New research has revealed that more people in the UK have been looking to get engaged over the past year than the twelve months prior.
Despite the fact that large and extravagant wedding celebrations have seemed like a thing of the past due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions of the past year, Google search data has shown that engagement-related searches have risen by 17.85% across the country to 3,897,680 between April 2020 and March 2021, which is an increase of just over 590,000.
From low-key private proposals, to giant gestures at massive public events and more, every engagement is a special moment, and every proposal has to happen somewhere – but where in the UK are the most people getting engaged?
Manchester is one of those places, apparently.
Online jewellery retailer, Jewellery Box, has determined “the UK’s engagement capitals” by comparing the number of engagement-related searches to the population in each city to discover the cities with the highest percentage of people interested in taking that next step and where you’re most likely to get engaged in 2021.
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According to the findings, around 7.35% of the Manchester population is looking to get engaged in 2021, which places the city at number 12 on the list of engagement capitals.
Visit Manchester | Unsplash / Alekon Pictures
Coming in at number one is the historic north eastern city of Durham, with 12.28% of a population of just under 100,000 searching for engagement related terms in the past twelve months, and other fellow northern cities Liverpool, Newcastle and Kingston Upon Hull have also landed a spot on the list.
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When it comes to the cities that have had the biggest rise in lockdown love, Manchester is sadly nowhere to be seen this time around.
Despite being one of the smaller cities in the country, St Albans has had by far the biggest increase in engagement related searches during the past year, from 1,620 searches to 3,880 during the past year.
There was a 29.95% increase in Preston, 25.05% in Wakefield, and 22.33% in Bradford.
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You can have a look at the full findings from the research into the UK’s most popular engagement cities on the Jewellery Box website.
Featured Image – Unsplash / Andre Jackson
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You can get half-price fish and chips for just £3.49 at all Morrisons cafes today
Emily Sergeant
Morrisons is giving hungry customers the chance to tuck into a hearty helping of fish and chips at half the price for just one day only today.
And it’s all to suitably celebrate National Fish and Chip Day.
A popular annual event in the British foodie calendar, National Fish and Chip Day falls on Friday 2 June this year, and to mark the special occasion, Morrisons has slashed the price of its usual chippy offering at hundreds of its in-store cafes nationwide.
The major supermarket has more than 400 cafes inside stores right across the UK, and the half-price food offer is believed to be available at all of them.
You can get half-price fish and chips for just £3.49 at all Morrisons cafes today / Credit: Morrisons
Adults can enjoy Fish, Chips and Peas for just £3.49, while the children‘s Mini Fish, Chips and Peas meal has also been reduced to £2.74.
Not a bad bargain at all, right?
The only catch is though, you’ll need to be signed-up to the supermarket‘s loyalty scheme and scan your Morrisons More card at the cafe checkout if you want to claim the half price offer.
There’s more than 400 in-store cafes at Morrisons stores across the UK / Credit: Ian Stratton (via Morrisons)
Morrisons’ half-price fish and chips offer also comes after it relaunched its popular ‘Ask for Henry’ initiative towards the end of April after a successful run when it was first introduced amid the rising cost of living crisis in 2022.
‘Ask for Henry’ saw the retailer team up with Heinz for scheme that’s aimed at helping those struggling with their finances get themselves a free hot meal.
Morrisons’ kids meal deal is also running at all cafes this May half term too.
Featured Image – Morrisons
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Eurovision costumes, props and instruments are being auctioned off – and it’s a mad collection
Daisy Jackson
Items from this year’s Eurovision Song Contest are being sold at auction this week, from iconic costumes to enormous props.
It means that fans of the massive event – this year held in Liverpool – will be able to snap up a permanent piece of Eurovision history.
Have you ever looked around your living room and thought ‘You know what this place really needs? Those giant purple hands that Kalush Orchestra danced on this year’?
Or ‘I hate this jumper. I wish a had a green one with a face on like those Daði Freyr Eurovision dancers’?
Or even ‘A set of fluffy pink and yellow heart-shaped cushions would really brighten the place up’?
Well now there’s an auction you might be interested in, with bids opening from just £5.
The original props, costumes, and even instruments are on sale now, until 11 June.
Kalush Orchestra’s hands are in the Eurovision auctionThe Daði Freyr jumpersCredit: BBC
You could be turning the actual lectern thing that Graham Norton and Hannah Waddingham stood behind for the results show into a cool bar, or decorating your pad with the drums used in Sam Ryder’s powerful performance.
The top bids currently, just a few days after the auction started, stand at £500 – that’s for the presenter’s lectern and for the Daði Freyr jumpers.
Someone else has bid a whopping £250 for a set of fluffy cushions.
There are more than 60 items available to buy, including parts of the set, which were designed by Julio Himede and unveiled by the King and Queen.
The BBC has reported that 20% of the money raised will go to two different charities, split between ACC Liverpool Foundation and BBC Media Action, with the remaining 80% going back to BBC Studios to fund programmes and services.
Sally Mills, head of sustainability at BBC Studios said: “Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, both on and off screen.
“We have a responsibility to operate with as minimal an impact on the environment as possible, and are always looking for innovative ways in which to further engage audiences with our content, and extend the life of our sets and costumes.
“What better way to do this than to give fans the opportunity to own a piece of Eurovision history?”
Emily Sergeant -
5th May 2021 
