Innholdsfortegnelse for 22-04-19 i The Big Issue

01 Mark Stephen Lawrence Day on April 22 Endorsed by all political parties and now an annual event, Stephen Lawrence Day commemorates the day the British teenager was stabbed to death in 1993 in a racist murder by a gang of white youths. It’s also, however, about providing young people with the opportunity to learn from his story, and feel inspired to make positive changes in their world that will hopefully help prevent such a tragedy ever being repeated. With knife crime on a frightening rise, particularly in London, the lessons of Lawrence’s death could scarcely be more vital. April 22; stephenlawrence.org.uk 02 Get Earth Day 2019 down to a tee with The Big Issue Shop Wear your green credentials with pride with The Big Issue’s range of environmental…

Just reading the article on Funeral Poverty [April 8-14] brought tears to my eyes. My Granny died 48 years ago at the age of 52 after living her life in poverty. There was no money to pay for a funeral so she had a pauper’s funeral. I know the cemetery she is buried in but not the exact spot as it’s unmarked. I would have expected to see a change since then and am shocked, saddened and angry to see families are still experiencing this. Carol Pentony, Edinburgh There are two things I wish our undertaker had told us when my mum died (in Scotland, I don’t know about anywhere else). Funeral expenses have first call on the estate of the deceased. So, provided the deceased had enough in the…

Property website Rightmove has pledged to crack down on renter discrimination by implementing a ban on ‘No DSS’ adverts. It follows rival Zoopla’s decision to do the same thing. In The Big List last week we told you of an 80,000-signature petition calling on Rightmove to stop landlords using the outdated term, which prevents people on housing benefit applying to rent properties. That magazine had barely been out for a day when it was revealed that the online property giant had written to letting agents to tell them to stop using the term ‘No DSS’ by the end of April. They will then introduce technology to detect and remove the term from their site in May. But Rightmove have left the door open for discrimination against renters on benefits, albeit…

Is Paris Burning? is a film and a book about Hitler’s plans for Paris which involved a ‘scorched earth’ policy, leaving nothing behind. After the arrival of the brave men of the D-Day and subsequent landings, who were staring directly into the face of death, Hitler realised he had to give up Paris. But instead of surrendering it to the conquering Allies, he instructed his generals to burn it down. To obliterate it from the Earth. Fortunately Hitler’s military commander General Dietrich von Choltitz did not follow orders, especially when the Resistance rose up and fought heroically. The US army was notified that Paris stood perilously near mass destruction and the race to save the city began. I can’t have been the only person watching the appalling fall of the…

Why do I love insects? Well, why shouldn’t I? After all, these tiny creatures not only live amazing lives, with lots of fun, intrigue and wonder. They also work tirelessly, 24/7, to uphold our ecosystems and help us humans survive. As you read this, around 200 million insects for each of us humans, are shuffling and crawling and flapping around on the planet, outnumbering the grains of sand on all the world’s beaches. You’ll find them everywhere – in forests and lakes, in the cold of the Antarctic and under the pavements in our cities. They can live inside a dead tree, in the nostrils of a walrus or inside your computer. And they have been here for a long time. Insects have – with a good margin – seen…

With our attention firmly focused on all things European – and some side-eye at matters in the US – a diversion to South America was just the ticket. Not literally (well, not yet, anyway), but to the Brazilian Embassy in London, for the launch of an ambitious and timely project to bring neglected Brazilian classical music to wider attention. Brasil em Concerto sees 100 major works from 19th and 20th-century Brazilian composers released via the Naxos label, in a long-term recording programme featuring the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, the Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra and the Minas Gerais Symphony Orchestra among others. Most of the works recorded for the series have never been available outside Brazil, and many will be world premiere recordings. This is an enormous undertaking, as lots of the…

Llandaff High Street, Cardiff Tuesday-Saturday, 9.30am-1.30pm I started selling The Big Issue as soon as I arrived from Romania in 2012. The first time was strange because I spoke no English and it was hard to understand anything. I could just say hello and thank you. People asked me how much my Big Issue was and I had to learn how to say two pounds fifty. But I sold four magazines and I thought that was a good start so I came back the next day. My mother-in-law lived here already and had told us there would be good opportunities. But I didn’t know how friendly it would be. It was fantastic for me, people were smiley and said hello and thank you. This was something new to me. To…

A big inspiration I have just read about Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton [April 15-21]. What an inspiration she is. I am a secondary school teacher and often I see pupils who are unmotivated and just want to play computer games all the time instead of learning! This really frustrates me – as there is so much opportunity and support out there for them. Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton demonstrates that anything is possible if you apply hard work and determination. She faced huge obstacles and could have given herself an abundance of excuses but she pushed on through. Kyrstn Calder, email @bigissue A once-homeless teenager now holds a PhD and is the Deputy Commissioner of Surrey Fire Brigade. “When you live that life, you feel invisible. You feel like a ghost in society,”…

Last week, Prince Charles was blasted, slammed and placed in the dock. He also came under fire. Poor Charles. Of course, nobody ever is ACTUALLY blasted or slammed. It’s old newspaper talk, hyperbole. It’s the language of Fleet Street, a nonsense nobody ever says. It goes alongside snubbed and revealed and laughed off. I love such nonsense. So, when Charles was blasted and slammed, he wasn’t really. He was gently chided. That doesn’t work so well in headlines. Charles was MERCILESSLY SLAMMED for introducing an Americanism into his correspondence. Following the Notre-Dame fire, Charles wrote to Emmanuel Macron expressing sympathy and saying ‘I realize only too well what a truly special significance the Cathedral holds at the heart of your nation.’ See? SEE?! AREN’T YOU FURIOUS?! It’s the IZE in…

Last week was huge for former Big Issue vendor-turned-cover star Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton as her remarkable story took over the media. As a homeless teenager Cohen-Hatton sold The Big Issue after school in Newport town centre and used it as a platform to become a senior firefighter and an award-winning academic. She has been named a Big Issue ambassador – which she says she is “super excited” about – and Cohen-Hatton has appeared across the media, including BBC radio, The Guardian and ITV, spreading the word of how selling the magazine changed her life. The 36-year-old hopes sharing her life-affirming story will inspire others and challenge commonly held stereotypes of homelessness. “If I can help give someone that spark that they may need to change things, that will be a…

Adapting Franklin D Roosevelt’s plan for economic reform and stimulation for a 21st century that could become dominated by climate crisis, the Green New Deal aims to boost investment in environmentally friendly technology and industries that prioritise people and planet. But it’s not just a few policies, it’s a wholesale shift in the way economies operate. In America, its principal cheerleader is hotshot Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, left. Earlier this year a resolution that she championed was presented to Congress. No senators actually voted for the resolution but reforms like this are set to shape the discourse around the next presidential election, and the ideas are beginning to attract support from around the world. Here are some of the plans: • All power would be supplied through clean, renewable and zero-emission…

Dr Melissa Glackin and Dr Heather King of King’s College London analysed what education policy is – then they looked at what teachers said they were actually teaching. They published their report last year. Glackin says: “We took this dual approach as often the government report that whilst policy might not explicitly set out a curriculum aim, teachers have the autonomy to teach beyond the statutory requirements. “The provision of environmental education in formal schooling is weakly supported by national policies. There is currently a lack of intention or ideological vision for environmental education explicitly articulated in education policy.” The report states: “Given that climate change is arguably the biggest issue facing the planet, it is somewhat surprising how little curriculum time the topic receives. The limited time is further…

Living by the sea and being a global shark ambassador, the impact of climate change on the oceans is always on my mind. Without healthy, cool oceans we will not have a healthy planet to live on. Our planet is blue because like us it is mostly made of water. The oceans produce more than 50 per cent of the oxygen we breathe and absorb a similar amount of man-made carbon dioxide. As sea temperatures rise this will reduce and affect the whole planet. Jacques Cousteau said: “We only protect what we love.” Well, I love the oceans and all the creatures that live there and for the sake of the future of our planet I will fight for them and encourage everyone to do the same. Having been to…

Sophie Sleeman: What do you think about the school strikers? Caroline Lucas: The school strikers are one of the most hopeful and inspiring things that have happened in many years when it comes to campaigning on climate. I’ve seen myself, these are young people who are taking action in full knowledge of what they’re doing. Sometimes people have tried to undermine the protests by saying, ‘This is all just about skiving off school’, but you know what’s at stake and that our generation – my generation – have let you down. I'm really glad you think that because we have received quite a negative backlash where I am in Exeter. You spoke about hope. How do you think we can use this hope to create concrete change? When there have…

I loved Turkish-American writer Jarett Kobek’s debut novel, 2017’s I Hate the Internet. I think I called it something like a hilarious, caustic satire on modern America, with the frustrating knowledge that I wasn’t halfway to describing the unique, radical, possibly insane, new voice which had entered the hall of leftist American culture commentators. I probably wondered if the book was a one-off, and whether Kobek would have the brio, the rage, the sheer energy, to successfully follow it up. He must have pondered that question himself; after his bestselling debut came the much slower-selling The Future Won’t be Long, whose flaccid commercial performance baffled its writer, noting that, unlike its predecessor, The Future had been published by ‘multibillion-dollar multinational corporation’ Penguin Random House. Yet somehow that corporate behemoth had…

Record labels are wising up to the reality that while there remains a demand for hard copies of music – millions of CDs are still produced each year – the plastic packaging is damaging the planet. It’s not just the actual discs: the jiffy bags used to protect the CDs after they are dispatched are generally not recyclable. Earlier this year, Swedish label BIS announced that it had switched to ‘ecopaks’ featuring a recyclable sleeve made of certified cardboard using soy ink, eco-friendly glue and water-based varnish. Decca Records has adopted a similar approach for its release of the Our Planet soundtrack; the album is packaged with a new material that has been developed as a way to reprocess the damaging algae of the Venice lagoon into a sustainable paper…

A hand up, not a handout... Our sellers BUY every copy of the magazine for £1.25 and sell it for £2.50. 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.…

Is it important to see the stars at night? A new study found that light pollution means just one in 50 people witness a starry sky after dark. Should more be done to tackle the problem? We need the stars!!! Susan Paterson,  Facebook Stars remind me of my utter insignificance. In a good way. Kath Hill, Facebook Can see some stars but not as many as I would without the light pollution. I have seen the night sky without light pollution and it’s mind-blowing. Pete Bell, Facebook We think a dark starry sky is one of the most magical sights in the natural world, and it’s an important characteristic of the English countryside. We need action so that we can all have the opportunity to experience the wonder of dark…

He may be more famous for his work behind the microphone than the camera – but Bryan Adams has teamed up with The Big Issue to produce a photo book focusing on the lives of vendors. The Summer of ’69 singer has released Homeless , which captures shots of 84 Big Issue vendors and exposes their stories in a stark and honest style. The book stems back from Adams’ contribution to the magazine in 2011 when actress and producer Trudie Styler was guest editor for one edition. Adams was approached by Styler to offer a more in-depth photographic look at vendors and since then the multi-skilled Canadian has taken snaps of sellers whenever he can, building up to the publication of Homeless . Adams said: “Thank goodness for organisations such…

George Bond: We've seen you come out in support of youth strikes and I wanted to ask you what the government has been doing to listen and act on our demands? Michael Gove: The first thing to say is that the idealism behind young people raising awareness of the need to tackle climate change is admirable. While I would never encourage anyone to take time off school, because I think education is critically important, nevertheless I admire the determination and the sense of urgency which so many young people feel. Now, I'd argue that the UK government has been leading amongst developed nations in taking action to deal with climate change. But of course, there's more to do and the activity of young people reminds us that there is no…

01 The Big Alfie and Annie Rose Storybook by Shirley Hughes I grew up with these gentle, beautifully illustrated stories and have read them to my own children. Escape modern life into a world of ill-fitting wellies, puddles and sibling kindness. 02 Dodgers by Bill Beverly East is a look-out for a Los Angeles drugs gang. One moment of inattention costs him his tenuous grip on security and forces him out on the road with his trigger-happy brother, Ty. The trip teaches East about the need to leave people and places behind in order to survive. A crime novel with a tender heart. 03 The Sister by Rosamund Lupton A page-turning read, full of red herring suspects, plot twists and jeopardy. The story is anchored in one woman’s very credible…

In Skyscraper The Rock plays a security expert whose family are trapped inside a burning skyscraper. He will stop at nothing to get them out of there. From Die Hard to Commando to Taken , the classics of the action genre surround a man on a mission to save his wife and/or kids. Like many middle-aged dads who live quiet lives in the suburbs and spend most of their time worrying about their rapidly developing paunches, I identify strongly with The Rock. Sometimes – and, yes, I know this is disgusting and sick – I find myself daydreaming about scenarios in which my family are endangered and I have to perform spectacular heroics to save them. For instance, we have a battleaxe neighbour who seems to despise my children and…