Summary

Live Reporting

Edited by Emily McGarvey

  1. Hello, it's me

    A yellow banner with the number '19' and lilac circle pattern on the right
    An older woman with white hair recreates Adele's 21 album. The original cover (L) is black and white and features Adele wearing a black top leaning her head on her hand. In the second version (R), the older woman is wearing a black top and using her right hand to brush back her hair. The text reads "Teresa 76" instead of "Adele 21"BCP Council

    Teresa Clarke, 76, was chosen to recreate the artwork for one of Adele's world-renowned albums

    Now for some iconic album covers like you've never seen them before...

    In October, a group of pensioners in Dorset chose the most awesome way to challenge negative stereotypes around ageing by recreating some of music's most recognisable album covers, including Adele and David Bowie's.

    An older man recreates David Bowie's album cover for Aladdin Sane. On the original album cover (L), David Bowie has a red mullet with a blue and red lightning bolt drawn on his face, and he is topless. To the right, the recreated cover with an elderly man with short red hair and a red and blue lightning bolt on his faceBCP Council

    The campaign was launched to mark the United Nations International Day of Older People

    An older woman with short white hair recreates Taylor Swift's 1989 album cover. The cover (L) features an instand print photo of Taylor Swift wearing red lipstick and a purple t-shirt with seagulls on. At the bottom of the photo "T.S. 1989" is written in black pen. In the recreation, the bottom of the photo reads "P.S. 1939"BCP Council

    Taylor Swift named her 1989 album after her birth year, so Pat Shepherd did the same thing in her version

    It was called the Vintage Idols campaign, and featured five residents in their 70s and 80s from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

    An older woman (R) with white hair, wearing blue eyeshadow and red lipstick, recreates Madonna's True Blue album cover. The original cover is of Madonna arching her neck back against a blue background.BCP Council

    The cover of Madonna's 1986 True Blue album was copied by 80-year-old Maureen Capper

    To the left is the original cover of Blink-182's album Enema of the state featuring a blonde woman wearing an unbuttoned nurse uniform, a red bra visible underneath, as she puts on a blue glove. On her arm, two tattooed blue butterflies. To the right, an elderly woman in a white shirt and nurse cap with red cross recreates the cover. She's putting on a blue glove, a paper butterfly glued to her wristBCP Council

    Retired nurse Anne Blendell, 79, recreated Blink-182's album, Enema of the State

  2. Do you have a heartwarming story?

    Get in touch banner - get in touch appears on the right of the frame with a grey grid in the middle and a grey comic speech graphic overlayed with an orange square

    We can't complete this challenge of 100 heartwarming stories without your help, so share your little stories of joy.

    These could be big or small acts of kindness by you or someone else - or anything that has made you smile in 2024.

    Please read our terms & conditions and privacy policy

  3. Need a laugh? Here's the top five from the Edinburgh Fringe

    A blue banner with the number 18 and an orange geometric pattern on the right

    'Tis the season for cringe-worthy, pun-tastic jokes bursting to escape your Christmas cracker so let's take a trip down memory lane of the top five jokes - as voted by the public - at this year's Edinburgh Fringe festival in August.

    1. I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship but I bottled it - Mark Simmons
    2. I've been taking salsa lessons for months, but I just don't feel like I'm progressing. It's just one step forward... two steps back - Alec Snook
    3. Ate horse at a restaurant once - wasn’t great. Starter was all right but the mane was dreadful - Alex Kitson
    4. I sailed through my driving test. That’s why I failed it - Arthur Smith
    5. I love the Olympics. My friend and I invented a new type of relay baton: well, he came up with the idea, I ran with it - Mark Simmons

    Comedian Mark Simmons tells Edinburgh Fringe funniest joke

  4. The Upbeat: Hunter's Moon brings people together in awe

    Kamilah McInnis
    The Upbeat

    A pink banner with the number 17 and a red geometric pattern on the right
    Skyline of Toronto, Canada, with multiple high-story buildings made of glass with a huge yellow moon above them as helicopter flies in the skyGetty Images

    One of the stories featured this year in The Upbeat newsletter was October's full moon, known as the Hunter's Moon, the brightest supermoon of the year. A number of readers wrote in to tell us how much they enjoyed it.

    Sue from the Wirral said: “I stood gazing at the moon the night of the full Hunter's moon… it made me feel so good, knowing humans all around the world were doing the same thing!"

    It’s wonderful how something as universal as the moon can bring so many of us together in a shared moment of awe.

  5. 'Incredibly rare' pygmy hippo born in Edinburgh

    Light blue banner with the number 16 and an orange circular geometric pattern on the right

    Meet Haggis - the rare pygmy hippo born at Edinburgh zoo

    "Move over Nessie, there's a new wee legend in town" - those were the words of Edinburgh Zoo, which welcomed the birth of a pygmy hippo earlier this year.

    Pygmy hippos, also known as dwarf hippos, are endangered and experts believe there are only about 2,500 left in the wild worldwide.

    So it was fantastic news when female baby hippo Haggis was born at the end of October.

    And 2024 was a big year for hippos. A pygmy hippo in Thailand called Moo Deng went viral and featured in a series of memes due to her frame and podgy proportions.

    "Moo Deng? Who deng?" said Edinburgh Zoo. They hope Haggis will connect with visitor and raise awareness of the species.

  6. 'She's my world and I'd marry her again tomorrow'

    Daisy Stephens, Sarah Walker & Sam Clayton

    Lilac banner with the number 15 to the left of the frame and a red geometric pattern on the right
    Two women in bridal dresses with their heads touching, smiling at each other as one uses finger to move the other's hair from her faceFamily handout

    This year marked the 10th anniversary of the first same-sex marriages taking place in England and Wales.

    Back in March, the BBC spoke to Reading couple Maria and Yvette Freeman-Keep who were one of the first same sex couples in Berkshire to marry in 2014.

    Maria said she "didn't want to go through my life not having a wife".

    The couple - who have been together for 24 years - said being unable to get married presented practical difficulties, not least because Yvette was a police officer, and Maria wanted to have rights if anything happened to her.

    "She's my world and I'd marry her again tomorrow," said Maria.

  7. The eight-year-old who hands out goody bags to emergency services

    Andy Giddings
    BBC News, West Midlands

    A yellow banner with the number 14 and a purple triangle geometric pattern to the right of the image
    A boy in glasses and a white spider man tshirt holding two bags, one orange and the other yellow in front of an ambulanceSATH

    A few months ago, back in October, I wrote about an eight-year-old boy who was putting together goody bags for ambulance crews.

    Finley-Jay got the idea from a social media group called "Hit the Ambulance gamers". A hit is a random act of kindness.

    He was regularly visiting the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to hand out the bags, which contained tea, coffee, sweets, biscuits, chocolates and pens. All the items in his bags are donated by friends and family.

    And how did the receivers react? Will Gould, from West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: "Our staff don’t do the job for thanks, but having someone like Finley handing out goody bags certainly makes the role even more worthwhile."

  8. It looked like such a good idea at the time...

    Green banner with the number 13 and a purple geometric pattern
    A cat's head pokes out from a drainpipe, the rest of its body stuck insideClevedon Fire Station

    It's not in the nature of a cat to admit it's made a mistake.

    But for John, the female cat (more on that later), there was nothing for it but to get the humans involved when she got stuck in a drainpipe last month.

    Fortunately, and with special thanks to the crew at Clevedon Fire Station and Vets4Pets, she was fine and back home for a nap on her owner Cassie in no time.

    A car stuck in a section of drainpipe which has been cut off, so while the cat is still stuck, she is able to be held by a firefighterPA Media

    "The looks we got in the (vet's) waiting room when we walked through with the cat stuck in a pipe and the firefighters - it was funny," Cassie says.

    Oh, and the cat's name?

    "My son is obsessed with the name John," Cassie says. "If I ask him to name something, it's always John."

    John got stuck in a pipe sparking a huge amount of interest in her predicament.

  9. Life lessons from a centenarian Stargazer

    Nabiha Ahmed
    Live reporter

    Elderly man in blue t shirt squinting whilst looking at sky through lens. The shirt bears the writing Total solar in lime green. Behind him is a concrete street with visible patches of grassTessa Barlow

    It’s that time of year. You leave home to go to work when it’s pitch-black outside, only for it to be even darker when you’re leaving the office.

    It's almost exactly like this time last year, when I first started working at the BBC. Between then and now, or between work and home, it can sometimes feel like endless doom and gloom. Except, it isn’t.

    For example, I interviewed 101-year-old Laverne Biser – a Texan astronomer who saw his thirteenth solar eclipse this year. Laverne spoke to me for The Happy Pod, spilling the secret to a happy life: “Gazing at the stars and lots of chocolate milk.”

    “Once you see one [eclipse], you want to see them all,” he said, adding that youngsters like me “...oughta go to the country and look up.”

    Laverne’s words serve as a good reminder that light exists – even when the world seems at its darkest. You just have to make the effort to look for it.

  10. 'We've met up for a pint every month for 64 years'

    Pink banner with the number 12 on the left and peach geometric shapes on the right
    Group of elderly men sat in a pub around a central set of tables with drinks in glasses on the table

    For many, trying to organise a catch-up trip to the pub with friends can be a mammoth effort but lessons could be learnt from this group of pals, who have been meeting for a pint every month for over six decades.

    Kim Bright, David Day, Brian Wells, John Collins and Michael Stephens are regulars at The Old Swanne Inn, in Evesham, with some travelling from as far as South Africa to make the monthly "lads' night".

    The "lads" first met at Prince Henry's School in Evesham in 1953 and when they left in 1960 they got together for a farewell pint, but did not want to say goodbye.

    Instead they arranged to have a regular pub gathering on the first Tuesday of every month. The group, all now aged in their 80s, said they felt like a "band of brothers".

    "We talk about all sorts of stuff, reminiscence. I never thought for one minute, we'd still be here doing it all these years later," Stephens said.

    "I feel that perhaps we would be letting the others down if we didn't turn up."

    Cheers to them!

    • You can find out more about Kim, David, Brian, John and Michael on BBC Sounds

  11. Your lunchtime entertainment - catch up with 100 heartwarming stories

    Nabiha Ahmed
    Live reporter

    I usually try to convince myself that "lunch break" is synonymous with "screen break".

    But who am I fooling? I’m usually sat in our newsroom’s canteen doom scrolling through social media.

    But today will be different. No, I'm not going on a digital detox for the next hour. I'll just be keeping an eye on the uplifting moments coming up on our live page.

    We've seen the joys of being young and old, from the Gateshead dance venue giving over-65s a good time, to the Irish preteens whose techno-rap track was the "banger of the year".

    Next up, we'll meet the group who have met up for a pint every month for 64 years, and the pensioners recreating iconic Taylor Swift and David Bowie album covers.

    Watch this space.

    Your packed lunch might not be the only pick-me-up on your break.

  12. 'We got the energy, we'll tell you about it'

    Ian Youngs
    Entertainment and arts reporter

    Blue banner with orange geometric shapes on the right
    Young rappersSean Downey

    "Think you can stop what we do? I doubt it."

    Did you read that in a Cork lilt?

    If so you may be one of the millions of people who couldn't get viral hit The Spark out of their heads - or their social media feeds - this summer.

    The infectious techno-rap track whose life-affirming lyrics and joyful video encapsulate the exuberance of its creators, all aged between nine and 12, has been hailed as the "banger of the year".

    Garry McCarthy, creative director of the Kabin Studio, a youth arts hub near Cork whose members perform the viral song, says the scale of the reaction was unexpected.

    "It's amazing to see the recognition that it's getting internationally, just for something really positive," he told BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight back in May. "There's nothing false about it. These kids are being who they are, their natural selves.

    It's very honest. It's very Irish, but it's very global."

  13. I couldn't wipe the Strictly smile off my face

    Rachel Flynn
    Live reporter

    Chris McCausland on someone's shoulders with his arms up in the air, with his partner Dianne holding up the Glitterball trophy

    Comedian Chris McCausland was the competition's first blind contestant, taking home the 22nd Glitterball trophy

    Working in live and breaking news is always exciting, but rarely cheerful.

    But writing for the Strictly Come Dancing final live page definitely fell into both categories. From the jaw-dropping costumes to the defying of expectations, there were beams galore on the live news desk on Saturday night.

    There was another cheerful one a few weeks ago when we covered the Fashion Awards, where Alex Consani become the first trans woman to win Model of the Year.

    And I'll never forget our 100 weddings coverage, which saw my colleague Thomas and 99 other couples tie the knot for £100 at Marylebone Town Hall.

    That day was all about love - of all shapes and sizes.

    Some days it's easy to forget that good things are happening - hopefully this page will be a useful reminder.

  14. Nervous dad forgets bride as he walks down aisle

    Green banner with the number 10 and a pink geometric pattern on the right

    Neil from Barnsley got to the altar before being told he'd forgotten his daughter

    Neil Crossley was so preoccupied with nerves about his speech at his daughter's wedding that he forgot something crucial when he walked down the aisle - his daughter.

    "I was thinking, nothing can go wrong with this part," the 60-year-old from Barnsley told BBC Radio Sheffield back in November.

    "Little did I know what was about to happen."

    Crossley's daughter Amy Totty, 30, admitted she had also been feeling nervous on her big day, but her father's endearing error at the ceremony in Holmfirth in October helped break the ice for everybody.

    "It's a special memory we definitely won't forget and will laugh about for years to come," said the Dodworth-based nurse.

  15. Do you have a heartwarming story?

    A banner that says Get in touch

    We can't complete this challenge of 100 heartwarming stories without your help, so share your little stories of joy.

    These could be big or small acts of kindness by you or someone else - or anything that has made you smile in 2024.

    Please read our terms & conditions and privacy policy

  16. 'You are never too old to party'

    Sharon Barbour
    BBC North East and Cumbria

    A yellow banner with purple geometric shapes on the right
    Blonde woman, who is over 65, dances with Christmas lights as a necklace with arms in the air and a smile on her face

    A new dance venue has opened in Gateshead - but remember to take some ID because you have to be over 65 to get in.

    Boomers is a collaboration with Age UK to help older people improve their health and fitness and to help combat isolation.

    "You are never too old to party," says the charity.

    The daytime disco is so popular they've had to extend opening times, and organisers are looking for new venues to cope with demand.

    The enthusiasm of those jiving away on the dancefloor is palpable and perhaps best summed up by 70-year-old Cath: "Inside, I'm still 20, I just feel the same as I did years ago."

  17. Mailed it! Residents give 'fantastic' retiring postie £1,500

    BBC banner with the number 8 on it
    People from the Poets area of Bedford organised a farewell party for their postman, Graham

    McFiggins plans to spend his retirement gardening, fishing and watching his favourite football team, Tottenham Hotspur

    Graham McFiggins started working for Royal Mail in 1984, spending most of his career serving the Poets area of Bedford.

    He's delivered post there for 29 Christmases and says helping residents is part of the job - "I put the bins in, take the bins out, I've put up lightbulbs. I've even put in door handles and I've opened jars, although as I get on I find them hard to do myself".

    He retired in April this year, and to his surprise, the residents whose letters he's delivered for the past 30 years gave him a £1,500 retirement present.

    Resident Sonia Dee, who helped organise the collection, said, "Graham has been a fantastic postman and is a genuine, kind person" who "deserves recognition".

  18. Need a little pick-me-up this morning? Follow along with 100 heartwarming stories

    Rachel Flynn
    Live reporter

    It's a grey Monday morning here in London, and I certainly needed a little pick-me-up after battling my way through rush-hour chaos while the sky was still dark above me.

    Thankfully, this week is all about pick-me-ups for the BBC News live page team.

    So far we've heard about a babbling Scouse baby and some twin brothers cleaning up places no-one else will.

    And we want to hear your little stories of joy from 2024, which you can share with us here.

    As my colleague Tinshui reminds us, though it's easy to miss, kindness really is in every corner.

    Coming up, we'll be hearing about Scottish pygmy hippos and a club, which in order to get in, you'll have to borrow your grandparents' IDs.

  19. Boss, that - the babbling Scouse baby

    Green banner with the number 7 and lilac circles on the right side

    It turns out it's possible to be so Scouse that you've got the accent even before you can talk. Truly one of the great discoveries of the year...

    Apparently, our Liverpudlian friends knew this all along, but it's only thanks to the power of social media that this joy was shared with the rest of us.

    Behold Orla, in all her Scouse glory, babbling away aged around 19-months in this viral video watched by millions:

    Her mother Rhiannon said she had never picked up on Orla's Scouse accent before "because we are all Scouse".

    The exchange was captured by Rhiannon's friend Olayka, who also appears in the video and was looking after Orla at the time.

  20. 'A lot of catching up to do': Friends reunited after 70 years

    John Devine
    BBC News Cambridgeshire

    A yellow banner graphic with the number "6" on the left and a purple geometric design on the right
    Ruth Bester and Brenda Sired holding handsJohn Devine/BBC

    Ruth Bester, left, and Brenda Sired, who first met in the 1950s

    Ruth Bester, 78, and Brenda Sired, 86, were such close friends in Haddenham in the 1950s, that Brenda's children referred to their "Auntie Ruth".

    But life went on and their lives took different paths... until recently.

    Both have now found themselves living in the same care home in Fenland, Cambridgeshire - together again after all these years.

    Their families were there to witness the reunion.

    "It was very emotional," said Jackie Basham, Brenda's daughter. "They have a lot of catching up to do."

    Black and white photo of Brenda Sired Ruth Bester in Haddenham in the late 1950sRichard Sired

    Brenda Sired, left, with Ruth Bester in Haddenham during the late 1950s