The Big Issue - again.

I really would like to know from my American readers and friends whether they have anything at all like The Big Issue?
Forgive me for mentioning it yet again but The Big Issue in the UK really is a jolly good read - not to mention the fact that every time you buy one you really do help someone to get back on their feet again after falling on hard times. So please don't look the other way as you walk past the vendors on our city streets. Please buy one. The magazine comes out every week - and costs no more than the calorie stuffed coffee latte or hot chocolate you'll otherwise buy on the way back to the train. So give your stomach and waistline a treat, and help someone build their life again.
The New Year Edition no. 981 has a really interesting review of 2011 and much, much more besides. And from January 16th there will be new look, bigger, better magazine, still for the same £2.50.
Go on, give it a try. Please!

“No one knows what the “big society” is, say MPs

I just cannot help feeling people are being naïve about UK Prime Minister Cameron’s “The Big Society.” I think I call it Real Community, and that is a term more readily understood across the world.
“No one knows what the “big society” is, say MPs.” That is the headline in today’s newspaper.

In the same paper I read that “Paris bans beggars from top tourist and shopping spots,” as these vagrants upset and offend the shoppers. The poor and homeless begging in shop doorways and at entrances to the metro or underground whether in Paris or London are not part of a “big society.”And the only offence we should feel is that in 21st Century Europe there is any need at all for begging.
Kids roaming the streets out of boredom, getting involved in gangs and drugs; that’s not part of a “big society.” Over 1 million unemployed youngsters in the UK; that’s not “big society.” The filth and litter all over our streets; that’s not part of a “big society.” The elderly who are lonely and isolated at home, or abused and bullied in care homes; that’s not “big society.” The young family struggling to bring up their disabled children on insufficient income who don’t even know their neighbors, who wouldn’t know where they could knock on a door to get help or support in an emergency. The rogues stealing metal plaques from gravestones and war memorials because scrap metal dealers will pay good prices now for them; that most certainly is not “big society.”
Perhaps it is easier to say what a “big society” is NOT than what it is.

The people selling the Big Issue on the streets – now that IS part of a bigger society! At least they are aspiring for a better life and doing something about it. But they receive support, both from the Big Issue operation itself, and from those of us who stop and talk to them, get to know them, buy their magazine (fantastic value and cheaper than that hyper- caloried drink you have just bought), even on occasions buy them a hot drink (OK call me a softie). But little things like that, being nice to other people, helping them on their way, all help to make the world a little bit better and ARE one step towards a “big society”.

Real community starts in the streets where we live. It starts with our own families, with our neighbors and friends, and extends to friends at work, in our church, in our club or society. But it should never ever exclude others around us who share our “space.” We are all human beings, with the same needs and vulnerabilities, and even finding just a little time to help others is time very well spent in the huge scheme of things.
Of course we cannot personally solve all the seamier problems of our broken society. We will sometimes need help and support from local and national government, and from other agencies, whether this comes through regulation or from practical resources. Of course we cannot solve housing problems on our own, for example, or the gangs on “sink” estates. But Gandhi did say: “YOU must be the change you want to see in the world.” And for that change to come about we all have to start small. Start in our own back yard. And that way we WILL start to build a “Big Society.”

Jonathan Sacks wrote somewhere that  

‘A community is where they know your name and where they miss you if you are not there [Sacks’ italics] Community is society with a human face.’ 

In other words, Big Society.

Warrior 3

Everyone else was rushing by, head down, and quite clearly intent on getting to where they were going as fast as possible. And no one noticed him. But I did. He was on his usual patch on the pavement. Holding his Warrior 3 pose, on one leg, the other outstretched behind him, arms stretched out in a straight line to front and back at shoulder level (Virabhadrasana 3). He was so still one could be forgiven for thinking he was a statue – or mime artist. But his purpose was altogether more serious. In his hand outstretched before him he held the Big Issue. How could anyone pass him by?

Because the fact is, this little weekly magazine not only helps homeless people get back on their feet (metaphorically this time!!), it is also a jolly good read and excellent value at £2. I always buy one when I can.

Just for example, in this last issue, there is an excellent review of the evangelical atheist Richard Dawkin’s new book, In the Beginning was the Word…(Now why should I want to give that any more publicity – !?), an interesting interview with the philosopher John Gray (author of Gray’s Anatomy: Selected Writings out now – who says that evangelical atheists are copying religion at its worst…!), an exclusive interview with Ewan McGregor, “How Fate Changed My Life,” an article on the shocking reality of middle-class homelessness” and much, much more.

So go on – next time you have the opportunity to spend no more than the cost of a latte or other caffeine shot on something that has the power to change a fellow human’s life for the better, then use it. It will be so much better for you both. 
(See my previous blog back in January for much more on the ethos behind the Big Issue.)

To Die For, Fashion and The Big Issue

She is a pleasant lady, almost always there at the corner of the High Street, and I say hello as I walk by. But I never walk past unless I have bought the magazine she sells, and I never fail to find something of interest, of vital importance, or both, between its covers.
This week there is an article by Lucy Siegle, author of a best selling book written back in 2008, but of ever increasing relevance - To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing out the World, on the ethics of the fashion industry,

Her goal is to expose to us as Western consumers of “fast fashion” the facts behind the manufacture of the garments we buy too cheaply, throw away too quickly, value too little. She shows us why this system is doomed to exploit workers and produce excessive waste. Millions of workers on this global assembly line, predominantly in Asian countries, often suffer extreme hardships, intimidation and industrial accidents. Through knowledge she hopes we can make better decisions around our fashion purchases. Many of us already know in our hearts that the economics of cheap throw -away clothes cannot add up – that the environmental footprint of such fashion is quite extraordinary and totally unsustainable. I am sure we should all read this book and heed its message.

But let me get back to the magazine I bought this week with Lucy’s article in it. It is of course The Big Issue. I wrote about this in January this year.
Do please buy a copy next time you pass a street vendor selling it. You may be surprised at what a good read it is for £2. Last December there was a contribution from Prince William himself, demonstrating the empathy and compassion inherited from his mother that he feels for the less advantaged in society. And you are helping our fellow brothers and sisters who for whatever reason are less fortunate than ourselves find their feet again, come back from the fringes of our society and reclaim their dignity and independence.

You cannot even buy a coffee now in many places for £2. And how many of those do you buy in a week? So spare £2 for a Big Issue today – and every week.

Making the World a better place - The Big Issue

An article on baritone Bryn Terfel, advice on starting a small business, some beautiful poetry, photography, and artwork, film reviews including one on The King’s Speech, other reviews of sculpture, music events, books. A weekly magazine of wide appeal – and this is all for £2. A women’s magazine? A colour supplement? No it’s the Big Issue, approaching its 20th birthday in 2011. And the small business mentioned above is the business to help the homeless away from begging, sleeping rough, and the inherent dangers in their lifestyle, often forced upon them by circumstance.
The idea was launched by John Bird and Gordon Roddick, co-founder with his late wife Anita Roddick of Body Shop. John and Gordon saw a scheme on the streets of New York, where the homeless were given a free magazine and allowed to keep the proceeds of sale. They saw no future in this model, believing that this simply perpetuated the begging ethos. So they founded the Big Issue. With this model the homeless buy the magazine for £1 and sell it for £2. They therefore have the makings of their own small business, having to make decisions from day to day about how many magazines they will be able to sell, how much of their proceeds they should reinvest in to stock and how much is available for their food etc. They have the opportunity to interact with the public everyday, to engage with humankind; and that is essential for self esteem, confidence and human flourishing. And there are many success stories about those who have lifted themselves up from their life of poverty, cold, hunger, begging, through starting off with selling The Big Issue.

Another article in The Big Issue for January 3-9, 2011 is 36 Ways to Make the World a Better Place in 2011. Way Number 1 is to promote The Big Issue to help these people regain their spirit, bounce back from their often desperate situation, “sow the seeds of their own salvation.” (p. 9)

So don’t walk by, looking down at the pavement when you see one of these “small business” entrepreneurs. Buy their magazine. It’s only £2. Read it on the bus or the train or the tram as you travel home, give it to others to read when you have finished with it, let them see that it is interesting whilst serving such a worthwhile purpose. Help The Big Issue to make the world a better place in 2011.