boost

AMBITIOUS plans to turn a region into “Europe’s Silicon Valley” are on track with architects releasing the first images of an “essential” new railway station.

The station is a huge £120m boost to a world-famous city – and central to an American billionaire‘s massive £10 billion investment in the area.

This week, architects Foster + Partners released the first images of Littlemore Station, one of two new stations in Oxford set to be delivered with the reopening of the Cowley Branch Line.

The line has been out of service to passengers since 1963.

It is currently used by cargo trains going to and from the BMW mini plant but as previously reported is set to reopen.

The Government has pledged £120m in funding for the project to reopen the line.

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It is part of a £500m investment in infrastructure to link up Oxford and Cambridge and turn the region into the “European Silicon Valley”.

Anneliese Dodds, MP for East Oxford, said the Cowley Branch Line was “finally going to become a reality”.

She said it would make a “massive difference to local residents, slashing travel times and reducing congestion”.

The update has also been welcomed by the Ellison Institute, funded by American billionaire Larry Ellison, which is investing £10 billion in the region.

In a statement, Lisa Flashner, EIT’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We’re delighted to hear the Cowley Branch Line will be reopened to passenger traffic. 

“It’s a great example of what can happen if Government and the private sector join forces and both contribute to a common goal. 

“It will help us attract world-class talent to EIT by linking up key innovation hubs with Central London via direct train services. 

“It will also facilitate a closer alliance between EIT and Oxford University with faster journey times.”

A second station will be built at Oxford Cowley, and the reopened line will connect Littlemore, Cowley, Blackbird Leys and Greater Leys to central Oxford in under 10 minutes.

Services will then go directly twice-hourly to London Marylebone.

The Government has said that reopening the line will create up to 10,000 new jobs.

Cowley is an industrial area home to Plant Oxford, which is owned by BMW and is the largest industrial employer in Oxford, employing more than 4,300 people.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that the Government has huge plans for the “Oxford-Cambridge corridor”.

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Oxford City Council has said it will work to identify the additional infrastructure needed to connect the stations to local communities.

This could include new bridges, cycles routes and links to bus networks.

Life-changing mental health walking and running groups are set to open all over the country in honour of Pride of Britain winner Marcus Skeet

The Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards 2025 were a night to remember as ordinary people – who have done extraordinary things – were applauded for their hard work by a host of famous faces.

And when Marcus Skeet, the record-breaking charity runner and mental health champion received his Special Recognition Award, he got an extra surprise. After handing Marcus his trophy, pop star Anne-Marie, and podcast duo Pete Wicks and Sam Thompson revealed Pride of Britain had launched a special GoFundMe for mental health charity Mind in Marcus’s honour.

Money raised will pay for special mental health walking and running groups all over the country called Marcus’s Movers. The groups, which include mental health practitioners, cost £2,500 to set up.

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Sam and Pete kicked things off with a £5,000 donation on stage, and then Pub Landlord Al Murray took to the floor to persuade some other famous faces to chip in too.

Dragons Den tycoon Duncan Bannatyne donated £20,000, bringing the total raised on the night to £50,000, enough to fund 20 potentially lifesaving Marcus’s Movers groups. A stunned Marcus told Ashley Banjo: “From the bottom of my heart, that means the absolute world. I’m lost for words.”

Now you can help by donating to the GoFundMe to help Mind set up even more Marcus’s Movers groups in communities all over Britain. The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards with P&O Cruises celebrate unsung heroes like Marcus. His own life was transformed by walking and running – the teenager went from the lowest possible ebb to becoming a record-breaking charity fundraiser and Pride of Britain winner.

He was 12 when his dad was diagnosed with early-onset dementia. Marcus’s physical and mental health rapidly declined and he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and intrusive thoughts which dramatically impacted his life.

At 15 he was in “one of the darkest places”, and attempted suicide after spending months alone in his room with no contact with the outside world. Desperate to turn his life around, Marcus, now 17, started walking short distances at first, before building up distance and speed until he was jogging longer routes. He says: “My mental health was at an all time low so I decided to run, not just for mental health but to raise awareness. Running pushed my body and mind and the feeling after a run was like nothing else.”

Since then, Marcus has raised more than £200,000 for Mind through running, including a run from Land’s End to John O’Groats. The gruelling 874 mile challenge saw him become the youngest person ever – and the first under 18 – to run the entire length of the UK.

Marcus has documented his journey on social media in the hopes of inspiring others who are struggling with their mental health. He says: “Life is brutal, sometimes you feel like you’re in a place you can’t get out of. But I promise you, every road may have speed bumps but you’ll get over them. Mental health is such a big thing, everyone is different but I find running helps mine.”

Find out more about Marcus’s Movers and donate at gofundme.com/f/marcus-movers

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There has been a huge wave of relief across European and US markets after Friday proved to be a dark day for investors.

Leading European stock indexes started the week in the green, as well as the US futures, while bitcoin, silver and gold rallied.

After leading stock indexes on the Wall Street dropped between 1.9 and 3.6% on Friday, Asian indexes followed the lead on Monday morning, and unanimously lost between 1% and 1.7%.

US stocks skidded on Friday after US President Donald Trump threatened to crank tariffs higher on China, signalling more trouble ahead between the two biggest economies. He was responding to restrictions Beijing is imposing on exports of rare earths, which are materials that are critical for the manufacturing of everything from consumer electronics to jet engines.

However, by the European opening on Monday, investors appeared to be cheered by the US president’s promising words, as he commented on the mounting US-China trade tensions on social media, saying, “Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine!”

Stock markets appear to reverse the losses from the end of last week, the FTSE 100 in London was up by 0.3% at around 10h CET on Monday, the Paris CAC 40 cheered the promise of a new government by gaining 0.7% and the Dax in Frankfurt joined the crowd by rising 0.5% by this time.

The Ibex 35 in Madrid also gained 0.8% and the European benchmark Stoxx 600 was up by nearly 0.5%.

Crypto rallies after Friday’s sharp decline

Bitcoin approached $115,000 on Monday, while Ethereum exceeded $4,200.

“The crypto market capitalisation stood at $3.9 trillion on Monday, up 4.4% from the previous day but down 6% from pre-Friday crash levels,” Alex Kuptsikevich, the FxPro chief market analyst, said.

Gold was up by more than 2.3%, trading at $4,092 an ounce, nearing 11h CET, while oil prices were also climbing, the US benchmark crude was up by nearly 0.9% at 59.85 a barrel, whereas the international benchmark Brent cost $63.69 a barrel, 1.5% increase in the price.

Meanwhile, US futures advanced, with the contract for the S&P 500 gaining 1.1% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.5% and Nasdaq futures were climbing 2% by 10.30 CET.

In other dealings early Monday, the dollar rose 152.22 Japanese yen from 151.89 yen late Friday. The euro fell to $1.1605 from $1.1614.