fthw 343

ADVERTISING

EVERY MONDAY £2.50

Imagine if you could help Edelmina feed her family

YO UR R EGUL AR BI G I SS UE MAGAZ INE INSID E

People like you are using their money to help people like Edelmina Women in remote and rural coffee communities face a host of challenges that keep them trapped in poverty.

Many of these isolated women live in male-dominated societies and have very little financial control or decision-making power. While women have always been crucial to coffee production in Peru, traditionally it was the men who held the economic power.

In 2004 that changed, when over 450 Peruvian female coffee producers united to take a step towards empowerment, by creating the first Café Femenino co-operative. These women decided to separate their coffee production from men to gain visibility and a voice inside their community. Now, they feel proud to instil in their daughters the expectation that they will grow up to become leaders in their community – just like their mothers and grandmothers.

The programme, which was created by the women of Cecanor, developed a never-before-existing market for coffee produced only by women to serve as an important vehicle for social change and the empowerment of disadvantaged women coffee farmers.

Edelmina

The Café Femenino movement now includes thousands of women farmers from nine countries across the world.

CECANOR member Edelmina Suarez, said: “Coffee helps us to take care of all our needs, food and medicine. Our coffee is everything for us”.

Open a Share Account

and your money will be loaned and re-loaned to farmers and handcraft producers across the globe.

Find out more: shared-interest.com #SheDeserves

shared-interest.com @SharedInterest 0191 233 9100

ISSUE #1398 | 24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

Inside Steve McQueen ‘I’m a black man.

How can I not be politically engaged?’

A HAND UP, NOT A HANDOUT | EVERY MONDAY

Mazel tov!

Learning to celebrate life

£2.50

Welcome the high street heroes reviving our town centres Special report

“ONE OF THE BEST CINEMATIC SURPRISES OF THE YEAR” THN

★★★★ EMPIRE

“ELECTRIFYING” THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

★★★★ THE GUARDIAN

“OUTRAGEOUSLY GOOD”

★★★★★ DAILY TELEGRAPH

IN CINEMAS 28 FEBRUARY FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TICKETS

KELLYGANG.FILM

contents.

BOOKS - P32 P14

JOHN BIRD

Jane Austen’s work paradoxically helps us reflect on the ugliness of the world

P20

LETTER TO MY YOUNGER SELF

Oscar-winning filmmaker and Turner Prize-winning artist Steve McQueen reflects on defying expectations

P22

HIGH STREET HOPE

As more and more big names disappear from the high street, efforts to reclaim the heart of communities gather pace.

We speak to the movers and shakers

Hello,my name is Chris Losing both legs after an incident while I was in the militaryhas caused me a lot of mental and physical health problems. I had to leave the forces and moved back to where I grew up, but then my mother took ill and needed my help. Selling The Big Issue was the best way for me to earn a living and contribute to her care. It’s now about more than paying the bills – I sell the magazine six days a week and the social aspect has been great for my mental health. Read more about my story on page 46.

A HAND UP, NOT A HANDOUT

This magazine was bought by your vendor for £1.25 and sold to you for £2.50.

They are proudly working, not begging. Buy it, take it, spread the word.

If you can’t get hold of a copy of the magazine on a regular basis, you can subscribe to receive The Big Issue every week: bigissue.com/subscribe 24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

Vendor photo: Craig Ballinger

P46

P26

CHEMICAL WORLD

Lawyer Rob Bilott, whose battles with US giant DuPont inspired new film Dark Waters,tells why he’s not giving up yet

P35

FILM

George MacKay dons a full metal jacket for a new take on the tale of Ned Kelly

P36

OUTSIDERS NOW

Meet the co-director of a new film that tells the stories of 10 wayward Londoners

P39

SAXUAL HEALING

Malcolm Jack hails the therapeutic sounds of Alabaster dePlume BIGISSUE.COM | 05

the big list.

01

What to do this week in England and beyond

Level-up with Lewis Capaldi

Fresh from his Buckfast-brandishing double Brits triumph, Scottish blue-eyed soul boy and avowed fan of The Big Issue Capaldi’s unlikely rise and rise continues as he returns from conquering America to play his first UK arena tour. If his current trajectory continues, these shows will look intimate relative to the stadiums he’ll be playing next year. .

March 2-3, O2 Apollo, Manchester (then touring); lewiscapaldi.com

02

Photo: Stefan Hoederath/Getty Images

Travel to Mars and beyond… in London

A galactic immersive exhibition by ecoconscious creatives Art-Recyclism sprawls across five floors of South Bank’s Bargehouse and clashes two dominant and arguably not unrelated themes of our age: the climate crisis and revived obsession with exploring new worlds.

Set at the close of the 21st century, Mars & Beyond looks back to the year 2020, a time when man gazed curiously into space as their own world burned around them.

OXO Tower Wharf, London, until March 15; oxotower.co.uk

03

Buy Fairtrade goods in the Big Issue Shop

For two weeks each year, thousands of individuals and companies come together to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight, and the ongoing fight to ensure that producers in some of the world’s poorest countries get the deal they deserve.

The Big Issue Shop always stocks a wide variety of Fairtrade goods – you can buy all from Bala Sport footballs to Lanka Kade wooden toys and gifts for kids and Divine Chocolate.

Fairtrade Fortnight: February 24-March 8; bigissueshop. com/ collections/ fairtradecollection 06 | BIGISSUE.COM

04

Host your own Cold War Steve exhibition

Following his specially-designed cover for The Big Issue last year, Britain’s favourite satirical collage artist and social media sensation is on a mission to take his surrealist craft to the people in the most direct way – by inviting anyone, anywhere to host their own exhibition of his work. Download 23 Cold War Steve classics for free from his website now, find a space in which to show them – from a local library to a pub or even your front room – and get shouting about it (Tweet @Coldwar_Steve and he’ll help).

You, Me & Cold War Steve – The International Exhibition of the People, April 1-May 1, venues TBC; coldwarsteve.com

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

cŠÞ Ü º ËÄ .&.]]g JC

Steve Coogan takes aim at fast fashion and the chasm between the rich and the poor

£şƣƸƣÿĹ?Ƹ şł ÂŽĆ¸ÄŞÇœÄŞ rÄœÂĽÇ€ÄŞÄŞĹ˛ ᙸᙜᙸᙜ ἕ ŸÿƸĪ ÂŁĹŠĹźĆ¸ĹźĹƒĆŁĂżĆ ĹŠÇŁ á ¤ ŧĹ? ĹźÇ?ŧĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒá Ľ

ee Steve McQueen’s ÚÞÌ g; ݊ ÂŹĂŚÂŹĂ‹Ă„ ÂŹĂ„ Çť Ăź ÚÞ in history to win both the Turner Prize kes a triumphant return to his home ƸŊ ᙡ  Űÿťşƣ Ç?şƣŤƍ ĆŤĆ ĂżĹ˛Ĺ˛Ĺ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ǿŧŰá d sculpture. Among them the 12Years ĆŤ ǿƣƍƸ ǿŧŰ ƍŊşƸ şŲ Ăż ÂŽÇ€Ć ÄŞĆŁ áš„ ÄœĂżĹ°ÄŞĆŁĂżá á ÿŲģ rÄœÂĽÇ€ÄŞÄŞĹ˛áĄ‰ĆŤ ĹŠĹźĹ°ĂżĹƒÄŞ Ƹş ƸŊĪ Ĺ‚ĆŁĹ?ÄœĂżĹ˛á ľ ÄŞĆŁá ĂżÄœĆ¸ĹźĆŁ ÿŲģ ÄœĹ?ÇœĹ?ŧ ĆŁĹ?ĹƒĹŠĆ¸ĆŤ ĂżÄœĆ¸Ĺ?ÇœĹ?ƍƸ £ÿǀŧ ĹŠ Ĺ?ĆŤ şŲ ĆŤĹŠĹźÇ? łşƣ ƸŊĪ ǿƣƍƸ ƸĹ?Ĺ°ÄŞ Ĺ?Ų ƸŊĪ Ăƒfá ‡ London,untilMay11;tate.org.uk; rtomyYoungerSelfonpage20

Anglo-Cymru relations may be less cordial next week when the two countries clash in the Six Nations rugby at Twickenham, but for now let friendliness prevail – with a concert to mark Wales’s national day, proceeds from which go to homeless charity The Passage. Hear massed voices soar as the London Welsh Male Voice Choir are joined by classical tenor Aled Wyn Davies and harpist Claire Jones.

Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London, February 28; passage.org.uk

07

Get tickets ÂŁĂ‹Ăš ÄˆÂ˝Ăƒ screening in support of The Big Issue

08

The culmination of a long collaboration between ǿŧŰŰÿŤĪƣ ŲģƣĪÿ hǀŤÿ Zimmerman and theatre-maker Adrian Jackson, a group of Londoners and a dog, Here for Life stories lives less ordinary lived in the capital by 10 people, all of whom have experienced ŊşŰĪŧĪƍƍŲĪƍƍ ÿƸ ÄŁĹ?dzłĪƣĪŲƸ ƸĹ?Ĺ°ÄŞĆŤá ‡ Followed by a Q&A with the director and others involved Ç?Ĺ?ƸŊ ƸŊĪ ǿŧŰá ÿŧŧ Ć ĆŁĹźÇżĆ¸ĆŤ łƣşŰ ƸŊĪ event will be donated to the Big Issue Foundation.

Toynbee Studios, London, March 11; artsadmin.co.uk/ events/4288; Read our interview with Zimmerman on page 36

09

Ä¡Ëß ÌŠ ޏ½ Ä Ë£ Ë¤Þ Ä ÚÞ

There’s something at once both sad and hilarious about sight of a dog alone in a car á ˛ ŧşşŤĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ Ç?şƣƣĹ?ÄŞÄŁ ÿŲģ łşƣŧşƣŲá ÿŲģ ǣĪƸ Ç€Ĺ˛ÄœĂżĹ˛Ĺ˛Ĺ?ŧǣ ŧĹ?ŤĪ Ĺ?Ƹ Ĺ°Ĺ?ĹƒĹŠĆ¸ ƍƸÿƣƸ ƸŊĪ Ĺ?ĹƒĹ˛Ĺ?ƸĹ?şŲ ÿŲģ ÄŁĆŁĹ?ÇœÄŞ ĂżÇ?ÿǣ ÿƸ ÿŲǣ Ĺ°ĹźĹ°ÄŞĹ˛Ć¸á ‡ ÂŁĹŠĹźĆ¸ĹźĹƒĆŁĂżĆ ĹŠÄŞĆŁ rÿƣƸĹ?Ų ĂƒĆŤÄ›ĹźĆŁĹ˛ÄŞáĄ‰ĆŤ book of cinematic images are intended to make ǀƍ ŊǀŰÿŲƍ ÄœĹźĹ˛Ĺ‚ĆŁĹźĹ˛Ć¸ łĪĪŧĹ?Ĺ˛ĹƒĆŤ Ç?ÄŞ Ć ĆŁÄŞĹ‚ÄŞĆŁ Ƹş ĂżÇœĹźĹ?ÄŁá € ƸŊĪ łĪÿƣ şł ěĪĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ÿŧşŲĪá ÇœÄŞĆŁĆŤÇ€ĆŤ ƸŊĪ Ĺ?ĆŁĆŁÄŞĆŤĹ?ƍƸĹ?ěŧĪ peacefulness of silence.

TheSilenceof DogsinCars is published March 5; hoxtonminipress.com

ÚËÜ ÂŁĂŞĂ„ Ă‹ Ă‹ĂŞĂŚ þ˽êÄÌ ÚÞ ÂŹĂ„ ̊ ½ ÂŹĂž 9êĤ½ dǀƍƸ ᢓ á ᙜᙜᙜ ŰşƣĪ Ç?Ĺ?ŧŧ ěĪ ÄŞĹ˛ĹźÇ€ĹƒĹŠ Ƹş ÄœĹźĹ°Ć Ĺ§ÄŞĆ¸ÄŞ On Our Doorstep (A Documentary)á Ăż Ĺ‚ÄŞĂżĆ¸Ç€ĆŁÄŞá ľ Ĺ§ÄŞĹ˛ĹƒĆ¸ĹŠ ǿŧŰ ěǣ Ç?ĆŁĹ?Ć¸ÄŞĆŁá ľÄŁĹ?ĆŁÄŞÄœĆ¸ĹźĆŁ ŸŊşŰÿƍ hĂżÇ€ĆŁĂżĹ˛ÄœÄŞ ĹƒĹ?ÇœĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ Ăż ǀŲĹ?ƢǀĪ ÇœĹ?ÄŞÇ? Ĺ?ŲƍĹ?ÄŁÄŞ ƸŊĪ Ĺ?ŲłşƣŰÿŧ ÿŧÿĹ?ĆŤ ĆŁÄŞĹ‚Ç€ĹƒÄŞÄŞ ÄœĂżĹ°Ć Ĺ¤Ĺ˛ĹźÇ?Ų ÿƍ ŸŊĪ dÇ€Ĺ˛ĹƒĹ§ÄŞ á ˛ ÿŲģ ƸŊĪ ĹƒĆŁĂżĆŤĆŤĆŁĹźĹźĆ¸ĆŤ ĂżÄœĆ¸Ĺ?ÇœĹ?ƍƸƍ łƣşŰ ěşƸŊ ĆŤĹ?ÄŁÄŞĆŤ şł ƸŊĪ /Ĺ˛ĹƒĹ§Ĺ?ĆŤĹŠ ŊÿŲŲĪŧ Ç?ĹŠĹź ƣşƍĪ ĂżÄ›ĹźÇœÄŞ Ć ĹźĹ§Ĺ?ƸĹ?ÄœĆŤ Ƹş Ć ĆŁĹźÇœĹ?ÄŁÄŞ ŊǀŰÿŲĹ?ƸÿƣĹ?ÿŲ ĂżĹ?ÄŁ Ƹş ƸŊşǀƍÿŲģƍ şł Ć ÄŞĹźĆ Ĺ§ÄŞ ǾŧĪĪĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ Ç?ÿƣá Ć ĹźÇœÄŞĆŁĆ¸ÇŁ and persecution. Donate and share now. kickstarter.com/projects/onourdoorstep/ on-our-doorstep-a-documentary

ǽǿ % Yg Yyɯǝǟ C Y + ǽǝǽǝ

The director and cast of Emma deconstruct the Jane Austen adaptation

Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

06

Celebrate St David’s Day with a concert for the homeless

Rory Stewart limbers up for the London mayoralty race with a stroll Ć¸ĹŠĆŁĹźÇ€ĹƒĹŠ NĹ?ĹƒĹŠĹƒĂżĆ¸ÄŞ ĪŰĪƸĪƣǣ

10

] Ăľ Ă„ ÂŹ Ă„ĂŚ ÜËË ½ Ă„ Ăž ÂŁĂšĂ‹Ăƒ +]Ç˝ Ă Ĺ?ƸŊ ƸŊĪ ĹƒĹźÇœÄŞĆŁĹ˛Ĺ°ÄŞĹ˛Ć¸ ĹŠĂżÇœĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ĹƒĹ?ÇœÄŞĹ˛ ƸŊĪ łşƣŰÿŧ ĹƒĹźá ľĂżĹŠÄŞĂżÄŁ Ƹş ƸŊĪ ᢓᚅᙜěŲ ĹŠĹ?ĹƒĹŠá ľĆŤĆ ÄŞÄŞÄŁ ĆŁĂżĹ?ŧ Ć ĆŁĹźĹĄÄŞÄœĆ¸á Ç?şƣŤƍ şŲ NŽᙸ ÿƣĪ ƍĪƸ Ƹş ƸĪÿƣ through hundreds of miles of ÄœÄŞĹ˛Ć¸ĆŁĂżĹ§ /Ĺ˛ĹƒĹ§ĂżĹ˛ÄŁ ĹźÇœÄŞĆŁ ƸŊĪ ŲĪǢƸ ĆŤÄŞÇœÄŞĆŁĂżĹ§ ǣĪÿƣƍá ÄœĹŠĂżĹ˛ĹƒĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ƸşÇ?Ųƍ ÿŲģ ÄœĹźÇ€Ĺ˛Ć¸ĆŁÇŁĆŤĹ?ÄŁÄŞ łşƣ ÄŞÇœÄŞĆŁá ‡ Wildlife Trust study shows more ƸŊÿŲ ᙡᙜᙜ ĂżĹ˛ÄœĹ?ĪŲƸ Ç?şşģŧÿŲģƍ á ˛ Ĺ?Ĺ˛ÄœĹ§Ç€ÄŁĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ÇżÇœÄŞ ĆŤĹ?ƸĪƍ şł international importance – to be at risk. Join the tens of thousands Ç?ĹŠĹź ĹŠĂżÇœÄŞ ÿŧƣĪÿģǣ ĆŤĹ?ĹƒĹ˛ÄŞÄŁ Ăż petition calling for a rethink. bit.ly/37qMOuH

.&.]]g JC ʸ 07

platform.

Your views on the big issues THIS WEEK WE ASKED YOU...

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos pledged $10bn (the equivalent of £7.7bn) to fight the climate crisis. If he gave you that amount what would you use it to sort out?

Buy a couple of miles of HS2 Kris Franklin, Facebook I’d use it to prosecute him for tax avoidance...

Sarah Banks, Facebook @tobziplier: World hunger @magsmagenta Electric car charging points everywhere

GET IN TOUCH @bigissue /bigissueUK @bigissueuk letters@bigissue.com Editorial, 2nd Floor, 43 Bath St, Glasgow, G2 1HW

08 | BIGISSUE.COM

Photo: Orlando Gili

I have got two disabled sponsored “children” in Armenia who are actually young adults now. Both went to school as kids but are at home all day now, because they don’t have a chance of finding a job (one has got severe learning difficulties, the other is physically disabled) and of course there are hardly any social benefits. So I would take the money to start an inclusion project where they and others in the same situation would be able to earn a living.

Barbara Strohmenge, Facebook

Stroll with it Rory Stewart and Peter Ross on their walk RE: RORY STEWART [A WALK WITH, FEBRUARY 17-23]

Running the rule over Rory @daphneh236 I think that Rory should be given the chance to be Mayor of London – he seems to have integrity and understands diversity.

He is well travelled and brings a fresh point of view, which is refreshing. Hope he is committed to supporting homeless people in the capital.

I see he is admiring his handiwork – how many homeless did he take credit for? Or was he appearing modest and not wanting to acknowledge his role in their fate?

Sarah Banks, Facebook

At The World’s Big Sleep Out in London I set my sleeping bag down next to the Tory candidate for London mayor Shaun Bailey.

I didn’t know who he was. We chatted for a good three hours. I liked the guy, he seemed genuine, he conceded some points to my arguments on the crisis of homelessness, said he’ll do something about it when he becomes mayor. I think he will, I hope he bloody does!

I came away thinking, it’s not often you get to spend three hours in conversation with a politician with no scripted questions or answers. I’ll tell you this, I didn’t let him off on his party’s obsession with austerity.

Karl Swinford, Facebook

@bigissue

@spinks_sonia Editorial, since the referendum I’ve switched to Radio 3/Classic FM as morning listening before 9am. I just couldn’t stomach any more Brexit.

As a Remainer broadcasts stuck in my craw and probably raised blood pressure. @Juddydot I bought the @BigIssue from the pigeon man in Exeter [Richard Todd]. Pigeons love him. Pigeons do not love me.

Nick’s dog Briony in Truro has a brand new jacket

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

letters@bigissue.com

Here’s to Harvey I just wanted to say a big thank you to Harvey, our Big Issue vendor in Shrewsbury. The town and surrounding Shropshire area has been hit by flooding. Despite this, somehow Harvey has managed to travel from Oswestry, pick up his new batch of magazines along the way and still be in his usual spot in town.

Incredible effort. He’s out in all weathers, never misses a day and through it all he remains polite and cheerful. He is a credit to the Big Issue team.

Ann Packman, email

EDITOR’S LETTER

Don’t close down. Be vulnerable to delight

I

Sealed with a Kris I’m Kris, I was featured in the my pitch two weeks ago [February 3-9]. This morning I received a postcard from a Mr Hopper of Swansea. It was delivered to my actual pitch.

So just wanted to say thanks if possible.

Kris 2609, Marylebone Station @libraryWallace Brilliant! #EmilioEstevez’s latest film is based in a public library, showing it as “a place of learning, refuge, shelter, community, knowledgeable, resources, warmth, information & pleasure” Thanks to him & @BigIssue @johnbirdswords for focusing on the importance of libraries RE: PERIOD POVERTY [FEBRUARY 17-23] @NaturesGoodNews YES to this! Not only supporting the homeless, but this issue is raising awareness of #PeriodPoverty. @crwarren How did I never know about this campaign? Periods were never, ever discussed in my household unless through a veil of shame. I hope there are more dads like @michaelsheen these days, because that can make a world of difference to young girls. @SirGothamHatt My fiancé was raised by women & helped take care of his sister. I feel he’ll be more comfortable on the subject when it’s our daughter’s time than my dad was with me. @emsjcreative The more families are willing to talk about periods the better!

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

t is easy to feel punctured.

It won’t stop raining. There is general, vast greyness around.

Huge parts of the country are struggling to overcome flooding.

And there is nobody clear to blame. This allows a generalised angst to grow.

Layering on, the Westminster government announce immigration plans that sound like snapping the drawbridge shut. No matter how this is rationalised, and I have read some incredibly supercilious pieces in the last number of days about how Priti Patel’s move is good for the workers of Britain, it’s about closure. It’s about believing the ‘other’ has less value. This does not lead to progression and openness. Keeping a door open doesn’t suppress the chance for the native. Rather, it stops those with less being able to benefit in a place that, on pretty much every measure, has more. It prevents them from growing personally and then ultimately helping the greater national good. It’s about a cultural reckoning. We are an island, but nothing is an island. Not really.

So, soft dread grows and chokes.

Despite this, glorious messy life continues on.

I’ve been getting lost in Daniel Levitin’s new book, The Changing Mind. Levitin is the neuroscientist who became famous through his million-selling book This Is Your Brain on Music. That book challenged, among other things, a branch of thinking about what music is and how it emerged. It said that rather than an evolutionary accident, music grew as a force for emotional good. And who’s going to argue that music is the king of the creative arts?

The Changing Mind finds Levitin again wrestling orthodox thought, this time about the ageing process. Rather than it being a period of shutting down, he’s proving that older age can be a time to blossom.

It’s not patronising or pseudoscience happy-clapping. Some of the key parts to a successful older age, he says, are curiosity, openness and association. Meet people. Be in the world. Be vulnerable, as Heaney wrote, to delight. This is a book that can make things feel a whole lot brighter.

I written before about how, in the teeth of what looks like walls closing, there are incredible people grasping tough moments to make the world better, in their communities, in the areas around them. This week we look at some of those who are refusing to accept that town centres, the hubs of communities, are shutting down. They are finding new ways to overcome closure.

They see that rather than sit by the side and moan, we all, if we want, can grab a moment and build a positive change. I suspect this will become more vital in the coming months.

And I again salute The Big Issue vendors. Despite this dark, cataclysmic weather, they will go outside, refuse to be cowed, and attempt to make their own change. What a thing to celebrate!

If that isn’t enough to lift you, search online for the video of the young boy with cerebral palsy who, encouraged by his classmates, takes his first, few faltering steps without his stick, before hugging, joyously, his teacher.

If it doesn’t make you happier than Jürgen Klopp’s teeth and have you punching the air and weeping joyously, then I take it all back!

Let the rain close in!

Paul McNamee is editor of The Big Issue @pauldmcnamee Paul.McNamee@bigissue.com BIGISSUE.COM | 09

Got a ballot place in the London Marathon?

Join #TeamNSPCC as an own place runner and receive: A personalised training plan Cheering on the day from six cheerpoints A heroes’ reception complete with a sports massage and refreshments Fundraising support to help you raise as much as possible

Do something amazing for children Join #TeamNSPCC nspcc.org.uk/LondonMarathon20

©NSPCC 2020. Nationa Society for the Prevention of Crue ty to Chi dren. Registered charity Eng and and Wales 216401 and Scotland SC037717. The people pictured are volunteers. Photography by Alex Broadway

“Seeing the ‘sea of green’ supporters at so many cheer points made a massive difference. It was lovely knowing they were cheering for you!”

news.

Vendor Mike scoops job after Big Issue gets him back on track We’re moving the dial on period poverty Last week The Big Issue gave period poverty a first-of-its-kind platform in a 24-page collaboration with period dignity champions Hey Girls – and it didn’t take long for the Scottish Government to take notice.

In the week that the magazine hit the streets, the SNP announced that they would support Labour MSP Monica Lennon’s groundbreaking bill that will give everyone in Scotland a legal right to free period products.

Lennon has long campaigned for period provision to made universal in a bid to reduce poverty and tackle the stigma around periods. But her efforts were dealt a blow when ministers said they would oppose the bill. But last week they U-turned on the decision and will now back the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill at its February 25 stage one vote.

Lennon said: “Legislation will guarantee rights, ensure that current initiatives continue in future on a universal basis, and will help us achieve period dignity for all.”

The situation is changing in England and Wales too – with grassroots campaigners recently lobbying the government to introduce free pads and tampons at schools and colleges while a Period of change movement at football clubs Monica Lennon (centre) to offer free products in their gets backing for her bill facilities continues apace.

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

Hard-working Big Issue vendor Mike Hall has hung up his iconic red tabard after he earned himself a permanent job working at WHSmith in the same Bristol Temple Meads station where he sold the magazine.

The popular seller ended his two-year spell selling The Big Issue before Christmas after asking the station’s WHSmith store manager if there were any vacancies.

His impressive customer relations skills had already turned heads at the station and he secured a role at the store shortly after. Another vendor has now replaced Mike at his station pitch.

“The job’s really good,” Mike told The Big Issue. “I was actually offered a job at Christmas 2018 but I wasn’t really ready for that step yet, I was happy going along selling The Big Issue and waiting until I felt ready.

“I filled in the application form and got the job the next day. Because she had seen me selling Pitch perfect The Big Issue and my Mike impressed his customer relations I new employers think she might have fast-tracked me.”

Mike put all his efforts into selling The Big Issue after vowing to turn his life around following spells of addiction and imprisonment. And he became the first vendors to offer cashless payments as part of our iZettle trial in late 2018. Mike also sold The Big Issue at Downs Festival in Bristol, Cardiff’s Vegfest and with Jack Sargeant AM. Bristol Temple Meads station manager Andy Phillips told The Big Issue: “We noticed as the months passed that Mike was more confident and was seen on many occasions giving customers directional advice. Mike was very dependable, he was on his pitch when expected and always polite and approachable.”

The Big Issue has teamed up Network Rail to host pitches at stations in Birmingham, London and Edinburgh and it has paved the way for vendors like Mike’s Bristol predecessor Paul Jones to secure full-time work.

BIGISSUE.COM | 11

Cardboard is considered Widely Recycled by OPRL standards. Co-op Irresistible Pancetta Mushroom Mascarpone Pizza 497g.

fact/fiction.

Old news, truthfully retold

Do criminals have smaller brains than law-abiding citizens?

HOW IT WAS TOLD Where does bad behaviour come from? Headlines last week suggested that the size of your brain could have a say on whether you get involved in anti-social behaviour such as lying, stealing or bullying as well as being violent, aggressive or failing to take care of work or social responsibilities.

The University College London-led study behind the headlines, published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal, was covered by plenty of UK Ĺ°ÄŞÄŁĹ?Ăż şǀƸŧĪƸƍá ÿŧěĪĹ?Ƹ Ç?Ĺ?ƸŊ ÄŁĹ?dzłĪƣĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ĂżĆ Ć ĆŁĹźĂżÄœĹŠÄŞĆŤá ‡ Mail Online’s headline made the strongest claim. It read: “Criminals have ‘smaller BRAINS’: Scientists claim the ‘handicap’ which can be ĆŤĆ ĹźĆ¸Ć¸ÄŞÄŁ Ĺ?Ų Īÿƣŧǣ ÄœĹŠĹ?ŧģŊşşģ Űÿǣ ÄŞÇ˘Ć Ĺ§ĂżĹ?Ų Ç?ĹŠÇŁ ŧĹ?Ĺ‚ÄŞá ľĹ§ĹźĹ˛Ĺƒ şdzłĪŲģĪƣƍ ŧĹ?ÄŞá steal and are violent.â€?

The Sun ĆŤĆ¸ĹźĆ Ć ÄŞÄŁ ƍŊşƣƸ şł ěƣÿŲģĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ÿģǀŧƸƍ áĄ†ÄœĆŁĹ?Ĺ°Ĺ?Ųÿŧƍ᥇ Ĺ?Ų Ĺ?Ƹƍ ĪdzłşƣƸá opting for: “BADDUNS’ BRAINS SMALLER. Adults who lie, behave violently or steal have smaller brains, a new study shows.â€?

Initially, the BBC took a similar tack to Mail Online but, interestingly enough, later changed its headline from “Criminals end up with ‘smaller brains’� to “Small-brain link to long-term antisocial behaviour�.

The Guardian Ç?ĪŲƸ łşƣ Ăż ÄŁĹ?dzłĪƣĪŲƸ ĂżĆ Ć ĆŁĹźĂżÄœĹŠ ĂżĹƒĂżĹ?Ų Ç?Ĺ?Ć¸ĹŠá € ᥆hĹźĹ˛Ĺƒá ľĆ¸ÄŞĆŁĹ° şdzłĪŲģĪƣƍ ĹŠĂżÇœÄŞ ÄŁĹ?dzłĪƣĪŲƸ ěƣÿĹ?Ų ĆŤĆ¸ĆŁÇ€ÄœĆ¸Ç€ĆŁÄŞá ƍƸǀģǣ ƍÿǣƍá ᥇ Ç?ĹŠĹ?ŧĪ The Telegraph also covered the story under the headline: “Persistent lying, stealing and ěǀŧŧǣĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ŧĹ?ŲŤĪģ Ƹş ĹŠĂżÇœĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ Ăż ƍŰÿŧŧĪƣ ěƣÿĹ?Ųá ĆŁÄŞĆŤÄŞĂżĆŁÄœĹŠÄŞĆŁĆŤ ÇżĹ˛ÄŁá ‡áĄ‡ ŸŊĪƍĪ ƍƸşƣĹ?ÄŞĆŤ ÄœĹźÇ€Ĺ§ÄŁ ĹŠĂżÇœÄŞ ĹŠÇ€ĹƒÄŞ ƣÿŰĹ?ÇżÄœĂżĆ¸Ĺ?şŲƍ łşƣ ƸŊĪ ťǀƍƸĹ?ÄœÄŞ ƍǣƍƸĪŰ á ˛ ÿƍ ƸŊĪ ƍƸǀģǣ ÄŁĹ?dzłĪƣĪŲƸĹ?ÿƸĪƍ ěĪƸÇ?ĪĪŲ Ć ÄŞĹźĆ Ĺ§ÄŞ Ç?ĹŠĹź ĹƒÄŞĆ¸ Ĺ?Ĺ˛ÇœĹźĹ§ÇœÄŞÄŁ Ç?Ĺ?ƸŊ anti-social behaviour as children and persist all the way through to adulthood and those who only fall into it during adolescence.

But are the tales true?

Illustration: Miles Cole

WORTH REPE NG

FACTS. CHECKED

ǽǿ % Yg Yyɯǝǟ C Y + ǽǝǽǝ

So this does show a link between anti-social behaviour and the size of the brain – but it comes with a strong note of caution.

This does not mean that all criminals have smaller brains – we know this because that was the reaction of co-author UCL’s Dr Christina Carlisi to the headlines, pointing out there is no causal link. And that response was behind the BBC changing its headline on the story.

Also, because the brain scans were taken at the age of 45, Ĺ?Ƹ Ç?ÿƍ áĄ†Ç€Ĺ˛ÄœĹ§ÄŞĂżĆŁáĄ‡ Ç?ŊĪƸŊĪƣ ƸŊĪ ÄŁĹ?ÇłĹ‚ÄŞĆŁÄŞĹ˛ÄœÄŞĆŤ Ƹş ěƣÿĹ?Ų ĆŤĆ¸ĆŁÇ€ÄœĆ¸Ç€ĆŁÄŞ were inherited and preceded anti-social behaviour or whether they were as the result of an anti-social lifestyle, according to co-author Professor Essi Viding.

So it’s not quite as simple as scanning brains to identify Ć ĹźĆ¸ÄŞĹ˛Ć¸Ĺ?ÿŧ şdzłĪŲģĪƣƍ á ˛ ƍşŰĪƸŊĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ƸŊĪ ƍƸǀģǣ᥉ƍ ÄœĹźá ľĂżÇ€Ć¸ĹŠĹźĆŁĆŤ ÄŁĹź acknowledge with a warning against individual screening.

On the whole, the media outlets’ reporting on this study was comprehensive but the lack of nuance in headlines could help form undeserved stereotypes about criminality.

The study starts a conversation of how we treat juvenile şdzłĪŲģĪƣƍ ÿŲģ ĹŠĹźÇ? Ç?ÄŞ Űÿǣ Ĺ?ģĪŲƸĹ?Ĺ‚ÇŁ ÄœĹŠĹ?ŧģƣĪŲ Ç?ĹŠĹź ŲĪĪģ ĪǢƸƣÿ ĆŤÇ€Ć Ć ĹźĆŁĆ¸ Ƹş ĂżÇœĹźĹ?ÄŁ łÿŧŧĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ şdzł ƸŊĪ Ć¸ĆŁĂżÄœĹ¤ĆŤá ‡

The average human brain weighs 1.2kg The brain accounts to around 2 per cent of our body weight, on average The average brain volume measured 1,274cm3 for men and 1,131cm3 for women according to a study of 46 adults .&.]]g JC ʸ 13

Stats: hĹ?ÇœÄŞ ÂŽÄœĹ?ÄŞĹ˛ÄœÄŞá ’ ÂŽÄœĹ?ĪŲƸĹ?ÇżÄœ Ĺ°ÄŞĆŁĹ?ÄœĂżĹ˛

These stories certainly need to be taken with a vast pinch of salt.

The study saw researchers analyse MRI brain scans of 672 people in the Dunedin Study cohort in New Zealand. The scans were taken at the age of 45 and the people involved had been taking part in research since they were born.

This information was then put together with reports from participants’ parents, carers and teachers as well as self-reports of conduct problems between the ages of seven and 26.

From here, researchers were able to split the groups into three categories: 12 per cent (80 people) had life-course-persistent anti-social behaviour – meaning they had behaved badly since childhood – for 22 per cent (151) it was limited to adolescence and 66 per cent (441) had no history of persistent anti-social behaviour.

Academics then measured and compared the average cortical thickness and cortical surface area – measuring the size of grey matter brain tissue. They found that people with persistent anti-social behaviour had a smaller mean surface area in 282 of 360 brain regions and thinner cortex in 11 regions than those with no history of anti-social behaviour.

opinion.

JOHN BIRD

We look to Austen for escapism, not harsh realities

I

have no idea why I found myself telling a terrible story to my daughter as we walked to the cinema to see Emma.

As a very recent though committed convert to Jane Austen’s writing, I went to see Emma with a good deal of anticipation.

Emma really is a complete prick of a young woman; monied, socially well positioned, yet dreamy and ill-educated. A dangerous matchmaker, she nearly kills off her best friend with the best of intentions, trying to get her to aspire socially above the farm manager who has proposed to her.

Yet, prick or not, she is “most engaging”, and both Austen and her latest interpreter, the wonderful-sounding director Autumn de Wilde, keep us rooting for her; and we are pleased when she finally gets her man, who at the very beginning of the film and for much of it she does not deserve.

Mr Knightley is a true gent of the late 18th and early 19th century.

He cares for his tenants that work the farms that remain the key of his large wealthy estate. He has a kindness that is not equalled by the eponymous heroine.

Miranda Hart superbly plays Mrs Bates, who is so full of goodness and good intentions, but is a chatterbox; and you can see how Dickens raided Austen for many characters for his later novels. What a serious actor Hart has become is a great surprise for me as I have only seen her in her light knockabout-slapstick Miranda show. But as Mrs Bates she brings energy and force, and she stole many of the scenes she appeared in.

Having loved the film though, I was surprised how much of the music used in it was ‘country folk’ and the songs of the labouring classes. This did not quite fit with the constant fine houses and fine meals and only rarely the rural domestic settings. Yet if you reflect on it differently you can see that it was the country folk, the labourers and farmers who kept the whole show on the road. So let them have their musical interludes!

I came upon Jane Austen suddenly a few years ago, and once I had read one novel I needed to read them all. The suspension of disbelief kicked in soon enough. The film Emma makes Austen’s work available in new forms for another generation.

Bill Nighy playing the spoiled country gentleman, proving that one generation can make it and leave it to another generation to lose, does it very well. Mr Woodhouse, Emma’s father, has yet to lose it, but you can see the collapse of the landed gentry coming down the 19th century industrial line soon enough. The steam train and satanic mill will soon stuff the country, having it replaced with tradesmen jumped up to be the new landed gentry.

Of course the losers are not just the wealthy landowners. The collapse of agricultural profits, the high cost of keeping Europe out of the hands of France – viz, Napoleon – will eat into the stability. And drive hungry

THIS WEEK JOHN WILL BE READING: Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie

LISTENING TO: Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky

WATCHING: Ocean’s Eleven, directed by Steven Soderbergh

MEETING WITH: Cabinet office officials to discuss his Future Generations Bill

14 | BIGISSUE.COM

Landofmakebelieve Like the film itself, Anya Taylor-Joy’s Emma does not live in the real world

generations via mechanical farming improvements from the country into the piss-hole satanic towns like Manchester.

All of that is offscreen and distant in time. Highbury, the imaginary location for Emma, is only 13 miles from London, but not the current Highbury, the setting for Arsenal’s North London stadium.

Then on the edge of urbanism, but not yet in it. Wow, how so much is about to change!

Interestingly for me I came away thinking more of the farm workers than anything. I found myself once again realising how hard life was for so, so many people in past generations. For possibly 99 per cent of the population of most countries, life was a trial and tribulation. We know this. Yet how can people think nice things, do nice things and be nice themselves if their life is so eaten up with suffering?

We often look back at former times and hate their lack of progressive thinking, yet do not often take into account how murderous and difficult everyday life was. Today we are busy discrediting the past because it does not match up to our present progressive values.

Our duty should probably be more about understanding the limitations placed on former times by the need to live.

History was not all cakes and ale for anyone other than a few.

Most people who lived through our ancestral times did so with short lives and grim existences.

Walking with my daughter to the cinema I told her of a story about being locked up in a cell aged 15 after a CND demo in Trafalgar Square. I was sleeping rough in the West End and invaded the demo because they had food.

After my arrest I was with about 30 men in the cell. One man decided to play the paedophile card and followed me around for much of the night. In the end in desperation I attacked him and cursed him out.

He cowered in the corner for the rest of our time there. Even in our own time the weakest among us, the homeless and the vulnerable, get violated. We don’t have to go back 200 years.

The subsequent Emma movie was a good alternative to my grim story, which I told in order to warn against the – at times – ugliness of the world. Emma though was beautiful, if not real.

John Bird is the founder and Editor in Chief of The Big Issue. @johnbirdswords linkedin.com/in/ johnbirdswords john.bird@bigissue.com 24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

GILES COOPER ENTERTAINMENT by arrangement with UNITED TALENT AGENCY and CAA proudly presents

VILLAGE PEOPLE

40th ANNIVERSARY SHOW WITH ORIGINAL LEAD SINGER VICTOR WILLIS

JODIE HARSH DJ SET

SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR ft SINK THE PINK IN NEW SHOW ‘PRESS PLAY’

LONDON GAY MEN’S CHORUS

LONDON GAY BIG BAND

DONATIONS WILL BE MADE TO THE LGBT FOUNDATION AND MINDOUT

In the grounds of KENWOOD HOUSE on HAMPSTEAD HEATH, LONDON

THURSDAY NIGHT, 18 JUNE 2020

TICKETMASTER.CO.UK or 0844 844 0444

presents

LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO Celebrating the life and music of founder Joseph Shabalala. +Muntu Valdo FIVE TIME JUNE 2020 GRAMMY Friday 5 OXFORD New Theatre Saturday 6 LONDON Alexandra Palace Theatre Sunday 7 BIRMINGHAM Symphony Hall Tuesday 9 POOLE Lighthouse Wednesday 10 YORK Grand Opera House Thursday 11 MANCHESTER Bridgewater Hall Friday 12 EDINBURGH Usher Hall Monday 15 BEXHILL De La Warr Pavilion Tuesday 16 BRIGHTON Theatre Royal Wednesday 17 GUILDFORD G Live Thursday 18 LONDON Richmond Theatre Saturday 20 SAFFRON WALDEN Saffron Hall Sunday 21 LONDON Queen Elizabeth Hall

WINNERS

(two shows as part of Grace Jones’ Meltdown)

Monday 22 MILTON KEYNES Theatre

Bookings and more information: serious.org.uk/Mambazo

Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita

St Patrick’s Day

MARTIN H AY E S

+Vishtèn

Tuesday June 9 LONDON Union Chapel

AND THE COMMON GROUND ENSEMBLE

Tuesday 17 March LONDON Queen Elizabeth Hall The world’s most celebrated fiddle player, member of The Gloaming, and influential figure in Irish traditional music presents his new band

& on tour

JOIN N MUSICPEL IA L A M F GOS RS OF SSADO G LEGENDS O A B M A EAT IVIN THE GR S WITH THE L E FORC

M A I R A &M

UWITH O D A M A S Y O B D BLIN ABAMA L 23 MAY OF A L TURDAY AL HAL

‘An emotional demonstration of how two virtuoso musicians triumphantly bring different cultures together’ (★★★★★ Guardian) Winners of Best Group at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2019

IV SA AL FEST Y O R N LONDO

Other shows include Frazey Ford, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh & Dan Trueman, Teddy Thompson, Irreversible Entanglements (Moor Mother/International Anthem) and more. Book now at serious.org.uk

changemakers.

The thinkers. The creators. The agitators

Putting plastic-free in the shop window I

NOY’S TOP THREE PLASTIC-FREE ESSENTIALS • Beauty Kubes shampoo, made of dry biodegradable materials which form a paste when you take them in the bath or shower. They’re all natural, contain no chemicals and don’t strip the natural oils from your hair.

Plus there’s no liquid so you can travel with them easily.

• Upcircle, a London brand that repurposes used coffee grounds and chai spices to make top notch skincare.

• Wild Sage & Co was the first brand I ever stocked.

They do an oil cleanser which takes your make up off.

It works a dream. Cosmetics products tend to be hard to pull off because regulation often requires plastic to keep things hygienic.

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

Beth Noy

Plastic Freedom In early 2018, still working full time on her family’s business, she made a basic website and had it up and running within two weeks.

She bought in her first load of stock – about £200 worth of products she already used and liked herself – and posted it on her social media networks. She sold out of everything that first weekend and started o�fering delivery for people in the local area.

“It took o�f straight away,” she says.

“Giving people one button to press instead of having to go and research everything themselves makes all the di�ference. And I was never some big corporation looking to make money, just a person trying to streamline things so everyone could make changes in their own lives, which I think helps.”

Plastic Freedom stocks everything from soaps and cleaning products, clothes and cosmetics to kitchen essentials, homewares and food.

Besides being plastic-free, much of what’s on o�fer is made from natural ingredients, vegan and manufactured by small companies trying to do some good who couldn’t reach such a huge customer base otherwise.

Plastic Freedom is now a team of five – still small given the size of the operation, but Noy wants to keep the family feel in her own business – and despite having started in her spare room is about to move into a 3,400sq �t warehouse.

Going forward the company will have one tree planted for every order. “I’m aware that since we don’t use plastic we use a lot more cardboard and paper. You don’t want to create another problem while trying to fix another. And during the climate crisis a lot of people say one of the best things you can do is plant trees. I’ve got plans to allow our customers to choose where the trees they pay for are planted,” she says.

Those aren’t the only plans in store for Plastic Freedom. Noy reckons that in the next 12 months the company will reach an annual turnover of £1m, and knows one thing is clear: the appetite for plastic-free convenience isn’t going away.

Interview: Hannah Westwater @hannahjtw FIND OUT MORE plasticfreedom.co.uk BIGISSUE.COM | 17

Illustration: Matthew Brazier

t’s easy to talk about going plastic-free, and the range of alternatives is growing by the day. But few of us have the time to research and source replacements for everything we rely on in day-to-day life, making it a lifestyle which risks being the preserve of the wealthy. Southport’s Beth Noy knew the solution was simple – gather the best, cheapest plastic-free alternatives to everyday items together in one place. That’s what she did with Plastic Freedom, an online one-stop shop for the most a�fordable products that are kind to the environment and take the thinking out of changing your habits. Just two years later the project has outgrown her spare room to become a business attracting hundreds of thousands of orders.

Noy le�t school at 16 to go to college but dropped out a�ter two weeks having decided it wasn’t for her. She went on to work for her family’s bike company, Leisure Lakes Bikes, running the marketing and online operation for 12 years. But living by the sea, Noy, now 28, found it increasingly di�ficult to ignore the impact of plastic on the environment. “When I started to cut it out of my own life, I was in a lot of closed Facebook groups with lots of people all trying to do the same,” she tells The Big Issue. “All the advice that was being given was ‘if you want to cut out plastic then just create your own [version] of everything’.

It wasn’t practical. I didn’t have time to sit there and make all my own lotions and potions and I knew other people wouldn’t either. In the process of swapping out products in my own home it became clear that there’s no chance of getting people to switch to plastic free when they have to go to 20 di�ference places.

“It made me think about how you should be able to buy plastic-free products with as much ease as popping to the supermarket. If it’s easy for people they’re more likely to make changes.”

the big picture.

AFTER THE FLOOD ᡆ¦ĪƫŏģĪŲƸƫ ŊÿǜĪŲᡉƸ ƫĪĪŲ ǵŧżżģŏŲŃ ŧŏŤĪ ƸŊŏƫ ƫŏŲĜĪ ᙷᚅᚃᚅ᠇ᡇ ¼ŊżƫĪ ÿƣĪ ƸŊĪ ǝżƣģƫ żł /ŰŰÿ żƣǿĪŧģᠵ àÿƸĪƣƫ᠁ ǝŊżƫĪ ƫŊżƠ żżŤᠵŏƫŊ ŏƫ šǀƫƸ żǀƸƫŏģĪ ƸŊĪ łƣÿŰĪ żł ƸŊŏƫ ŏŰÿŃĪ żł ƣŏĜŤŊżǝĪŧŧ ŏŲ ®żǀƸŊ àÿŧĪƫ᠇ She told The Big Issue the swollen River Usk ĜżǀŧģŲᡉƸ ǵŧżǝ ƠÿƫƸ ěĪÿŰƫ ƠǀƸ ŏŲ ƠŧÿĜĪ Ƹż ƫǀƠƠżƣƸ ƸŊĪ ᙷᚄƸŊᠵĜĪŲƸǀƣǣ ěƣŏģŃĪ ƸŊÿƸ ƫƠÿŲƫ ŏƸ᠁ ƫż ŏƸ ěǀƣƫƸ ŏƸƫ ěÿŲŤƫ᠇ ᡆàÿƸĪƣ ĜÿŲᡉƸ ŃĪƸ ǀŲģĪƣŲĪÿƸŊ᠁ ƫż ŏƸ ŃżĪƫ ĪŏƸŊĪƣ ƫŏģĪ᠇ᡇ àŊŏŧĪ ƸŊĪ ĜżŲƫĪƢǀĪŲĜĪƫ żł ®ƸżƣŰƫ ŏÿƣÿ ÿŲģ 'ĪŲŲŏƫ Űÿǣ ěĪ ÿ ěżżŲ łżƣ ÿĪƣŏÿŧ ƠŊżƸżŃƣÿƠŊĪƣƫ᠁ ƸŊĪ ĪŲǜŏƣżŲŰĪŲƸÿŧ ÿŲģ ƫżĜŏÿŧ ŏŰƠÿĜƸ ŏƫ ƠƣżłżǀŲģ᠇ FǀƣƸŊĪƣ ƫżǀƸŊ᠁ ŏŲ £żŲƸǣƠƣŏģģ᠁ ŏŲŏƸŏÿŧ ƣĪƠżƣƸƫ ĪƫƸŏŰÿƸĪ ƸŊĪ ŲǀŰěĪƣ żł ƠĪżƠŧĪ ģŏƫƠŧÿĜĪģ ěǣ ƸŊĪ ǵŧżżģƫ ÿƸ ᚂᙶᙶ᠁ ǝŏƸŊ ŰżƣĪ ƸŊÿŲ ᙷ᠁ᙶᙶᙶ ŊżŰĪƫ ģÿŰÿŃĪģ᠇ ŲĪ żł ƸŊĪ ŰÿŏŲ ŏƫƫǀĪƫ ÿdzłĪĜƸŏŲŃ ƣĪƫŏģĪŲƸƫ ŏƫ ÿ ŧÿĜŤ żł ŊżŰĪ ěǀŏŧģŏŲŃƫ ÿŲģ ĜżŲƸĪŲƸƫ ŏŲƫǀƣÿŲĜĪ᠁ ŧĪÿǜŏŲŃ ƠĪżƠŧĪ ƫƸƣǀŃŃŧŏŲŃ Ƹż ŃĪƸ ěÿĜŤ żŲ ƸŊĪŏƣ łĪĪƸ᠇ rÿŲǣ żł ƸŊĪ ŊżŰĪƫ ÿdzłĪĜƸĪģ ÿƣĪ ƫżĜŏÿŧ ŊżǀƫŏŲŃ᠁ ƫÿŏģ ŧĪǢ 'ÿǜŏĪƫᠵdżŲĪƫ᠁ hÿěżǀƣ r£ łżƣ £żŲƸǣƠƣŏģģ᠁ ÿŲģ ƣĪƫŏģĪŲƸƫ ÿƣĪ ǀŲÿěŧĪ Ƹż ÿdzłżƣģ ŏŲƫǀƣÿŲĜĪ᠇ ᡆ£ÿƣƸƫ żł Űǣ ĜżŲƫƸŏƸǀĪŲĜǣ ÿƣĪ ƫżŰĪ żł ƸŊĪ ŰżƫƸ ĪĜżŲżŰŏĜÿŧŧǣ ģĪƠƣŏǜĪģ ŏŲ àÿŧĪƫ᠁ᡇ ƫŊĪ ÿģģĪģ᠇ ¼ŊĪŲ ƸŊĪƣĪ ŏƫ ƸŊĪ ƢǀĪƫƸŏżŲ żł ǝŊĪƸŊĪƣ ŏŲƫǀƣÿŲĜĪ ŏƫ ÿǜÿŏŧÿěŧĪ ÿƸ ÿŧŧ᠇ Fżƣ ŊżǀƫĪƫ żŲ Īƣǝ ¦żÿģ ŏŲ £żŲƸǣƠƣŏģģ᠁ żŲĪ żł ƸŊĪ ǝżƣƫƸᠵŊŏƸ ÿƣĪÿƫ᠁ ƸŊĪŏƣ ƠƣżǢŏŰŏƸǣ Ƹż ƸŊĪ ¦ŏǜĪƣ ¼ÿdzł ŰĪÿŲƫ ĜżǜĪƣÿŃĪ ŏƫ ĪŏƸŊĪƣ ŏŰƠżƫƫŏěŧĪ Ƹż ƫĪĜǀƣĪ żƣ᠁ ÿƫ 'ÿǜŏĪƫᠵdżŲĪƫ ƫÿǣƫ᠁ ƠƣżŊŏěŏƸŏǜĪŧǣ ĪǢƠĪŲƫŏǜĪ᠇ ®ŏǢƸĪĪŲ ŰżŲƸŊƫ ÿŃż᠁ ŏƸ ǝÿƫ ®ƸżƣŰ ÿŧŧǀŰ ƸŊÿƸ ŃÿǜĪ ÿ ĜŊŏŧŧŏŲŃ łżƣĪƸÿƫƸĪ żł ǝŊÿƸ ŏŲĜƣĪÿƫĪģ ŏŲƫƸÿŲĜĪƫ żł ĪǢƸƣĪŰĪ ǝĪÿƸŊĪƣ ŰŏŃŊƸ ŰĪÿŲ᠇ hżƫƫ żł ŧŏłĪ᠁ ƠżǝĪƣ ĜǀƸƫ ÿŲģ ģÿŰÿŃĪ Ƹż ƠƣżƠĪƣƸǣ᠁ ŧŏǜĪƫƸżĜŤ ÿŲģ ŏŲłƣÿƫƸƣǀĜƸǀƣĪ ÿƣĪ ƸŊĪ ŊĪÿģŧŏŲĪ ĜżŲƫĪƢǀĪŲĜĪƫ᠁ ěǀƸ ÿŧƣĪÿģǣ ƫƸƣĪƸĜŊĪģ ƫĪƣǜŏĜĪƫ łżƣ ƸŊĪ ŊżŰĪŧĪƫƫ ŏŲ ®żǀƸŊ àÿŧĪƫ ĜÿŲ ÿŲģ ǝŏŧŧ ƫƸƣǀŃŃŧĪ Ƹż ĜżƠĪ ŏł ÿ ŧÿƣŃĪ ÿŲģ ǀŲĪǢƠĪĜƸĪģ ŲǀŰěĪƣ żł ƠĪżƠŧĪ ÿƣĪ ŰÿģĪ ƸĪŰƠżƣÿƣŏŧǣ ŊżŰĪŧĪƫƫ ěǣ ǵŧżżģŏŲŃ᠇ GŏǜĪŲ ƸŊĪ ĪǜĪŲƸƫ żł ƸŊĪ ƠÿƫƸ łżƣƸŲŏŃŊƸ ÿŲģ ƸŊĪ rĪƸ dzǿĜĪ ŲżƸ ƠƣĪģŏĜƸŏŲŃ ÿ ƫŏŃŲŏǿĜÿŲƸ ǀƠƸǀƣŲ ŏŲ ƸŊĪ ǝĪÿƸŊĪƣ ǀŲƸŏŧ ƸŊĪ ŰŏģģŧĪ żł rÿƣĜŊ᠁ ŊżŰĪŧĪƫƫ ƫĪƣǜŏĜĪƫ ŏŲ ®żǀƸŊ àÿŧĪƫ ŲĪĪģ ĪǜĪƣǣ ƠĪŲŲǣ ƸŊĪǣ ĜÿŲ ŃĪƸ᠇ àŊŏŧĪ ƸŊĪ àĪƫƸŰŏŲƫƸĪƣ ŃżǜĪƣŲŰĪŲƸ Ŋÿƫ ÿŲŲżǀŲĜĪģ ŃƣÿŲƸƫ żł ǀƠ Ƹż ᢓ‫ڑ‬ᙶᙶ ÿŲģ ƫŊżƣƸᠵƸĪƣŰ ĜżǀŲĜŏŧ ƸÿǢ ƣĪŧŏĪł łżƣ ƸŊżƫĪ ģŏƫƠŧÿĜĪģ łƣżŰ ƸŊĪŏƣ ŊżŰĪƫ ģǀĪ Ƹż ǵŧżżģŏŲŃ᠁ ÿ ƫżŧǀƸŏżŲ ŰǀƫƸ ěĪ łżǀŲģ łżƣ ŊżǀƫŏŲŃ ƸŊĪŰ ƸŊÿƸ ģżĪƫŲᡉƸ ŊÿǜĪ ŲĪŃÿƸŏǜĪ ĜżŲƫĪƢǀĪŲĜĪƫ łżƣ ƸŊżƫĪ ǝŊż ÿƣĪ żdzǿĜŏÿŧŧǣ ŊżŰĪŧĪƫƫ᠇

18 ʸ .&.]]g JC

ǽǿ % Yg YyɯǻǼ C Y + ǽǻǽǻ

Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

ǽǿ % Yg YyɯǻǼ C Y + ǽǻǽǻ

.&.]]g JC ʸ 19

A

letter to my younger self.

s a teenager my passions were art, art, art, art and art. It started at a young age. I could always draw and it was great to have a talent. As a kid you have dreams and you’re supposed to want to be a footballer or whatever, but at 16 you’re scared of the future. A lot of people that age are unsure but curious. I wasn’t encouraged to do art, but it was something I wanted and needed to do. I’m lucky I followed my instincts because a lot of people were thrown off course. I somehow, miraculously – and I do say miraculously – followed my instincts.

Steve McQueen

I don’t admire my younger self for following his path. I just think of the other people that could have gone on a similar path but didn’t.

I was an exception because of hard-headedness and luck. Or hardheadedness and talent. My hard-headedness and a certain innate talent to draw made that luck.

Creative maestro

Photo: Dave Benett/Getty Images

I never saw any people who looked like me who were artists.

When I discovered Jean-Michel Basquiat I was grateful to discover someone like that. But at the time, even he wasn’t taken seriously.

I would tell my younger self to follow your instincts and go for it.

There’s so much trying to pull you down, even gravity sometimes.

You have to be tenacious and forceful if necessary.

1999

Mum Mary and dad Philbert join him at the Turner Prize ceremony

I got a constant stream of information, interest and fascination through BBC television and radio. When I was 17 The Singing Detective came on. It was so imaginative and triggered my curiosity about moving images. It was one of the first times something so out there came into the mainstream. Television, especially the BBC, was very important to me.

Photo: AKPhoto / Alamy Stock Photo

2013

I learned about London through markets. Every Saturday I’d miss Football Focus and have to go to some market with my mother – always because a friend would tell her where you could buy this or that a bit cheaper. I grew up in Shepherd’s Bush, but would go from West London to East London, North London, South London and into town. I remember the traders down in Forest Gate, and Berwick Street market had lots of interesting tailors. One geezer did celebrities’ suits, so a lot of women bought material from that shop. I won’t say I was my mother’s donkey, but she needed someone to hold the bags. That’s what I was: “Hold the bag, hold it good!”

But it was amazing and that is how I got to know London. She was absolutely wonderful, my mum.

Flanked by the cast of 12 Years a Slave at the New York premiere

With wife Bianca Stiger, daughter Alex and son Dexter

20 | BIGISSUE.COM

Photo: John Phillips/John Phillips/Getty Images for BFI

2018

I came from a situation in which equality wasn’t there and found my way to the other side of the minefield. I look back and see what might have been and what occurred through that journey to get to the other side. I mean, I’m not even there yet, to be honest. It is well documented how people were split into different groups at my school [at 13, McQueen was placed in the third tier of students – seen as destined, he says, for “manual labour”]. To say certain people are better than other people? The whole idea of having the worst teachers given to the students that needed the best teachers? Everything about my career was shaped by my childhood – inequality and the gloominess of unfair society was everywhere.

I used to think of cinema as somewhere you take girlfriends for a snog. To pay to see a movie rather than watch on TV was weird.

My biggest influence of that time was a girlfriend who was into cinema – that is how I discovered movies and it was a revelation.

You are seeing people from all over the world falling in love, having breakfast, getting into fights. It was wonderful.

I’m a black man, so how can I not be politically engaged? From day one I was asking questions. People are politicised very early because you are asking certain questions about your existence. I was engaged and I am engaged. You often end up disappointed with politics and politicians. Even people who are apparently on your side are actually about what they can gain personally.

Sometimes you have to ruffle feathers. I think about my art and my movies, and to me it’s all about taking risks. You’ve got to throw yourself a curveball and experiment. I’m not interested in getting 24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

1985

THE YEAR STEVE TURNS 16 • Vodafone launches the UK’s first mobile phone network • Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the USSR • Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale is first published

Photo: Chad Batka / New York Times / Redux / eyevine

comfortable or staying in the same place or everyone agreeing with me.

I’m after some idea of what the truth could be. As an artist you want to experiment and move forward – that is how it is. Tomorrow I might want to make something else, like a pair of trousers.

TwelveYearsaSlave opened a lot of doors for other filmmakers. Certain movies would not have been made without it – and I know that for a fact because the producers told me. So it was a catalyst for filmmaking. It was me being headstrong again. Everyone was telling me no and I didn’t take any notice, just like before. I was told a movie with black leads wouldn’t make any money internationally, especially one about slavery – and that was by someone supportive of the movie! So that picture changed a lot.

I’m very grateful. The picture itself won Best Picture [at the 2014 Academy Awards] and I’m extremely proud of it, but it is what came after that I’m especially proud of. It was a difficult film to make. Lupita Nyong’o, Michael Fassbender, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sarah Paulson – all these people risked a lot.

To commit and learn and grow with someone is the best thing in the world. Falling in love and being in love, and not just when you are young – it is wonderful when you are in love with someone and you are developing as a person, listening as well as learning. I have been very fortunate with that.

I would tell my younger self to jump in with two feet. Because to commit is to put yourself into a situation where you’re learning about yourself and someone else – and there’s real development within that.

I grew up in a very working-class situation. My view on life was narrow because of where I came from. The people I had relationships with came from elsewhere. So to talk to people from other vantage points in life opened my eyes and was hugely important. That is why I say the commitment of actually engaging with someone is what gave me my liberty, actually. I learned about myself through other people.

My younger self wouldn’t give a damn about my knighthood [McQueen was made a Sir earlier this year]. The country I come from gave me this 24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

high award – and that’s great. But it doesn’t mean anything unless you can actually use it. What am I going to do with it? I’m already doing it.

This new show at Tate Modern, Year 3, the Grenfell film – all this stuff feels like a homecoming. [McQueen was given permission by relatives of the victims to film inside Grenfell Tower from a helicopter before it was covered up.] And we have shot Small Axe for the BBC and are editing now.

This is where I come from. The only person I am representing, to a certain extent, is me. But we are also part of a community. The only reason I am sitting here today is because of other people. So it is not a pressure to represent lots of people’s stories – it’s a privilege. The response to Year 3 has been overwhelming and I have been very moved by it. It is a portrait of what London looks like now and the future of London. Everyone has a link to the artwork. Even if people don’t see a relative, they see themselves as a child.

The only thing the British offered to build in Jamaica was a prison. They didn’t offer to build a university, they offered to build a prison. The irony of that! At certain points one has to talk about compensation. So let’s be moral, let’s be correct. People have to be compensated for slave labour that was never paid for. I won’t get too much into the deportation flights but this stuff just has to stop. Windrush has to stop.

I don’t need to whisper anything in my younger self’s ear. I didn’t need those whispers. I did it. What I would have liked and which I didn’t get – and which I had to get from myself – was a sense that you have the authority to do what you want. A lot of people were spooked into a position where they thought certain things weren’t for them. I wasn’t scared off so easily.

Steve McQueen is on until May 11 at Tate Modern. Year 3 runs until May 3 at Tate Britain. Small Axe is on BBC One later this year.

Interview: Adrian Lobb @adey70 For more interviews see bigissue.com/letter-to-my-younger-self BIGISSUE.COM | 21

saving the high street.

22 | BIGISSUE.COM

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

Thousands of shops on the high street are closing every year. Beyond the boarded-up windows is a real fear that we are losing the very heart of communities.

So what’s the word on the high street about how we can start reviving our town centres?

Words: Steven MacKenzie Additional reporting: Vicky Carroll, Liam Geraghty

ver the last year, many of the most famous names on the high street – Debenhams, Clintons, Mothercare, Jessops, Thomas Cook – either slipped into administration or had to close multiple stores. Boots has said it plans to shut 200 outlets. Marks & Spencer has jettisoned 48 shops and is expected to lose over 100 more.

In 2019, 44 stores across the UK closed every day – a total of 16,073 shutting up shop for good. Over 150,000 jobs were lost, a massive blow to the workforce.

The prime minister recently announced a £1bn fund to improve infrastructure and pay for planning applications.

But this is a small step towards tackling an enormous, endemic problem which has far-reaching and disastrous effects on communities.

From the retailers' perspective the biggest problem – or at least one that government and local authorities can do something about – is “unsustainably high” business rates.

Earlier this month the British Retail Consortium (BRC) along with 52 retail companies wrote to the chancellor calling on him to make good on the government’s pledge to review rates. However, it was posted on the day Boris Johnson had his reshuffle, so who knows if the message was redirected.

Tom Holder, spokesperson for the BRC, points out that their monthly retail sales monitor showed growth of 0.4 per cent in January versus 2.2 per cent last year. "The 12-month figure for average growth is now the lowest on record, declining at 0.2 per cent," he says.

“Retail is paying a disproportionately large part of the tax burden that needs to be levelled more fairly across the entire economy. To give you an indication of how disproportionate business rates have become, the retail sector accounts for five per cent of the economy and yet retailers pay 10 per cent of all business taxes overall and 25 per cent of business rates."

Something called "transitional relief" – which slows the pace of change when a business has its rates re-evaluated so as to avoid sudden shock – is another part of the problem, protecting those whose rates are about to shoot up but also delaying relief for those who need it. Additionally, says Holden, people who are slowed upwards are funded by the people who are slowed downwards.

"But there’s a geographic effect. London is a big winner because its rates are not going up as fast as they should be, funded by those whose rates should be going down much faster than they are (such as businesses in the north of England). Retail has lost about £550 million over the last three years on that basis.” This is why the BRC is calling for the transitional relief system to be fixed. But in itself, revamping the business rate system will not save our high streets.

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

BIGISSUE.COM | 23

United front More than 50 towns are taking part in Totally Locally's campaign

Another complication, inevitably, is Brexit. With 'No Deal' remaining a real threat, trade uncertainty has prevented businesses investing to transform and modernise themselves – upskilling employees and improving the shopping experience for consumers – which has to happen for retailers to survive.

Holder continues: “We accept that retail may be smaller at the end [of this process] but what we need to do is make sure that if it's going to be smaller that it’s fitter and stronger."

Few people have their finger on the pulse of the nation’s high streets quite like Big Issue sellers do. Our vendors have always been beacons of hope at the heart of communities.

Chris Falchi-Stead, The Big Issue's director of sales and operations, says that like the best entrepreneurs, vendors are making the most of town centres, and are actively fostering a sense of community, notably in places such as Leith in Edinburgh and Uckfield in East Sussex, where local people are rallying around them.

And lately we see that for an increasing number of people, selling the magazine has become a lifeline if they have lost their jobs and have no means of income to keep body and soul together until benefits kick in. Mass-scale redundancy such as we have seen over the last 12 months in the retail sector, where jobs may be part-time or low-paid, leads to more people struggling to get by – and so consumer confidence is low, high street footfall declines, and a vicious cycle grows worse. But in many parts of the UK communities themselves are seizing initiative and fighting back against the gloom.

“The death of the high street has been the narrative for a long time, and in a way that can create a self-fulfilling prophecy,” says Alex Schlagman, a founding partner of savethehighstreet.org, a movement launched in 2016 to promote a new vision for town centres. “We need to make sure the high street is the place that consumers want to spend their time and money, and recognise that if you don’t use it you lose it.

“If we pull out the high street rug from underneath the local economy, there is a really detrimental knock-on impact. It's the engine room that drives local economic growth. There are half a million outlets around the UK but 300,000 of those are independently owned.

A lot of people’s hopes and dreams are at stake. If we're just buying from large corporates with out-of-town warehouses, companies that often have very clever tax accountants, we're losing a lot of money from the local economy.

“We risk an alternative future we're not willing to accept, where everybody lives behind their screens at homes with things coming to them."

24 | BIGISSUE.COM

What, then, needs to change to save the high street?

“The businesses themselves all need to go through their own mini-transformation programme," says Schlagman. "For successful high street businesses in the past, present and future, you expect to see great customer service and experience.

“There are about 5,000 high-street communities around the UK and each one of those needs to operate like its own mini-business in its own right. We need to be much more agile in terms of legislation, to quickly change from one class to another [for example from commercial to residential] and we need to move to a place where it doesn’t require such a commitment to set up on the high street."

In Scotland Edinburgh Printmakers is leading the charge, with a network of 13 sites in Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, Paisley, Falkirk and Grangemouth being offered as temporary locations to be transformed by communities into creative spaces, such as studios, rehearsal, exhibition and event rooms and teaching rooms, for a low monthly fee. It is intended to allow communities to decide what they need, and encourage them to make it happen themselves in a central location. So far they have seen 30,000 people pass through the doors, and in 2020 there are plans to expand in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee.

Short-term, dynamic, temporary use of space like this is invigorating and stimulating, and can encourage ambition and optimism in communities – which is often lacking in council-led initiatives.

“It’s commonly accepted that you have to make like a five-year-plus commitment," notes Schlagman. "It should be the same as setting up an online business in a few minutes. Test an idea out. See if it works.

Doesn't work? Move on. Does work? Double down, expand.

“Once the BHS network goes it doesn't get replaced by BHS again.

It is independent businesses that are going to plug this gap in the future. There's a real acceptance and a desire for a whole new generation of entrepreneurs to come on to the high street, bringing their passions to life.”

Independent businesses offer a glimpse of green shoots. In 2019, large retailers with 10 or more outlets closed 5,901 shops – an increase of 79 per cent on the previous year. But independent store closures reduced from 11,280 to 10,172 in 2019. While that is still a lot of shops

What is Power to Change?

PowertoChange(PTC)isanindependentcharitabletrust that supports and develops community businesses in England.

Endowed with £150m from the National Lottery Community Fund, it works to revive local buildings and spaces, protect the services people rely on and address local needs. Since 2015 it has invested nearly £18m in community hubs.

Its ethos echoes The Big Issue’s ‘a hand up, not a handout’ spirit: “We believe community businesses help make places better, for example by saving local shops, giving more training opportunities for local people or providing affordable housing.”

TheprojectsPTCworkswithhavefourthingsincommon.

1.Locallyrooted This means a business started by local people that will benefit the immediate community around it.

2.Accountabletothelocalcommunity The local community must have a genuine say in how the business is run, eg through regular consultation, membership or ownership.

3.Tradingforthebenefitofthelocalcommunity A community business makes money by trading products and services.

4.Hasabroadcommunityimpact Community businesses are set up to address local needs and contribute to a broader sense of confidence and pride in a place. powertochange.org.uk

Kicking on Anfield's Homebaked is building on the success of the local football team

going out of business, small retailers are actively reversing this haemorrhaging on the high street.

THE FIGHTBACK HAS BEGUN This week, towns from Addingham to Worcester are in the midst of FiverFest, where retailers band together to promote themselves and each other. It is a campaign pioneered by Chris Sands and his organisation Totally Locally. “If you've got a little shop and you put on a special offer, I'm not really going to come in. But if 50 shops in your town all work together, that’s worth a visit,” Sands says.

Based in Hebden Bridge, Sands is a branding and marketing expert.

Ten years ago Calderdale Council commissioned him to mastermind a shop local campaign. “I think they were just expecting a ‘shop local’ sticker,” he says. “I've worked with some big corporates in the past. I know the strategy they use to get people away from the small guys so I just applied that to small businesses.”

Totally Locally had an immediate impact and Sands was inundated by so many requests from other towns he made his Totally Locally kits downloadable for free. “It's a marketing strategy and campaign about independents working together,” Sands explains. “[There are] designs and posters but it is also about how to work together, how to arrange meetings. Instead of a town hall, you’ve got to meet in the pub and have a few pints. That's when things get done.”

While savethehighstreet.org calls for local champions to represent and take responsibility for their area, Sands doesn’t believe in self-appointed leaders. “Anybody who wants to be a chairman needs to be kicked out straight away,” he declares. “We’re basically breaking all the rules that have made these things fail before. It frustrates me that all the doom and gloom news is around big chain stores, never about small businesses that are growing,” Sands says, citing that last year saw the highest number of new bookshops opening in over a decade.

Over 50 towns across the UK are using Totally Locally’s campaign with around 100 taking part in FiverFest – although some, including Hebden Bridge, have postponed because of flooding. “Leek in Staffordshire, they used to call it Bleak Leek but, with our kit, shop vacancies went from 17 per cent to three per cent.”

Sands also came up with The Magic Tenner, which highlights the fact that £10 spent in a local shop is worth £50 to the local economy.

Totally Locally is a success, Sands believes, because it gives retailers the tools to help themselves. And they are best placed to do that because they care about making their business work.

“The average shop has got 16 local suppliers. There's people in this area who’ve got 72 local suppliers. The economics of that is huge for a town where all these businesses are linked together. And if one starts to fall it affects everybody.”

When people rally around, ties are established that strengthen the whole area. That’s what was emphasised when The Big Issue convened the UK’s first social trading conference in Nottingham in 2018. Dubbed How to Create a Social Echo: Strengthening Communities Through Local Trading, it demonstrated how every organisation carries a social echo that reverberates around the area. Empowering community revival is

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

the speciality of Power to Change. Using an endowment from the Big Lottery Fund, it works with community businesses to create change “driven from the bottom up” and trading for the benefit of the local area.

“We all instinctively want to connect with the places where we live.

Parades of empty shops drain our towns of identity,” says Vidhya Alakeson, chief executive of Power to Change. Homebaked, a community bakery in Anfield, Liverpool, is reversing that. They stopped a street from being demolished by setting up there. Close to Anfield, Liverpool FC's stadium, they do a roaring trade on matchday pies and also train local people, visit schools and offer a youth business scheme. They also recently won planning permission to reopen more buildings on the boarded-up terrace to create affordable homes.

In Plymouth, Union Street, once a thriving commercial centre, has been plagued by derelict shops for years. Nudge Community Builders took over a run-down pub, The Clipper, and now host regular markets in the backyard, creating a hub for start-up food stalls and other microbusinesses, with units starting at £7.50 per day.

Power to Change is involved in dozens of similar projects across the country and has seen many examples of community businesses stepping in when big business fails. Alakeson says: “When communities are given a bit of space, they create fantastic enterprises that respond directly to their own needs. That’s what we need to do everywhere.

“These aren’t such radical ideas. High streets have always been spaces for the local community to come together, do business and interact. With a bit of imagination, we can find a 21st-century way of making that happen again.”

National Fiverfest runs until February 29. Find out what's happening in your area at totallylocally.org @stevenmackenzie

Rebuilding high streets for the future Thehighstreethasbecomeabarrenwastelandofemptyshopunitsanda graveyardfordefunctmajorretailers in the present but the consensus is that retail will be jettisoned in the future in favour of community spaces.

The government inquiry into high streets and town centres in 2030 heard that retail-focus should now be “unpicked”. That was the view of former Iceland CEO and retail tsar William Grimsey, who has written two alternative reviews into saving the high street. He told the inquiry: “Retail is not the main anchor any more for the 21st century, and it needs to be replaced with other activities.”But what are those other activities?They’ll be more social valuebased and bespoke – gone will be the homogenised, cut-and-paste centres of old, replaced with activities that “foster greater, social interaction, community spirit and local identity and characteristics”.

Grimsey holds up Stockton-on-Tees as his shining example after council chiefs pivoted towards markets, festivals and events that tie into the town’s strong railway history to revitalise their high street.

Consumer champion Which?has identified those shifting sands too. They found that personal services that can’t be replicated online like tattooing, hair and beauty services and funeral directors have boomed between 2014 and 2019.

Futurist Tom Cheesewright reckons that making high streets more hospitable for the elderly and families is key to future success. Central accommodation for older people could make the high street a place to battle loneliness. Building schools where department stores now stand could fill the vacant space and prevent the need for family migration to the suburbs, Cheesewright says. “The future high street will see four generations of family living, working, playing and learning together in the same shared spaces.” @Lazergun_Nun

BIGISSUE.COM | 25

waste manageme

Rob Bilott secur hundreds of mi o uncovering direct l n o caused by chem cal gi nt n Du nd diseases including g c nce er. But ut he t Ă‹Ă„ Ăź ĂŚ ÄˆĂ„ Ăž ]ÂŹĂƒĂ‹ ĂƒĂ‹ s s Ăš Ăš

26 | BIGISSUE.COM

ǽǿ % Yg Yyɯǝǟ C Y + ǽǝǽǝ

ǽǿ % Yg YyɯǻǼ C Y + ǽǻǽǻ

.&.]]g JC ʸ 27

On Tour Now

The Snuts

Pinegrove

+ Special Guests

+ Katy J Pearson

Thu 30 April O Kentish Town Forum

Thu 02 April Electric Ballroom

Rina Sawayama

Sarathy Korwar

+ Special Guests

+ Special Guests

Sat 16 May O Institute Birmingham

Tue 12 May Village Underground

HEIR

Brooke Bentham Dancing On Tables

+ Silvertwin Wed 18 March Camden Assembly

+ Special Guests Thu 19 March Omeara

+ French Beaches Fri 20 March Old Blue Last

Tungz

Margaret Glaspy

Neon Waltz

+ Special Guests Sat 28 March MOTH Club

+ Special Guests Tue 31 March Lafayette

+ Special Guests Sat 04 April Omeara

Julia Church The Academic Walt Disco + Special Guests Thu 16 April The Lexington

+ Lauran Hibberd Thu 16 April Electric Ballroom

+ Special Guests Tue 21 April MOTH Club

Rondo Mo + Special Guests Thu 26 March The Waiting Room

LIFE

+ Special Guests Thu 16 April Lafayette

Sea Girls + Special Guests Thu 23 April Roundhouse

The Tennants had been losing cattle in distressing ways. Abrasions covered their hides, white froth seeped from their mouths and they had become aggressive. One calf died with electric-blue eyes. Wilbur suspected the cause was water contamination from chemical giant DuPont, which he Ć¸ĹŠĹźÇ€ĹƒĹŠĆ¸ Ç?ÿƍ ÄŁÇ€Ĺ°Ć Ĺ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ƸşǢĹ?Äœ Ç?ÿƍƸĪ Ĺ?Ų ŲĪĹ?ĹƒĹŠÄ›ĹźÇ€ĆŁĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ Ĺ§ĂżĹ˛ÄŁÇżĹ§Ĺ§á ‡ “It seemed a straightforward issue,â€? Bilott says of his meeting with Wilbur, a client unlike his normal paymasters. “I assumed we’d be able to do what we’d been doing for our corporate clients. I could pull the permits, S ÄœĹźÇ€Ĺ§ÄŁ ÇżĹƒÇ€ĆŁÄŞ şǀƸ Ç?ŊÿƸ Ç?ÿƍ ěĪĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ƣĪŧĪÿƍĪģ łƣşŰ ƸŊÿƸ ŧÿŲģǿŧŧá Ç?ŊÿƸ ƸŊĪ limits were and get to the bottom of it relatively quickly.â€?

He couldn’t. While DuPont rejected the claims, Bilott discovered the ĆŤÇ€Ä›ĆŤĆ¸ĂżĹ˛ÄœÄŞ Ĺ?Ų ƢǀĪƍƸĹ?şŲ Ç?ÿƍ Ć ÄŞĆŁÇľĹ§Ç€ĹźĆŁĹźĹźÄœĆ¸ĂżĹ˛ĹźĹ?Äœ ĂżÄœĹ?ÄŁ şƣ ÂŁF á Ăż ƸşǢĹ?Äœ ÄœĹŠÄŞĹ°Ĺ?ÄœĂżĹ§ ǀƍĪģ Ĺ?Ų ŸĪǾŧşŲ Ć ĆŁĹźÄŁÇ€ÄœĆ¸Ĺ?ĹźĹ˛á ‡ NÄŞ ĆŤÇ€ÄœÄœÄŞĆŤĆŤĹ‚Ç€Ĺ§Ĺ§ÇŁ Ć ÄŞĆ¸Ĺ?ƸĹ?şŲĪģ 'ǀ£şŲƸ Ć¸ĹŠĆŁĹźÇ€ĹƒĹŠ ƸŊĪ courts to release all its documentation on the substance.

The documents he acquired – 110,000 pages, some half a century old, taking months to sort through – revealed the company had dumped ᚃá ᙡᙜᙜ ƸşŲƍ şł ÂŁF ĆŤĹ§Ç€ÄŁĹƒÄŞ Ĺ?ŲƸş ƸŊĪ ŧÿŲģǿŧŧá Ăż ŧÿŲģǿŧŧ ƸŊÿƸ ÄŁĆŁĂżĹ?ŲĪģ Ĺ?ŲƸş ƸŊĪ Tennants’ property. They also revealed DuPont had known for decades ÂŁF Űÿǣ ĹŠĂżÇœÄŞ ĆŤÄŞÇœÄŞĆŁÄŞ ÿŲģ Ç?Ĺ?ÄŁÄŞá ľĆŁĂżĹ˛ĹƒĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ŊĪÿŧƸŊ ÄŞÇłĹ‚ÄŞÄœĆ¸ĆŤá ǣĪƸ ƍƸĹ?ŧŧ ÿŧŧşÇ?ÄŞÄŁ Ĺ?Ƹ to contaminate the drinking water. “I had no idea we would be discovering an unregulated chemical was impacting his cattle, his family, his property,â€? he says. “Not only that, but it was in the drinking water of the entire surrounding community, and then we found out pretty much in water and blood across the entire planet.â€?

Bilott’s initial work culminated in a 972-page letter warning various regulatory authorities including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the health threat. “DuPont went to a federal court and tried to get a gag order to prevent me from saying anything more,� he says. DuPont

PFAS in the UK PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, are a family of × Úɍ Ä ×˽ßĉêËÚÄ Ì chemicals that are biopersistent, meaning they do not readily break down in the environment and build up in humans and wildlife over time.

PFOA is just one member of a group of more than

4,700 industrial chemicals.

Common items containing PFAS are waterproof clothing and shoes, stain-resistant school uniforms and ËĆ ÞŠÚÌÞ ¤Ú Þ ×ÚËË£ ºÄ¤ × × Ú Ä Ú Ë Ú food packaging. However, a number of UK high street retailers’ clothes are now completely free from PFAS, including H&M, Zara, UNIQLO, M&S, Primark and Tesco.

Health costs related to PFAS exposure are estimated between ÂŽĹźÇ€ĆŁÄœÄŞĆŤá € Green Science Policy Institute; darkwaters.participant.com

ÂŁ44bn and ÂŁ71bn annually for all countries of the European Economic Area.

99% of Americans have forever chemicals in their blood and numbers are now considered to be at a similar level all over the world.

Studies have linked PFAS chemicals to numerous health risks, including pancreatic cancer, testicular cancer, kidney cancer and thyroid disease.

ǽǿ % Yg Yyɯǝǟ C Y + ǽǝǽǝ

The exact scale of the PFAS contamination is not known in the UK and Europe in general because there is currently no comprehensive PFAS monitoring in EU waters.

Some PFAS have estimated half-lives of more than 1,000 years.

PFAS are also in bike oils, non stick cookware, paints, cleaning products and cosmetics.

GĪƸƸĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ Ƹş 'ǀ£şŲƸ rÿƣŤ Œǀdzłÿŧş á ¤ Ĺ?Ĺ§ĹźĆ¸Ć¸á Ľ ÿŲģ Ĺ?ŧŧ ĂżĹ°Ć á ¤ÂźÄŞĹ˛Ĺ˛ĂżĹ˛Ć¸á Ľ Ĺ?Ų Dark Waters

failed and ultimately had to pay $16.5m to the EPA – less than two per ÄœÄŞĹ˛Ć¸ şł ƸŊĪ Ć ĆŁĹźÇżĆ¸ĆŤ ĪÿƣŲĪģ şŲ ÂŁF ƸŊÿƸ ÇŁÄŞĂżĆŁá ‡ tşƸ ƍÿƸĹ?ƍǿĪģá Ĺ?Ų ᙸᙜᙜ  Ĺ?ŧşƸƸ ĹźĹ˛ÄœÄŞ ĂżĹƒĂżĹ?Ų ƸşşŤ şŲ 'ǀ£şŲƸ᥉ƍ considerable resources in a class action suit representing around 70,000 people living near a chemical plant, achieving a settlement that paid for a six-year health study.

He had put everything on the line to secure that study – his job, łÿŰĹ?ŧǣ ÿŲģ ŊĪÿŧƸŊ á ˛ ěǀƸ ĹŠĹ?ĆŤ Ć ÄŞĆŁĆŤĹ?ĆŤĆ¸ÄŞĹ˛ÄœÄŞ Ć ĂżĹ?ÄŁ şdzłá ǿŲģĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ŧĹ?ŲŤƍ ěĪƸÇ?ĪĪŲ ÂŁF ÿŲģ ĆŤÄŞÇœÄŞĆŁĂżĹ§ ÄŁĹ?ƍĪÿƍĪƍ Ĺ?Ĺ˛ÄœĹ§Ç€ÄŁĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ŤĹ?ģŲĪǣ ÿŲģ ƸĪƍƸĹ?ÄœÇ€Ĺ§ĂżĆŁ ÄœĂżĹ˛ÄœÄŞĆŁá ‡ SŲ Ăż follow-up case in 2017, he won a $671m settlement on behalf of more ƸŊÿŲ ᙚá ‍ڑ‏ᙜᙜ Ć Ĺ§ĂżĹ?ŲƸĹ?dzłƍ Ĺ?Ų Ć ÄŞĆŁĆŤĹźĹ˛ĂżĹ§ Ĺ?Ųťǀƣǣ ÄœĹ§ĂżĹ?Ĺ°ĆŤ ĂżĹƒĂżĹ?ŲƍƸ 'Ç€ÂŁĹźĹ˛Ć¸á ‡ Ųģ ŊĪƣĪ᥉ƍ Ç?ĹŠÄŞĆŁÄŞ ƸŊĪ ƍƸşƣǣ ÄœĹźÇ€Ĺ§ÄŁ ĪŲģá ƸŊĪ ĹŠÄŞĆŁĹź Ç?Ĺ?ƸŊ ĹŠĹ?ĆŤ ǿƍƸ ĂżĹ§ĹźÇ˝Ć¸á ‡ ǀƸ Ĺ?Ƹ ÄŁĹźÄŞĆŤĹ˛áĄ‰Ć¸á ‡ ᥆'ÄŞĆŤĆ Ĺ?ƸĪ ěĪĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ᙡᚅ ǣĪÿƣƍ ĆŤĹ?Ĺ˛ÄœÄŞ Ç?ÄŞ ǿƣƍƸ ĆŁÄŞÇœÄŞĂżĹ§ÄŞÄŁ ƸŊĹ?ĆŤ Ƹş ƸŊĪ EPA and the public in the US, we still don’t have binding, enforceable governmental standards or limits for this chemical in drinking water in the United States,â€? he laments.

Whereas this should be a clean water issue, these regulations have Ä›ÄŞÄœĹźĹ°ÄŞ Ăż Ć ĹźĹ§Ĺ?ƸĹ?ÄœĂżĹ§ şŲĪ á ˛ ŲşƸ şŲŧǣ ĆŁÄŞĹƒĂżĆŁÄŁĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ÂŁF ěǀƸ şƸŊĪƣ ƣĪŧÿƸĪģ chemicals, prompting fresh concerns. Aggressive lobbying and vested Ĺ?ŲƸĪƣĪƍƸƍ ƣǀŲ ĆŁĂżĹ°Ć ĂżĹ˛Ć¸á ‡ ŽǀƣĪŧǣ 'şŲÿŧģ ÂźĆŁÇ€Ĺ°Ć áĄ‰ĆŤ Ĺ?ŲģĹ?ÇłĹ‚ÄŞĆŁÄŞĹ˛ÄœÄŞ ƸşÇ?ÿƣģƍ environmentalism can’t help?

On this, Bilott is diplomatic. “It has transcended multiple administrations,� he says. “But unfortunately, with the current administration, certainly, we’re seeing the same scenario play out. We are continuing to see statements that the agency is ‘working on it’ and is still investigating. We’ve been hearing that for 20 years.�

Rather than rest, Bilott is working on a new class action against ĆŤÄŞÇœÄŞĆŁĂżĹ§ ÄœĹźĹ°Ć ĂżĹ˛Ĺ?ÄŞĆŤ ĹźÇœÄŞĆŁ ÂŁF ÂŽá şƣ Ć ĹźĹ§ÇŁÇľĹ§Ç€ĹźĆŁĹźĂżĹ§Ĺ¤ÇŁĹ§ ĆŤÇ€Ä›ĆŤĆ¸ĂżĹ˛ÄœÄŞĆŤ á ¤Ć¸Ĺź Ç?ĹŠĹ?ÄœĹŠ ÂŁF Ä›ÄŞĹ§ĹźĹ˛ĹƒĆŤá Ľ łşǀŲģ Ĺ?Ų Ć ĆŁĹźÄŁÇ€ÄœĆ¸ĆŤ ĆŁĂżĹ˛ĹƒĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ łƣşŰ Ç?ĂżĆ¸ÄŞĆŁĆ ĆŁĹźĹźĹ‚ ĹĄĂżÄœĹ¤ÄŞĆ¸ĆŤ Ƹş shaving cream and linked with similar health issues. “I’m seeking to have that case brought on behalf of everyone in the United States who has these chemicals in their blood, which is almost everyone in the country,â€? he says. His goal is to establish an Ĺ?Ĺ˛ÄŁÄŞĆ ÄŞĹ˛ÄŁÄŞĹ˛Ć¸ ĆŤÄœĹ?ĪŲƸĹ?ÇżÄœ Ć ĂżĹ˛ÄŞĹ§ Ƹş ƍƸǀģǣ ƸŊĪ ŊĪÿŧƸŊ ÄŞÇłĹ‚ÄŞÄœĆ¸ĆŤ şł ƸŊĪƍĪ chemicals – and he wants the chemical companies to pay for it. Ÿşģÿǣá ŊĪ᥉ƍ ĹŠĹźĆ ÄŞĹ‚Ç€Ĺ§á ‡ ᥆à Ī᥉ƣĪ ǿŲÿŧŧǣ ĆŤÄŞÄŞĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ÄŁĹ?ĆŤÄœÇ€ĆŤĆŤĹ?şŲƍ Ĺ?Ų ƸŊĪ ĂƒĹ˛Ĺ?ƸĪģ ŽƸÿƸĪƍ ÿƸ ƸŊĪ łĪģĪƣÿŧ Ĺ§ÄŞÇœÄŞĹ§ łşƣ ƸŊĪ ǿƣƍƸ ƸĹ?Ĺ°ÄŞá ‡ à Ī᥉ƣĪ ĆŤÄŞÄŞĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ÄŁĹ?ĆŤÄœÇ€ĆŤĆŤĹ?şŲƍ in the EU, the UK Parliament, worldwide, about this being an urgent issue that needs to be addressed.â€?

In the meantime, new chemicals enter the market every day. “We can’t just sit back and assume there are folks out there taking care of us. We have to be proactive and make sure we understand exactly how this system works and where it doesn’t, so we can hopefully improve the system.�

Dark Waters ends appropriately with the song I Won’t Back Down. “There may be powerful interests that have created the system, it Űÿǣ ěĪ ÇœÄŞĆŁÇŁ ÄŁĹ?ÇłÇżÄœÇ€Ĺ§Ć¸á Ĺ?Ƹ Űÿǣ ěĪ Ăż Ĺ§ĹźĹ˛Ĺƒ ĆŤĆ¸ĆŁÇ€ĹƒĹƒĹ§ÄŞá ᥇ Ĺ?ŧşƸƸ ƍÿǣƍá ᥆ěǀƸ Ĺ?Ų ƸŊĪ end, even one individual can make dramatic change. The truth always comes out. The truth prevails in the end.â€?

DarkWatersá ÄœÄŞĆŁĆ¸Ĺ?ÇżÄœĂżĆ¸ÄŞ ᙡᙸÿá Ĺ?ĆŤ Ĺ?Ų ÄœĹ?ŲĪŰÿƍ łƣşŰ FĪěƣǀÿƣǣ ᙸᚄ ἑƍĹ?ŰşŲťÇ?ÿƣģ .&.]]g JC ʸ 29

Invest

SHARE OFFER now OPEN

in community Generate Clean Energy

solar

power Tackle Climate Change 4% return INVEST FROM £50

egni co-op From the award-winning Awel Co-op team

www.egni.coop · admin@awel.coop · 01639 830870

FILM Bushranger Ned Kelly gets a high-octane reboot Graeme Virtue

BROADCAST The unexpectedly unifying power of the US take on The Office Lucy Sweet

MUSIC The nourishing outsider sounds of saxophonist Alabaster dePlume Malcolm Jack

STREET ART Music in the FryingPan Pub Brick Lane in the Sixties

By John Sheehy Long-time Big Issue Street Art contributor John is represented alongside Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid among others in a new exhibition in Sunderland titled Received Wisdom, which celebrates older artists and challenges assumptions about ageing and what is expected of us at different stages of our lives.

John began painting at the age of 51, and over the past 18 years has produced a vast body of work that includes painting, printmaking and sculpture, in addition to playwriting, poetry and music. His work has featured in the Big Issue countless times. His acrylic on suitcase painting/ sculpture Music in the Frying-Pan Pub Brick Lane in the Sixties is part of the prestigious Arts Council Collection – the most widely circulated national loan collection of modern and contemporary art in Britain.

“There was a pub called The Frying Pan in the Sixties in Brick Lane, East London,” John explains of the inspiration behind the artwork. “The world-famous Petticoat Lane Sunday market was thriving in them times.

Thousands used to descend there from all over the world on Sunday mornings.

“A pianist played in The Frying Pan and sang all cockney songs... Down by the Old Bull and Bush, Any Old Iron, Knees Up Mother Brown, Don’t Dilly Dally on the Way and many other songs. Cockney pianists had their own style of music. Sometimes a Pearly King and Queen would come there, barrow boys from the market stalls joined in the chorus of the songs.”

The Received Wisdom exhibition is at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens until May 10; sunderlandculture.org.uk/ events/received-wisdom

Image Credit: Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London. © the artist

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

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 the profit goes to the artist.

BIGISSUE.COM | 31

CULTURE | BOOKS

AUTHOR FEATURE

A slice of toast When JS Margot tutored the children in an Orthodox Jewish family, she discovered how the past drove them to raise their glasses in a celebration of life

“D

o you know what ‘l’chaim’ means in Ivrit, modern Hebrew?”

“I think so.”

“Life. ‘L’chaim’ means ‘to life’.”

“I know…”

“Do you also know why Jews say ‘l’chaim’ when they raise their glasses and make a toast?”

“Er…” “Germans say ‘Zum Wohl’, meaning ‘to your health’. The French say ‘santé’, the Dutch ‘proost’ and Scandinavians ‘skål’. Nearly everyone drinks to good health. But not us.”

“No.” “We drink to life. Do you know why that is?” he asked.

“Tell me.”

“We Jews have been persecuted throughout the ages. So we know all too well that our lives can be over quicker than our good health.”

The conversation had been with Samuel, a liberal Jewish acquaintance of mine, a regular customer at an antiquarian bookshop in town.

Samuel likes the same books and the same authors as me. He also likes my book Mazel Tov, and so by extension he likes me.

His remark about “l’chaim” stayed with me.

How had I never known this before? Why had none of the Schneiders told me?

For six years in the 1990s I was tutor to the Schneider children. Raised a Catholic, I lost my faith as a teenager and have been a staunch atheist ever since. When it came to religion, I had nothing in common with the Schneiders, an Orthodox Jewish family. In other respects, though, we turned out to have more in common than we initially thought, even if it took us six years or more to discover.

The tutoring was done at the Schneider home. A home where the doors – to both rooms and hearts – kept opening a little wider for me.

Sometimes only to slam shut in my face. Especially if they revealed glimpses of my private life. Or if it concerned the state of Israel.

The Schneiders lived in Antwerp. But Aaron and Muriel Schneider and their four children could just as well have lived in London, Manchester or Paris.

They have been marked by the Holocaust, by the axe taken to the family tree of every Jewish family in Europe. What happened in World War 2 still remains in the DNA of our cities. Whether you like it or not.

When I started tutoring the Schneider children at the age of 21, I knew nothing about Judaism.

Like so many non-Jewish citizens of Antwerp, I’d had no contact at all with members of the Orthodox Jewish community, even though we lived less than half a mile apart. There, men with beards, big fur hats and curling side-locks characterised the street scene. As did women with

32 | BIGISSUE.COM

Illustration: Joseph Joyce

chestnut-brown pageboy hairstyles, dark ankle-length skirts and flat shoes. And the hordes of children who took over the pavement, slaloming around you recklessly on scooters and bikes.

The Schneiders observed the rules of the Torah and the Talmud.

Not a week went by without me encountering yet another curious tradition and the umpteenth religious law.

It soon became clear to me why Jews lived together in a neighbourhood, a shtetl. It all has to do with Shabbat, the day of rest. And the things you’re not allowed to do on it. You’re not allowed to drive or cycle. You’re not allowed to use a lift, unless a goy – a non-Jew – presses the button for you: pious Jews mustn’t activate or deactivate an electric circuit. On Shabbat – from Friday to Saturday evening – you’re only allowed to go a certain number of steps. So synagogues have to be nearby. Otherwise you can’t get to your house of prayer, which you have a sacred duty to attend.

I got to know the Schneider parents and the children. When the children grew up, I visited them in Israel, and later in New York and Amsterdam. I was indignant at their introduced marriages. But found myself charmed by their partners.

I also became acquainted with Mrs Pappenheim, the only

grandmother in the Schneider family – the only grandparent to have survived the Holocaust. Tiny as she was, I looked up to her. She didn’t talk very much. Least of all about the Holocaust. The very little she did say about it is recorded in Mazel Tov. And in my heart.

Which is where that “l’chaim” toast comes in again. And that seemingly trivial conversation in the antiquarian bookshop.

To life.

The Holocaust and its reign of death was a subject never touched on by the Schneiders. But from their silence I sensed the unspoken sorrow they carried within them.

“There are two kinds of sorrow,” Mr Schneider had said. “One that can bear being prodded. And one so great that you have to keep your distance from it.”

Yet I have never known a family who so celebrated daily life as the Schneiders. Life is the driving force. L’chaim. And mazel tov!

Mazel Tov by JS Margot is out now (Pushkin, £12.99). Margot will be interviewed about Mazel Tov on March 8 during the Jewish Book Week Festival, St Pancras Room, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London.

Info and tickets: jewishbookweek.com 24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

REVIEW

Camilla Bruce

Divided loyalties The connecting stories of two fathers united by tragedy should be a compelling read for Stephen Bush But something is missing

O

ne of my many disreputable reading habits is a ơĊŹĢĊŹěǢ ơŝ ǴŌŎěţ ơŝ ơʼnĊ ĊŹĢá ? à ʼnĊŹ S Þů ȀŹĢŎŹł Ăž ŹŝǛĊŌ hard work, S ĆŞĹŁĹŽĆ&#x; ÞʼnĊÞĢ ĹŽĹą Ăž ƪŎůŎŌÞƢ ÇœĂžÇ˘ ơŝ Ĺ‰ĹťÇœ S ƿƪĊĢ ơŝ ĚĊʼnÞǛĊ Þƪ Ăž ěʼnŎŌĢ in church – just one more Bible reading and the communion until we can go! á ľ ěŝƿŹơŎŹł Ä˘ĹťÇœĹą ơʼnĊ Ć&#x;ÞłĊƪ S ʼnÞǛĊ ơŝ endure until the ordeal is over. ČƒÄŠ ůŝƢĊ ƿŹƪÞơŎƪŠǢŎŹł S ȀŹĢ ơʼnĊ experience, the more of the back of the Ěŝŝţ S ƢĊÞĢá ? S ǛĊƢǢ ƢÞƢĊŌǢ ÞĚÞŹĢŝŹ Ăž ĚÞĢ Ěŝŝţ á ľ S Šƿƪơ ȀŹĢ ơʼnÞơ ĊǛĊŹơƿÞŌŌǢ SᥒǛĊ ƢĊÞĢ ơʼnĊ ƪÞůĊ Ć&#x;ÞłĊ ĆˇÇœĹŽÄ›ÄŠá ƒ ŝŹěĊ ĚǢ getting there in the normal way, once ĚǢ ĆŞĹŁĹŽĆ&#x;Ć&#x;ŎŹł ÞʼnĊÞĢá ? à ʼnĊŹ S ĊŹŠŝǢ Ăž ĹąĹťÇ›ÄŠĹŚá „ S ĢŝŹᥒơ łŝĚĚŌĊ ĆżĆ&#x; ÇœĹ‰ĹťĹŚÄŠ ěʼnÞĆ&#x;ơĊƢƪ ĹŽĹą ơʼnĊ ƪÞůĊ ÇœĂžÇ˘ á ľ Ěƿơ S ƪơŎŌŌ ǴŌŎěţ ơŝ ơʼnĊ ĊŹĢ ĹŽĹ Ăž ěʼnÞƢÞěơĊƢ S Þů ŎŹǛĊƪơĊĢ in is in jeopardy, or to check if a marriage survives.

S Þů ƪŎłŹŎȀěÞŹơŌǢ ůŝƢĊ ĢŎƪěŎĆ&#x;ŌŎŹĊĢ ÇœĹ‰ÄŠĹą S ƢĊÞĢ ĹąĹťĹąá ¸Č€Ä›ĆˇĹŽĹťĹąá „ Ěƿơ ơʼnÞơ ĹŽĆŞá „ S ĆŞĆżĆ&#x;Ć&#x;ĹťĆŞÄŠá „ ĚĊěÞƿƪĊ ÇœĹ‰ĹŽĹŚÄŠ S ĹŚĹťÇ›ÄŠÄ˘á „ ĆŞĂžÇ˘á „ rÞƢłÞƢĊơ rÞěůŎŌŌÞŹᥒƪ Č„ÄŠ à ÞƢ ȄÞơ /ŹĢĊĢ ÂŁÄŠĂžÄ›ÄŠá „ S ʼnÞǛĊ Ăž Ć&#x;ƢĊơơǢ łŝŝĢ ŎĢĊÞ how a book about World War 1 is going ơŝ ĊŹĢá ? à ʼnĊŹ S ĢŎƪŌŎţĊ ĹąĹťĹąá ¸Č€Ä›ĆˇĹŽĹťĹąá „ S Šƿƪơ tend to give up entirely. ČƒĂžĆˇ ĢŎĢ Þơ ŌĊÞƪơ ʼnĊŌĆ&#x; ƪĊơơŌĊ ơʼnĊ question of whether Apeirogon is ȀěơŎŝŹ ŝƢ ĹąĹťĹąá ¸Č€Ä›ĆˇĹŽĹťĹąá ? ČƒÄŠ ʼnŎłʼnŌǢ anticipated novel from treasured son of Dublin/multiple award-winning writer Colum McCann is an account of two ŠÞơʼnĊƢƪ á ľ ŝŹĊ SĆŞĆ˘ĂžÄŠĹŚĹŽá „ ŝŹĊ £ÞŌĊƪơŎŹŎÞŹá ? ČƒÄŠÇ˘ ÞƢĊ ĢŎǛŎĢĊĢ ĚǢ ÄŠÇĄĆ&#x;ÄŠĆ˘ĹŽÄŠĹąÄ›ÄŠá „ ÇœĹťĆ˘ĹŁá „ life and, of course, nation. But they ÞƢĊ ƿŌơŎůÞơĊŌǢ ĆżĹąĹŽĆˇÄŠÄ˘á „ ĚǢ ěŝŹǴŌŎěơ ÞŹĢ by grief. As topics go this ought to ĚĊ ůǢ ĢƢĊÞů ÄšĹťĹťĹŁá ƒ S ŌŝǛĊ ěŝŹŹĊěơŎŹł narratives (the title means a shape of ŎŹȀŹŎơĊ ĆŞĹŽÄ˘ÄŠĆŞá ¨á ? ƿơ ơʼnĊ ĢŎDzŠĊƢĊŹěĊ ĹŽĆŞ that the two men at the centre of the novel are real. Much around them is Č€Ä›ĆˇĹŽĹťĹąĂžĹŚĹŽĆŞÄŠÄ˘á „ Ěƿơ ơʼnĊ ěĊŹơƢÞŌ ƪơŝƢŎĊƪ are factual.

S ÇœĂžĆŞ ŎŹơƢŎłƿĊĢ ĚǢ ơʼnĊ ŎĢĊÞ Ěƿơ ơʼnĊ ĊǥĊěƿơŎŝŹ ĢŎĢŹᥒơ ÇœĹťĆ˘ĹŁá ƒ Ŏơ ŌÞěţĊĢ ơʼnĊ genuine thrill of a novel or the feeling of being improved or stretched from Ăž łŝŝĢ ÇœĹťĆ˘ĹŁ ĹťĹ ĹąĹťĹąá ¸Č€Ä›ĆˇĹŽĹťĹąá ? ĆżĆˇá „ ĹŚĹŽĹŁÄŠ Ăž ĹąĹťÇ›ÄŠĹŚá „ S ĢŎĢŹᥒơ ÞĚÞŹĢŝŹ Ŏơ á ľ S Šƿƪơ ƢĊÞŌŎƪĊĢ Ĺ‰ĂžĹŚĹ ÇœĂžÇ˘ ơʼnƢŝƿłʼn ơʼnÞơ S ʼnÞĢ bumped into myself.

S ĢŎĢ Ĺ ÄŠÄŠĹŚ ƪơƢĊơěʼnĊĢ ĚǢ £ŝŌŌǢ ŸŝǢŹĚĊĊ ÞŹĢ 'ÞǛŎĢ à ÞŌţĊƢᥒƪ ČƒÄŠ hŝƪơ 'ĊěÞĢĊ, an account of the British economy over ơʼnĊ Ć&#x;Þƪơ  ᙚ ǢĊÞƢƪá ? ŸŝǢŹĚĊĊᥒƪ Ěŝŝţƪ ÞƢĊ entirely unlike her GƿÞƢĢŎÞŹ columns.

S ŌŝǛĊ ơʼnĊ ĹŚĂžĆˇĆˇÄŠĆ˘á „ ÄšĆżĆˇá „ Þƪ S ơʼnŎŹţ ůŝƪơ ŝŠǽǿ % Yg Yyɯǝǟ C Y + ǽǝǽǝ

her readers would admit, a large part of the joy is having my prejudices stroked in an elegant and ƢĊÞĢÞĚŌĊ ůÞŹŹĊƢá ? ČƒÄŠ ŠŝƢěĊ ŝŠʼnĊƢ Ć&#x;ƢŝƪĊ ĂžĹąÄ˘á „ ĹťÇźĆˇÄŠĹąá „ her anger is the centre of their appeal.

NĊƢ ĹąĹťĹąá ¸Č€Ä›ĆˇĹŽĹťĹą Ěŝŝţƪ ÞƢĊ ǛĊƢǢ Ä˘ĹŽÇ˛Ĺ ÄŠĆ˘ÄŠĹąĆˇá ƒ ơʼnĊƪĊ are accessible but challenging works of serious research and thinking of the kind that the young Toynbee started her career doing. As with Č„ÄŠ hŝƪơ 'ÄŠÄ›ĂžÄ˘ÄŠáĄ˜ĆŞ 2017 predecessor 'ŎƪůĊůĚĊƢĊĢ, my preconceptions were challenged – and some of my opinions about the last decade have been changed as a result. Best of all, Toynbee and Walker have the good sense not to think this is a story that needs a ȀěơŎŝŹÞŌ ĊŌĊůĊŹơá ? SĹ Ć&#x;ĊŎƢŝłŝŹ had shown a similar ÇœĹŽĆŞÄ˘ĹťĹŻ Ŏơ ÇœĹťĆżĹŚÄ˘ ʼnÞǛĊ ĚĊĊŹ Ăž ĚĊơơĊƢ ÄšĹťĹťĹŁá „ ÞŹĢ S ůŎłʼnơ ʼnÞǛĊ ȀŹŎƪʼnĊĢ Ŏơ ĹŽĹą ơʼnĊ ěŝŹǛĊŹơŎŝŹÞŌ ÇœĂžÇ˘á ? @stephenkb Apeirogonby Colum McCann is released on February 25 (Bloomsbury,ÂŁ18.99) Č„ÄŠ hŝƪơ'ĊěÞĢĊ by Polly Toynbee and David Walker is released on March 5 (Faber & Faber, ÂŁ10.99)

Top 5 gothic novels

ɔɕ

Wuthering Heights

by Emily BrontĂŤ à ŊĪŲ S ǿƣƍƸ ƣĪÿģ ƸŊĹ?ĆŤá ÿƸ ᙡᚂá S łşǀŲģ Ĺ?Ƹ ǀŲěĪÿƣÿěŧǣ Ć ĂżĹ?Ųłǀŧá Ç?ĹŠĹ?ÄœĹŠá şł ÄœĹźÇ€ĆŁĆŤÄŞá ŰÿģĪ Ĺ°ÄŞ Ĺ?ŲƍƸÿŲƸŧǣ Ĺ§ĹźÇœÄŞ Ĺ?Ć¸á ‡ FŧÿÇ?ÄŞÄŁá Ć ĂżĆŤĆŤĹ?şŲÿƸĪ ÄœĹŠĂżĆŁĂżÄœĆ¸ÄŞĆŁĆŤ ŰÿŤĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ŊşƣƣĹ?ěŧĪ Ĺ°Ĺ?ƍƸÿŤĪƍ ÿŲģ Ăż ĆŤĆ ĂżĆ¸Ć¸ÄŞĆŁ şł ĆŤÇ€Ć ÄŞĆŁĹ˛ĂżĆ¸Ç€ĆŁĂżĹ§ ĹƒĹŠĂżĆŤĆ¸Ĺ§Ĺ?ŲĪƍƍ ŰÿŤĪƍ ƸŊĹ?ĆŤ şŲĪ şł Ĺ°ÇŁ ĂżĹ§Ĺ§á ľĆ¸Ĺ?Ĺ°ÄŞ Ĺ‚ĂżÇœĹźÇ€ĆŁĹ?ƸĪ ĆŁÄŞĂżÄŁĆŤá ‡

ɔɖ

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

by Shirley Jackson ŸŊĹ?ĆŤ Ĺ˛ĹźÇœÄŞĹ§ Ŋÿƍ ƸŊĪ Ć ÄŞĆŁĹ‚ÄŞÄœĆ¸ ƍĪƸƸĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ łşƣ Ăż ĹƒĆŁÄŞĂżĆ¸ ĹƒĹźĆ¸ĹŠĹ?Äœ ÇŁĂżĆŁĹ˛á € Ăż łÿŰĹ?ŧǣá ĆŤĆ¸ĆŁÇ€ÄœĹ¤ ěǣ Ć¸ĆŁĂżĹƒÄŞÄŁÇŁá ŧĹ?ÇœÄŞĆŤ Ĺ?ƍşŧÿƸĪģ Ĺ?Ų Ăż Ä›Ĺ?Ĺƒ ŊşǀƍĪá ĹƒÇ€ĂżĆŁÄŁĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ Ăż ÄŁÄŞÇœĂżĆŤĆ¸ĂżĆ¸Ĺ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ĆŤÄŞÄœĆŁÄŞĆ¸á ‡ ŸŊĪ ǀŲĹ?ƢǀĪ ÇœĹźĹ?ÄœÄŞ şł ƸŊĪ ŲÿƣƣÿƸşƣá rÄŞĆŁĆŁĹ?ÄœĂżĆ¸á Ĺ?ĆŤ Ç?ŊÿƸ ŰÿŤĪƍ ƸŊĹ?ĆŤ ĆŤÇ€ÄœĹŠ Ăż ĆŤĆ ÄŞÄœĆ¸ĂżÄœÇ€Ĺ§ĂżĆŁ ÿŲģ ÄœĹŠĹ?ŧŧĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ĆŁÄŞĂżÄŁá ‡

ɔɗ

Dracula

by Bram Stoker tĹź ŧĹ?ƍƸ şł ĹƒĹźĆ¸ĹŠĹ?Äœ ÇżÄœĆ¸Ĺ?şŲ Ĺ?ĆŤ ÄœĹźĹ°Ć Ĺ§ÄŞĆ¸ÄŞ Ç?Ĺ?ƸŊşǀƸ ƸŊĪ ÄœĹźÇ€Ĺ˛Ć¸á ‡ SĹ‚ Ĺ?Ƹ Ĺ?ĆŤ ƸŊĪ ŧǀƍŊ ÄŁÄŞĆŤÄœĆŁĹ?Ć Ć¸Ĺ?şŲƍá 'ĆŁĂżÄœÇ€Ĺ§ĂżáĄ‰ĆŤ ÿŰěĹ?ĹƒÇ€ĹźÇ€ĆŤ ŊǀŰÿŲĹ?Ƹǣá şƣ ƸŊĪ Ĺ?ŲƸƣĹ?ĹƒÇ€Ĺ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ Ç?ÿǣ ƸŊĪ ƍƸşƣǣ Ĺ?ĆŤ Ƹşŧģ Ć¸ĹŠĆŁĹźÇ€ĹƒĹŠ ťşǀƣŲÿŧ ĪŲƸƣĹ?ÄŞĆŤá ŧĪƸƸĪƣƍ ÿŲģ ŲĪÇ?ĆŤĆ ĂżĆ ÄŞĆŁ ÄœĹ§Ĺ?Ć Ć Ĺ?Ĺ˛ĹƒĆŤá ƸŊĪ Ć Ç€Ĺ§Ĺ§ şł ƸŊĹ?ĆŤ Ĺ˛ĹźÇœÄŞĹ§ Ĺ?ĆŤ ƸĹ?Ĺ°ÄŞĹ§ÄŞĆŤĆŤá ‡

ɔɘ

Beloved

by Toni Morrison £ÿƍƸ ƸƣÿǀŰÿ ÄœĹźĹ°ÄŞĆŤ Ä›ĂżÄœĹ¤ ÿƍ Ăż ŊÿǀŲƸĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ Ĺ?Ų ƸŊĹ?ĆŤ ƍƸşƣǣ ÿěşǀƸ ƸŊĪ łşƣŰĪƣ ĆŤĹ§ĂżÇœÄŞ ŽĪƸŊĪ ÿŲģ ĹŠÄŞĆŁ ÄŁĂżÇ€ĹƒĹŠĆ¸ÄŞĆŁĆŤá € şŲĪ ŧĹ?ÇœĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒá şŲĪ ÄŁÄŞĂżÄŁá ‡ ŸŊĪ Ć ĆŁĹźĆŤÄŞ Ĺ?ĆŤ ÿƍ ěĪÿǀƸĹ?łǀŧ ÿŲģ ÄœĹźĹ°Ć Ĺ§ÄŞÇ˘ ÿƍ ƸŊĪ ƍƸşƣǣ Ĺ?ĆŤ ŊĪÿƣƸěƣĪÿŤĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒá ‡ SƸ ŧĹ?Ĺ˛ĹƒÄŞĆŁĆŤ Ĺ§ĹźĹ˛Ĺƒ ÿǽƸĪƣ ƸŊĪ ĪŲģ á ˛ Ĺ°Ç€ÄœĹŠ ŧĹ?ŤĪ Ăż ĹƒĹŠĹźĆŤĆ¸á ‡

ɔə

Little Eve

by Catriona Ward ŸŊĹ?ĆŤ Ĺ?ĆŤ ƸŊĪ ŲĪÇ?ĪƍƸ ÿģģĹ?ƸĹ?şŲ Ƹş Ĺ°ÇŁ ŧĹ?ƍƸá Ć Ç€Ä›Ĺ§Ĺ?ĆŤĹŠÄŞÄŁ Ĺ?Ų á™¸á™śá™ˇáš„á ‡ £ÿƣƸ ŰǀƣģĪƣ ŰǣƍƸĪƣǣá Ć ĂżĆŁĆ¸ Ć ĆŤÇŁÄœĹŠĹźĹ§ĹźĹƒĹ?ÄœĂżĹ§ ƸŊƣĹ?ŧŧĪƣá ÿŲģ Ç?Ĺ?ƸŊ Ăż ƍŧĹ?ƸŊĪƣĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ŰşŲƍƸĪƣ ŧǀƣŤĹ?Ĺ˛Ĺƒ ǀŲģĪƣ ƸŊĪ ĆŤÇ€ĆŁĹ‚ĂżÄœÄŞá ‡ ŸŊĹ?ĆŤ ĹƒĹźĆŁĹƒÄŞĹźÇ€ĆŤĹ§ÇŁ Ç?ĆŁĹ?ƸƸĪŲ Ĺ˛ĹźÇœÄŞĹ§ ÄŁĆŁĹ?Ć ĆŤ Ç?Ĺ?ƸŊ ĹƒĹźĆ¸ĹŠĹ?Äœ ÄŁĆŁÄŞĂżÄŁá ‡

Illustration: Giovanni Da Re

You Let Me In

by Camilla Bruce is out on March 5 (Transworld, ÂŁ14.99)

.&.]]g JC ʸ 33

CULTURE | FILM REVIEW

Plated and rated Aussie outlaw Ned Kelly’s tale been told countless times on film, but Graeme Virtue hails this full-on take

S

tick your head inside a homemade iron helmet and what do you see?

Thanks to the crude eye slit, probably not much. But the whole world suddenly looks like it has been framed in widescreen. Perhaps that’s why the story of Edward ‘Ned’ Kelly – the Aussie outlaw, agitator and problematic folk hero – has been retold, rehashed and reimagined so many times on film. By the time Mick Jagger pulled on the metal togs in 1970, it was already the seventh Ned Kelly movie to be produced (albeit the first in colour). For good or ill, the notorious 19thcentury bushranger remains a foundational figure in the modern Australian psyche.

The latest biopic True History of the Kelly Gang is adapted from Peter Carey’s Booker-winning 2000 novel, which takes the form of a piecemeal autobiography scrawled down by Ned himself. Adapted for the screen by Australian writer/director Justin Kurzel – a stripped-down return to home territory after his compromised video game blockbuster Assassin’s Creed – it makes for an impressionistic life story told in bold brush strokes.

The film begins with Ned’s formative years in a rickety shebeen in the wilds of Victoria, where his dirt-poor Irish family are persecuted by a sadistic English constable (Charlie Hunnam, getting a rare big-screen runout for his natural Newcastle accent). While contemptuous of his convict father, the angel-faced, mullet-haired young Ned (Orlando Schwerdt) would clearly do anything to protect his mother Ellen (a vengeful, near-feral Essie Davis). After his dad’s death, he falls under the spell of Harry Power (Russell Crowe), a bear-like bushranger who introduces his apprentice to the wonders of cowboy boots and flaming pancake stacks, as well as teaching him some other rather more mortal lessons.

STARS ALIGN The 16th annual Glasgow Film Festival blasts off this week with the UK premiere of space-race drama Proxima (pictured). The otherworldly Eva Green stars as a single mother determined to succeed as an astronaut despite gruelling competition. It is just one of almost 400 screenings, talks and special events in a crammed 12-day programme that includes a particularly nifty late addition: a new black-and-white version of recent Oscar winner Parasite, bringing Bong Joon Ho’s masterful social satire into even sharper relief.

The Glasgow Film Festival runs February 26-March 8 @GlasgowFilmFest

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

Showing his metal George MacKay’s Ned Kelly is a hard man for the law to take down

After a tough prison spell, Ned re-emerges in the lithe form of George MacKay, first glimpsed contorting himself into unnatural shapes in preparation for some bare-knuckle mayhem.

In the recent harrowing trench drama 1917, MacKay brought a relatable whiff of Nicholas Lyndhurst plonkerdom to his beleaguered squaddie; here, he has transformed himself into a sinewy, rippling force of nature. Ned returns home to reunite with the Kelly clan, who are still barely scraping by despite his mother falling in with a dandyish American horse thief, and comes into the seductive orbits of louche new constable Fitzpatrick (Nicholas Hoult, spiffed out but rotten to the core) and local gymslip mum Mary (Thomasin McKenzie). Though Ned is attempting to go straight – preferring to scribble his chaotic thoughts in a little red notebook, an affectation borrowed from old Harry – the looming threat of the law coming down hard on his younger brother eventually spurs him into open rebellion. The Kelly boys gather an army of irregulars and outfit them in flouncy dresses: nominally to disquiet their repressed enemy, but here almost presented as an early expression of glam-rock androgyny.

Even if you haven’t seen any of the previous screen versions of the story, you can probably intuit where all this is headed. In the last third of the movie, Kurzel literally cranks things up, finding a phantasmagorical register for the showdown between the pursuing coppers and Ned in his Scrapheap Challenge armour by using strobe lighting to create a zoetrope-like sense of flickering unreality. If the 2003 Ned Kelly starring Heath Ledger was artful but tame, this version veers so far in the opposite direction that it often feels like an assault. In his scratched confessions, Ned frets that his outlandish life will sound “like some strange tale from an ancient world”. Kurzel seems to have taken that as his mission statement, and the result is the most bracing and elemental spin on the Kelly legend yet.

True History of the Kelly Gang is in cinemas from February 28 @GraemeVirtue BIGISSUE.COM | 35

CULTURE | FILM AND TV

A

INTERVIEW

new film highlights the complex stories of 10 wayward Londoners. Co-director Andrea Luka Zimmerman tells Steven MacKenzie about poetry, hope and empathy

W

hen have you been greedy? When were you denied hope? When were you allowed to dream? These kinds of questions acted as the genesis for Here for Life, a film co-directed by Andrea Luka Zimmerman and Adrian Jackson, the founder of Cardboard Citizens, the theatre group for people who have experienced homelessness.

The film follows 10 wayward Londoners as they tell stories and perform scenes that feel real but may be improvised. There is song, poetry, structured chaos. The film is impossible to define, as are its subjects.

“This film had to defy genre,” says Zimmerman.

“Working-class people or homeless people or anyone who doesn’t fit within high-brow culture are always portrayed in a certain way – realism or as a cliché, someone who has to rise up to become normalised.

“I don’t believe in any of that. It’s dangerous to have those kinds of tropes because we look at them as other – a homeless person rather than a person who happens to be homeless at this moment.

“In our culture there’s an idea of what one is supposed to be instead of actually really understanding what they are. These are all false labels. They prevent us being able to see each other.”

Although the majority of actors had previously worked with Cardboard Citizens and have experienced homelessness, the film challenges labelling of them – or anybody – and expectations around the kind of stories they tell.

Over a period of five years, Zimmerman and Jackson worked with participants, asking universal questions about greed, hope, despair. When did we inflict pain on others that we regret? When did someone inflict pain on us? “These were really universal ideas that we grappled with,” Zimmerman says.

These conversations became collaborations developed together and turned into scenes or poetry or song, layered together to give an impressionistic view of life in the margins.

Zimmerman explains: “Some are really the real people’s stories but some stories are refractions of someone’s story overlapping with another story.

Sometimes you need someone else to tell your story.”

This collective method of storytelling counters what Zimmerman describes as “mainstream empathy”, where we are supposed to feel sorry for somebody, but at distance, without being personally connected or 36 | BIGISSUE.COM

Unlabelled with love Andrea Luka Zimmerman and Adrian Jackson’s film ‘had to defy genre’, she says

becoming motivated to effect change. “We’re all really different and you need to celebrate the differences,” says Zimmerman. “We can’t be an algorithm that talks to ourselves. You need to encounter each other. How do we facilitate other people’s stories to be told and value them properly?

“Inhabiting each other’s stories makes us understand and have empathy for each other. It makes a story owned by many people.”

The collective ownership is extended to audiences. Besides cinemas and festivals, Here For Life has toured around the country – taken to community centres, screened in prisons and shown to young disadvantaged people.

“I do think it’s important that films are able to reach people who are not in big cities, or who can’t go to the cinema. I grew up in a council estate on the outskirts of nowhere. As a kid we had a black-and-white TV and I used to see all these incredible films which were formative for me.”

A screening of the film will take place on March 11 with arts organisations Artsadmin and Artangel donating all profits from the event, held at Toynbee Studios, to The Big Issue’s efforts to end poverty. Zimmerman and one of the actors, Uncle Errol, will be present for a Q&A afterwards to continue the conversation.

Giving a platform to those whose voices are not usually heard or drowned out by market forces and modernisation is what the film (and this magazine) tries to do with its radical reframing. “That’s why The 24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

Photo: NBCUniversal Media

Mane feature Actors such as Patrick Onione explore the past and present of London

The Dwight stuff The US Office strips out the cynicism from the original

BROADCAST

Son and vision Lucy Sweet is grateful she has at least one thing in common with her 13-year-old

W

Big Issue collaboration means a lot to me,” Zimmerman says.

“The financialisation of cities is so destructive because instead of leaving buildings and memories and names, it just takes everything away.

“When change around people is slow it’s really good. It just happens, right? People come and go and things change.

That’s why London is amazing but when it’s erased violently through city planning suddenly you no longer fit. You are literally made invisible and replaced by hoardings with stock photographs of what successful people supposedly look like.

“The film itself is not a polemic. It’s really full of poetry.

We have a right to poetry.

“We show the beauty and we don’t shy away from the hardship but we are refusing to be seen as victims.” @stevenmackenzie Here for Life, certificate 15, will be screened on Wednesday March 11 at 7.30pm and we’re giving away five pairs of tickets. To enter email: competitions@bigissue.com with the subject line Here for Life

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

hen kids reach a certain age, you also reach an entertainment hinterland – an in-between stage when everything really good is just that bit too old for them, but they’re also thoroughly fed up of children’s TV and its rat-eating billionaire gangster dinner ladies. Or maybe they’ve just given up on watching telly completely because they prefer to download YouTube directly into their brains.

So it’s easy to become separated and permanently distracted – parents sitting in pyjamas downstairs tweeting about Corrie, children upstairs constructing meta TikTok videos of them playing ping pong with a hoover. Then the teen years will happen, and your paths will only cross when you find a cereal bowl in their room with Cretaceous-era Weetabix in it, or you might see them for 10 minutes on their birthday as you hand over yet another gaming console. Maybe once or twice they might WhatsApp you a cat GIF, but otherwise, as that Tory tax-evading nugget Phil Collins once warbled, you’re living separate lives.

Happily, though, me and my almost 13-year-old son have found a way through this pre-adolescent cultural desert by binge-watching the American version of The Office together.

It’s quickly become one of the greatest joys of my life – up there with drinking martinis and inappropriately following Timothée Chalamet on Instagram. For some reason, it passed me by, so seeing it all for the first time is like finding a tenner in the bottom of your handbag. We rejoice in the daily doings of Dunder Mifflin, we worship at the twisted, beet-strewn altar of Dwight K Schrute, we wonder what the hell Creed is all about and, of course, we sing the theme tune over and over again.

Apart from the obvious brilliance of the characters, who are so fully rounded that each could have had a spin-off series of their own, there’s something very soothing about it. While the original British Office was all snideness, staplers and Slough, immersing yourself in its American incarnation is like putting on the softest corporate-branded fleece. Steve Carell takes David Brent and creates the very special small-time idiot that is Michael Scott – all the awfulness is still there, but he has a heart even when he’s running over his staff in the car park and his antics never make you want to leave the room. And then, of course, there’s the Jim and Pam storyline, a thing of fragile beauty. Even though my son refuses to talk to me about girls, we are thoroughly invested in their romance.

Until it inevitably jumps the shark, or we lose interest, it’s a great bonding exercise. And when the teen years happen and we don’t talk any more, at least if he sends me the odd gif of Stanley falling asleep, or Kevin laughing, his old ma will get the reference.

The US version of The Office is available to watch on Amazon Prime @lucytweet1 BIGISSUE.COM | 37

CULTURE | MUSIC

Musical therapy A composer’s work helping people with disabilities communicate better has used the results as the basis for a life-affirming record, says Malcolm Jack

I

n his superb 2012 book How Music Works, David Byrne revealed that he has borderline Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism which can affect the way a person communicates. I tried to keep this in mind when I interviewed the former Talking Heads frontman for The Big Issue in a posh hotel in London in 2018 – a nerve-wracking encounter which commenced inauspiciously with one of my all-time heroes leaving me hanging as I reached to shake his hand.

Byrne scarcely made eye contact throughout our precisely 30-minute conversation, during which he fiddled with a cup, fidgeted in his chair and at one point – never an encouraging sign – yawned (in fairness it was his last interview of a long day). The whole thing felt like it hadn’t gone well, until I listened back to the audio, which gave a surprisingly contrasting impression. Byrne was engaged, alert, fizzing with a generosity of knowledge, ideas, opinions. Every bit the genius I’d looked forward to meeting. Body language can be deceiving.

I got to thinking about this because of a wonderful, life-affirming new album called To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 by Alabaster dePlume (full disclosure – I help run Lost Map Records, one of the labels releasing the album).

Specifically, what it teaches us about how music can benefit certain people to whom “normal” forms of communication and self-expression don’t always come naturally – whether because of a disorder or a learning disability, or because of simple social awkwardness. That’s a very broad bracket into which you could group everyone from Lou Reed (dyslexia) to Solange Knowles (ADHD) and Mozart (who experts are almost certain was autistic). You could even group in people who aren’t musicians as such.

Alabaster dePlume, real name Angus Fairbairn, is a London-based bandleader, composer, saxophonist, activist, orator and all-round cosmically righteous fellow who, back in his native Manchester, worked with Ordinary Lifestyles – a charity that supports people with disabilities to enjoy

Photo: Eion Carey

dePlume role Alabaster added music to his work with Cy and Lee 24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

A life-changing record To Cy & Lee Instrumentals Vol.1 is the result of de Plume’s work

fulfilling lives. Cy Lewis and Lee ‘Shredder’ Bowman are two individuals whom Fairbairn helped learn to socialise better, through routines and rituals that included improvising a capella vocal melodies together – illogical, cathartic, whirling, twirling, wordless melodies, howled wildly and freely and defiantly into the ether for little other reason other than because it felt good and it felt right.

Fairbairn recorded some of these sessions on his phone, and used them as templates for fully-realised instrumental compositions, given warmth, spontaneity, colour and shade by a unique community of musicians surrounding him at London’s Total Refreshment Centre – including Dan ‘Danalogue’ Leavers from psych-jazz ensemble The Comet Is Coming and percussionist Sarathy Korwar. The results blend Japanese and Celtic folk, Ethio-jazz, movie soundtracks and much more to create something truly extraordinary. A tonic for troubling times, a soothing balm for the sting of a thorny age.

“Named in honour of my original collaborators,” Fairbairn writes in the liner notes, “the two men I was employed to support, who taught me the best things I know. Cy, a percussionist and unguessable alto, sign-language inventor and chef, owned the car we drove around while chanting out what became some of the best of these melodies.

Lee, the famous rascal, the great showman of villainy, hero of dissent and one of the bravest men I know, curated this material, even as it

was written, through his personal requirements of what he found helpful, music-wise, to stay at least a little bit calm, in this world of demands, threats and madness.

“These tunes… are products of the times we had, while supporting each other through difficulties, and learning from one another, about courage, people and life. They’re an impression of what we found was needed, to exist, and a celebration of communication that’s free from the demands of words.”

All of which may help explain why To Cy & Lee is an album that seems to possess secret magic powers.

David Byrne chose to speak to The Big Issue over other publications back in 2018 because he was invited to discuss a subject close to his heart – his appreciation and patronage of what’s sometimes called “outsider art” (examples of which you can see published every week in The Big Issue’s Street Art section, which I curate). The embryonic melodies out of which grew To Cy & Lee are, I suppose, a sung form of “outsider art” – powerful, truthful, unfettered expressions of otherwise inexpressible humanity that help us to better understand and enjoy the full colour spectrum of our world.

To Cy & Lee – Instrumentals Volume 1 is released February 28 on Lost Map Records and International Anthem; alabasterdeplume.com @MBJack BIGISSUE.COM | 39

CLASSIFIEDS

40 | BIGISSUE.COM

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

To advertise: Jenny Bryan 020 3890 3744 / jennifer_bryan@dennis.co.uk

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

BIGISSUE.COM | 41

CLASSIFIEDS

PATIENT'S EXPERIENCE OF THE MENTAL HEALTH ACT

1983

crisisinmentalhealth.org

42 | BIGISSUE.COM

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

To advertise: Jenny Bryan 020 3890 3744 / jennifer_bryan@dennis.co.uk

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

BIGISSUE.COM | 43

12 - 28 Mar Directed by Lou Stein

An artistic response to the urgent and pressing questions of global migration, told through music and dance

020 8292 9222

www.chickenshed.org.uk Registered charity no:1012369

CROSSWORD 1

FOUNDERS John Bird and Gordon Roddick GROUP CHAIR Nigel Kershaw

8

ADVERTISING: 020 3890 3899 Dennis Publishing, 31-32 Alfred Pl, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7DP Group advertising director Andrea Mason Advertising director Helen Ruane Deputy advertising manager Rebecca New Classified and recruitment: 020 3890 3744 Account director Jenny Bryan Account manager Imogen Williams VENDOR COMMENTS vendor.comments@bigissue.com THE BIG ISSUE GROUP 020 7526 3200 113-115 Fonthill Road, Finsbury Park, London, N4 3HH Group finance director Clive Ellis Group marketing & communications director Lara McCullagh Group HR director Elizabeth Divver Director of sales and operations Chris Falchi-Stead Head of partnerships and programmes Beth Thomas Big Issue Invest CEO Danyal Sattar BigIssueFoundationCEO Stephen Robertson

2

4

5

6

11 12

QUICK CLUES

7

Across 1. Aid in crime (4) 4. Led astray (7) 8. Commendable (12) 9. Boggy ground (8) 10. Baby cow (4) 12. Mode of pronunciation (6) 14. Belt fastener (6) 16. Undersized pig (4) 17. Wilful disregard (8) 20. Dominant (12) 21. Abandoned (7) 22. Wharf (4)

10 13 13

11

14 15

16

15

17

Down 2. Former name of Myanmar (5) 3. Clipping (8) 4. Fortified wine (6) 5. Let fall (4) 6. Narrow pathway (7) 7. Sabbath (3,2,4) 9. Four-legged animal (9) 11. Cultivated (8) 13. Nunnery (7) 15. Squalid (6) 18. Mad (5) 19. Classy (inf.) (4)

18

19

18

20

21

22

CRYPTIC CLUES Down 2. Maybe Walt is about right to fish (5) 3. Case of a live bat �luttering (8) 4. Has allowed entrails to be used as meat loaf (6) 5. Copper about to heal (4) 6. Man, is it contrived by a soulful person? (7) 7. Come out with Nancy (not North American) during a crisis (9) 9. Hailed Bill and Edward, who had accepted demand (9) 11. Had a hernia burst? (8) 13. A beetle found under a silver coin in the country (7) 15. Handy pointer? (6) 18. In Toledo were to include a house for the widow (5) 19. A�ter both 1st February and 1st June I go to the country (4)

Across 1. Way round a covered colonnade (4) 4. Area teacher redesigned (7) 8. Lydia could be of use at mass seven times a week (5,7) 9. No one on the land is lost (3,2,3) 10. Footballer to be successful using force (4) 12. Separate or stick (6) 14. Man who has arrived very recently? (6) 16. A strange kind of lily (4) 17. Upset by a third anniversary (8) 20. Well-known novel – far from it! (7,5) 21. Drier, it became more soiled (7) 22. Richard irked about inclusion of a dagger (4)

SUDOKU To win a Chambers English Dictionary, send completed crosswords to: The Big Issue Crossword, second �loor, 43 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 1HW by March 3.

Include name, address, phone and issue number.

6

3

5 7

4 7

1 8

6 5 5 3

4

2 9 4

Printed at William Gibbons

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

4

8

EDITORIAL editorial@bigissue.com 0141 352 7260 2nd �loor, 43 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 1HW @bigissue

AWARDS PPA Scotland consumer magazine of the year, 2019, 2017 Paul McNamee PPA Scotland editor of the year 2019, BSME British editor of the year 2016 Ross Lesley-Bayne PPA Scotland designer of the year 2019 Jane Graham PPA Scotland writer of the year 2018 BSME cover of the year 2017

3

9

MANAGING DIRECTOR Russell Blackman EDITORIAL & PRODUCTION Editor Paul McNamee Managing editor Vicky Carroll Features editor Steven MacKenzie Senior reporter Liam Geraghty Sta�f reporter Hannah Westwater Books editor Jane Graham News & entertainment Adrian Lobb Radio Robin Ince Music Malcolm Jack and Claire Jackson Art director Ross Lesley-Bayne Production editor Sarah Reid Production journalist Alan Woodhouse Designer Gillian Smith Junior designer Matthew Costello Digital brand editor Sarah Howell

1

1 9 4 7

Issue #1397 answers

CRYPTIC: Across – 1 Glad rags; 6 Bask; 8 Adagio; 9 Aurora; 10 Scamper o�f; 12 Pastry; 14 Jumble; 15 Injunction; 19 Stasis; 20 Titbit; 21 Dyed; 22 Anything.

Down – 2 Lady; 3 Degas; 4 Anomaly; 5 Sharp; 6 Bertram; 7 Scrofula; 11 Mainstay; 13 Trussed; 14 Jointly; 16 Casca; 17 Notch; 18 Mien.

QUICK: Across – 1 Shepherd; 6 Lank; 8 Sprawl; 9 Zenith; 10 Give notice; 12 Spoken; 14 Posing; 15 Grandstand; 19 Dry rot; 20 Toping; 21 Abed; 22 Porthole.

Down – 2 Hope; 3 Prang; 4 Enliven; 5 Dozen; 6 Linctus; 7 Noticing; 11 Spare rib; 13 Kindred; 14 Platter; 16 Set-up; 17 Depth; 18 Anil.

7 6 8 1 8 6 4 2 5 9 3 7

7 4 3 1 9 6 8 2 5

5 9 2 7 3 8 1 6 4

6 5 9 2 8 1 7 4 3

2 7 1 3 4 9 6 5 8

8 3 4 6 5 7 2 9 1

3 1 8 9 6 4 5 7 2

4 6 5 8 7 2 3 1 9

9 2 7 5 1 3 4 8 6

BIGISSUE.COM | 45

MY PITCH

CHRIS CLARKE, 54 Outside Greggs, Cheltenham High Street 7.30am-1.30pm, Mon-Sat

The Big Issue earns me a fair income as long as I work hard

I went to school in South Africa because my parents wanted me to leave high school with an internationally recognised qualification.

Unfortunately this was during the apartheid era.

After five years I became a permanent citizen, which meant I was eligible for military service, and I was faced with either joining up or facing a significant prison sentence.

This kickstarted the next 30 years of my life, and then a very unfortunate incident left me with no legs just before my retirement from the army.

One leg was blown off straight away and efforts to save the other one ultimately failed.

It was amputated at Cheltenham Hospital at Easter 2015.

I still find it very difficult to look back on.

It’s caused me a huge amount of mental health problems, which is difficult for someone of my background and intelligence level – well, at least I’m told I’m intelligent!

My concentration goes at times. I need prompts to remind me where we are.

When I resigned from the army – which I had to do after my injury – there were only six months until my retirement date.

One of the better decisions I made was putting my compensation money in a trust fund which doesn’t mature until 2022. My pension, which is a pittance by military standards, all gets paid into the fund.

I returned to my family roots in Stow-onthe-Wold in the North Cotswolds. That got me involved in starting to get benefits from

Gloucestershire County Council and took me out of the closed circle that is private corporate intelligence.

As well as dealing with my own physical and mental health problems, my mother was suffering from vascular dementia and needed help, so the best way was to find a situation I could commit myself to five or six days a week, where I could earn an income as well as being able to be close to my mum and care for her.

The Big Issue was the answer. It earns me a fair income – even if it won’t make me rich – so long as I keep working hard. Sadly, though, my mum passed away before Christmas 2016.

Because of my career, I’ve remained pretty good at early rising. I get up between 4am and 5am and I catch the first bus every day, usually making it to my pitch by about 7.30am.

I have a range of customers which includes everyone from university professors to people with PhDs in esoteric subjects such as astronomy and micro-electronics.

I get a huge amount of enjoyment out of selling The Big Issue. It used to be that if I didn’t make a certain amount of money I wouldn’t be happy. Now I have an established clientele – I know who’s getting to see me, and something that started because of financial motivation has become hugely motivating socially.

If it wasn’t for The Big Issue my mental health would have tumbled out of control.

Interview: Alan Woodhouse Photo: Craig Ballinger

THE BIG ISSUE MANIFESTO 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.

46 | BIGISSUE.COM

24 FEBRUARY-01 MARCH 2020

People like you are transforming lives

Shared Interest investors share a vision of a world where justice is at the heart of trade finance.

Marina

Thanks to Shared Interest investors, the women farmers have control of revenues, land ownership, and acknowledgement for their exceptional coffee. With economic control in their hands, the women have used Café Femenino funds to invest in community improvement projects including children’s libraries, schools, health and nutritional education, and programmes that build confidence, human rights awareness, and literacy.

Shared Interest forms the vital link between UK social investors like you and Fairtrade organisations like Cecanor who need finance to improve their livelihoods. The future holds so many opportunities for the women of Cecanor and their community.

Open a Share Account today with £100 and discover how you could make their dreams a reality. shared-interest.com

HOW DOES IT WORK? STEP 1

A Share Account is opened

 STEP 2

Money goes into the Shared Interest pot

 STEP 3

A loan is made to a fair trade business

 STEP 4

The loan is used to buy equipment or to pre-finance orders

 STEP 5

The loan is repaid to Shared Interest

 STEP 6

Return to step 2...