This week is overflowing with the kind of stories that make you want to grab a coffee, put your feet up, and dive in.

We’re talking about Athol Williams — the Mitchells Plain local who went from growing up under Cape Town’s bright skies to teaching in Oxford’s historic halls.

Then we’ll whisk you off to a UK safari park where giraffes might just be your breakfast companions, and reveal a life hack that could quietly add thousands to your bank balance every year.

Top it off with a handpicked lineup of August festivals, plus a magical photo from a reader who caught the Bristol Balloon Fiesta in full colour — and you’ve got a week worth remembering.

Here’s something that way too many people don’t know about — and it could mean thousands of extra pounds in your bank account every year.

It’s called Attendance Allowance — a tax-free benefit from the Department for Work and Pensions for people over State Pension age (currently 66, rising to 67 by 2028).

It’s for those who need help with personal care or supervision to stay safe — even if no one is actually providing that help.

That could mean:

Here’s the kicker:

How much?

How to claim:

If this applies to you — or someone you know — don’t leave that money sitting in the government’s pocket.

👉 Check eligibility and start your claim here

Here’s your mid-August line-up of UK events worth getting out for — from chilled folk festivals to full-throttle carnival energy.

🎵 Green Man Festival (until 17 Aug, Brecon Beacons, Wales)
Folk, indie, arts, and wellness in a stunning natural setting. Camping, craft beer, and late-night fireside jams.
👉 greenman.net

🎧 Creamfields 2025 (21–24 Aug, Daresbury, Cheshire)
Massive electronic music festival with the world’s top DJs, laser shows, and camping. High-energy weekend vibes.
👉 creamfields.com

🏹 Gone Wild Festival (21–24 Aug, Exeter, Devon)
Family-friendly adventure fest — kayaking, archery, climbing, plus live music and motivational speakers.
👉 gonewildfestival.com

🏉 Women’s Rugby World Cup (22 Aug – 27 Sept, venues across England)
International rugby kicks off with group matches — great chance to see world-class play and soak up game-day buzz.
👉 womensrugbyworldcup.com

🚗 CarFest 2025 (22–24 Aug, Overton, Hampshire)
Cars, live music, celebrity chefs, and family fun, all created by Chris Evans.
👉 carfest.org

🎭 Greenwich + Docklands International Festival (22 Aug – 6 Sept, London)
Free outdoor theatre, light installations, dance, and global performance art.
👉 festival.org

🎤 Emerge Festival (23–24 Aug, Belfast)
Urban music, street art, and food stalls — perfect for discovering new talent.
👉 emergefestival.ie

🎶 Forwards Festival (23–24 Aug, Bristol)
Music meets social change — indie, electronic, and global acts, plus thought-provoking talks.
👉 forwardsbristol.co.uk

🎉 Notting Hill Carnival (23–25 Aug, London)
Europe’s biggest street party — Caribbean music, costumes, food stalls, and steel bands.
👉 nhcarnival.org

Remember the Bristol Balloon Fiesta we mentioned recently? Well, one of our lovely readers was there — and caught this magical moment as a sky full of colourful balloons drifted over the treetops.

We love hearing from you and seeing the little adventures you’ve been on. Keep them coming — it’s a joy to know we’re all out there making the most of life in the UK.

Thanks Cammie!

If you ever need proof that where you start doesn’t have to dictate where you finish, meet Athol Williams. Born and raised in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town — a community shaped by hardship but rich in spirit — Athol grew up with a love of learning that refused to be dimmed.

Today, he’s an Oxford University lecturer, poet, and ethics champion with a CV that reads like a bookshelf of the world’s top universities. He holds seven degrees, including master’s qualifications from Oxford, Harvard, MIT Sloan, the London School of Economics, London Business School, and Wits.

But it’s not just about academic accolades. Athol co-founded Read to Rise, an NGO that’s given hundreds of thousands of books to under-resourced South African schools, inspiring children to see possibility where others see limitation.

He’s also a courageous whistleblower, testifying at South Africa’s State Capture Commission to expose corporate corruption — an act that earned him the Mayor’s Medal for Extraordinary Bravery and saw his face painted three storeys high on a Cape Town mural declaring him a “South African Hero.”

Now, at Oxford’s Saïd Business School, he teaches business ethics, strategy, and leadership — proving that integrity and intellect can go hand in hand.

From the Cape Flats to the dreaming spires of Oxford, Athol’s journey is a reminder that education, courage, and conviction can change not only your own life, but the lives of countless others.

👉 Learn more about Athol’s work and Read to Rise

The smell of summer grass, the distant roar of a lion, a giraffe stretching lazily toward the treetops… You don’t need to fly 5,000 miles to get that feeling. The UK is full of safari parks and wildlife reserves that will take you right back to the bush — just swap the Land Rover for a Ford Fiesta.

Our Top Picks for a Roaring Good Day Out:

🐘 The Reserve at Chester Zoo (Opens 18 Aug)
Brand-new safari-style lodges with giraffes grazing outside your window. Stays include behind-the-scenes tours with conservationists — like a VIP pass to the animal kingdom.

🐯 Port Lympne Reserve, Kent (Up to 20% off summer stays)
Bubble pods under the stars, or the Tiger Lodge for an eye-to-eye wake-up call from the big cats. Plus, you get your own golf buggy to explore.

🐆 West Midlands Safari Park
Luxury lodges overlooking elephants or cheetahs, with day tickets included. There’s also a theme park for when you’ve ticked “lion” and “lemur” off your list.

🦁 Longleat Safari Park, Wiltshire
Drive through big-game enclosures, take a boat to see hippos and sea lions, then explore the stately Longleat House. It’s like Downton Abbey… but with tigers.

🦍 Blair Drummond Safari, Scotland
A relaxed family favourite — walk with lemurs, join “Junior Keeper” days, and meet meerkats up close.

🐒 Knowsley Safari, Merseyside
Baboon bus rides (yes, they’ll jump on the roof), a foot safari, and sea lion shows to round off the day.

💡 Top Tip: Midweek visits are quieter and often cheaper. Overnight stays sell out fast, so book early.

The UK benefits system is complicated — and that means millions of people are missing out on money they’re entitled to. Martin Lewis’s MoneySavingExpert Benefits Checker is a free, quick, and secure online tool that cuts through the jargon and shows you exactly what you could claim.

It takes about 10 minutes, asks simple questions about your income, household, and circumstances, and then gives you a tailored report with:

💡 Why it’s worth doing: An estimated £23 billion in benefits and social tariffs goes unclaimed each year. That includes £5.2 billion in missed help for pensioner households alone.

How to use it:

It’s free, it doesn’t store your data, and it could be the most profitable 10 minutes you spend this year.

Next Saturday, we’ll take you inside one of the UK’s best-kept secrets — a place thousands walk past without realising the magic behind its doors.

We’ll also share a braai side so good it might just steal the spotlight from your mains, and give you front-row access to a jaw-dropping festival that transforms an entire city into a living canvas of music, food, and colour.

And because we like you, we’ve tucked in a clever tip to save you a tidy sum before autumn even thinks about arriving.

Trust us — you’ll want this one in your inbox.

No matter where we are — walking a busy London street, watching the mist rise over a Welsh valley, or hearing the gulls over a Durban beach — we carry the same threads that tie us to each other.

They’re woven through shared stories, familiar flavours, and the quiet comfort of knowing someone else understands where you’ve come from.

Here in the UK, and back home in South Africa, we may be scattered — but we’re not alone. We find each other in conversations, in recipes passed along, in the small kindnesses that make a foreign place feel like home.

And in that web of connection, there’s a quiet strength. A sense that, wherever we land, we’ll always have a little piece of each other close by.

✉️ With warmth, humour, and South African heart — The SA Connect UK Team

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