Innholdsfortegnelse for 25-11-19 i The Big Issue

Donegal is a great place. When you get there and into it, the light is different. You can lose time. Some years ago I was lost in Donegal. Literally. Some friends and me, in the days before sat nav, were trying to find a house near Gweedore. The map seemed to be showing roads that didn’t exist. We drove up and down and around these magical little roads. We kept ending up staring at the Atlantic. Which, in truth, is not a bad way to end up. Finally, we found a man walking along and, sure he would have local knowledge, asked for directions. Well, he said, if you go about half a mile down past the red gatepost, you’ve gone too far. And you’ll have to come back on…

‘The people and the science are united – so why aren’t our politicians?’ The science is clear – time to act on the climate crisis is running out. On September 20 more than 300,000 people took to the streets around the UK demanding stronger action on climate change. The global climate strike – both in the UK and globally – was a record-shattering event with almost eight million people calling for climate justice and a liveable planet. That this was the largest climate mobilisation in history certainly shows burgeoning public support for climate action. So, in a time when both the people and the science are united, why aren’t our politicians? For huge numbers of young people around the country this is distinctly the Climate Election. We understand that our…

It was a risky move for Palestinian American Etaf Rum to place domestic violence at the heart of her debut novel. With its suffocating portrayal of spousal abuse, A Woman is No Man could so easily have been condemned as reinforcing negative stereotypes of Muslim communities. As it is, Rum’s book takes a nuanced look at the power of shame to shatter lives and send shards of pain hurtling down the generations. A Woman is No Man is the tale of Isra and Deya, a mother and daughter who strain against the cultural traditions that dictate they should be married off as soon as possible. Their stories, though intertwined, unfold separately in alternating chapters. Born in Palestine, Isra sees her wedding to US resident Adam as a route to freedom,…

One of the current trends in the movies is ‘immersive’ cinema. You may know the drill. You get the likes of 4DX, where you’re sat in a chair, moved around and have water thrown at you. Or there’s Secret Cinema, where the setting and feel of the film in question is recreated, drinks available at an extra charge. But for those of us of a more relaxed disposition, I may now patent the idea of a Knives Out winter knitwear screening. The idea? You just sit there in a cosy jumper or cardy, and marvel at some of Hollywood’s finest and their ability to keep out the cold. There is, after all, a lot of knitwear in writer/director Rian Johnson’s delightfully enjoyable new movie, the latest in a growing resurgence…

Injection of fact  I am a Type 1 diabetic (of 48 years) and found your Fact/Fiction article [Does the NHS really treat 5,000 diabetics every day? November 11-17] interesting and I’m pleased to see you addressing the misleading information given by the popular press. However, your statement “but all this doesn’t mean that eating healthily and exercising to prevent diabetes is a bad idea” is completely misleading and offensive, especially to Type 1 diabetics. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, no amount of exercise or healthy eating can prevent it. I see parents struggling daily with the relentless management of T1 diabetes in children and I see children and adults having to deal with the stigma of misinformation about their illness. Self-management is a necessity for T1s, not a…

A few weeks ago I became the patron of a charity called The Disability Advice Service (East Suffolk). DAS does what it says it does. It helps people to claim, to receive advice about housing, social wellbeing and opportunities to fare better if you have a disability. It recognises through its commitment to a largely rural population that sometimes people most in need get left at the back of the queue. What it means to me is addressing a glaring hole that exists for many people caught in need through disability. They sometimes need help in explaining, in advocating their cause; at times you need someone to do it for you. DAS is a slim little outfit. With a staff of four and 20 volunteers, it punches above its weight.…

THE REFERENDUM  It's like going 'OK, do you want this bottle of hair colour or that bottle of hair colour?’ and both boxes are blank, no shade written on them. And people voted for the box on the right-hand side. THE RESULT They’ve opened that box up and inside is blonde hair dye. Now some people are really happy and they’ve dyed their hair blonde. Other people are going, well I wanted black. Some didn't really realise that they were voting for a hair colour at all. And no one knew what was in the box. THE SOLUTION?  That vote should’ve never been put out to the general public until on the front of that box it said ‘Inside this box is blonde hair dye and if you’ve got medium…

Waiting times in England are the worst on record, and things aren’t rosy in other parts of the country either. Doctor turned million-selling author Adam Kay has been at the sharp end and tells us what politicians need to do if they’re serious about saving the NHS In hospitals, you go down to the bare minimum of staff for Christmas so as many people as possible can spend time with their families. But the bare minimum seems to be where we are every day at the moment. The NHS is short by more than 100,000 members of staff. That's an unthinkable number. Over 10,000 doctors alone, over 30,000 nurses. It is Christmas every day and not in the good sense. Depressingly, things have got significantly worse since I left the…

Frequent and long-time Street Art contributor Rene is a sprightly 90-something. She enjoys sketching nature and wildlife, but instinctively returns to abstract geometric patterns and collage. Arthritis makes the intricate cutting of her earlier, photography-derived compositions, inspired by Matisse’s Cut Outs, difficult these days. So she has taken to working with simpler shapes, using coloured paper or painting on white paper to create her joyful, spontaneous, playful pieces. She lives in London and submits her artworks via the 240 Project, a health activity centre for people affected by homelessness and exclusion. The work on this page is created by people who are marginalised. Contact street.lights@bigissue.com to see your art here. To see more and buy prints: bigissueshop.com At least half of the profit goes to the artist.…

01 Letters of Note compiled by Shaun Usher A fascinating mix of interesting and inspiring letters from throughout history, many of which offer great lessons about life. A number of these have stuck with me. If you get the chance, I’d also recommend seeing the staged event affiliated with the book, Letters Live . Here, a collection of the letters are read by some amazing performers. 02 The Shed That Fed A Million Children by Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow This shows how even a simple idea can have a humongous effect on the world. It highlights the importance of looking after each other and the impact supporting and believing in someone can have on them. 03 5 Ingredients by Jamie Oliver Advice on cooking good, quick and cheap recipes without hundreds of…

What do you want for Christmas this year? A gift set from Boots, a new vaping pen, a stockpile of insulin? Personally, all I want is a bumper crop of amazing TV to watch. In reality, it’ll probably be wall-to-wall Paul O’ Grady’s Christmas Dogs, but here’s my festive telly wishlist, just in case… Queer Eye Scotland Wouldn’t it be great if The Fab Five descended on Scotland to make over some puddin’ faced lads who spend all their time playing Fifa, drinking Monster and eating munchie boxes? Tan can take them to Harvey Nics, Jonathan can snip their tresses, Karamo can get to the root of their insecurities and Bobby will build them a new house in about 45 minutes. I’m a Celebrity, with actual celebrities Caitlyn Jenner and…

A hand up, not a handout... Our sellers BUY the magazine for £1.25 and sell it for £2.50. At Christmas it’s £1.50 and £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.…

Last year we named the Big Green Bookshop as one of our Top 100 Changemakers – and yet again they have shown why they deserve it, by launching their Buy Shelter A Book initiative. Building on their £12,000 campaign to send out copies of Greta Thunberg’s book of speeches, No One is Too Small To Make a Difference, to 800 schools around the UK, Simon Key and Tim West, who run the independent bookshop, now want to raise £3,000 to get books into the hands of homeless UK families. The idea riffs on their #buyastrangerabook Twitter initiative and follows up on the £2,500 that the online bookshop raised for the homelessness charity at the start of the year. Now Key wants to build on that success with a target of…

“There are two big themes across Europe,” Tim Cornelius explains. “Plastic, and what we do with it.” That’s why he is on track to repurpose an entire power station. As chief executive of renewables firm SIMEC Atlantis Energy, he’s leading the effort to turn Uskmouth power station near Newport, Wales, into the UK’s first plastic waste-driven energy generator – and will tackle the tonnes of non-recyclable plastics sitting in landfills at the same time. Set to begin operation in 2021, it’s expected to power 100,000 homes. The beginning of Cornelius’s career didn’t scream renewable energy. Born in Australia, he studied marine biology at Flinders University in Adelaide before he became a commercial diver. After witnessing a lot of injuries in his line of work, he returned to university to study…

The Big Issue’s Letter to my Younger Self book is continuing to sell like hot cakes across the country. It’s a collection of interviews with some of the most successful people in the world, sharing the secrets they’d whisper in the ear of their teenage selves. Vendors of street papers like The Big Issue around the world have also had extraordinary lives, so we asked them the same question… Taubi sells Kralji Ulice, Slovenia Remember that pizza place you broke into a month ago? You baked yourself a pizza and poured beer like a hotshot. Were you a hotshot? No, you were a jerk. I’m not going to tell you that you should stop doing drugs. No, you’ll get it in a few years’ time. And you’re not Chuck Norris,…

It was a landmark week for our Big Issue Future Generations campaign as the Green Party included our founder Lord Bird’s Future Generations Bill in their manifesto. The Greens pledged to “introduce a Future Generations Act for England, modelled on the current Act for Wales, building the needs of future generations into every government decision”. They also vowed to “appoint a Minister for Future Generations to represent young people at the heart of government”. It’s just one of the future-focused announcements made in the document, which is tellingly titled “If Not Now, When?”. Caroline Lucas has been a supporter of Lord Bird’s Future Generations Bill since it launched in October, pledging to co-sponsor the bill through the House of Commons on its journey through Parliament. The former Green leader and…

This time last year, it’s fair to say I was feeling pretty bleak about the state of our world. The news was bad and getting worse: there was the IPCC report, which stated we have 12 years to change course or face catastrophe, the terrifying statistics on biodiversity loss, and David Attenborough warning that the collapse of our civilisations is on the horizon. I have a small daughter and we have daily walks together, in which I witnessed burgeoning love for the natural world. I imagine her turning to me as a young woman, and asking me why I brought her into the world and taught her to love it, when it was collapsing before her eyes. In truth I felt powerless and deeply afraid. By the late autumn, however,…