Mini Mag The Good in Pandemic Issue

Issue 1

Alt.Cardiff

NOV/DEC 20

If it’s offbeat and in Cardiff then it’s in here

The good in pandemic and the apparent solution to homelessness

Alt.Cardiff

Why do many starts-ups use only Instagram to launch their businesses?

Young entrepreneurs are creating small businesses, relying on ‘pretty’ pictures

AltCardiff

S

ocial media has become an important platform for people starting their small businesses and changes the way start-ups get clients.

According to StatsWales, there has already been a rise in numbers of small businesses across Wales in the last few years.

As 2020 saw people at home on furlough, some decided to use the extra time to pursue their dream and created a start-up.

As most people nowadays use social media, it played an important role for businesses as it is seen as a great way to connect with the audience.

Jamie North from Cardiff has been using Instagram as the main way to get clients and within a few weeks, his small house plants business started to grow.

He said he was surprised at how quickly it took off and thinks it’s thanks to nice pictures and lockdown.

Alt.Cardiff

Tattoo artists are looking for new ways of income as the lockdown hits

As the artists started losing a significant part of their income, they started looking for different ways to fill up the gap.

The most common option was selling their art prints, creating subscription clubs or selling gift vouchers.

These options are not a long-term

Credit: Costa Sister Production

2

solution for them, and they are looking forward to going back to their studios after lockdown.

Lala Taylor, a tattoo artist from Penarth, said that the artists will struggle even more with the second lockdown, but thinks the situation would be even worse without the government’s decision.

Even though we might see some job positions and businesses become obsolete, artists think people will always get tattoos.

Credit: YGC Rebel Mams

He pointed out that he spent time trying to figure out how to make his business stand out.

“I made sure I can do free delivery to the house, which was a big selling point during the lockdown.”

While we can assume everyone wants to be successful with running their own business, it can be overwhelming.

“The biggest challenge was managing the audience. I was getting 50 messages a day at one point and I had to quickly learn to balance it with my other responsibilities.”

He also talked about how Instagram is useful when collaborating with other small businesses.

He commented that it’s a good way to support each other and it’s easier to find them through these platforms.

The way businesses communicate with their clients is ever-changing, but social media might become even more important in the future.

Alt.Cardiff Local mums got together to support their community during lockdowns A group of mums from North Cardiff got together to support locals during the lockdown and to raise people’s spirits.

What started as a group chat and cheering outside houses at ‘Pam National’ grew into a community group that has been coming up with events and activities throughout the year.

“It’s so nice to have something to look forward to in the lockdown, especially when you have kids,” said Kate Graham, one of the mums.

She said they also wanted to use the extra time to create a positive impact on the area, which included gardening, leaving chalkboard messages and litter picking.

Alt.Cardiff

Cosplayer quit her day job during lockdown to make costumes full time Karolina Kwasniak decided the uncertain time of lockdown was ideal to change her career path; and she was right

W

hile people started losing their jobs due to Covid-19 and lockdown and the government suggested to artists to retrain, Karolina Kwaśniak decided to leave her day job to pursue a career in arts.

Karolina Kwaśniak, 23, grew up in a little town in Poland where Halloween wasn’t celebrated and cosplay wasn’t very known, but her life changed when she moved out at the age of 18 and discovered the art of dressing up and costume making.

As someone who has always been interested in art, she quickly added cosplay to her list of hobbies, not knowing it would her to a whole new career.

It might come to some as a surprise, but the cosplaying scene in the UK is big. There are numbers of conventions and competitions and the year is usually filled with different championships. Costume making keeps becoming an artistic expression for more and more people every year and Karolina saw her potential there.

She started teaching adult foreigners English, but even with her love for languages, the job wasn’t too enjoyable as many of the students did not respect her or her knowledge because of her young age.

“I was teaching people older than me, and they would sometimes make me feel like they are trying to teach me a lesson rather than me helping them,” Karolina explains.

At that time, people would already ask her for a cosplay commission, but she didn’t think it could be a full-time job for her as she was worried if she could make enough money through it. After all, a career in arts isn’t seen as the most secure and stable one.

In February, Karolina realised her job didn’t bring her any joy anymore, only stress. The job was also time-consuming so she couldn’t spend time creating art as much as she wanted. The solution became clear to her – it was time to change her career, and the first national lockdown seemed like a good time to do it.

“You don’t

The lockdown brought its challenges. For a business, you often need professional photographs, especially when it comes to costume making and due to the restrictions, she couldn’t get help from professional photographers.

But it was in a way a blessing in disguise. She learned how to take and edit pictures and became completely self-reliant.

Karolina could not be happier for changing her career in the lockdown. While people found themselves

like your job so quit it!

A

fter Karolina finished her undergraduate studies, where she perfected her English and learned Welsh, she moved to Swansea.

“I

was lucky. I thought it is the right time to try and see if I can do it,” Karolina said. “I was lucky that my husband is so supportive because [without him] I’d be too scared to do it.”

“He said: ‘You don’t like your job so quit it; you can always come back,’” she explains.

struggling and not being able to work, she built her studio at home and created a job that she can do from home where she decides her work hours.

Changing jobs is often a difficult decision and this year made it even harder for people, but Karolina doesn’t think you should stay in a bad work environment. Instead, you should chase your dreams.

3

4

How the pandemic created a push to tackle homelessness in South Wales Giving rough sleepers a place to live could be the obvious solution to ending homelessness Words and illustration by Tereza Novakova

A

s we’re surrounded by stories about all the bad effects the pandemic has had on everyone, it is easy to overlook the more positive ones. One of those is the way the Welsh government has worked with non-profits to get people off the streets.

It was expected more people would be at risk of losing their homes this past year, which created a bigger push to create a solution faster.

People are losing jobs, many businesses are closing, and those have a direct impact on homelessness. The issues in not anything new, the number of rough sleepers have been going up in the last three years. According to Stats Wales, in 2018-2019 the number of households in the risk of becoming homeless increased by 18% with cities, such as Newport, Cardiff and Swansea, being at the most significant threat.

This year, the government have advised everyone to

stay at home as much as possible. But not all have had that option. As a reaction to that, the Welsh government provided funds to local authorities to get people off the streets and to rent hotel rooms. In Cardiff, two hotels were used to provide 130 units of accommodation.

Local authorities have been working together with non-profits such as the Housing association Pobl group to help people not only temporarily, but to offer long term support. One of them was Cheryl, who lived in a tent for almost four years and was given temporary accommodation at the beginning of lockdown.

Cheryl opened up to workers at Pobl about how hard and scary living on the street can be and how her tent was even set on fire. Thanks to the organisation, she was not only given a place to sleep but also gained access to treatment. Now she’s looking forward to moving on with her life.

5

The plan to end homelessness Julie James, Minister for Housing and Local Government, made headlines in last December saying they [Welsh government] are determined to end homelessness in Wales. After the country headed into the first lockdown and rough sleepers were moved into hotel rooms, she also commented she wanted to ensure no-one would need to return to rough sleeping.

The most promising plan to tackle the issue has been the Housing First pilot that was approved in 2018.

As the name suggests, the idea is to give people who find themselves homeless a place to live and make that a priority.

Before Covid-19, the usual practice was the person stays in a shelter, gets support and later manages to move into a flat. Housing First provides flat first, together with support. An example of it is Central Chambers which is being turned into flats with a community hub where residents will be able to access support, including help to get a job.

This practice has been running effectively in Finland since 2007. Even though some European countries saw it as a radical solution, it proved to be an effective one.

In the last three years, Finland was the only European country with decreasing numbers of rough sleepers.

The pilot in Wales has seen few people in Newport getting accommodated since it started in 2008, but there are still very limited spaces, and it needs more time to tackle homelessness in Wales fully.

Hotel rooms are not a solution At the moment, many homeless people are staying in hotel rooms, and more have sent their applications while living on people’s sofas.

“Just in Newport, we have 300 people living in hotels and over 100 applications,” commented Nick Taylor, director of support for the housing association Pobl.

“What we’re expecting is throughout the winter, more people will lose their jobs and lose their homes. So not necessarily traditional homeless people,” Nick carried on explaining.

6

Usually, many homeless people have issues with addiction or mental health. Right now, it’s people who were on minimum wage and didn’t have much savings Accommodating people in hotel rooms is good, but it’s not a solution. It just moved the problem somewhere else. Living in a hotel room can also harm mental health.

You’re a guest there; you can’t cook, decorate, nor make it feel like your home.

How is Housing First different The goal with Housing First, which is one of the projects Pobl group have been working on, is not to only help current rough sleepers, but to create a safety net. If you become homeless, there will be someone who can help out and who will provide support.

Giving homeless people place to stay, that isn’t shared and that they can look after can change their whole life as it gives them hope and real options. They work hard on themselves as they do not want to lose the place.

According to various studies that looked at the model in Finland, Wales and England, it is an effective long-term approach to the issue. Even though it requires initial financial support to provide the flats, some argue it brings cost benefits in the long run.

“We need to stop fishing people out of the water; instead, we need to prevent them from falling there,” inished Nick Taylor The issue of homelessness won’t disappear overnight, and thanks to Covid-19, more people found themselves in a financial struggle. Wales didn’t close its eyes and ignored the problem and instead supported the most vulnerable by working with non-profits and providing financial support. In a way, Covid-19 might have helped us by spotlighting social issues