The Big Issue – August 20, 2018

Lendingahand

IwriteinsympathywithPaul

McNamee’s editorial on

saving libraries [Libraries

Give Us Power, August 6-12].

Henotes with concern the lack

of access to books and story

timesbychildren,especially

those from poor families. As

CEO of the London Early

YearsFoundation,thelargest

childcare social enterprise, I

see the impact of poor

language on many children

and know the consequences

this will have on their

educational success. Austerity

is borne most heavily by the

weak and the vulnerable and

with the reduction in support

services for children and rapid

closureoflibrariesthisisvery

evident.

Asatrusteeofasocial

enterprise library, Upper

NorwoodLibraryHub,Iagree

with Paul that once the library

buildingis gone, there is

little chance of recovery or

replacement. Great libraries

buildcommunities.Wehave

therefore built a community

hubaroundthelibrarywhere

residentscanaccess,among

otherthings,Englishasa

second language classes, yoga,

choir, story time, an arts club

andacafé,andweremain

open to all ideas that will

secureourpositionasalibrary

for this generation and the

next. Libraries are a necessity,

solet’sraiseourvoices

together to save them.

JuneO’Sullivan MBE, London

Eco lessons

It’sgreattoseetheworkthat

MattWinningisdoingin

helping to spread the word on

climate change using comedy

CORRESPONDENCE

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bigissue.com facebook.com/bigissueUK @bigissueuk @bigissue

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

Fear of fl ying

MymumwasamemberoftheWomen’s

AuxiliaryAirForceduringtheSecondWorld

War.IlikedJoWheeler’swrite-upaboutthe

womenintheAirTransportAuxiliary[Taking

Flight,August6-12]butthecoverusestheword

“fearless”to describe them. Few people are

fearless.Theyactdespitefearandattimes

becauseofit.

MymumvolunteeredbecauseaGerman

airplane scared her pony when she was

deliveringmilkaroundMildenhallinSufolk.

MuchofwhatshedidwassecretbutI’llrecount

one episode.

ShewasinthecontroltoweratNuttsCorner,

CoAntrim,when13bomberswereduetofly

overtoAnglesey.Thefirstonemadeitbutthe

stragglers lost contact. They were young

volunteers who had only been in the air for a

matter of hours and didn’t have proper maps. In

thechaosthatensued,mymumyellingatthem

toshutupsoshecouldguidethemonebyoneto

arunway,onlytwoplanesmanagednormal

landings.OnetooktheroofoftheNAAFIhut

atNuttsCorner,onelandedontheLarne-

Belfastroadandmostlandedinfields,

scaring cattle.

ItwasthewomenoftheATAwhoeventually

savedtheday.TheybeganferryingAmerican

planes to our shores, equipped with maps, radio

and local knowledge.

Mymumrefusedthemedalsshewasofered

for the service she gave. I always remember her

sayingof service personnel: “They ALL

deserved medals.”

Fearless,no.Brave?Youbet.

Dave “Tiny” French, Bath

Risk management
Iliveinaground-floorflatand
have been paying terrorism
insurancefortwoyears.This
yearIpaid£65eventhoughI
live approximately 100 miles
from London. In the past I
have queried many charges
buthavegivenupbecause
eitherIgetnoreplyoronethat
doesnotanswerthequestionI
have asked.
Winifred Newnham, Evesham

Second chance
Itbeggarsbelieftohearthe
Brexiteer Michael Gove say
thecaseforbringingbackthe
Seasonal Agricultural
WorkersSchemeiscompelling
[W hy Won’t Brits Pick Fr uit?
August6-12].Iimaginehim
glaring authoritatively
through his specs and pouting
seriouslyashemakeshis
proclamation.Thisisaman
whocampaignedfortheBrexit
thatiscausingchaos.Canwe
have another referendum
please,withdetailsofhow
Brexit will really afect
peoplewhoaren’tinsulated
politicians?
J Carver, email

[T hePlanet Is Burning,

August 6-12].

MyhusbandandIhave

intuitivelybeenfollowing

manyofthefindings–no

kids,nocar,aplant-baseddiet

andlowairtravel–butit

wasn’tuntilrecentlythatwe

really understood the

magnitudeofsuchactions.

The dearth of discussion

abouttheselifestylechoices

inthecurriculumlinesup

with our experience as

teachersformorethan

years.Ourgoalistostart

bringing these changes into

mainstream conversations

with teachers and students,

andmakingavailablefree

curriculum for teachers to

use in the classrooms.

Nandita Bajaj, email

@Alis_Hawkins

Excellent article by

@PauldMcNamee about early

communication skills, library

closures and food poverty.

Make libraries community hubs

where supermarkets could

distribute food near its sell-by

date and parents could feed

their kids’ imagination with

books.

@TonyAdams

Always a pleasure to be

interviewed by the @BigIssue

elementsofwellness.co.uk

A copy of one of our

favourite reads from the lovely

Florantine in Ringwood,

followed by fabulous chai

(and banana mun)

at our local bakery!

Simple pleasures

and good times!

@PandaMennoDeb

Cheers to

Daniel, a friendly

chap who makes

Inverness that bit

more lovely. Keep

smiling and spreading light!