Innholdsfortegnelse for 3/14/2022 i The Big Issue

Our vendors buy magazines for £1.50 and sell them for £3, keeping the proceeds and working their way out of poverty. Every vendor has a unique story – they may be homeless, at risk of losing their home, long-term unemployed or dealing with mental health issues. What they all have in common is they are earning a legitimate income while gaining valuable social and transferable skills. If you cannot buy from a vendor, take a subscription via SUBS.BIGISSUE.COM or through The Big Issue UK app. Retailers including the Co-op and Sainsbury’s also stock the magazine in many branches. EVERY COPY BOUGHT MAKES A DIFFERENCE. IT’S A HAND UP, NOT A HANDOUT.…

This is one of the most beautiful and heartwarming letters I have ever read.@AbiRFellows Unwelcome home  Anecdotal evidence: twice I stayed in hotels that also housed people in temp accommodation. In both cases the hotels wouldn’t let them stay in during the day, for “security reasons”. Imagine having kids and having to be out from morning till evening, no matter what weather and how close to family or friends you are. TrippleFrack for a cup of coffee with him, ask him his name, find out everything about him. But I couldn’t. I didn’t have the time. And I think about him a lot now. If you’re reading this, please answer this letter in The Big Issue. I want to know how you are, what you’re up to, what your name…

For this reviewer at least, there are few newsflashes as thrilling as “a new book by Alejandro Zambra”. The Chilean poet, essayist and novelist is not especially prolific, but within his output are some of the most original writings of the last two decades (Multiple Choice, in which he reveals the story of a difficult father/son relationship and delivers a pin-sharp critique of the Pinochet regime through a series of multiple choice questions, is a masterful feat, and was The Big Issue Book of the Year in 2017). For lovers of his previous work however, Chilean Poet initially raised some misgivings. Long celebrated for his audacious experiments with form and expression, this is a relatively conventional novel. Given Zambra’s rising international reputation, there were fears the mischievous magician had sold…

BIG ISSUE INVEST  A £950,000 lifeline to help people in financial crisis For those people who have been financially excluded from mainstream financial services, unexpected costs such as a dentist bill, broken washing machine or car MOT failure can be a terrifying occurrence. Without savings or access to high street bank loans, this can start a spiral into real hardship or terrifying debt. Moneyline offers affordable short-term loans of between £100 and £2,500 for people on low incomes. The not-for-profit received £950,000 in funding from Big Issue Invest, which has enabled it to deliver a lifeline for thousands of families across the country. The typical Moneyline customer is a young woman with children, who rents her own home, often on an income of less than £18,000 and living in a…

2,200 foodbanks currently operate in the UK 52,000 people sought help from Newcastle’s West End foodbank alone in the year to March 2021 2.5 million emergency food parcels were distributed by The Trussell Trust nationally in the year to March 2021 128% increase in demand for foodbanks has been seen in the last five years £16 billion was slashed from council funding in England between 2010 and 2019 1,000 Sure Start children’s centres are reported to have closed between 2010 and 2019, along with 940 youth centres…

When I was 16 my key interests were music, music, girls and music. I took the New Musical Express to school with me every Thursday and completed the crossword during the first period. I got glam rock when I was 11-12 and punk rock 16-17. Lucky boy. Lucky also that I didn’t hate school, didn’t hate my parents and the odd girl liked me. Almost every penny I had went towards buying records. I gave away the poster that came with [T. Rex’s] Electric Warrior to my first girlfriend, though. Maybe not my smartest move. I had a job at the pub my mum bartended at and next door was the local electrical appliance shop, which also sold records. The owner was a kind old lady who gave me credit.…

1 Wilding by Isabella Tree An utterly engaging book which has captured the zeitgeist of its age. Tree’s story of a journey from played-out farmed land to a vibrant environment palpitating with storks, turtle doves and purple emperors has become a beacon of hope. 2 Feral by George Monbiot I’m aware he inspires strong emotions, but the compelling quality of the research with which he frames his arguments is always superb. This book resulted in debates in bars and on trains, in households and agricultural auction markets. 3 Silent Fields by Roger Lovegrove Lovegrove’s powerfully researched focus on the systems of bounty applied to achieve the utter extermination of some species and the near eradication of others is chilling. 4 Beavers in Britain’s Past by Bryony…

THE BIG ISSUE: Can you write a summary of The Witchfinder to save me the trouble? TIM KEY: Easy. It’s Midnight Run but set in the 17th century, and it’s a witch rather than a felon, and it’s me and Daisy [May Cooper] rather than De Niro and Grodin. England 1645 or 2022? Well, I guess I’d take 1645. I’m more of a taverns man myself and if I was fortunate enough to not be broke or plague-ridden and I managed to cobble together some family and friends, I like the idea of getting sloshed in a tavern and no one on their phones and no social media. Then again people hadn’t invented football at that stage and I do like some 2022 aspects such as wearing jeans and going…

The piano’s insides were on display, just like the composer’s. The casing on the back of the upright had been removed so that the hammers were clearly visible. It gave the impression of work in progress; that we had stumbled into a maker’s workshop in the midst of a restoration project. In fact, contrary to appearances, the instrument was exactly how pianist-composer Stephan Moccio wanted it. The felt wedged deep into the piano’s interior muffled the sound, making the usually resonant middle register distant and vague. The piano’s full name – pianoforte – translates from Italian as ‘soft-loud’ and alludes to the impressive new qualities of Cristofori’s 18th-century invention, which took over from the less technically powerful fortepiano. Moccio’s music emphasises the ‘piano’ in pianoforte – with a focus on…

I used to play in the Street Football Wales league but I haven’t recently becauseI injured my knee. I do miss it I’ve moved to this pitch outside Waterstones after us vendors had to stop selling because of the pandemic. Previously I was at the Old Library in Cardiff so I’ve not moved far. It really wasn’t a good time when I wasn’t able to sell the magazine – my mental health got a lot worse, particularly my depression. The Big Issue supported me with food vouchers and that helped a lot too because money was tight. I was able to get some support from my friends and my girlfriend Angel, too. I’ve known her since she was 23 and she’s 41 now. We’ve been together for nine months and…

1 Serbia Nikoleta Kosovac of Belgrade-based street paper Liceulice: “This spring is very important in Serbia. We are having elections in a month. That is why we dedicated the new issue to this topic. Quite contradictory claims can often be heard about elections. Some claim that the elections do not make sense because they are all the same anyway. Others say that those who do not vote have no right to be dissatisfied later. In the new issue, we were interested in shedding light on various aspects of the elections – from why they are without a doubt the most important democratic process, to what are all the ways to question its legitimacy.” 2 USA Puppy love found a new justification after research published by the American Academy of Neurology…

“I regularly contribute to The Big Issue because together we can help the disadvantaged and marginalised,” says Chris, whose artwork has appeared many times in Street Art over the years. Chris has experienced homelessness and has mental health challenges including schizophrenia. “My art stands on the side of the oppressed and poor against those in power.”…

It’s 1993 in provincial Northern Ireland; Ballymena to be precise. If you’re not familiar with the concept, Ballymena’s a market town, 30 miles north of Belfast, known for producing chickens, Liam Neeson and a particularly stern breed of Protestantism (Ian Paisley’s a pin-up in these parts). I’m 13 years old, rocking acne, curtains and a pair of canary-yellow DMs. I’ve spent my birthday money in Woolworths, deliberating between a UB40 cassette and Blur’s Modern Life is Rubbish (my early music tastes were quite confused). In the end I go with Blur though my heart truly desires Suede’s eponymous debut. I can’t possibly bring it home because it has two ladies kissing on the cover. My parents will have a conniption if they find such a thing in my possession. Three…

I am a terrible hypochondriac, with a catastrophic, obsessive mind that’s always alighting on different areas of my body and convincing me that I have a life-threatening illness. Google has diagnosed me with certain death more times than I can remember, and I’ve ruined entire holidays worrying about moles and cancer and sepsis from infected mosquito bites. A few weeks ago, I even spent two hours comparing photos of a freckle on my nose in 2020 to the present day to see if it had changed – fun! Usually I go to the doctor, they have a poke about and I’m diagnosed with something fairly inconsequential, but it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes, especially when you’re a woman of a certain age, it’s hard to know what’s wrong…

When French conductor and harpsichordist Christophe Rousset purchased some old sheet music via eBay he discovered a selection of previously unknown historic works by Lully and contemporaries. The music belonged to Lydie de Rochefort-Théobon, an attendant of Queen Maria Theresa of Spain – and one-time mistress of Louis XIV. Rousset has made the premiere recording of these 17th-century pieces – Le Manuscrit de Madame Théobon – and it’s out now.…