14 Gripping Longreads You Need In Your Life This Month

The best longform reporting, feature stories, and personal essays from BuzzFeed UK from March.

1. This Is What It's Like To Be Wrongly Accused Of Being A Paedophile Because Of A Typo By Police – Matthew Champion

Tim Lane/BuzzFeed

One extra digit added to an IP address saw Nigel Lang's life ruined by a typing error.

2. Here’s What It’s Like To Have Bell’s Palsy – Claire Moses

Rebecca Hendin/BuzzFeed

In this personal essay, Claire Moses relates what it was like to wake up and discover half her face was paralysed.

3. By Day This Man Is A Political Adviser, By Night He's A Drag Queen – Patrick Strudwick

Laura Gallant / Sian Butcher / Buzzfeed

The outrageous and heartbreaking truth behind the double life a man who is both a high-ranking adviser to the Scottish National Party and one of London’s best-loved drag queens.

4. Here’s How To Tell A Story About Girlhood That Isn’t About A Sexual Awakening – Gena-mour Barrett

Tim Lane / Getty / BuzzFeed

"In her debut movie, The Fits, Anna Rose Holmer provides a meditation on self-discovery that steers away from a sexual awakening and focuses on finding the profound in the mundane."

5. How An Explosive Web Series You’ve Probably Never Heard Of Became The Talk Of Black Twitter – Elizabeth Pears

Laura Gallant / Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

BKChat LDN is the scourge of feminists and has been accused of being anti-intellectual, but everyone’s got something to say about it.

6. Eurostar Tried To Charge This Woman An Extra "Luggage" Fee For Her Wheelchair – Fiona Rutherford

Rebecca Hendin / Laura Gallant / BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed News reveals that disabled people are often humiliated and misinformed on British transport, despite legislation promising to do the opposite.

7. These Gamers Make Money By Streaming Their Play – Dan Dalton

Tim Lane / Laura Gallant / BuzzFeed

Online video game streaming is big business. BuzzFeed met the British gamers making a splash on Twitch.

8. This Inspiring Graduate Self-Funded His Entire Student Fees And Is Helping Others Do The Same – Aisha Gani

Rebecca Hendin / Laura Gallant / BuzzFeed

"Tuition fees tripled – it forced me in a position I didn’t want to be in, and… it thrust me into entrepreneurship."

9. Inside The Battle For Abortion Rights Spilling Out On To Ireland’s Streets – Laura Silver

Tim Lane / Getty / BuzzFeed

As a referendum seems tantalisingly close, BuzzFeed News went on the road with Ireland’s growing abortion rights movement.

10. How Fandom Helped Me Find A Place To Fit In – Alwyn Hamilton

Sian Butcher / BuzzFeed

YA author Alwyn Hamilton celebrates online communities in this personal essay, which charts her journey from isolated expat child to confident writer.

11. Here’s How Deported Grandmother Irene Clennell Is Dealing With Her New Life In Exile – Emily Dugan

Laura Gallant / Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

Clennell was put on a plane with just £12 in her pocket, leaving behind her British husband of 27 years. Emily Dugan reports from Singapore.

12. Meet The People Fighting To Save One Of The Last Remaining HIV Care Centres – Patrick Strudwick

Laura Gallant / Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed News investigates why the Sussex Beacon in Brighton is under threat after caring for the sick and dying since 1992.

13. This Student’s Secret Abortion Shows Why Thousands Of Irish Women Will Strike Next Week – Laura Silver

Sian Butcher / Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

Twelve Irish women a day travel to England for terminations, costing them up to £2,000 each.

14. Meet The Syrians In Hiding In Britain Because They’re Afraid Of Being Sent Back To Mainland Europe – Emily Dugan

Laura Gallant / Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

An agreement called the Dublin Regulation is causing more refugees than ever to go underground in Britain.