code, and so the Contest moves to Switzerland for 2025’s show.

This year saw our first Charity of the Year end, with our first ever Charity Quiz night. What a night of fun, music, and questions we had, and we were pleased to be joined by Jo and Hannah from Julia’s House who gleefully joined in with the quiz. We are really looking forward to 2025 and our next Charity quiz.

On the 17^th Scientists using The James Webb Space Telescope discovered the earliest known merger of black holes. The two gigantic black holes and their galaxies consolidated just 740 million years after the universe-forming Big Bang. This discovery is the most distant detection ever made of merging black holes. Scientists believe that one black hole is 50 million times bigger than our sun, and the other is thought to be similar in size although being buried in dense gas makes it hard to measure. Until this discovery, astronomers were not sure how supermassive black holes got so big.

2 big days in the politics of our country started on the 22^nd as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that he called a General Election for the 4^{th of} July. This announcement saw record number of his MPs stand down at the election, on the 24^th. Meanwhile on the other side of our politics, former Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn was expelled from his party and confirmed that he would stand as an independent candidate.

As always in May, there are 2 big motor races that take place on the same day. This year the date was the 26^th, the races are 2 of the Triple Crown of Motorsport. First up in the day was the Jewel in the Crown, the Monaco Grand Prix, won by local hero Monégasque Charles LeClerc in his Ferrari. Just hours later at the Yard of Bricks, Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden won the Indianapolis 500.

Staying in the United States on May the 30^th as Former President Donald J Trump made history by becoming the first U.S. President to be convicted of a crime. He was found guilty by a jury on all 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records.

June

Giant steps are what you take
Walking on the moon
I hope my leg don’t break
Walking on the moon
We could walk forever
Walking on the moon
We could live together
Walking on, walking on the moon

Lyrics by Gordon Sumner

The review of June, begins and ends with China and their Chang’e 6 lunar exploration mission, which successfully landed on the far side of the moon. This was the sixth mission to go to the moon and collect samples, yet the first to go to the far side of the moon. The lander’s robotic scoop and drill took samples with a total mass of 1,935.3 grams from the lunar surface. The robotic lander landed on the 1^st of the month, taking off from the surface of the moon on the 4^th to head home. On the 25^th the lunar module landed on Plane Earth complete with its rock and soil samples taken from the far side of the moon.

We heed back to the 2^nd where we find the death of Rob Burrow and Harold Snoad.

Rob Burrow played his entire rugby career for Leeds Rhinos where he made nearly 500 appearances. Rob played as a Scrum half or hooker. He was only 5ft 5 and weighed 66kg, being known for many years as the smallest player in the league. He was however one of the most successful players in the history of the Super League, winning:

• 8 Super League championships,
• 2 Challenge Cups,
• 2 Harry Sunderland Trophies, and
• 3 Times named in the Super League Dream Team, on three occasions.

Rob was diagnosed in December 2019 with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and went on to raise awareness of this disease, being made a CBE in 2024. Sadly, he lost his fight with MND on the 2^{nd of} June.

Also, sadly dying on the 2^nd of June was Harold Snoad. Harold was a man who had an incredible talent for writing, directing, and producing television. One of his most famous works was Keeping Up Appearances starring Patricia Routledge as the eccentric and snobbish middle-class social climber, Hyacinth Bucket. His other notable work includes Dad’s Army, Ever decreasing Circles and Don’t Wait Up.

On the 3^rd Nigel Farage declared that he would be standing in the General Election, having previously stated that he would just do his bit for the cause. In his announcement speech he announces that he would also be taking the Leadership of Reform UK for the next 5 years. Nigel Farage has stood for election 7 times and never won a sit!

Dr Michael Mosley went missing on the 5^th on the Greek island of Symi, his body was found 4 days later approximately 2 miles away from where he was staying. Dr Michael Mosley was famous for presenting television shows on biology and medicine. He promoted intermittent fasting, and he was also a low-carbohydrate diet advocate, in the form of the 5:2 diet and the fast 800 diet.

On the weekend of the 8^th and 9^th the finals of the French Open took place. This year the winners were:

Men’s: Carlos Alcarez (Spain)
Doubles: Marcelo Arévalo (El Salvador)/Mate Pavić (Croatia)

Women’s: Iga Świątek (Poland)
Doubles: Coco Gauff (USA)/Kateřina Siniaková (Czechia)

Wheelchair Men’s: Tokito Oda (Japan)
Doubles: Alfie Hewitt (UK)/Gordon Reid (UK)

Wheelchair Women’s: Diede De Groot (Netherlands)
Doubles: Diede de Groot (Netherlands)/Aniek van Koot (Netherlands)

Staying in the sport world, where on the 15^th we find the death of Kevin Campbell. Kevin was a striker in football and died at the age of just 54. During his career he played for Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Everton, and West Bromwich Albion along with Championship sides. His former club Everton described him as ‘not just a true Goodison Park hero and icon of the English game, but an incredible person as well.’

The 3^rd of the Triple Crown of Motorsport took place on the 15^th and 16^th. The annual 24 hours of Le Mans was won this year by:
Antonio Fuoco (Italy), Miguel Molina (Spain) & Nicklas Nielsen (Denmark)
racing in the Ferrari AF Corse. The LMP2 winners were:
Bijoy Garg (USA), Oliver Jarvis (UK) & Nolan Siegel (USA)
driving the United Autosport’s car. LMP3 winners were:
Richard Lietz (Austria), Morris Schuring (Netherlands) & Yasser Shahin (Australia)
driving in the Italian Manthey EMA.

For 2 days Just Stop Oil protestors hit the news, first on the 19^th as they were arrested for damaging 3 standing stones of Stonehenge, thankfully the orange paint that was used was all blown and cleaned off the following leaving no damage.

On the 20^th their protestors filmed themselves cutting through a metal fence at Stansted and spraying orange paint onto 2 private jets. Both were arrested for criminal damage.

In happy news for the zoological world, on the 24^th The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland reported that Scottish Wildcat kittens had been born in the Cairngorms National Park, in what was described as a ‘major milestone’ for the conservation of the critically endangered animals.

After years of being sought by the American justice system, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was freed on the 25^th to return to Australia, having enter a plea deal on the 24^th that saw him found guilty of 1 federal charge. This saw the end of the saga of Julian Assange.

On the 30^th, Disney Pixar’s Inside Out 2 surpassed $1 billion in worldwide box office earnings in less than 3 weeks. This is the fastest any animated film has made this milestone!

July

Snooker loopy nuts are we
Me and him and them and me
We’ll show you what we can do
With a load of balls and a snooker cue

Charles Hodges / David Peacock

July started with the end of the Lucy Letby retrial, in which she was found guilty of attempting to kill a premature baby girl referring only as Baby K. This follows her conviction in 2023 of 7 baby murders and the attempted murder of 6 others. She is serving a life sentence, with a life order attached to it.

The General Election of the UK took place on the 4^th, and saw a Labour take 412 seats compared to just 121 seats to the Conservatives. On the 5^th, Rishi Sunak, the 5^th consecutive Conservative Prime Minister, conceded defeat, leaving Sir Kier Starmer to become the first Labour Prime Minister in 14 years. There were some notable events around the General Election, which included, former Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn being re-elected as an independent candidate, and Nigel Farage, finally being elected after 7 previous failed attempts. On the Conservative side, former Prime Minister Liz Truss lost her seat and became the first former Prime Minister in over a century to lose their seat. In announcing his Cabinet, Kier Starmer appointed Rachel Reeves as his Chancellor of the Exchequer, the first time a female has held this post.

On the 6^th Roberta Taylor died at the age of 76. Whilst her name may not be instantly recognised, Roberta was a star of Television shows like The Bill, (Inspector Gina Gold), and Eastenders (Irene Raymond). Whilst she has played other parts on television, she has also authored a novel, The Reinvention of Ivy Brown and a Memoir of her childhood, Too Many Mothers.

Over in America, 4 volunteer NASA crew members ended a 378-day Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog mission which was designed to simulate living on Mars. The mission took place at Johnson Space Center in Houston and ended on the 7^th.

Staying in America, as the 13th saw Thomas Matthew Crooks fire shots into a Trump rally from a position outside of the venue Donald Trump was giving a speech at. This assassination attempt resulted in Trump being injured with blood coming from his right ear, the shooter Crooks dead as well as a rally attendee, with 2 others wounded.

2 sporting events ended on the 14^{th of} July, the first was the summer of football, the Euros held in Germany. After a slow start in the group stages, England managed to get through to the final where they lost to Spain 2 goals to 1.

He other sporting event to end was on home soil as the annual Wimbledon Tennis Championships took place with the men’s final on the 14^th and the Women’s the day before. The winners were:

Men’s: Carlos Alcarez (Spain)
Doubles: Harri Heliövaara (Finland) /Henry Patten (UK)

Women’s: Barbora Krejčíková (Czechia)
Doubles: Kateřina Siniaková (Czechia)/Taylor Townsend (USA)

Wheelchair Men’s: Alfie Hewitt (UK)/
Doubles: Yui Kamiji (Japan)/Kgothatso Montjane (South Africa)

Wheelchair Women’s: Diede De Groot (Netherlands)
Doubles: Diede de Groot (Netherlands)/Aniek van Koot (Netherlands)

2024 really was the year of change in politics across the home nations, 6 weeks before the 16^th, Vaughan Gething lost a vote of No confidence in the Senedd, it was on this date that he resigned as First Minister of Wales.

On the 19^th the snooker world said goodbye to Ray Reardon at the age of 91. Ray was nicknamed Dracula because of his dark widow’s peak and prominent eye teeth. On the baize Ray achieved 5 World titles and reached Number 1 in the World.

Back in America, President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 Presidential Election and his opportunity to be re-elected. He endorsed his Vice-President, Kamala Harris to become his party’s choice, which she did. This left the path open for a Harris Vs Trump battle until the Election in November.

On the same day, the Tour de France ended in Nice as opposed to Paris as is traditional due to the Olympics taking place there. The winners of the jerseys were:

General Classification (Yellow) – Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia),
Mountains Classification (Polka Dot) – Richard Carapaz (Ecuador)
Points Classification (Green) – Biniam Girmay (Eritrea)
Young Rider Classification (White) – Remco Evenepoel (Belguim).

Gladiators returned to the TV in January, and back into the news on the 28^th as the original referee John Anderson died at the age of 92. He will always be famous for his catchphrase ‘Contenders READY, Gladiators READY, 3…2…1…GO’ He was also a coach and teacher in his career.

On the 29^th horror once again came to the streets of the UK, as 3 children:
Bebe King, (6),
Elsie Dot Stancombe, (7), and
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, (9)
were killed along with another 10 who were stabbed whilst attending a Taylor Swift inspired Dance class in Southport. Axel Rudakubana, 17 at the time was accused of this crime, and is due to face the courts in January 2025. These stabbings resulted in misinformation being put into society and a summer of unrest and riots began.

Olympics

The 33^rd Olympiad took place this summer, with 10,714 athletes representing 204 nations/teams across 32 sports. Team GB sent a delegation of 327 athletes which included 172 women and 155 men and featured 73 medallists from previous Games. The Olympics made history as the for the first time there were more women athletes than men taking part. The summer of sport in Paris has made history and there are moments we will not forget, for example Tom Pidcock taking the lead in the Mountain Bike, and Alex Yee coming from a long way back to win the Triathlon.

The flag bearers for Team GB were:

Opening Ceremony: Tom Daley and Helen Glover.

Closing Ceremony: Bryony Page and Alex Yee

TEAM GB MEDALISTS:

August

It’s coming home, it’s coming home
It’s coming, Football’s coming home
It’s coming home, it’s coming home
It’s coming, Football’s coming home

David Baddiel/Frank Skinner/Ian Broudie

August began with the sad news of Football manager Craig Shakespeare’s death at the age of 60, on the 1^st. Craig was an attacking midfielder during his playing career scoring 68 goals in 525 appearances across several clubs. He is most famous for his spell in charge of Leicester City.

Another death in the sport world on the 4^th as Graham Thorpe died. Graham was a cricketer who played for Surrey and England, playing 100 test matches and 82 ODI’s. He represented his country at the 1996 and 1999 World Cups and deputised as Captain on 3 occasions. He was a left-handed middle order batsman and was a 1 team man only playing for Surrey.

On the 12^th Scientists announced that they had discovered a reservoir of liquid water on Mars deep within the rocky out crust of the red planet. The findings are thanks to NASA’s Mars Insight Lander which landed on the planet in 2018. The lander carried a seismometer, recording 4 years of vibrations, from the analysis of these quakes and how the planet moves has revealed ‘seismic signals’ of liquid water.

A week later the 19^th the then World’s oldest known living person Maria Branyas died at the age of 117 years and 168 days. The title of the World’s oldest known living person passed on to Tomiko Itooka, who on New Years Eve 2024 was 116 years 7 months and 9 days.

August ended with another death of a football manager, former England Boss Sven Goren Erikson. Sven managed England from 2001 until 2006, upon taking the role he became the first foreign manager of the England National team. Of the 67 games he managed he won 40 of them giving him a win percentage of 59.70. Earlier in the year, he was given the pleasure of his life-long dream which was to manage Liverpool Fc at Anfield. This honour was given to him during a legends friendly game.

Paralympics

The 17^th Summer Paralympic games took place this summer, from 28 August 2024 – 8 September 2024 with 4463 athletes representing 170 nations/teams across 22 sports. Paralympics GB sent consisted of 215 athletes (116 men and 99 Women). Paralympics GB ended the games in second place in the medal table.

The flag bearers for Paralympics GB were:

Opening Ceremony: Terry Bywater and Lucy Shuker.

Closing Ceremony: Matt Bush and Poppy Maskill.

PARALYMPICS GB MEDALISTS:

October

Written in these walls are the stories that I can’t explain
I leave my heart open but it stays right here empty for days
She told me in the morning she don’t feel the same about us in her bones
It seems to me that when I die, these words will be written on my stone

Harry Edward Styles/Jamie Scott Baylin/John Henry Ryan/Julian Collin Bunetta /Liam James Payne/Louis William Tomlinson/Niall James Horan/Zain Javadd Malik

The Wimbledon Championships organisers announced on the 9^th that from the 2025 tournament and beyond they will be replacing line judges with an electronic line judge system. This decision ends a 147-year tradition at the championships.

We return to Scotland as Former First Minister Alex Salmond died on the 12^th. Having led the Scottish Nationalist Party from 1990 to 2000 and then again from 2004 to 2014. In his second spell he became First Minister thanks to a confidence and supply agreement with the Scottish Greens having led his party to first in the polls by 1 seat. He also served as the Party Leader of the Alba Party from 2021 until his death.

It was on the 13^th that SpaceX completed the 5^th test flight of the Starship spaceship. This test was notable as the rocket booster was caught in the arms of the launch tower, at Starbase, Texas. The Spaceship landed in the Indian Ocean.

The music world was rocked on the 16^th with the news of the death of One Direction star Liam Payne. News broke that Liam fallen from a balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Liam is famous as one fifth of the pop band One Direction that rose to fame as part of the X Factor in 2010.

In another announcement by the Government that involves a ban, they announced on the 24^th that the sale of single use vapes will be banned in England and Wales from June the 1^st 2025.

The Annual announcement of the Ballon d’Or was made on the 28^th and the winners were both Spanish, the Ballon d’Or Féminin went to Aitana Bonmati, while the Male winner was Rodri.

November

We can’t go on
Pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of God’s great big family
And the truth, you know, love is all we need

Lionel Richie/Michael Jackson

Following the General Election defeat and resignation of Conservative Leader, Rishi Sunak, the party held a Leadership contest, which ended with the results being announced on the 2^nd. The New leader of the Opposition and the Conservative party was announced as Kemi Badenoch.

It was on the 3^rd that more sad news came for the music world with the death of Quincy Jones. Quincy was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. He had a successful 7-decade career, in which he received many accolades and awards including 28 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. He was also nominated for 7 Academy Awards and 4 Golden Globe Awards. He will be best remembered as the man behind 3 of the most successful albums of Michael Jackson, Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. He also produced and conducted the Charity song, We are the World in 1985 to raise funds for the Famine in Ethiopia.

Over in the America, the big story of the year ended on the 6^th with the results of the US 2024 Presidential Election. The result saw former President Donald Trump become the 47^th President, with JD Vance elected the 50^th Vice-President. President Trump on his inauguration will become the first person since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to serve non-consecutive Presidential terms. Trump also became the eldest President-Elect in the country’s history. Trump is also the first convicted Felon to be elected. Vice-President-Elect Vance is the first Millennial to be elected. Out-going President Biden, and Vice-President Kamala Harris insist there will be a peaceful hand over of power.

The entertainment world saw the death of Timothy West on the 12^th. Timothy played a wide range of roles across stage and television. He had the ability to have the audience believe each and every role he played. He had a long 7-decade career and was appointed a CBE in 1984.

A study published in The Lancet on the 14^th reported that the number of adults who have been diagnosed with diabetes globally has increased to 800 million people in 2022 from 200 million in 1990. The report also stated that worryingly 40% of adults are not receiving treatment for the disease.

On the 25^th, British Businessman Eddie Stobart died at the age of 95. It was back in the 1940s that Eddie started an agriculture business, which became Eddie Stobart Ltd in 1970, which then expanded into the haulage company we all know and instantly recognise on the roads today. The Stobart fleet are unique in that they name their lorries, and this has spawned thousands of Stobart Spotters!

Also, on the 25^th a DHL Boeing 737-400F cargo plane being operated by Swiftair crashed into the ground as it came into land at Lithuania’s Vilnius airport. The Accident killed one person and injured 3 others, No one on the ground was injured. The German foreign minister said it could be an accident or a hybrid attack in volatile times.

December

Say, can you see
By the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed
At the twilight’s last gleaming?

 David Martin Frank/Francis Scott Key/John Stafford Smith

We start December with 2 stories in the snooker world. We will start with the positive news, and that is that the first of the Snooker Triple Crown events was won on the 1^st by Judd Trump who became the UK Championship winner. He beat Barry Hawkins 10 frames to 8, and in doing so ended his 13 year wait for his second UK Championship title.

Sadly, a legend of the game died on the 1^st, and that was Terry Griffiths, a player, coach, and pundit. Terry died at the age of 77. He was the World Champion in 1979 and went on to complete the Triple crown by winning the Masters in 1980 and the UK Championship in 1982. He reached Number 1 in the world. He has coached players like Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams, and Ding Junhui amongst others. Terry really was a legend of the sport.

Over in Ireland a snap election took place with the results being announced on the 2^nd. Fianna Fáil remained the largest party increasing their seats to 48., Fine Gael, Governing partner of Fianna Fáil won 38 seats meaning they have a combined 86 seats, but 2 shy of a majority.

Over in America, The CEO of American health insurance company, UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson was assassinated by a masked gunman while attending his company’s business conference in Manhattan on the 4^th.It began a manhunt which lasts a week.

Following days of insurgency in Syria, it was on the 8^th that President Bashar al-Assad escaped Syria on a flight from Damascus International Airport to Moscow. Russia announced that he had been granted asylum. Senior Syrian Government officials commenced talks with the Syrian opposition and prepared to defect. The Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali stated he would not leave Syria and committed to a peaceful transition of power to the Syrian opposition. He also called on rebel forces to not damage state institutions in Damascus nor harm civilians.

Finally, on the 8^th Notre-Dame cathedral in Île de la Cité, Paris, reopened, holding its first public mass, 5 years after a structural fire damaged the building and destroyed the spire. French President Emmanuel Macron and dozens of world leaders attended the reopening ceremony.

Days after attempting to impose martial law South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached by the National Assembly on the 14th.

This year the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year show was again moved to a weeknight as opposed to the traditional Sunday evening. The evening of the 17^th was a celebration of the year in sport, an opportunity to mark the passing of the sporting stars that have left us this year and to celebrate the achievements of those in the sporting world. The awards of the night went to: 

Sports Personality of the Year:
(Public vote)

1st Place – Keeley Hodgkinson,
2nd Place – Luke Littler,
3rd Place – Joe Root.

Helen Rollason Award:

Dr. Mark Prince

Coach of the Year:

Trevor Painter and Jenny Meadows

Team of the Year:

Wigan Warriors

Young Sports Personality of the Year:

Luke Littler

Lifetime Achievement:

Sir Mark Cavendish

Unsung Hero:

Jean Paton

World Sport Star:

Armand Duplantis

Just months after taking over a Taoiseach Simon Harris resigned to President Michael D Higgins on the 18^th.

Terror returned to the streets of Europe on the20^th as 5 people are killed and at least 235 others are injured in a vehicle ram attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany. The suspected attacker was arrested at the scene.

There was sad news on Christmas Day with the news of the crash landing of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243. The flight had taken off from Baku, Azerbaijan and was severely damaged in a believed anti-aircraft missile during its approach to Grozny, after it had attempted to divert, the plane eventually crashed near Aktau International Airport, Kazakhstan. Onboard the plane were 62 passengers and 5 crew on board, of those 67 people, 38 died in the accident, including both pilots and a flight attendant, while 29 people survived with injuries. It was later reported that the Russian air defence system had hit the plane. On the 27^th President Putin apologised to President Ilham Aliyev, for the ‘tragic incident’ in Russian airspace, stating Ukrainian drones had been targeting Grozny at the time and that Russian air defences had repelled these attacks, Putin did not confirm that the flight had been shot down or acknowledge Russian responsibility. On the 29^th, President Aliyev said Russia had accidentally shot down the plane, he then accused Russia of attempting to obfuscate and ‘hush up’ the crash, demanding a full admission of guilt, and punishment for those responsible, as well as requesting compensation for the victims.

Christmas Day saw the annual address from His Majesty the King, did you miss it? Here it is for you to watch:

Along with the King, came the annual animated adaptation of a Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler books. This year saw Tiddler tell his stories in a full action animation, with famous voices including Hannah Waddingham and Rob Brydon. Tiddler became the 12^th book to be adapted by Magic Light Films since 2009.

As if Tiddler was not enough animated television for children and adults on Christmas Day, the return of everyone’s favourite Penguin villain, Feathers McGraw came in the early evening along with Wallace and Gromit. We will not provide any plotline spoilers in case you have not seen it yet, but 8.5 million enjoyed this, the first without Peter Sellers voicing Wallace.

Across Christmas Day and Boxing Day, 2 BBC comedies returned to the screens, The first was the long-awaited Gavin and Stacey, after the cliff hanger of 2019 – Did Smithy Say yes? Again, no spoilers here, but 90 minutes of rollercoaster action and laughs kept the country on their toes of what would come next. Creators James Cordon and Ruth Jones have said that this is the finale of the sitcom.

Boxing Day saw our screens return to the Brockman family, to see how the family are getting on, 8 years after the last instalment seeing the cast of children now all grown up, having fled the family home, and parents Pete and Sue having moved house. Whilst this episode is a little different due to the ag of the cast, it still entertained 3.6 million viewers. We think it is worth a watch if you have not yet. Again, there are no spoilers in our review of the year.

Boxing Day saw the second impeachment of a South Korean President in the matter of weeks. Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck Soo was impeached as he refused appoint constitutional Court Judges put forward by the opposition, the thinking being that he was preventing the action on former President Yoon Suk Yeol. The current Acting President is Choi Sang-Mok.

The 29^th saw another plane disaster, this time the Jeju Air Flight 2216, which had taken off from Bangkok heading to Muan International Airport, South Korea. At the time of writing the accident is still being investigated. The crash killed 179 people and injured 2 surviving crew members. It is believed that there was a bird strike. The plane took to the runway with no landing gear and slid into a concrete barrier bursting into flames.

It was also on the 29^th that the 39^th President of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter died at the age of 100. Jimmy Carter was President from 1977 (at the age of 52) until 1981 serving 1 term in the White House. Jimmy’s real name was James Earl Carter, and he was born on the 1^st October 1924. He set up the Carter Center after he left the White House and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Former President Jimmy Carter was the longest-Lived President and the first to reach the age of 100. Upon his death he had lived 43 years and 344 days since he left the White House.

Nobel Prizes

This years Nobel Prizes were awarded to:

Chemistry

David Baker
For computational protein design

Demis Hassabis
John Jumper
For protein structure prediction

Economic Sciences

Daron Acemoglu
Simon Johnson
James A. Robinson
For studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity

Literature

Han Kang
H

For her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life

Peace

 Nihon Hidankyo
H

For their activism against nuclear weapons

Physics

John J. Hopfield
Geoffrey Hinton

For foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.

Physiology or Medicince

Victor Ambros
Gary Ruvkun
G
For the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation

There were 3 big stories that raged throughout 2024, all of which have hang overs from previous years. These are:

• The Ukraine invasion,
• The war in Gaza, and
• The migration of people in small boats across the English channel.

And finally….

As 2024 draws to a close, we hope that you have enjoyed our review of the year, and look forward to helping you stay safe as we go into another new year. However, you are celebrating the new year tonight, stay safe and look after those around you.