Anna Highfield

Multimedia Journalist

MyLondon •

Life on the London housing estate in Hollywood films that Instagrammers flock to

The Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate is like nothing you've ever seen before, or will probably ever see again. Tucked just round the corner from South Hampstead railway station in Camden, this extraordinary housing estate couldn't be less like the surrounding suburbs - which is probably why it has been photographed more than most streets in London. Also known as the Alexandra Road Estate - or Rowley Way after its main thoroughfare - the estate has become immortalised in pop culture, and in recent
MyLondon •

‘I was in a Covid coma for two months and one year on I still haven't recovered'

An East London woman who caught Covid over a year ago and ended up in a two-month-long coma says she still needs crutches to walk around, regularly struggles to breath, and no longer has a job to pay her rent. Uchenna Onwenu, 46, of Forest Gate in Newham, fell ill in January 2021 and woke up in March 2021. Since she caught Covid, Uchenna's life has fallen apart; she has gone from being an active person to being practically housebound, needing crutches to get around. Uchenna is still suffering f
MyLondon •

‘I came to London after the Beirut explosion with just a backpack and £400'

A Lebanese-Canadian man who came to London with just a backpack and £400 after the Beirut explosion has fallen in love with the city but says he can't afford a visa to stay here. Richard John Rhayem flew to London from Lebanon in September 2021, just over a year after a major explosion devastated the capital city Beirut, and says he already feels more at home in the city than anywhere else. The 30-year-old chef and photographer was born in Vancouver, Canada, to Lebanese parents, and moved ba
MyLondon •

East London man is 'threatened with death' for trying to revive a language

An East London man has received death threats for trying to spread "the truth" about a heritage Bangladeshi language that is being lost. Mace Hoque, a British-Bangladeshi who was born in Whitechapel, told MyLondon he has been on a mission to raise awareness about Bangladeshi Sylheti since he recently discovered it was its own language, independent of Bangladeshi Bengali. Mace, who is in his late 30s and is a community safety officer for Tower Hamlets Council, said he stumbled across a Sylheti
MyLondon •

Home Office 'admin error' leaves married couple separated for Christmas

A married couple who have been separated for over 18 months won't be together this Christmas after a Home Office "admin error" meant their application for a visa wasn't processed properly. Samantha Noa, 26, a US citizen from California, and Simon McDavitt, 48, a British citizen from Haringey, North London, were devastated when their spouse visa application was rejected by the Home Office in August, after already spending most of their married life more than 5000 miles apart while they waited fo
MyLondon •

Mum, who spent over £5k on visas might have to leave 1-year-old in London

A West London-based woman struggling to afford a visa to stay in the UK faces having to leave her husband and 1-year-old daughter behind. Elsa Bouchereau, 29, who was born in the Seychelles but lives in Feltham, moved to the UK in 2018 to live with her husband Ricky after they met while he was visiting Seychelles, and has already spent thousands of pounds on visas in the last three years Elsa has already been forced to leave Ricky and return to the Seychelles once for a "heartbreaking" six mon
MyLondon •

Trans woman waits 2 years for surgery after NHS told her it would be 4 months

A Trans woman from London says she is still waiting to be seen by an NHS gender clinic after first applying more than two years ago. 32-year-old Jarry, from Stockwell, was initially told the wait would be 18 weeks for her first appointment with the NHS in order to be referred for gender reassignment surgery. Since coming out, Jarry has had the support of the "amazing" LGBTQI+ community, who have encouraged her to crowdfund for her own gender reassignment surgery, rather than facing long NHS wa
MyLondon •

Tragic story of Cat Man who was saved from £700-a-week heroin habit by mum's pet

Anyone who lives in East London is almost certain to have seen the man whose cat rides around on his shoulders - but few know his tragic story. 'The cat man' is a familiar face to locals in Hackney and Tower Hamlets and can often be seen wandering around the streets near Brick Lane. Real name Sam, the cat man and his cat and dog, Buffy and Hooch, are often forced to sleep rough on nights when they can't get a bed in a hostel. His two pets are the reason Sam kicked a £100-a-day heroin and crac
MyLondon •

Londoners are spending weekends in ice cold bins as they can’t go wild swimming

These are just a few of the many benefits of cold -water swimming, so it's no wonder the sport's popularity has sky-rocketed over the past few years. Magazine Science Focus described the incredible effect cold water immersion has been found to have on the body's stress response. The article said the body's ‘cold shock’ response to the icy temperature produces an adrenaline-charge 'fight or flight' response. At first this causes your body to release the stress hormone cortisol, but this is the

EMPTY SHELVES - THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG?

MI5’s maxim is that society is “four meals away from anarchy.” The saying is based on the premise that it would only take a handful of missed meals before civilised British society became… uncivilised. It’s the rule the security agency uses to assess the level of any threat to the food supply system - a threat, such as a cyberattack, strikes, natural disasters - or a pandemic. There is evidence to suggest a breakdown of order could be caused by the first stomach-rumblings of civilians who are u