Innholdsfortegnelse for 11/26/2018 i The Big Issue

01 SUPPORT Buy a sustainable Christmas tree to help the homeless  You can’t beat the feelgood scent and glow of a real Christmas tree, especially if you get a sustainably grown spruce from an organisation who support homeless charities. Buy your evergreen from either King’s Christmas Trees at various locations in South East London or Caring Christmas Trees at various locations in Scotland, and they’ll make sure all profits go towards helping rough sleepers and vulnerably housed people in their respective areas. kingschristmastrees.org; caringchristmastrees.com 02 DO Avengers STATION, London  Step inside the world of one of the late Stan Lee’s many iconic Marvel Comics creations at this interactive live experience. Delve into the super-workings and back story of each of the Avengers characters as they train to become an agent…

It is good to read about Bob in the latest Big Issue [November 12-18] and see his picture complete with scarf. My neighbour’s ginger cat Binnie will no doubt be jealous of his fame and even my long-departed cat Monty who was written about in The Best Cat in the World by Mark Quay never achieved as much fame. We must not forget cats have a short life and eventually move off the streets and comfortable homes to the cat heaven of endless tummy tickles and lapping of milk or water whichever they prefer. I hope Bob continues to spread his wisdom for many more years. Kevin, email  @joinwonderland Caturday morning with @comedinewithmoscrat tea drinking & catching up on @streetcatnamedbob in this week’s Big Issue. @bezerinatour It was because of…

The Big Issue’s fight for financial inclusion headed to Westminster earlier this month in a bid to change the City financial system once and for all. Lord John Bird led The Big Issue Group’s launch reception for ‘Building a More Inclusive Financial World’, at the House of Lords to discuss business solutions to financial exclusion. The gathering outlined the initiatives that The Big Issue is using to do this. The Big View is a collaboration between Castlight Financial and Big Issue Invest, The Big Issue’s social investment arm. Utilising Open Banking data to generate a real-time 360 degree view of an individual’s finances into a single view – enabling debt advisors to understand an individual’s financial position, and so deliver efficient remediation and support to those who are either squeezed,…

Last week I stood with some Big Issue vendors outside what must the smallest of Big Issue offices. It was not warm and yet there was sun this Thursday morning in Plymouth. The night before I had spoken at a social enterprise festival in Devonport in a large classically shaped building. The lights were dim outside making me think I might have slipped back into my dark childhood. But no, it was common sense. The subject of my talk was energy justice: with the audience the local enterprise that fights for justice around poverty in terms of getting a better deal for the poorest among us. Yes it’s the same old story that the poorer you are the more you will be paying for your basic rudimentary costs, with energy…

Irreverence is an underrated quality in the literary world, but it’s something both our books this week display in hefty doses. Although the books are very different – one a collection of short stories, the other poetry – and the authors are at very different stages in their lives and careers, there is a shared undercurrent, a feeling that they speak for ordinary people and challenge the literary status quo. First up with have HWFG by young Scottish writer Chris McQueer. McQueer made something of a splash with his debut story collection Hings last year, a book which claimed on the cover that his work was ‘like Limmy meets Irvine Welsh’ and there was a lot of truth in that. McQueer’s stories give a voice to working class and underclass…

What makes us who we are? How much does genetic inheritance determine our personalities as well as our physical traits? If I’m anti-social, do I blame mum and dad for their parenting style or the genes they passed down? Is it nature or nurture what done it? Twin studies – researching twins separated at birth, raised in different environments – offer scientists the unique possibility of cracking the age-old nature vs nurture chestnut. And a secretive twin study is the dark place enthralling documentary Three Identical Strangers is heading to. But before it arrives, there’s a bizarre stranger-than-fiction story. First the WTF bit: in 1980, 19-year-old Bobby Shafran arrived on campus in upstate New York for his first day at college. As he walked around something odd happened. People were…

“Oh my god. Like, thousands. Definitely in the hundreds. Probably more.” Ruth Wilson has told this story many, many times before. If you’ve spent time in a pub, a rehearsal room, on location or at dinner with the Golden Globe and Olivier Award-winning star, she has probably mentioned the incredible story of her grandparents. Now, she’s telling the world, as producer and star of Mrs Wilson on BBC One, in which she plays her own grandmother, Alison Wilson. “It is weird, I have never got bored of it. People always go, ‘What? Wow! Really?’ That is what reassured me in telling this as a drama. A good story needs to be told.” Since bursting on to the scene with her Bafta-nominated lead role in Jane Eyre back in 2006, Wilson…

A good fix I was heartened to read the article about Sophie Unwin and her re-use and repair initiative [Changemakers, November 12-19]. I got to thinking about my childhood almost 50 years ago. My father worked as a government scientist: a good job but not exactly lucrative. As an electrical engineer he was well-suited to repair the various (though few compared with what’s available now) electrical and mechanical goods we had. When time or the lack of spare parts dictated, my mum would go into town to visit a narrow shop where a friendly man in a brown work coat would take in and repair just about anything at a fraction of the cost of buying new. This process was popular with many families and the shop was always busy…

A few years ago I took my children climbing trees. For a time we’d head out and about and find a good oak or beech and work our way into the branches. I’d been inspired by the great nature writer Robert Macfarlane, a tree-climbing evangelist, who said there was something curious that happens when people pass by a tree and see an adult up in the branches. Not having thought of it since I was a child, I gave it a try, using my children as an excuse to get back among some branches. Also, tree climbing is a very cheap way to amuse children. And to escape from the tyranny of soft-play areas. There is a great beech in the middle of Pollok Country Park in Glasgow that is…

Last week, The Big Issue unveiled The Big Exchange, a mobile and web platform that offers a new approach to banking, saving and investing. It will allow people to invest to make a financial return – as well as allowing them to choose where their cash has a social and environmental impact. The revolutionary platform will be more inclusive than the traditional financial system, allowing anyone to get involved – regardless of their income. Each user will have a ‘social passport’ showing where their savings are making a difference and allowing them to reach their preferred area of impact in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals with one tap of their screen. The platform has already caught the eye of the FT, which covered it last week. Nigel Kershaw,…

Ryan Yasin was just trying to be a good uncle when he decided to make fashion work for our wallets and the planet. Horrified by the waste produced by children’s ever-changing wardrobes – as well as the huge financial undertaking to dress a kid who grows every week – smart-fabric clothing start-up Petit Pli began as a quest for sustainability and became a revolutionary design house. While studying a Master’s in aeronautical engineering, Yasin sent a gift of baby clothes to his sister and her newborn son. By the time the package reached the family, his nephew had already outgrown the clothes, and they were thrown away. The 25-year-old wondered why kids’ wear seemed designed for little adults rather than dynamic, constantly growing children’s bodies. He ultimately found an answer…

MARY BELL, ARTIST AND FRONT OF HOUSE I started engaging with the building firstly as a Crisis service user. I was looking for a sense of purpose and for ways to pass the time while I was out of work. I was new to Oxford and this central hub was a welcoming friendly place to come and feel a part of something. I particularly enjoyed photography, creative writing, art and drama. As I continued to commit to my courses and projects I realised that something much greater was happening, an internal shift of sorts. I was growing in confidence, achieving things, my relationship towards myself and the world around me was strengthening. I took the opportunity to partake in the Arts Training Scheme at the Old Fire Station. I learned…

01 Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome The 20th-century polar explorers published some riveting accounts of their travels. In this story, those perilous journeys are reimagined by a group of children as they plan their own expedition in the Lake District during a snowy winter. 02 An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie (translated by James Kirkup) Kpomassie was a teenager in Togo when he discovered a book about Greenland and determined to make his way there. First published in 1981, this is a seminal work of Arctic travel writing and a lively account of life on the edge of the polar ice. 03 Brother in Ice by Alicia Kopf (translated by Mara Faye Lethem) The narrator of this brilliant, genre-defying book has a brother (‘M’) who is autistic, “trapped in…

Disobedience , an intelligent romantic film set in North London’s Orthodox Jewish community, features a phenomenal turn from Rachel Weisz as a photographer living in self-exile in New York who returns to London after the death of her rabbi father; he caught her as a teenager kissing her best friend (Rachel McAdams), who’s now married. The director is Sebastián Lelio, who made the trans drama A Fantastic Woman – and, along with Gloria, completes his trio of heartfelt humanist films about free-spirited women on the fringes of society.…

The Police Federation wants to end “walk on by” culture and ask the public to support the arrest of violent offenders. But should we really be asked to intervene if we see officers struggling? It shouldn’t be expected. This will lead to a legal duty of care. Leave it to freedom of choice. Ktigger7, Instagram Er, yes – I can’t believe it’s even an actual discussion. It’s just human decency to help. Little_strings_music, Instagram No, we’d end up getting hurt or killed! We need a properly funded police service, more bobbies on the beat in danger zones and better-funded mental health/social services for people who need help. EchoBritain, Twitter Our society needs to own its failure to own its shortfalls. Eg look out for your neighbours, challenge violence that criminals…

Generous Big Issue vendor Kevin Collick swapped his tabard for a Pudsey Bear onesie to raise more than £1,400 for Children in Need. On November 16 Kevin dressed as the campaign’s iconic mascot and collected donations on his pitch, outside Tesco on Winchester High Street. He sold more than 200 Big Issue magazines to bolster the donations, raising £1,428 for charity. The 45-year-old seller also offered his regulars chocolates after five boxes were donated by the supermarket branch. “I was quite chuffed with the money that I raised,” said Kevin. “I was out there on that pitch from 5.30 until 5.30 and had a right laugh with everybody and a lot of people told me it was amazing what I was doing. “The way I look at it, The Big…

Ex-MI5 chief 1978 With her two daughters Sophie and Harriet 1992 She becomes MI5’s Director-General – the first time the appointment is revealed to the public 1996 At Buckingham Palace after being made a Dame – the same year she retired from MI5 I was a child of the war, born just four years before the Second World War broke out. We left Nottingham and went to stay with my granny in Wallasey, across the river from Liverpool. And we lived there when the Liverpool docks were bombed. By 1951, when I turned 16, people were finally looking towards the future again. That was the year of the Festival of Britain, on London’s South Bank. It was to celebrate a new start. I remember a fairground and a Dome of…

A visit to Harrods one fateful day in 1969 had been prompted by simple curiosity. As two young Australians newly arrived in England, Ace [Bourke] and I overheard an amazing story about two lion cubs that had just joined the zoo at Harrods department store. (These were the days before the Endangered Species Act of 1976, when it was perfectly legal for exotic creatures to be sold to the public). When we saw Christian the cub for sale that day, we were smitten. For 250 guineas (£3,000 in today’s money) Christian was ours. And so began a wonderful, rollercoaster life with him. For a year, Christian lived happily with Ace and I at a furniture shop called Sophistocat on London’s King’s Road. Given the run of the lower floor of…

In what might just be the world’s most fleeting rebrand, for one day only the London Eye was recently repositioned as the ‘London Ear’, with accompanying flashy lights and press releases. No, this wasn’t the latest plotline in a mockumentary, it was the launch of BBC Sounds, a new platform that brings together music, radio and podcasts into a single and personalised app. As we rode the wheel, absorbing the capital’s unyielding grey skies, a number of BBC radio shows were broadcast live from the Eye. Sorry, Ear. When harpist Olivia Jageurs and oud player Khyam Allami got the call to go on Radio 3’s flagship afternoon slot, no doubt they weren’t expecting to perform in the wheel’s pods. Elsewhere, Scottish composer Anna Meredith was interviewed by saxophonist Jess Gillam…

Some days you search and search for the sound of Stanley Unwin talking gobbledegook with a free-jazz score underneath it and, just when you are about to throw up your arms in furious surrender, you remember Resonance FM exists and that somewhere, in this Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse of idiosyncratic cacophonies, there will be a crate containing just that. The fun is opening all the other crates on your way to it, the ones rumbling with death metal, hefty-wax cylinders faintly holding on to falsetto-sung songs about romantic ploughmen and 1980s video game soundtracks. I continue to write about Resonance here because I am still befuddled by the number of people who would adore it yet still do not know of its existence. This week’s noises included witchcraft,…

A hand up, not a handout... At Christmas our sellers BUY every copy of the magazine for £1.50 and sell it for £3. Trade, not aid… Which is why we ask you to ALWAYS take your copy of the magazine. Our sellers are working and need your custom. Poverty is indiscriminate… That is why we provide ANYONE whose life is blighted by poverty with the opportunity to earn a LEGITIMATE income. The right to citizenship… The Big Issue Foundation, our charitable arm, helps sellers tackle social and financial exclusion. Prevention… Big Issue Invest offers backing and investments to social enterprises, charities and businesses which deliver social value to communities.…