Innholdsfortegnelse for 26-10-20 i The Big Issue

VENDORS Restrictions on movement are changing week to week, area to area. This week vendors were removed from the streets in Wales as it introduced more stringent measures. Elsewhere our staff are working closely with vendors to make sure it is safe for them to be selling, and safe for customers to buy. We are providing masks and hand gel, and encouraging vendors to follow government guidelines. If you can, please support your local vendor by buying The Big Issue from them. PITCHES Towns and cities across the country are quieter than normal so our teams are moving vendors to pitches where they have the best chance of selling magazines, depending on local safety measures and circumstances. An ever-increasing number of vendors are offering contactless payments so they are not…

A West Sussex man has raised more than £15,000 for a homelessness charity – after auctioning off his peculiar pet portraits. Drawing under the pseudonym Hercule Van Wolfwinkle, Phil, 38, is penning 150 “rubbish” portraits a week and donating the proceeds to Turning Tides. Gemma Orpwood, Turning Tides communications manager, said: “He just wants us to get as much profile as possible. We’ve had to work tirelessly to house everybody in temporary accommodation.” justgiving.com/fundraising/ portraitsbyhercule…

In the 29 years of The Big Issue’s existence, a lot has changed – especially in the last few months. But our mission has stayed the same since day one: helping people lift themselves out of poverty. Since 1991, we have sold well over 200 million magazines, helping 100,000 vendors get a hand up. In 2019 alone that meant a total of £5.5m – or £100,000 every week – going directly into the pockets of some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in the country. This year has presented challenges unlike any we’ve encountered. With your help we have been able to keep supporting the hundreds of men and women who rely on us to survive. This is how we worked through lockdown, and how – with your continuing…

In uncertain times the only certainty is more uncertainty. Our work with vendors is more vital, and more challenging, than at any time in our history. With your help we have weathered a storm, but plenty more disruption is on the horizon. Last week in Wales vendors were once again taken off the streets. The tiers system being implemented across the UK means more people are working from home, and footfall in town centres is down. Vendors need extra help and we want to provide it. We will continue to support them through whatever happens, but with local lockdowns likely elsewhere well into 2021, we are asking for your support to help us and help our vendors through the Covid-19 pandemic this winter, when vendors are most in need. We…

Movements often start small, with a few people shouting their truth out. A few others start to listen. It becomes their truth, too. Before you know it, the whole world gets it and it becomes the way things are done. Excitingly, this appears to be happening in the finance industry right now. Campaigners, environmentalists and industry insiders have for years been turning the spotlight on to where the trillions of pounds we put into our bank account and pensions end up. The results are rarely pretty. It turns out huge chunks of our hard-earned money go into fossil fuels, mining and other activities that are devastating the world, or into industries that exploit workers in unsafe, low-paid jobs, leaving people trapped in poverty without us even knowing. The good news…

“I am writing this account, in another man’s book, by candlelight, inside the belly of the fish.” As opening sentences go, this scene-setter from Edward Carey’s The Swallowed Man is as close to perfect as any I’ve read this year. How can one do anything but read on? Thankfully, as hooks go, this is a singularly rewarding one. A re-imagining of Pinocchio, told from the viewpoint of the beast-entrapped Geppetto, it surprise and delights, and saddens and gladdens, from start to finish. Carey amassed a set of evangelical followers after his eccentric novel, Little, the fictionalised story of Marie Grosholtz, the real life Madame Tussaud. The Swallowed Man sees him carry further his fascination with marionettes and mannequins (he once worked as a steward at Madame Tussauds) and it’s tempting…

Relic The sandwich generation doesn’t tend to make the list of buzzwords and phrases at posh Hollywood pitch meetings, I’d suggest. The idea of zeroing in on a character who has responsibility for both a child of their own and a parent who’s struggling doesn’t suggest on paper the most fun evening out, and it’d be remiss to mislead you: the debut feature from director Natalie Erika James is a dark exploration of the subject. But it’s also doing what horror cinema in particular is excellent at doing: taking a subject matter that otherwise struggles to get recognition or much mainstream discussion and turning it into something really incredibly compelling. Just look at how a horror film such as The Babadook addressed depression, or It Follows quietly had a conversation…

Under normal circumstances, the sight of so many empty seats might have been dispiriting. Complete rows in Snape Maltings’ main hall remained clear, and only a fraction of the chairs that usually crowd the stage had been laid out at the front of the room. Snape’s chamber music and solo recitals often take place in the Britten Studio, a cosier hall with impeccable acoustics. To allow for adequate spacing, this new series of weekend events takes place in the larger venue, with shorter performances of around an hour. There is no interval, no drinks at the bar, no congregating to discuss the details of the music before or afterwards. Tickets are electronic to avoid any passing of paper, and face coverings are mandatory. It’s concert going, but not as we…

SVETLANA KALINOV sells Liceulice in Kikinda, Serbia When I found out about Liceulice and the opportunities to get involved as a vendor, it made me very happy to find something I could do. I’ve never had a job before; there was no work for me. When the Covid-19 crisis started, I followed the Liceulice Facebook page and I saw that there are many people out there in a less favourable position than I am. I have this urge to help others because I experienced lots of difficulties throughout my childhood and was often in the hospital. I talked to my vendor friends. We were collecting money for a day trip to Novi Sad, but then we decided to help those in need instead. We passed on…

On some days I want to get in my car, drive all the way to the west Donegal coast and stand shouting at the Atlantic Ocean. There hasn’t been much opportunity to do this recently, though there has been a growing need. Donegal remains, in my mind at least, a semi-mythical place. As soon as you cross the border from Northern Ireland it rises like Shangri-La. The air feels clearer, the light is better, the greens are fresher. And over there, all the way over into the west, you hit the end of the world. The great big Atlantic rolls in and you can stand and roar and there is nothing to break your call until it smacks against America. This may be rather rose-tinted. It rains a lot. The…

Nearly 90 per cent of money spent by councils in England on temporary housing goes into private landlords’ pockets, research has revealed. New government figures showed that councils spent almost £1.2bn on moving homeless people into temporary housing in 2019-20 – a figure campaigners called “outrageous”. The cash spent on B&Bs alone soared by 73 per cent in just five years. Polly Neate, chief executive of the charity Shelter, said: “It’s a false economy for taxpayers’ money to be used to pay private landlords for grotty emergency B&Bs, which can be so terrible to live in that families end up deeply traumatised. “The decades of failure to build social homes means too many people on lower incomes are stuck in unstable private rentals – increasing their chances of becoming homeless.…

I was in Oxford a few years ago and I’ll never forget this. I came out of this meeting with an organisation called the Phoenix Prison Trust – I’m one of their patrons, we promote yoga in prisons – and there was somebody selling The Big Issue. I showed him I’d already got one so he could see I was not just fobbing him off… and then he stood back and performed a poem of mine call Me Green Poem. It’s a really long, fast poem and he performed it word for word. I said: “Where the hell did you learn that?” He said: “I was one of the biggest fans, man.” It blew me away. It was amazing. I always think, who was that cat? I would love to…

The auction takes place on November 4 from 7pm, and will happen live at The Auction Collective website: theauctioncollective.com All auction items can be seen now on The Big Art Auction page on the site. Bidding is easy and open to everyone. You just need to register at The Auction Collective site in advance. Registration is open now. You can bid over the phone, with absentee bids, or online via the live stream. You can leave absentee bids and arrange phone bidding on your favourite artworks now. If you’re bidding live online, head to theauctioncollective.com and follow the link to ‘Enter the live stream’. If telephone bidding: charge your phone and keep an ear out for a call from The Auction Collective. If absentee bidding: send in your bids and…

The coronavirus pandemic has shaken up all our financial plans. For the lucky ones who are still earning the same as they were last year lockdown has meant that they are actually better off, with fewer opportunities to spend. But for most, this year and the months to come are frighteningly uncertain. About a third of adults have experienced a decrease in household income already, according to research by the Financial Conduct Authority. It also points out that those with more savings report higher contentment and having an emergency buffer to call on if, for example, you lose your job, rather than having to borrow money at high cost, is important for our wellbeing. Debt charities warn that many people end up tangled in spiralling bills because of a lack…

Simply put, (R)evolution is the story of my life so far, much like any other autobiography, I suppose. But I believe people have very different reasons for wanting to write an account of their life. For some it’s to correct perceived ‘wrongs’ against them, to give their side of an issue that dominated their lives, for others a chance to show the more human side of their nature that is perhaps rarely seen in public. For some it just seems to be an ego massage and nothing more, some seem to want to ingratiate themselves with their own fan base and so protect and nurture their loyalty, and for some it’s simply showing off. There are no doubt a million and one more reasons than the few I’ve mentioned. I…

Huddersfield Choral Society will perform two new works by Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Daniel Kidane, with lyrics written by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage in an online concert (November 28). We’ll Sing and The Song Thrush and the Mountain Ash mark the death of two members of the society, both of whom died with Covid-19 earlier this year. Singers are preparing the piece in groups of 15, in accordance with current guidelines. Century Films will record the rehearsals to create two final versions of the songs, which will be broadcast via wellsing.huddersfieldchoral.com…

Job seekers at risk of homelessness will be supported by a pioneering new project tackling soaring unemployment. Social housing and training providers in the West Midlands have joined forces on the pilot programme, kicking off in Birmingham, which will focus on housing people who are or could soon be homeless as a result of losing their job. The Covid-19 recession has pushed the unemployment rate to a three-year high, with the number of people on company payrolls down nearly 700,000 between March and August. The government’s furlough scheme is set to wind down at the end of this month. The project will help people refine their CVs and find training opportunities. Once people housed by project leader Prosperity Living secure a job, they will be supported into long-term affordable homes…

Growing up I was always the son of Barry Hearn. My dad started making a lot of money promoting fights around the world, and I was in his slipstream. I was gobby and probably a little bit disrespectful at times. But I felt sort of indestructible. I felt like we were the main family in Essex, and when you’re around successful people like Frank Bruno or Chris Eubank, living that kind of lifestyle, the last thing you want to do is listen to teachers at school. Looking back it’s a really bad attitude to have. I had a big problem with authority. It was naivety, getting a little bit carried away myself, being immature, and a little bit insecure as well because I was fighting for my own name, my…

The Big Art Auction brings together some of the world’s best artists, who have each created stunning exclusive pieces to raise money to support Big Issue vendors. Musician and producer Goldie, Radiohead artist Stanley Donwood, Glastonbury Festival art director Joe Rush, creator of iconic punk imagery Jamie Reid and sought- after artists including Gavin Turk, Joana Vasconcelos, Lauren Baker and Bran Symondson are among the 20 names who have generously gifted their talents to create extraordinary works for the auction, which will be held by The Auction Collective on November 4. A collaboration between The Big Issue Group and Creative Giants, the auction has been made possible by a donation from Fender of a collection of Stratocaster guitars. These have been decorated by nine of the artists to transform them…

After the Halloween ghouls pack up this week, everyone’s thoughts will turn to Christmas. And at The Big Issue we’re no different. So are you a wonderfully creative kid? Or do you know a budding young artist? Perhaps you organise activities for children or teach a class of talented individuals. If so we want to get you involved. Since we first launched our kids cover competition seven years ago we have had thousands of amazing creations from young people across the country and we know we’ll be blown away by your creations again. This year we want to keep it simple. What makes you feel Christmassy? Is it Santa, reindeer, decorating trees, receiving presents or giǽting them to others? Artwork can take any form, from drawings to paintings to digital…

What makes The Big Exchange special? If you invested in a traditional way, you would be putting your money into companies with the sole aim of making it grow over time. Your money may be used to invest in industries that, historically, are profitable – think oil, tobacco and arms – but are destructive to the planet or society. The Big Exchange only offers funds that give positive impact, which makes it unique in the world of investment platforms. Jill Jackson, managing director of The Big Exchange, says: “One of the main reasons most people don’t invest is that there are too many choices and decisions to make. It can feel totally overwhelming so they decide not to invest at all. “At The Big Exchange we make investing for good…

Rene is in her 90s and suffers from arthritis and a degenerative eye condition. Following the death of her husband and son, she experienced a period of homelessness. At a low point, one of her friends invited her to attend an art project and she has been returning ever since. Several of her works have since been published, exhibited and sold. The daughter of an architect, she used to enjoy making intricate collages of geometric shapes and lines often using materials cut out of magazines, but when that became too challenging she found a new approach. “I’m using coloured paper these days, cutting my own, simple, shapes,” she says. I got inspired by a Matisse exhibition. Ill health made him have to change his approach. I don’t rush it, take…

01 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Just a few paragraphs set up all the complexities of the conflict between Humbert Humbert’s “moral leprosy” and the brilliance of his storytelling. Foreseeing the repulsion/fascination battle in the mind of his readers, Nabokov gets his retaliation in early. 02 Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith In the midst of the Holodomor, the famine that ravaged Ukraine in 1932-33, a starving boy takes his brother out to trap and kill a cat – but the cat is not the only one being hunted. A truly chilling opening to this bestselling thriller. 03 The Go-Between by LP Hartley One of the world’s most famous opening lines. At the age of 60, Leo Colston stumbles upon his teenage diary. In it, he naively recorded the build-up to…

I use YouTube for what it was it intended, watching arthouse remixes of the inscrutable Eighties TV gameshow 3-2-1 with Dusty Bin and clips of great Las Vegas variety acts like The Jovers (an utter delight). Apparently, not everyone uses it for jaunty rollercoaster rides into frivolity. Some people don’t just use it as an escape from reality, they use it to redefine reality. It is a training slope for flattening the Earth and reaffirming that the God of the Old Testament took a second rib from Adam and made it into an assault rifle. In episode one of Rabbit Hole, Guillaume Chaslot explained how he worked for Facebook on the algorithms that reward the user when they search topics. Chaslot noticed that, in the aggressive quest to maximise watching…

NEED HELP? Why not get together with other Big Issue readers on Twitter - @BigIssue Get the answers in next week's mag! Good luck 1. Which famous US show was based around the exploits of the Ewing family? 2. In which year did the French Revolution begin? 3. Which hip-hop star’s real name is Calvin Broadus Jr? 4. What is the chemical symbol for copper? 5. Which video game features the characters Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde? 6. With which sport do you associate Pat Day and Ruby Walsh? 7. Which city in Florida is Disney World in? 8. In the Star Wars universe, what relation is Darth Vader to Kylo Ren? 9. Which Scottish city is known as the City Of Discovery? 10. Which planet in the Solar System…

A hand up... Our sellers BUY the magazine for £1.50 and sell it for £3, keeping the difference. Not a handout… Vendors earn a legitimate income, and gain valuable social and employability skills. With your support now, we will continue to do so once the crisis has passed. The right to citizenship… The Big Issue Foundation, our charitable arm, helps sellers to 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.…