https://ellailes.journoportfolio.comRSS Feed for Ella IlesenFri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0100https://www.swlondoner.co.uk/news/10072026-uk-students-shift-towards-apprenticeships-as-university-applications-changeUCAS, Department for Education and apprenticeship statistics reveal changing trends in how young people enter higher education and the workforce. Young people are increasingly choosing apprenticeships alongside, and in some cases instead of, traditional university degrees as rising tuition fees and growing demand for skilled workers reshape post-18 education choices. Official figures show 564,940 students were accepted onto university courses in 2024, up from 554,465 in 2023, according to...Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0100https://www.swlondoner.co.uk/news/10072026-uk-students-shift-towards-apprenticeships-as-university-applications-changehttps://open.substack.com/pub/ellailes/p/dining-alone-is-the-new-chic-in-londonand?r=25cvru&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewerThere’s a particular moment that feels louder than it should be: when the host asks, “Just one?”It happens quickly, almost reflexively, but in that pause between being led to a table and sitting down, London feels like it tilts slightly. Couples lean in over wine glasses, friends argue gently over menus, and somewhere in the middle of it all, there’s a table for one.Except these days, the table for one doesn’t feel quite as exposed as it once might have.On a weekday evening in central London, th...Wed, 08 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0100https://open.substack.com/pub/ellailes/p/dining-alone-is-the-new-chic-in-londonand?r=25cvru&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewerhttps://swlondoner.shorthandstories.com/living-abroad-post-covid-19/index.htmlI’ve lived as an expatriate for as long as I can remember. My mother set the pattern before I was even born — leaving her hometown at seventeen and stepping into a life that would never again be defined by a single country. South America, Africa, Japan, India — to put it simply, my world was the world. I grew up believing borders were suggestions, not limits, and that life was meant to be lived in motion. My parents spent a decade in the Solomon Isla...Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0100https://swlondoner.shorthandstories.com/living-abroad-post-covid-19/index.htmlhttps://toby393.substack.com/p/dont-mean-a-thing-if-it-aint-gotBattersea Jazz Festival will return in full swing, bringing 10 days of live jazz to venues across Battersea, Clapham and Wandsworth from Wednesday 3 June-Saturday 13 June.The festival, now in its fifth year, has become a staple of South London’s cultural calendar, drawing audiences from across the capital with its mix of swing, bebop, contemporary jazz, and late‑night jam sessions with national and international performers, emerging talent, and community‑focused programming.This year’s festival...Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 +0100https://toby393.substack.com/p/dont-mean-a-thing-if-it-aint-gothttps://substack.com/@ellailes/note/p-199520675?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=25cvruAfter 5 months abroad, I thought I was ready to come home. 15 planes, 4 countries and plenty of time to miss home.I’d spent 3 months weaving in and out of night markets, adjusting to a new way of life in Taiwan, conversing in a language so different to my own and trying to make a new life for myself (albeit for a short while), from scratch. These months not only did I spend getting lost in places I couldn't quite pronounce, eating alone more times than I can count but I cried in foreign bathroom...Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 +0100https://substack.com/@ellailes/note/p-199520675?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=25cvruhttps://www.swlondoner.co.uk/news/11112025-kingston-siblings-set-for-snowdon-challenge-to-raise-rare-brain-disorder-awarenessA Kingston brother and sister who featured in a viral TikTok moment which captured hearts around the world are preparing to climb Mount Snowdon to raise awareness for her rare brain disorder. Finn Candy-Waters, 21, is taking on the Snowdon climb next June to honour his 16-year-old sister, Aggie, who lives with Hypomyelination with Atrophy of the Basal Ganglia and Cerebellum (H-ABC). H-ABC is a degenerative condition so rare that fewer than 200 cases have ever been recorded worldwide, and C...Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://www.swlondoner.co.uk/news/11112025-kingston-siblings-set-for-snowdon-challenge-to-raise-rare-brain-disorder-awareness