strand

In London’s February, the sight of a snowdrop is not botanical - it is psychological.

On my last call of the day with Ma, I hear from miles away about the family gathering on the floor, as is customary across Bengali households, and chat over the steam and smell of masala chai and vegetable croquettes. I smile, and try to make do with the last piece of gulab jamun tucked at a corner in my fridge.

Bloomsbury Football Foundation is a charity, currently based in London, but with plans to scale across the country. Our mission is to transform young people’s lives using the power of football.

Harry Lighton’s directorial debut, Pillion (2025), is everything it says on the tin and more. Inspired by Adam Mars-Jones’s novel, Box Hill (2020), we follow the relationship—or, perhaps more appropriately, arrangement—shared between two gay men living in south-east London—one an unassuming, barbershop-singing parking warden, and the other a mysterious, unabashedly kinky biker.