Innholdsfortegnelse for 06-01-20 i The Big Issue

The Big Issue was born of contrary thinking. When everybody told John Bird and Gordon Roddick it wouldn’t work, they pushed ahead. They created a revolutionary magazine that changed ideas of what homeless people could achieve, and how they could remove themselves from their situation. As we head into our 29th year of existence, we continue to challenge orthodoxy. Like you, I read Dominic Cummings’ job ad/cri de coeur with a mixture of interest and confusion. It was interesting because he is somewhere between puppet master and kingmaker. He’s a policy wonk who gets very turned on by the high-falutin chat of futurology. He clearly has the ear of Boris Johnson and, given that he delivered Brexit and a massive majority for Johnson, he has been rewarded with the keys…

We were devastated to learn of the death of Melanie Panayiotou, a great friend of The Big Issue, over Christmas – just weeks after she wrote an exclusive piece for the magazine. The 59-year-old died three years to the day after her pop star brother George Michael. A family statement confirmed Panayiotou’s death on Christmas Day. It is not being treated as suspicious. Panayiotou’s friendship with The Big Issue began in 1996 when a chance encounter with founder John Bird led to her brother breaking his six-year media silence to give an exclusive interview to us. In this, as in so much else, George Michael was a pioneer – becoming the first of hundreds of world-famous Big Issue cover stars. Our friendship with Panayiotou continued. In November last year, she…

Welcome to our second annual Big Issue Top 100 Changemakers list. This is a celebration of the thinkers, creators and agitators seeking to make things better in Britain and beyond. Growing from our weekly Changemakers page, these are the righteous people and organisations who are grabbing challenges that the world is presenting and navigating a way through them. We’ve selected 100 Changemakers who will make things better in 2020. There are campaigners and campaigns run by groups; there are people working in tech and in business, in music and the arts, in literacy, sport and in charities and social policy. Our list features many people who you wouldn’t normally hear about, plus a number who you do. We believe it’s important to shine a light on those who are frequently…

A silhouette juggling coloured balls and a circular bracelet casting a heart-shaped shadow feature in an exhibition in Edinburgh of mind-bending photographic illusions created by young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The Power of Perspective involved a group of 16 to 25-year-olds from around Scotland, supported by the Rock Trust and tutored by illusion expert Professor Richard Wiseman and the Edinburgh International Magic Festival. Their works are on display until January 26 at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, and at the Museum of Edinburgh you can discover the secrets behind how the illusions were created. rocktrust.org, magicfest.co.uk 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…

A hand up, not a handout... Our sellers BUY 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.…

The first graphic novel put together completely by homeless people is pencilled in for a 2020 release after charity Accumulate raised £17,912 to fund the project. The Book of Homelessness is due to arrive in June 2020 after the charity hit their online funding goal on December 16 last year. That cash will pave the way for the charity to run workshops from this month where homeless people can create drawings, texts, visuals and poems to build the book. An initial print run of 500 copies is planned, with profits to be shared between the authors and keeping Accumulate’s workshops running, The charity’s founder and director Marice Cumber said: “We are going to create the first ever graphic novel by people affected by homelessness about their own stories – it’s…

What is the moral responsibility of commercial organisations today? It was once thought that an executive team’s sole responsibility was to its shareholders, whether that be family owners or institutional investors. But times have changed as increased attention is focused on how business behaves, both in terms of ethics and sustainability. At Warwick Business School this is something we have been teaching our students for some time and is why we have been named the leading business school in the world for sustainability for the last two years by Corporate Knights. Innovation and entrepreneurship are part of the Warwick DNA and why we believe business can be a force for good, not just for profit. It is in every organisation’s interest to model their purpose around the benefit they bring…

@pluckypuddin It’s OK to take time out for you if you need it. You can’t fill everyone else’s cup if yours is empty. Take risks, be brave and enjoy life. Get out of your comfort zone – you’ll thank yourself for it. @2Shelley09 Trust yourself – you are enough. Don’t be afraid to take necessary risks – they will help you grow. Reach out to good people, and don’t waste your precious time on those who aren’t worth it. @piesthebakerman Have confidence in yourself, you may make mistakes but you’ll learn from them. You will only regret the chances you didn’t take so try things, talk to people and go to new places. Remember to breathe, it’ll keep you alive and give you time to think. @aliceled Small New Year’s…

Norwegian street paper Megafon is shutting its doors after nearly 13 years – because it is no longer needed. The team behind the Bergen magazine said local government efforts to improve the lives of disadvantaged people have been so effective that the paper, and its social purpose, have become redundant. After publishing 133 magazines and 11 special editions, Megafon saw its vendor numbers drop to just eight by October last year. Editor Petter Lønningen told the International Network of Street Papers that the majority of Megafon vendors have addiction problems but radical drug treatments and housing initiatives have improved their lives so much that they no longer rely on selling the paper. He said: “Vendors are getting treatment for their addiction, and can fill their spare time with other work…

What Changemakers means for us At EY, we are passionately committed to building a better world, and are delighted to partner with The Big Issue in championing those that are at the very forefront of this at a grassroots level. In the face of a rapidly changing world and increasingly challenging social problems, we pride ourselves in a relentless focus on solutions and knowledge of the capability of human endeavour. We hope that this rundown of the top 100 Changemakers in 2020 will shine a spotlight on the extraordinary potential of social innovation, allow what is proven to work to grow and inspire others to follow in their footsteps. Just as we do at EY, The Big Issue recognise the problem-solving power of diverse partnerships. In Changemakers, you will read…

The world is suffering from a lack of kindness, and former uSwitch boss Neil Hutchinson is on a mission to change that. With a plan for using the most up-to-date academic research to drive a considerate revolution across schools, workplaces, and society as a whole, Kindness.org is just one of the social entrepreneur’s portfolio of big ideas. After graduating from Warwick Business School in 2000 with a degree in Management Sciences, Neil started his own affiliate marketing firm from his bedroom, with a £2,000 overdraft as his initial funds. Formed in 2004, TrafficBroker evolved into £57m web business Forward. Neil went on to buy the then-10-year-old price comparison site uSwitch in 2009, but found that his natural habitat wasn’t at the top of such a large business. Driven to use…

1917 begins with two soldiers dozing under a tree in a field in Normandy, meadow flowers swaying in the breeze . Treasure this moment of calm; take one last deep breath. You may forget to take another during the 119 minutes left on the clock of Sam Mendes’ astonishing war movie, filmed as if in one single unbroken take with no visible edits, and with the urgency of a thriller. Mendes’s camera plunges the audience in it up to our eyeballs as he drags these two soldiers through hell. It’s April 1917. Dean-Charles Chapman is cheery chappy Blake, a young lance corporal, good with maps, whose nap is interrupted with urgent orders to cross enemy lines. He must deliver a message nine miles away to Colonel MacKenzie (Benedict Cumberbatch), who…

It’s Metallica – as you’ve never heard them before. US-based group Little Kruta, led by cellist Kristine Kruta, have recorded a new version of the classic 1988 album ...And Justice for All simply titled Justice (Chesky Records). Vocalists Alita Moses, Camille Trust, Lauren Desberg and Jenn Mundia add a soulful – and occasionally schmaltzy – touch, while the strings (arranged by Pierre Piscitelli) easily match guitars when it comes to creating an epic soundscape. Thrash metal for chamber orchestra? Yes please.…