Innholdsfortegnelse for 12-12-2016 i The Big Issue

Liberal luvvies Yet another media personality has passed judgement on all those who voted for Brexit and Donald Trump. In his interview, Brian Cox [Cover feature, November 21-27] stated that “people are not really being taught to think”, and how they need to be educated. Behind the politically correct language he is basically saying such folks are stupid. I am sick of all these so-called liberals who bask in their own glory, whilst preaching to us ‘ordinary’ folk. Meanwhile, us “stupid” souls saw all this coming a long time ago and we possess a couple of fundamental qualities the luvvies lack: common sense and foresight. Europe has been an economic mess for a long time and opening up the floodgates to all and sundry was bound to end in disaster.…

Award-winning cafe Waterloo Tea is offering Big Issue readers a free tea or coffee when they bring their copy of the magazine into branches in Cardiff and Penarth this month. Founder Kasim Ali said: “All our staff get on well with Big Issue vendors and we thought with the cold weather it would be nice to boost their sales if we can. Hopefully regulars will make sure they get their copy, and perhaps a few new people will buy it too.” We’d love to see more warm-hearted cafe owners do the same – if you’re up to the challenge, let us know!…

LIGHTNING TREE BY CHRISTIE CASSISA Christie has struggled with depression, addiction and homelessness. She says: “I am currently auctioning off about 20 paintings with Centrepieces, as my contribution to the charity. Thank you for all your support and help with otherwise marginalised artists.” PAVED BY CARUSO JOHNSON London-born Caruso, who submits his artwork via homeless charity the 240 Project, paints and draws and is currently working on sculptures with wire. “Art is relaxing, mind-easing, you get lost in it,” he says. BLIGHTY BY FERAL On this island that we stand, All walks of life go hand in hand. Different cultures in the street, One big nation, oh that’s sweet. Different people and the way we dress, It’s the way we like our food that’s best. Not the same language, but…

Enabling Enterprise was started by Tom Ravenscroft, a former London secondary school teacher frustrated that pupils were leaving school unprepared for the corporate world. His venture works with some of Britain’s top employers to help familiarise teenagers with business skills, allowing some to plant the seeds of their own small businesses while still in school. CoderDojo is a network of IT professionals who volunteer their time at after-school clubs, hoping to pass on coding skills and inspire the next generation of computer geniuses. With coding now on the curriculum, schools are keen to encourage the additional expertise. There are now more than 100 CoderDojo clubs in the UK. Teach First is a non-profit organisation that helps recruit and train top professionals to go in and teach in low-income areas across…

Q1. The first motorway service station in Britain to open to all traffic is located on the M1 between Junction 14 and 15 and is named after the only town in Britain where parchment is still made. What’s it called? Q2. What’s the name of the second largest island in the world? Q3. The world’s third smallest country covers eight square miles and used to be called Pleasant Island. The central 90 per cent of it is a searing white wasteland of burning rock pitted with huge holes and roamed by wild dogs. Its economy is entirely dependent on bird droppings. It has no capital city, no harbour, no daily newspapers and no fresh water. What’s it called? Q4. The Isle of Wight originally had four of them, not three.…

Plucking shiny new CDs of Christmas music from your stocking on Christmas morning can produce mixed feelings. I have an unashamed love of Christmas music – proper stuff, not tinsel tunes – and it feels a shame to have a window of just a dozen days in which to enjoy a new crop of it. So although in theory this is a ‘what to buy your loved ones for Christmas’ column, you could pre-empt the pressie-opening ritual and stick one of the following CDs on in the run-up to the big day. In fact, that’s exactly what The Sixteen’s Christmas offering urges you to do. Song of the Nativity claims to provide ‘a peaceful and uplifting antidote to the hectic pre-Christmas rush’ – something many of us might think comes…

Politicians always say that they are going to deal with public concerns. Tony Blair was going to mend the broken NHS – but nearly 20 years on the problems have still not been solved, especially involving costing and management. Consequently, many people have ceased to believe in their agendas. During the Trump/Clinton debate on television Hillary spoke of what she had accomplished and what she was going to do in the future, and Trump’s riposte was: “You haven’t done anything for 30 years”. An answer that resonated with the audience. This repeating of old ideologies is no longer acceptable. It is futile to wait for problems to develop and then try to solve them. Politicians in this country are not stupid but too many display a serious lack of imagination…

Big-hearted Exeter Big Issue seller Andrew McGarry has used his takings from selling the magazine to buy socks for homeless people for Christmas. “I know how important a good, clean pair of socks are. They’re vital in this weather,” said the popular vendor. “It’s difficult to find a decent pair of socks.” Andrew made headlines recently after a fire in the town destroyed a building by his pitch, affecting business for him and several other local retailers. Undeterred, hard-working Andrew’s back at his pitch and wanted to repay his customers’ loyalty by helping out homeless people. He saved £100, bought 40 pairs of good socks and delivered them to St Petrock’s charity, which is appealing for warm clothes to distribute to homeless people.…

• Ladybird for Grown Ups Big Issue exclusive: Christmas in Whitehall • Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah wonders how he could have won more medals • With Star Wars back in cinemas, we ask what do Jedi do for Christmas? • See Lee Jeffries’ poignant photos, giving a face to homelessness. A percentage of print sales from his exhibition Fallen Angels goes to The Big Issue. Buy online at thefrenchartstudio.com Plus… keep the kids busy with The Big Issue Colouring Book available exclusively at The Big Issue Shop bigissueshop.com…

As Steven Spielberg knows, everybody loves a scary dinosaur – especially at Christmas. So this year we are delighted that our Kids’ Christmas Cover Competition winner shows Jurassic beasties getting ready to open their presents piled under the Christmas tree, wishing our readers a ‘Happy Rexmas’! The cover was drawn by Joe Evans, eight, of Lichfield in Staffordshire. Joe is a big fan of dinosaurs. “They’re very interesting, I’d like to know a lot of things about them,” he says. “These dinosaurs on the cover are scary ones.” But even T-Rex likes to wear a Santa hat and get presents. Mum Alison says Joe, who attends St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, loves to draw. “He’s got a very good imagination, and likes to add a lot of detail,” she says.…

On Scotland and its place in the EU “It may be that if Scotland wants to stay as an open, internationalist, outward-looking country, trading freely with the single market, that we have to be independent. Because the Tories want to take us in a completely different direction. If that’s the case, I think we should embrace that positively.” On Power [This year Forbes named Nicola Sturgeon as the 50th most powerful woman in the world and the second most powerful in Britain] “I’m not letting it go to my head! It’s flattering, of course, but I don’t really think about those sort of things. What does it really mean? You just concentrate on the job you’ve got to do.” On running an SNP candidate in England “I’m tempted… There are…

Salford in 1969. Among housing condemned four decades earlier, four young women “with lots of front” are captured by photographer Nick Hedges. He was documenting social conditions for newly-formed housing charity Shelter. “I encountered this group of girls with immense spirit,” he says. “They were growing up in a very poor environment but still had a zest for life. They were not brought down by their housing situations. They reflected this vibrant teenage culture.” Read more of Hedges’ recollections and see a gallery at bigissue.com Documentary Slum Britain: 50 Years On is on Channel 5, catch-up my5.tv…

A1. Newport Pagnell. The service station opened on November 26, 1959, on the birthday of the owner Charles Forte, later Sir Charles, later still Baron Forte. The first motorway services were at Watford Gap but they were only for trucks. Bad luck to those of you who guessed ‘Northampton’, which is nearby at Junction 15a but doesn’t make parchment or ‘vellum’, which is made from calfskin. A2. New Guinea. Only Greenland is larger (Australia is counted as a continent rather than an island). The western half of the island belongs to Indonesia and the eastern half to Papua New Guinea. The 11 million people who live there speak more than 1000 different languages between them. A3. Nauru. A tiny island in the Central Pacific, 90 per cent of Nauru’s population…

I’ve had enough of the naysayers moaning about the demands of family at Christmas I’ve been thinking recently about William McIlvanney, the great writer. It’s coming up on the first anniversary of his death and I’m reading his novel Docherty. History will judge McIlvanney as one of the mighty, totemic authors of the late 20th century. I got to know him a little in the years before his death. We met at a function where we were both speaking. I thought I was witty and engaging. And then he spoke and I realised I was a minnow barely managing the shallows. He was very nice about it. It turned out he lived near me and after that we’d meet from time to time, normally in the mornings as I’d leave…

“Now is the time to plan big. Think big. To find the work and the jobs of the future” In my youth and young manhood there seemed to be thousands of single men who lived a broken, poor life. But they did not sleep in the streets, they slept in dirty, slum-like houses. They largely seemed to work in hotels or the catering trade and as I was a washer-up and kitchen porter I met them. Many were drunkards and were probably broken from the war, and often had mental problems. But they diligently, it seemed, carried on. The crème de la crème of this fallen, broken and piteous life though was The Rowton House. The Rowton House would give you a little room, the smallest of small, making my…

“My dad died when I was 15. Every time I go on stage, I ask him to bless my performance” My father passed away when I was 15 so I was still in the middle of dealing with the aftermath when I was 16. I was going through the grieving process. His death was a complete shock. My dad was older than my mum, he was 55 when he had me, 70 when he passed away. I just remember them telling me one day, out of the blue, that my dad had cancer. I think at that point we had the idea that we were talking six months at least. But within two months he was in a coma in a hospice. And he passed away very quickly. It was…

Deer Park Kemble Beaver Scouts of Cirencester, who celebrate their 30th anniversary this year, sent us a bundle of entries from their boys and girls aged six to eight. Kester Lopez-Real, aged seven, from London, used cut-outs to brighten up the journey of Santa’s sleigh across the night sky. This jolly Santa, by Amelia Graham, aged 10, London, knows a good read when he sees one! Many entries this year featured a ginger tom cat – no doubt inspired by Street Cat Bob – and this one, drawn by Lucy (11), from London, has the landmarks of London in his sights. Santa’s elf is taking a break from making toys to read his Big Issue in this drawing by eight-year-old Lila West from Manchester. Trumpets play out over this snowman…

Darth Vader is back in Rogue One played by Welsh actor Spencer Wilding and voiced again by James Earl Jones. But here is the original Lord of the Sith (and Green Cross Code Man) Dave Proswe, aged 81. I don’t go around boasting about the fact that I was Darth Vader. I was offered the part of Conan the Barbarian before Arnold Schwarzenegger and I came very close to getting the part of Jaws in the James Bond films. I could have been Darth Vader, Conan and Jaws, how about that! But I’m happy with the one I got. I was absolutely besotted with bodybuilding from 15. At 25 I was invited to enter the Mr Universe contest but at the end of the competition the…