Copyright magazine #3 by Copyright Magazine

Positive Movements

UWE biologist Dr Mark Steer reveals how science could hold the key to feeding a growing population

+ Bristol to Calais Life-changing loans An explorerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story

INT R O D U C TION

Copyright is a quarterly publication intent on celebrating positive news, grass-roots activism & ethical living in and around Bristol.

Issue 3 Winter 2016

Managing Editors Kieron Allen Chris Chapman

Editor Kieron Allen

Art Director Chris Chapman

Contributors Ella Edwards Tim Barsby

Advertising Dominie Callanan

Thanks Katrina Hoey Jon Blanshard

Well Made Media Unit 13 The Coach House 2 Upper York Street Bristol BS2 8QN

copyrightmagazine.uk Facebook/copyrightmagazine @copyrightmag

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

INT R O D U C TION

Forward W

ith every new year comes a new set of goals and promises. We all have our own personal missions, often calculated in the early hours of 1 January, but collectively, we all hope for better things in the wider world too. At Copyright it’s our pleasure to start the year with more stories of hope, achievement and endeavour.

4. Opinion: Daniella Radice

We kick-off the issue with an inspiring look at how Bristol has answered the call from Calais and, through a number of reactionary movements, helped bring much needed aid and resources to thousands of refugees in limbo across the channel (8).

26. Inspiring adventures

UWE’s Dr Mark Steer gives us his take on the future of food, an interesting and sometimes bizarre look at how a burgeoning population will feed itself in decades to come (12).

8. People to people 12. Future food 20. Kick-starting change 30. Upcoming events 32. Hands online 35. Volunteering opportunities

Have an idea for a story?

Local charity Deki might be housed in Bristol’s Stokes Croft, but its pioneering approach to donating is impacting on the lives of people much further afield, find out how they do it (20).

Tell us all about it by contacting: editorial@copyrightmagazine.uk

And finally, read our interview with world-famous explorer Benedict Allen. Discover how years of adventuring have caused him to re-examine what it really means to explore the planet (26).

Want to advertise with us?

Together, let’s make 2016 a year to remember—for all the right reasons.

For all advertising enquiries please contact: advertising@copyrightmagazine.uk

Kieron Allen Editor

ISSUE 3 - Winter 2016

O P INION

D a n iella R adice

Tackling climate change at a local level Daniella Radice Green Party Assistant Mayor, Bristol City Council

In the wake of COP21, and the end of Bristol’s year as European

left Paris in a strangely optimistic

and finally, invest in a fleet of non-fossil

mood. The reason for my

fuelled buses.

optimism, the fringe events I took

Green Capital, Daniella Radice,

part in at COP21, talking to people from

The French government facilitated a world

Green Party Assistant Mayor

municipalities from all over the world who

summit on climate and territories in Lyon

tells Copyright how the world’s

are simply getting on with reducing carbon

last July and I am pleased to say that Bristol

emissions, setting themselves goals and

features in their booklet with our Integrated

putting plans in place to meet them. Places

Approach to Food Resilience work with

like Heidelberg, Germany, with the help of

URBACT. The summit brought together

its national government, and Vancouver,

local government, NGOs, businesses,

Canada, despite a government that had—

trade unions and indigenous peoples to

until recently—promoted fossil fuels.

make a joint statement on their goals

environmental issues could be addressed at a local level

for the climate summit. The result was a Bristol currently gets 25 per cent of its

declaration which I was there to adopt on

energy from renewable sources. This

behalf of our city, asking the international

includes wind turbines and solar PV which

community to keep global warming below

is spreading across the city. Vancouver is

2°, preferably 1.5°. It also asks that national

off to a head start because it benefits from

governments recognise the contribution

hydro-electric schemes built in the 1950s

that all these other organisations will be

and 60s, but is struggling to decarbonise

able to make to reducing greenhouse gas

transport. Malmo, Sweden’s third-largest

emissions and stressed the importance

city, is well on the way to being 100 per

of including development issues in any

cent renewable with an extensive tram

agreements.

network and more and more electric cars. Bristol is internationally recognised as a Having listened to representatives from

leading city in its efforts to be green. But,

both cities I think becoming 100 per cent

if we are serious about decarbonising our

renewable is within our reach. We need to

economy, in my opinion, we need to think

harness local tidal energy, take advantage

about becoming a 100 per cent renewable

of heat networks, ensure we build carbon

energy and zero waste city, and take a

positive new builds—like the new Hab

long-term approach to our local food

housing development in Southmead,

system. This will take a while, so we need

retrofit all our existing heat-leaky homes

to start now.

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

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F e a t ur e

P eople to people

People to people

‘W

e disguised it as a 4x4 carrying aid to get it into the camp, and then locked it in a shipping

container’. Pip Rush, one of the founders of events group Arcadia, is talking about a fire truck he and his crew built and delivered to the 6,000-strong makeshift refugee camp, coined the Jungle, in Calais.

When reports began to flood in from Calais’s burgeoning

Arcadia are the pyromaniacs behind the

refugee camp, people across the country watched in horror

mind-bending, belief-melting fire shows,

at events unfolding 25 miles from Dover. Copyright meets the Bristolians who chose to do something about it

centred on a giant metal spider, that wow festival goers around the world. But how did they end up making and delivering an incognito fire truck to the Calais camp? It all started when some of the Bristolbased crew visited the camp. While they

I M A G ES

were there they witnessed a gas explosion.

Phil Clarke Hill philclarkehill.co.uk

A fire ball shot into the sky. An inferno

Calais Refugee Solidarity Bristol

blazed. There was no equipment to put it

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

P eople to people

out and people scrambled desperately with buckets, trying to collect sparse drips of water from unreliable taps. An impossible, frustrating and disheartening task. While they waited 45 minutes for the fire engines to come, all the refugees on site could do was watch as another part of their lives

I M A G ES

went up in flames. Fires like this happen,

Left: Arcadia arrive in Calais

apparently, about three times a month in the camp. It became immediately

Centre: Fires are frequent at the Calais camps

obvious how the Arcadia crew might be

Bottom: Preparing the fire truck

able to help.

“It didn’t feel like it was an Arcadia project. It was more like people seeing other people in a vulnerable situation and feeling compelled to club together and lend a hand”

If there’s anyone that knows about fire and fire safety, it’s Arcadia. So the team decided to crowd source money to build and deliver a fire truck to the camp, and train volunteers to run and maintain it. The bits that they were in control of – the actual build – proved to be the least of their problems. The logistics and politics of the delivery became the biggest obstruction, Pip explains. ‘We couldn’t find an organisation that could look after it and had no idea whether the authorities would stop it getting on site.’ Against all odds, Pip and his crew successfully made and delivered the truck. Pip explains, they really see the whole thing as community effort, ‘Through our Facebook channels we have a really sound

ISSUE 3 - Winter 2016

F e a t ur e

P eople to people

“It was a big learning curve, we quickly discovered the things we

following of people who will support us to do good things. ‘It didn’t feel like it was an Arcadia project

did and didn’t need to do, especially

helping refugees, it was more like people

in regards to donations, things we

situation and feeling compelled to

could and couldn’t take with us”

seeing other people in a vulnerable club together and lend a hand.’ People to people. It seems to be a recurring paradigm in Bristol’s collective effort to support the Calais refugees. And nowhere more so than at the Calais Refugee Solidarity Bristol (CRSB), a selfstarted organisation whose motto is indeed ‘People to People’. It’s a phrase that conveys resourcefulness and compassion. The lack of established charities and

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

P eople to people

F e a t ur e

government support for the refugees in

I M A G ES

the Jungle means self-starting initiatives

Far left: Testing the equipment

are some of the only ways people can help.

Left: CRSB refugee awareness campaign

We spoke to Sarah Greenwood, one of CRSB’s 12 coordinators, who filled us in on

Below: Donations to the appeal pile up

how the group’s first trip to Calais went, ‘It was a big learning curve,’ she says. ‘We quickly discovered the things we did and didn’t need to do.’

“Everybody is doing the best that they can. There are hospitals and food

distribution centres, but nothing is permanent”

Sarah explains how the group began, ‘A couple of friends of mine were genuinely upset about what they’d been seeing about Syria and the refugee situation. ‘They met up at the Palestinian Museum near Corn Street (in August 2015) – about seven people – and by the following week this had grown to around fifteen.’ A Facebook group was set up to rally more support and CRSB now has a bells and whistles website to make it even easier for people to donate. While there are some key organisational figures, like Sarah,

the group is intrinsically an independent, democratic, open platform.

And the learning curve? They now know that the camp is predominantly in need of

Back to that first trip. CRSB initially

medical supplies (cold and flu remedies

intended to send a single van loaded

and scabies medicine), food supplies

with vital supplies and a handful of eager

(mostly dried goods), warm clothing,

volunteers. But it soon became clear

blankets, waterproofs and sleeping

that the support people were offering far

bags and funding for proper shelter.

exceeded this modest plan. Within just three months, one van load soon became

CRSB now have knowledge, experience,

two lorries, 30 tonnes of donations, 30

and donations, and are planning to head

volunteers and £16,000 in monetary gifts.

back out to the Jungle for a second visit.

ISSUE 3 - Winter 2016

F e a t ur e

P eople to people

“Whatever your views on the

The many ways Bristol is getting involved in helping refugees in Calais are

politics and economics of the

diverse but unified in their common goal.

refugee crisis, this is about

Another project, currently being cooked

human beings and our only goal

Kitchen, will focus on the nutrional needs

is to stop people from dying”

up by Sokes Croft’s Coexist Community of the camp. The kitchen will be holding an event called Spread the Love, a threecourse February feast to raise money for its own trip to the Calais camp to contribute to One Spirit Ashram, a non-profit kitchen onsite. In the words of Ari Cantwell, one of the organisers, ‘Spread the Love is a nice way to share food with friends and raise some money to bring to the Calais kitchens.’

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

P eople to people

F e a t ur e

The idea is this, they collaborate with local businesses and food providers to get the produce to cook a delicious North African Valentines meal which they will sell tickets for. The money from ticket sales will fund two or three volunteers to go to

I M A G ES

the One Ashram kitchen in the Jungle for

Left: Sorting through a mountain of donations

around four days.

Top right: Refugees in Calais are offered food aid

“Sometimes it’s easy to feel

Bottom Right: Donations are going directly to the people who need them

despondent or impotent in the face of such huge international problems”

It’s the first time the Coexist Kitchen has done anything like this, but, according to Ari, it’s not going to be the last, ‘This trip is not in isolation,’ he says. ‘We don’t want to stop supporting people affected by the crisis after four days in Calais, this is the beginning of longer-term work we plan to do.’ © CRSB

Bristol’s actions to help ease this shocking humanitarian crisis all stem from the same hope: to help people as effectively and profoundly as we can. Ari acknowledges

D O MO R E

that at times this can seem impossible, ‘Sometimes it’s easy to feel despondent or impotent in the face of such huge international problems.’ But he refuses to accept that it actually is impossible. As do CRSB. As do Arcadia, who summarised the incentive behind their fire truck project, ‘Whatever your views on the politics and economics of the refugee crisis, this is about human beings and our only goal is to stop people from dying.’

ISSUE 3 - Winter 2016

Donate to Arcadia for the upkeep of the fire truck: gofundme.com/ArcadiaFireTruck Donate to CRSB and find out more about what they do: calaisrefugeesolidaritybristol.co.uk Buy tickets for the Coexist Community Kitchen February meal: brownpapertickets.com/event/2489759

F EAT U R E

F uture F ood

FUTURE FOOD

F uture F ood

F EAT U R E

Copyright talks to UWE conservation biologist Dr Mark Steer about the innovative crops and farming methods that could sustain our growing population

s the world’s population continues to balloon, the prospect of food and water shortages are a very real and terrifying threat. It’s impossible to continue feeding

the planet using the same, often inhumane, livestock farming methods or even growing the crops we have become accustomed to—50 years down the line there simply won’t be enough fertile land to support gargantuan soya and wheat farms. Luckily, scientists and conservationists around the world are working tirelessly to combat this threat, developing surprising concepts that could feed a growing population and help restore the environment. Dr Mark Steer is one of these people. Currently working at Bristol’s UWE in conjunction with US biotech company Muufri on a concept for animal-free milk, he gave us an insight into the future of food.

F EAT U R E

F uture F ood

“We want to feel that our food

Lab-grown animal products Beyond lab-grown meat and the

has come from this rural idyll,

headlines brandishing burgers built by

but actually, if we want to try

is massive. ‘I collaborate with someone

and leave space for nature, we

potential for lab-grown meat might be,’

need to look at a way in which some of our food production can become more intensive”

brainboxes, the potential for this science who did the first analysis of what the says Dr Steer. ‘We’re basically taking that on and applying the same kind of methods for milk and cheese.’ Findings made by Dr Steer and his colleagues are yet to be published, but the potential for significant impacts on land, water and energy use could be great. Along with synthesised milk and cheese, scientists are currently trying to produce lab-grown egg whites and, although not technically food, leather too.

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

F uture F ood

But this science is in its infancy and there

Reducing our dependency on fertilisers

are lots of hurdles to combat and address

will have a very positive impact on our

before it becomes a viable option. ‘It

waterways and general health of the

comes down to whether the guys that

countryside. ‘It felt to me when the GM

are creating the product can create

debate exploded in the 90s there was a bit

something that’s close enough [in taste]

of a kneejerk reaction amongst the media

to milk, and cheap enough that people

that stifled potential opportunities,’ says

would want to buy it,’ says Dr Steer.

Dr Steer. ‘We need to have a more subtle

“There are lots of interesting innovations happening around animal products”

Genetically Modified (GM) crops Not the most well-received concept in modern farming, it’s fair to say that the public’s reaction to GM has been at best uncomfortable. But, this wide-ranging and ever-evolving sector could address a lot of the issues connected with a growing population and diminishing food stocks. ‘There are people who are working on genetic modifications to wheat which allows it to create its own nutrients, particularly nitrates which are one of the key fertilisers,’ says Dr Steer. ‘Plants like clover, for example, are able to take nitrogen from the atmosphere and turn it into nitrate fertiliser,’ he continues. ‘Plants like wheat can’t do that, so what scientists have done is look at the ways in which the clover family can do it and then transfer this genetic innovation between the species. ‘This potentially opens up the ability to grow crops in areas which are not as fertile and also decreases the amount of fertiliser that we have to use.’

ISSUE 3 - Winter 2016

conversation about them.’

F EAT U R E

F uture F ood

“Where things like insects might

Insects There has been a lot of publicity over

be most interesting is if we could

the past few years surrounding the

find a way of growing them on

traditional protein sources—namely

waste products that otherwise

and cricket Koftas recently opened

wouldn’t be used”

thousands of years people have been

benefits of insects as an alternative to livestock. A café dedicated to bug burgers across the Severn in Pembrokeshire. For binging on bugs but the trend has yet to catch on in the West, ‘Insects are eaten by a large number of the world’s population already,’ says Dr Steer. ‘They can be very nutritious and very tasty too.’ They take up very little land, reproduce very quickly and provide a huge amount of protein. At the moment it seems that it’s just cultural barriers holding us back. Dr Steer suggests another potential benefit yet to be mastered by today’s researchers, ‘Where things like insects might be most interesting from an environmental impact point of view is if we could find a way of growing them on waste products that otherwise wouldn’t be used. ‘You’re using them to create a secondary benefit,’ he says.

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

F uture F ood

Although people have tried to do this already, it has been found to be quite difficult to get good growth rates and make the use of waste products economically viable. On the subject of organic waste, there is also a need for us to address the way we deal with it. Right now, research is underway into responsive sensors within food packaging, labels that change colour if the product inside begins to rot. This could have a dramatic effect on the amount of food wasted unnecessarily.

Algae One idea that has excited scientists for a while now is the cultivation of algae, either to produce food or to be used as a form of feed itself. At the moment this could be via seaweeds, the big algae, or using micro versions, single-celled algae of different species that can be modified to produce a whole range of different products.

“If you could find an official system to extract this oil you could also have a huge impact on the rate of deforestation”

Commercial growing and harvesting of algae, commonly known as algaculture, is already taking place with algae being used

into is whether you could find a strain that

to produce omega-3 fatty acids, natural

produces an oil that is similar to palm oil,’

food colorants and dyes, fertiliser, chemical

says Dr Steer. ‘If you could find an official

feedstock (raw material), pharmaceuticals

system to extract this oil you could get the

and even algal fuel.

same amount of the oil from 10 per cent of the land you would need for palm oil,’

‘One thing that I can see coming,

he continues, ‘you could also have a huge

something that I’m mulling around looking

impact on the rate of deforestation.’

ISSUE 3 - Winter 2016

F EAT U R E

F uture F ood

Urban agriculture With the world’s cities tailored to urban pursuits, more living and working than farming and nature watching, the idea of metropolitan agriculture is somewhat of a strange one. But growing plants indoors in urban areas will save space and leave our countryside free to flourish. Dr Steer explained the benefits, as well as potential restraints, ‘I’m not sure the economics are ever going to stack up except for the highest value crops, but there are already ways that people are producing high-value crops this way and intensively.’

“It’s a case of looking at land that would say have been set aside as a car park and re-thinking its purpose”

For Dr Steer it’s a case of re-imagining our concept of farming and putting aside any idealistic predeterminations, ‘We want to feel that our food has come from this rural idyll where badgers abound, but actually, if we want to try and leave space for nature and integrate ourselves within a strong, functioning natural eco system, we need to look at a way in which at least some of our food production can become more intensive.’ DO M ORE

There is also the option of growing up instead of out. There has already been

Find out how you can start making an environmental contribution through your eating habits, visit sustainweb.org/sustainablefood

some work done in the US looking at the physics of vertical farming and there are, even at this early stage, scenarios in which it could work.

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

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F e a t ur e

D eki

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

D eki

F e a t ur e

Kick starting change WORDS

Ella Edwards

What connects a 70-year-old entrepreneurial refugee in Uganda, the

I M A G ES

means to change hundreds of thousands

Adam Dickens

of lives and Stokes Croft? Copyright meets the team behind, Deki, the UK’s first ethical crowdfunding organisation

eki has changed the lives of over 25,000 people previously living in poverty. It has empowered them to become more financially independent,

but it hasn’t given them a single penny. Deki is a charity that doesn’t directly donate to the people it hopes to help. It runs the UK’s first personto-person micro lending system. Essentially the Deki team uses its expertise to enable progressive people in countries blessed with thriving economies to lend money to progressive people in countries where this is not the case. The loan recipients in Ghana, South Sudan, Uganda, South Africa and Malawi use the money to establish a business, create their own income, and ultimately pay the loan back and continue

F e a t ur e

DEKI

£1.50

The average daily living wage of almost half the world’s population

to earn. The entirety of each individual loan goes directly to people in the developing world. Deki was founded in 2008 when the idea of online crowdfunding was barely a twinkle in the Internet’s eye. So far Deki has facilitated over £646,140 of loans

£150.00

The average size of a Deki loan given out in 2015

from over 3,540 different lenders. Copyright met up with Deki’s founder and CEO Vashti Seth. She reflects on how far the charity has come and how much further still it can go, ‘Then it was just me on a laptop and now we’ve got a whole team with much clearer goals,’ she says. ‘By 2020 we want to have changed 100,000 lives and need to be lending £2 million in order to do that.’

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

D eki

Vashti and the Bristol team rely on local

was inspired by her late father’s

partners to distribute the loans to the

sponsorship of a Tibetan girl called

beneficiaries, ‘We work with partners who

Deki Dolkha to change course.

F e a t ur e

administer the loans on our behalf.’ She says. ‘Local knowledge is key to finding

Because women are so marginalised in

the right people to lend to, and collecting

many of the countries that Deki operates

repayments.

in, they tend to benefit more from the loans. ‘In South Sudan a woman can’t

‘Most of the work we do is looking at

own anything, they can’t have any

their policies and processes.’ It’s this

property or a bank account,’ Vashti

detailed and personal approach to such

explains. Currently around 70 per cent

an expansive operation that makes Deki

of Deki loans go to women.

so effective. By far the biggest and most common

“We work with partners who administer the loans on our behalf.

success stories that Deki hear are

I M A G ES

people being able to send their children

Intro page: Members of the Acholi Tribe, Palabek Cal, Uganda

to school for longer. A closer look at individual cases—like Modester Banda’s— shows exactly how this happens.

Local knowledge is key

Malawian Modester Banda is a 36-year-

to finding the right

four children. The potatoes, rapeseed and

old widow and the sole provider for her

people to lend to”

Despite Deki’s scrupulous dedication, nothing is guaranteed. After all, business is a risk whether you’re in Budadiri or Bristol. There are seemingly unavoidable factors that can mean in some instances a loan isn’t paid back, but this is remarkably rare —the success rate of the loans currently stands at staggering 95 per cent. While the loans themselves are made directly from person to person, the logistics of Deki’s system requires funding too. Some local businesses have already recognised the value of what Deki does— Ocean Estate Agents, Marshfield Bakery, Friska and Simplweb are all on board. But there is much more that can be done. A lot has changed for Vashti since she started Deki. Having previously done the media thing working in film and TV, she

ISSUE 3 - Winter 2016

Left: Alice Amwony, staff of Hope Ofiriha, Acholi Quarters, Kampala, Uganda Below: Modester, a widow of four used Deki to help cultivate her land.

F e a t ur e

DEKI

IMAGE Right: Josephine Atoo, Palabek Cal, Uganda

cabbages she grew didn’t flourish,

entrepreneur Josephine Atoo Otema.

so neither did her income, or her

Josephine was made a refugee during

children, who were excluded fromschool

Sudan’s brutal civil war and has lived

when she couldn’t pay their tuition fees.

in Palabek, Uganda for the last 20

In 2014, Modester applied for a Deki loan

years. She looks after her children, ten

and invested in more vegetables, some

grandchildren and husband, and in part,

fertiliser, a watering can and a hoe, plus

the rest of her village, who come to her

two more people to help her cultivate

for business and domestic advice. She is

the land.

also a group leader for Deki microloans, and miraculously seems to find time to

Modester has repaid the loan, provided

run her own market business too.

an opportunity for others in her village

DO M ORE

To find out more about benevolent business and how to change someone’s life (including yours) with a loan visit www.deki.org.uk.

and her children are back in school.

Having recently recieved a £130 Deki loan

She acknowledges the loan is a much-

to bulk buy stock, Josephine has paid it

welcomed business agreement, ‘The Deki

back and her youngest daughter is about

loan is profitable if well managed but the

to become the first ever family member

person has to observe repayments and

to go university. Josephine told Deki how

reinvest’, she tells the Deki team. ‘As a

the loans could have a wide-reaching

widow with all the responsibilities I have,

impact in her village, ‘I want to see all

it is through these loans that I am able to

refugee women in Palabek have success

support my family.’

in their struggle against extreme poverty, to support their children until they finish

Deki’s success stories are as heart-

their studies, and to save to secure their

warming as they are plentiful, but some

future.’

really do stand out. Enter 70-year-old

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

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E v e n t F e a t ur e

B e n edict A lle n

Inspiring adventure Copyright meets world-famous explorer Benedict

the world was very different, large chunks of the world hadn’t really been explored. On my expeditions I never came across another outsider like me.

I want to look back at that era, at

what’s changed, what an explorer really is. I do feel very strongly that the word has sort of been shanghaied.

My general message is that we are

all explorers. Forget about the exciting adventures, just think about ourselves as individuals and our own personal journeys.

Allen ahead of his talk at Bristol Museum to find out what years of immersion in remote, indigenous communities have taught him about our planet, its people and himself

“We have to change our philosophy and realise nature is everything, not just the wilderness areas that we’ve got left. We have to get much more holistic and realise we’re part of the process”

I M A G ES

Benedict Allen

enedict Allen is easily recognisable as one of the key figures in modern

exploration. His individual quests

not very exciting is still trying to understand

Even someone who thinks that they’re

to remote corners of the Amazon, distant

the world and make sense of it. We all

Indonesian islands and the savannahs

push ourselves in some way. We think of

of Africa have introduced him to some

explorers as people in front of camera.

of the world’s last remaining indigenous

Increasingly, a lot of expeditions can seem

populations. Famous for integrating himself

a little bit self-indulgent. There’s a time and

completely with the people he meets, his

place for them.

stories capture the imagination and arouse

adventure. But years of exploration have

the effort to go out and climb say a local

revealed to Benedict a different take on

hill fort, pushing themselves to their own

discovery, one that includes us all.

limits rather than going to climb Everest for

I’m excited by the person who makes

the status. What will you be focusing on in your talk

at Bristol Museum? It will be quite wide-

exploring, making the most of their time on

ranging, going back to why I wanted to

earth rather than using the world as a sort

become an explorer. When I started out

of background.

I’m interested in people individually

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

B e n edict A lle n

E v e n t F e a t ur e

What made you decide to become an

used to track through simply don’t exist

explorer? As a little boy I had a dream of

anymore and the communities have just

becoming a classic explorer, probably quite

vanished.

unusual, but my dad was a test pilot. I had a

great role model.

between the old and the young. The young

are often feeling helpless or simply drawn

I didn’t have any money so the

On the other hand there is a schism

only way I could do it was to live with

to our way of life. These small communities

indigenous people. It was very much about

are faced with opportunities but also tests;

immersion and learning rather than trying

gold miners, drug traffickers, loggers and

to impose.

governments selling off their land. They have always been told they are backwards

How is the modern world impacting these

and primitive, I think there’s an increasing

communities? It’s dangerous to generalise

feeling that they’re missing out on a slice of

but in many cases the impact has been

the pie.

absolutely catastrophic. Territories have

been destroyed, vast areas of rainforest I

these communities is amazing. In Sumatra,

ISSUE 3 - Winter 2016

The resilience though of some of

Above: Benedict on an expedition in Afghanistan

E v e n t F e a t ur e

B e n edict A lle n

Above: Benedict with Pablito, his Matses teacher in the Peruvian Amazon

Indonesia the Metawai have survived

have the same idea of nature that we have.

tsunamis and persecution from the

We think of nature as a separate thing—we

Indonesian government who have banned

are human, nature’s out there. We have to

them tattooing themselves. They’re still

change our philosophy and realise nature

hanging on, and that’s what’s so glorious.

is everything, not just the wilderness areas

People like the Maasai, despite everything

that we’ve got left. It’s all the land, our

tourism has brought, are so proud and it’s

gardens, our homes. We have to get much

a wonderful thing.

more holistic and realise we’re part of the process.

DO M ORE

Benedict will be talking at Bristol Museum on 4 February, visit bristolmuseums.org.uk Follow Benedict on Twitter @benedictallen

What can we learn from indigenous

groups? They pay huge cost for living in

to become an explorer, I thought of these

the environments they do, for example

people as very exotic, the tattoos, body

health. Take the Matses, who are

paint and bows and arrows. After years and

Amerindians living in the Peruvian Amazon,

years of having lived with them, having

they have an infant mortality rate of one in

gone through their ceremonies, they seem

five, one in five children die before the age

less and less exotic. If there’s one lesson

of six or seven.

I’ve learnt it’s simply that these are not

other people they are just people that have

So it’s very hard to say ‘let’s go and

live with nature’. For a start they wouldn’t

When I was a young boy and I wanted

found a way of coping in places we can’t.

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

Sp o n s o r e d c o n t e n t

A scorching start to the year Copyright heads to Yogafurie in Bishopston to experience a yoga session held at 40.5°c WORDS

Tim Barsby I M A G ES

Freia Turland

‘m leaving Yogafurie’s hot yoga

and concise, reading his students and

studio feeling pleasantly surprised

repositioning us to align our bodies into

at how inspired I am by the whole

these unfamiliar positions. Reassuringly

experience. Despite my reservations, this

I found the manner in which we flowed

was my first time in a hot yoga studio,

through each individual movement allowed

the place was calm, relaxing and ambient

the final position to be achieved with

and quickly put me at ease. The studio

relative ease. I didn’t feel like a beginner or

is environmentally sound too, powered

that I was exposed, I felt calm, strong and

entirely by green energy.

confident. As the 75 minute session came to an end I was exhausted, exhilarated,

I took my place with around 30 others

and refreshed.

all poised to start, it was humid but not uncomfortable, I felt instantly relaxed.

I slept like a baby that night, my body was obviously grateful for the experience and

We were met with a warm welcome and,

I felt noticeably cleansed. Amazing. I’m

after a little information about the class,

converted and have already booked in for

jumped straight into one of the most

my next session.

energising and uplifting activities I have ever encountered. Instructions came in

Visit www.yogafurie.com or contact Ed on

quickly and I soon got the hang of it.

07807 789875.

Ed, owner and instructor, was clear

ISSUE 3 - Winter 2016

Events

j a n uar y - A pril 2 0 1 6

Upcoming events

16 John Akomfrah: Vertigo Sea Jan



10 Apr

Want to promote your event? We’re currently on the lookout for upcoming events running from April to July. If you’d like to be featured please send an email to editorial@copyrightmagazine.uk.

Stay updated

Head to the UK premiere of John Akomfrah’s celebrated video installation Vertigo Sea, a fascinating look at man’s relationship with the sea, the history of slavery, and war.

For the latest news and information about upcoming events, follow us on Twitter, @copyrightmag, or like our Facebook page,

Tickets: Free - donations welcome Arnolfini, Bristol bit.ly/1Qx84V1

facebook.com/copyrightmagazine.

18 Dispatches from Syria feb

Janine di Giovanni has reported on war for over 20 years. In 2012 she went to Syria and reported on both sides of the conflict. Hear her take on the continuing violence. Tickets: £6 - 7 Watershed, Bristol, 12.30pm bit.ly/1Ue3WHS

16 Bennett’s Patch and White’s Paddock feb

Find out how a derelict sports ground was transformed into Bristol’s newest nature reserve by the Avon Wildlife Trust (AWT). The AWT’s Julie Doherty reveals all. Tickets: £4 Bristol Zoo Gardens, Bristol, 7pm bit.ly/1QhO6wR

28 Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015 nov



10 Apr

Observe 100 of last year’s best wildlife images captured by photographers all over the globe, when the Natural History Museum’s stunning exhibition returns to M Shed. Tickets: £4 - 5, under 16s: Free M Shed, Bristol bit.ly/1ndTdDe

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

j a n uar y - A pril 2 0 1 6

20 LGBT History Festival

FEB

JAN



feb

Events

Planetarium Nights

feb

Speakers from all over the country, including Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, co-founder of UK Black Pride, share their own personal and professional stories.

Delve deep into the cosmos on a journey through nebulae and distant star clusters on this immersive night-time, planiterium show.

Tickets: Free - donations welcome Mshed, Bristol bit.ly/1ZvEBL4

Tickets: £3.50 (members), £6 - 8 (non-members) At-Bristol, Bristol, 7/8.15pm bit.ly/1QhLMFX

03 Responding to climate risk feb

Prof Dame Julia Slingo, Met Office Chief Scientist, gives a lecture on why climate science needs to work for society. She will also welcome questions from the audience.

06 International Development 2016 FEB

Tickets: Free - registration required SSL Lecture Theatre, Bristol, 6.00pm bit.ly/1RP7brM

12 Kate Tempest apr

The award-winning poet and rapper discusses her debut novel The Bricks that Built the Houses, a powerful exploration of contemporary urban living.

Tickets: £8 (student), £12 (standard) TBC, Bristol, 9.30am bit.ly/1P3q8of

24 Bristol Soup feb

Tickets: £7 - 8 At-Bristol, Bristol, 6.30pm bit.ly/1lziJRt

01 Wild Bird Feed

nov



28 feb

From the comfort of the Peng observatory, see a great natural spectacle, as thousands of wintering wild birds recieve a well-earned feed at Slimbridge. Tickets: Free (members), £5.90 - £11.72 (non-members) WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre, , Gloucestershire bit.ly/1lnbZWN

ISSUE 3 - Winter 2016

Visit the sixth annual Bristol International Development Conference. This year’s theme is The New Face of Aid and will include a wide range of talks and workshops.

Four community projects present their ideas in four minutes. The audience has four questions. It’s £4 for soup and a vote. The winner gets the night’s door takings. Tickets: £5.41 St Pauls Community Centre , Bristol, 6.30pm bit.ly/1NYJTLH

13 Meet the Avon Gorge goat keeper feb

Go in search of the Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project’s herd of goats and find out how they are helping to create space for the Avon Gorge’s rare plants. Tickets: £4 Bristol Zoo Gardens, Bristol, 10.30am bit.ly/1JUxauU

V o l u n t e e r F e a t ur e

H elpful peeps

Hands on-line

The desire to develop the website was itself inspired by a need to get involved and do something that was useful, ‘I think what really stood out for me was this notion that despite all of the advances we’ve made in technology, as a society, we’re

Housed in the Entrepreneurial Spark Hatchery, Bristol’s newest

more disconnected than ever before,’ he

hub for inspiring start ups, helpfulpeeps is challenging the way

says. ‘We throw money at our problems,

we approach volunteering in the digital age. Copyright met co-founder Saf Nazeer at company HQ to find out more

everything is counted in pounds and pence, we’ve completely looked over time and energy – our human capital.’ Their plan is to take money out of the equation and try to create deeper more fulfilling interactions which aren’t transactional.

eaming with pride, Saf Nazeer had just returned from Apps World in London when we met, ‘We won

“In this 24/7, 365 world

the start up pitch competition against

traditional volunteering

15 apps from around the world and we

doesn’t work, I wanted to

haven’t even got an app yet,’ he tells

volunteer but not to a point

us. Helpfulpeeps is still a fledgling web app that will create a social network of

where I’d spend three hours

people willing to help each other out—the

researching & filling out forms”

concept is as refreshingly straightforward as the site. ‘Helpfulpeeps is super simple and will

For Saf and Simon, the goal is for

always be free,’ says Saf. ‘You can set it

helpfulpeeps is to become a wide

up via email or Facebook, ask for help

community that users can go to when

from the community when you want and

they need help. It’s volunteering, but not

offer help when you want.’ Saf and his

as we know it. ‘In this 24/7, 365 world

co-founder Simon are creating what they

traditional volunteering doesn’t work,’

call a ‘Karma Economy’. Each time a user

he states boldly. ‘It didn’t work for me, I

helps someone on the social network

wanted to volunteer but not to a point

they earn ‘Karma Points’. No money ever

where I’d spend three hours researching,

changes hands, instead, by earning Karma

filling out forms, waiting for them to come

points and building a good repertoire of

back to me then committing to four hours

testimonials people are more likely to step

a week every Sunday.’ According to their

in and help you with a request.

research, there are currently 12 million

POSITIVE MOVEMENTS

HELPFUL PEEPS

people in the UK that used to volunteer

and interests. ’We wanted to find a way

but no longer do and 18 million people

to use technology to make these barriers

that would like to do more. If this data is

disappear.’

anything to go by there’s a strong case for diversifying the way some volunteering

Helpfulpeeps currently has 3300 users

positions are marketed.

and is growing fast with 950 new users joining in November alone. To date there

‘The more we looked into it we saw

have been almost 600 unique posts for

that there were three barriers,’ says Saf,

help which have been met with 450 offers

‘The first was finding opportunities that

of help. Whether it involves cat sitting

matched availability, the second: the

or learning a new language, moving a

need for an ongoing time commitment

sofa or lending a hand at a charity event,

and the third was finding opportunities

helpfulpeeps has seen the need requested

that were relevant to [a volunteer’s] skills

and fulfilled.

ISSUE 3 - Winter 2016

V o l u n t e e r F e a t ur e

D O MO R E

To get involved with this diverse network of volunteers join helpfulpeeps at helpfulpeeps.com