Join our team

We’re looking for a freelance copywriter to join our team, working two days a week (days TBC).

Work with us across an exciting range of client projects and on our bi-annual good business magazine, Ethos. Most of our work falls into the business for good/ community/ sustainability world and we do lots of projects that capture Liverpool’s cultural heritage, too.

You’ll need impeccable grammar – you’ll be writing, editing and proofing work from the team, working alongside our senior editorial team. And you’ll be happy working with clients, too, to interpret their ideas in lively, pithy words. There’s plenty of scope for flexible working, but we’re looking for someone who’s happy to be office-based and be part of the team. 

Benefits:

Buzzy Baltic Triangle studio

Coaching via More Happi

Hybrid working (on agreement)

Exciting variety of work

Team socials and learning opportunities

Opportunity to network and connect in the Baltic Triangle

Nuts and bolts:

Two days per week

Hourly rate: £15p/h

To apply:

Send us a piece of writing that you think suits our ‘good business’ approach. And, in your covering letter, tell us why you’d like to join us.

Deadline:

Email your applications to fiona@wordscape.org.uk by midday on 22 September. 

Find out more about us at wordscape.org.uk and ethos-magazine.com.  

Badges

We’re a big fan of badges – they’re a handy thing to produce for many of our client projects. People love them, and they’re a handy way of creating identity and building community. It’s fun spotting them as they go out into the world after an event or a launch.

Ours range from classic badges to enamel pins, and we’ve just discovered these acrylic pins from StickerMule, which we used for a recent project. Much like enamel pins, they’re full colour, and you can have them cut into any shape you like. Em’s now busy thinking of all the other projects she can make badges for. 

Our most recent arrivals were these button badges for new Wirral magazine Left Bank, which each have different slogans about the area. My denim jacket already has a few pinned on. I don’t ‘collect’ badges – but I can’t resist a badge, when I go away, or there’s a project or place that I’m really into. This jacket started with a couple of patches, but is in danger of being overtaken by the pins, now. The only problem with it is the amount of time it takes to take them off, and then put them back on again, when it needs a wash. 

Nevertheless, there’s always room for one more. We just need to decide on what’s next. 

My ten favourite pins:

1. Citizen of Nowhere

2. Supermundane’s ‘poking my tongue out at the world’

3. Angel of the North, because of the shape

4. Vintage LFC pin

5. Kitty’s Laundrette – which is a local community laundrette I sit on the board for – and has this glorious, vibrant pin showing the outside of the shop 

6. Light Night badges, because it’s always such a brilliant night in Liverpool

7. Woman in a turban, by Liverpool-based artist Sumuyya Khader

8. The long thin badge, which is from Turning the Place Over, a public artwork we used to have in Liverpool. Gone, but not forgotten 

9. My ‘what’s your Ethos?’ pin, which usually sits on my bag

10. Lovely, textured Dead Pigeon Gallery pin

Our small steps to bigger impact…

This is where we start: a small-ish graphic with our impacts on from the last year. It’s a snapshot – lacking in a bit of detail; it doesn’t cover a lot. Yet. But it’s a starting point for us that we’ve committed to this year. And it’s only going to get better. 

We’ve spent 2021 working on our impact, and really trying to get to grips with the business’s ESG – environmental, social and governance impacts.

You may know us in one of two ways. Wordscape is our agency – we publish Ethos magazine, alongside a variety of client work that falls generally into communicating about good business, net zero and the social economy. Or you might just have seen Ethos, which see as a statement of our values – it allows us to play a role in contributing to a more sustainable, forward-thinking world, and brings innovation into our business by talking to stacks of brilliant, free-thinking people for every issue. 

Tackling your ESG is a hard thing to do for a micro-business, but equally we know it’s important and, luckily, it really dovetails with the work I’ve been doing on my MBA at Steinbeis University in Berlin. So I ran an ESG session for the team earlier in the year, looking specifically at Ethos’ impact – we narrowed that down to a long list of impacts, which we asked our readers, partners and subscribers to rank in terms of their importance. That led us to adopt five of the UN sustainable development goals which we support with our work.

We also did a similar thing for Wordscape, as the scope of our work is much broader than for Ethos. As a result we have five SDGs which we support with our work, which we’ve added to our website. The SDGs that we support through our work at Wordscape are: gender equality (5), decent work and economic growth (8), reduced inequalities (10), sustainable cities and communities (11) and climate action (13).

Those insights led us to work with Liverpool John Moores University’s Eco-Innovatory team. They’re working out our carbon footprint for us, so we can reduce it, and we’re also looking at increasing circular practices in Ethos magazine, so that we create less waste, use our resources more effectively, reduce our more harmful impacts and can increase the good things we do. But it’s not something that happens overnight, so we’re committed to it over the next six months to really get some benchmarks in place.  

For us, it boils down to a few key areas:

• Adopting our SDGs, so we can look at each of our projects – and new work – to see if it fits in with our mission, vision and values, of which the SDGs are a part.

• Understanding our carbon footprint, so we can take small steps towards reducing it. As a tenant in someone else’s building, not everything is in our control – but our aim is to work out the ‘now, soon, later’ priorities – and work with our landlord to suggest things that will help us all reduce our carbon impacts

• Looking to see where we can really innovate. It always frustrates us that the magazine industry is so full of waste – covers are ripped off the front of magazines so that shops don’t have to send back unsold stock, to make sure they can’t sell them. It’s a terrible, frustrating waste. So we’ve been really focusing on our subscribers so that we know more about how many copies we need to print of each issue, and can try and eliminate some of that waste. But there’s always more we can do, so we’ll keep looking. (And yes, we’ve launched a digital subscription this year too – but the stats show that our capacity for learning and retention is so much higher when we read things in print, as opposed to on screen, so there’s an important education element in there for us…)

• And we’re committed to talking about it. We want to be as open and transparent as possible about what we’re doing – and, you never know who else will find that useful. Which is why we created this small graphic of our impacts this year, and we’ll aim to improve them every year.     

That’s where we’re up to now. We’ll use Ethos to update readers on our journey and experiences. But if there are questions you want to ask us, ask away…

Rescue Me

Having had rescue animals from when I was very young, I’ve always been a supporter of rescue centres rather than using breeders. I’m a big fan of moggies and their unpredictable quirks. But each to their own, for some a particular breed is important for health reasons, for example.

The whole Wordscape team are animal lovers, with four cats and two dogs in total.

With the exception of two, all my cats over the years have come via the RSPCA or Cats Protection. The two exceptions came with our first house purchase in Birmingham in 1998. The previous owner’s eyes lit up when she saw how much we loved cats. As with most rented accommodation we weren’t allowed pets, and she was moving in with an intolerant German Shepherd (dog, not person) and so they were made a legal condition of sale of the house.

But I thought I would take this opportunity to list some local and further afield rescue centres - for cats, dogs and beyond - who are always looking for adopters, fosterers and volunteer helpers, and sometimes just food and donations. Some are able to help with wildlife rescue too, the RSPCA are often unable to. There are loads around though, so if none are local to you, Google (other search engines are available) will be your friend on this one.

Cats Protection is one of the major cat welfare charities in the UK. They have adoption centres all over the country. My boycat came from a CP fosterer’s back garden pen in Nuneaton and he’s never let us forget it. They have a network of fosterers everywhere and are usually my first port of call when looking for my next feline companion.

Local to Merseyside much can be said of the tremendous work of Rescue Me animal sanctuary. They have a network of fosterers and are on their way to renovating their centre in Waterloo, Liverpool which will act as an adoption centre. They have a trap/neuter/rehome scheme where feral cats are taken in, dealt with and either returned to a supervised colony or rehomed to a farm or stables.

Another local animal rescue is Freshfields (based in Ince Blundell and Caernarfon) who act as an adoption centre but also provide low-cost cat neutering, as well as other useful services. My main dealings with them have been wildlife-related - they have assisted me with foxes and hedgehogs in the past. You just never know when you might need them.

Further afield, one of the best places I’ve ever visited - yes, you can go and visit even if you’re not looking to adopt an animal but good luck coming home empty-handed - is Raystede animal sanctuary in Lewes, East Sussex. As well as cats, dogs and other common pets, they also have other animals including ducks, geese, goats, chickens and horses, most available for adoption. They are huge animal advocates in the local area and run family and school learning days to educate about animal welfare. They also have a cafe and shop. It’s a proper day out and highly recommended.

April 2021 newsletter

The last time I looked around I swear it was January, and here we are. The end of April. A bank holiday weekend stretching in front of us. Obviously the bank holiday won't hit the heat heights of the last two weekends, but we have an extra day to relax, spend time with friends and family, and – finally – somewhere to go. 

It's apt that the etymology behind the word 'April' comes from the verb 'aperire', which means 'to open'. While it's thought that the word refers to the opening – blooming –season for trees and flowers, it feels like so much more this year. This month has seen what really feels like a shift – both in activity and mood. Some restaurants, pubs and cafés cautiously reopened their outside spaces at the beginning of the month. We can play sport outside again, and visit places.  
 

There are so many mixed emotions and we have to be careful that the different speeds, fears and excitement of different people don't become more dividing lines between us. Some are raring to go, others more hesitant. Small businesses are struggling to anticipate custom and demand and staffing levels. And we're all waiting, in one way or another – to see how it goes, for a vaccine, to see what happens next.  

Many of us too are still trying to process the uncertainty of the last year. We're not good with dealing with uncertainty. I read something yesterday about how, for so long, independence and self reliance has been a goal of western societies. But the last year has challenged many of these lessons we've long learnt. I've had so many conversations about the parts of their lives friends want 'back' – and the parts that they don't; what they've missed and have realised they cherished. The joys of small things.

Yet still we don't know where this will lead. Pub gardens may be open, but the autonomy we've come to rely on isn't back yet. There are good days ahead, but there will still be setbacks, mixed feelings, anger and pain. Let's remember them and use them, but be kind to ourselves – and each other.

-Fiona

This is the introduction to our Aprll newsletter.

A taste of ‘normality’

Andrew and I went to a taster session for the Good Business Festival last month, part of the government's event testing programme. We both took covid-19 tests on Tuesday and have two more to take as a follow-up, but then were able to attend without masks, or social distancing. The groundbreaking project sees the University of Liverpool study data to help our hospitality and events sector reopen.

There were around 250 of us in attendance and it was great to be in company again. You could feel the excitement as people chatted with colleagues and collaborators over a beer and a Homebaked pie, the busy room buzzing.

The afternoon’s content was a taste of what was to come – although clearly none of us can sit still for two-and-a-half hours any more. How things have changed! There were interesting discussions with people from the city, including Craig from Future Yard in Birkenhead, talking about the venue’s aim to be the first carbon neutral grassroots music venue in the country, and journalist Paul Mason. The highlights were the Youthquake sessions – which also looks great for this summer – where we heard from two young women with two amazing business ideas for their communities.

The event wrapped with a talk from futurist Mark Stevenson (who we spoke to a little while back for Ethos and always enjoy hearing from) and some comedy.

The chance encounters are the lifeblood of business and creativity in Liverpool – the people you bump into; the unexpected conversations you have. They’re the things that you can’t schedule on Zoom, or plan for. We left feeling energised and excited for the summer, and couldn’t ask for more than that.

Tickets for this year's main event in July are available now…

The Hill We Climb

The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman

When day comes, we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

The loss we carry, a sea we must wade.

We’ve braved the belly of the beast.

We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace,

and the norms and notions of what 'just' is isn’t always justice.

And yet, the dawn is ours before we knew it.

Somehow we do it.

Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken,

but simply unfinished.

We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.

'Never been more optimistic': speeches, songs and celebrations cap Biden's inauguration day – as it happened

And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine,

but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.

We are striving to forge our union with purpose.

To compose a country committed to all cultures, colours, characters, and conditions of man.

And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.

We close the divide because we know, to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.

We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.

We seek harm to none and harmony for all.

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:

That even as we grieved, we grew.

That even as we hurt, we hoped.

That even as we tired, we tried.

That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.

Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one shall make them afraid.

If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made.

That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare.

It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit.

It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it.

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

This effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed,

it can never be permanently defeated.

In this truth, in this faith, we trust,

for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.

This is the era of just redemption.

We feared it at its inception.

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour,

but within it, we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.

So while once we asked, ‘How could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?’ now we assert, ‘How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?’

We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be:

A country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.

We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation.

Our blunders become their burdens.

But one thing is certain:

If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change, our children’s birthright.

So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.

With every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.

We will rise from the golden hills of the west.

We will rise from the wind-swept north-east where our forefathers first realized revolution.

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states.

We will rise from the sun-baked south.

We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.

In every known nook of our nation, in every corner called our country,

our people, diverse and beautiful, will emerge, battered and beautiful.

When day comes, we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid.

The new dawn blooms as we free it.

For there is always light,

if only we’re brave enough to see it.

If only we’re brave enough to be it.

A seasonal story

This is a blog about football. And also not about football.

It’s no surprise that the turbulence of 2020 has brought different narratives and a new way of looking at things. But I really started thinking about it when Neil Atkinson, at the Anfield Wrap, talked about our new heroes this season. Watching our academy system players emerge and those on the fringes step in – players like Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams and Xherdan Shaqiri – shows how different our narratives are now.

Sitting in a field, this summer, I listened to Liverpool lose the Community Shield to Arsenal. A friend asked if I worried about the season ahead; if I thought we’d be able to keep up the momentum. The intensity of having won 196 points in two seasons. And actually I was. But it goes to show the power of a story. 

Because when we lost Virgil van Dijk – likely for the rest of the season – to a freaky, unpunished injury, we were devastated. But now, it’s galvanised us. No doubt there will be times when we get caught out by this. And it goes without saying that we’d always prefer to have him with us than not with us. But it’s given us a different focus and a different story to tell. And that’s something that – so far – is keeping us at the top of the league and the top of our group in the European Cup. In the games since, we’ve conceded just three goals in seven games. A new story has helped us achieve a new aim.

And we’ve seen similar stories this summer, too. Clapping for carers; NHS heroes; recognising people doing jobs that might not have seemed important before. Delivery drivers and supermarket workers have kept things going, 2020 tells us.

We talk all the time about the power of a good story. We spend significant time with clients, honing their stories, so they can achieve their goals. We’re sold on the power of a good story.

But a new story. That’s powerful, too. New stories usher in change, and a new way of thinking about things. Like Liverpool this season, where we’ve *almost* managed to consider ourselves underdogs. Despite being, at this moment in time, champions of both England and The World. 

So what of the power of new stories? They help us identify things that we need to recognise, change and cherish. If we’re serious about the pain of 2020 ushering in a new approach, then we need to remember these stories. If we care about the huge inequalities that have led us to the second highest death total in the world, after the US. Our recovery rate lags significantly behind other European countries. Whilst Spain and Italy have a higher number of coronavirus deaths per capita, both have significantly better recovery rates. We are the world’s sixth largest economy, yet our citizens are less likely to recover from Covid-19. These are the stories of the inequalities in the way we live; in the way our healthcare is funded; in our ability – or lack of – to stop work and isolate from the world.  

And these are the stories we must remember. While it’s tempting to go back to what we know – to long for the relief of family and friends, company, travel and choice – we must remember. If something good is to come from this pain, we must remember that these events haven’t just been bad luck, or random. They’re the result of decisions made by our governments; some this year, some over years. 

WWII gave birth to the welfare state in the UK; to the United Nations and closer European cooperation. The destruction of those six years was a story so strong that it changed the world forever. It gave us so many of the checks and balances, the safety nets and systems that we… take for granted? We’ve lived lives of unparalleled privilege as a result and the desire to make things better. And we go backwards when we forget these stories; when the peril diminishes in the distance. We need to make sure our new stories help us move forwards, not backwards.

Stories are powerful and we are the stories we tell ourselves. Remember them.

Photo by Marcus Loke on Unsplash

Help Lebanon

I don’t think that seeing the video of the devastating explosion in Beirut earlier this month will leave me for a long time. I suspect I’m not alone. I thought it would be helpful to pull together a list of resources that might be useful if you want to help the people of this amazing but already struggling country. Please let us know if you are aware of any others we can add.

First though, in Ethos 06, Angela Solomon of Jaleesa wrote about spending 24 hours in Beirut with such passion, we had to link to it. And in Ethos 02, Andrew spoke to Kassem Kazac about Recycle Beirut, who are doing amazing work in very difficult circumstances. And in Ethos 12, Miriam Partington wrote about Sarah’s Bag, a socially conscious handbag manufacturer based in Beirut. Grab your copy here. All worth a read to get a sense of what Beirut is really about.

Here’s an NY Times piece shared with us by our friends at Thought Starter which covers the main charities on the ground in Lebanon: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/world/how-to-help-lebanon-beirut.html

A great, inclusive resource with ways to help and further information: https://lebanoncrisis.carrd.co/

A Wirral group, already working with the vast numbers of refugees in Lebanon, are fundraising to send a container of goods to Lebanon, in partnership with a refugee support group called Anera there: https://www.gofundme.com/f/an-emergency-appeal-for-the-people-of-lebanon

There’s some crossover with this article in the Guardian and the NY Times feature above, but there are some additional charities listed, including British ones working over there: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/06/beirut-explosion-how-you-can-help-lebanon-victims-fund-donate-donations-food-relief

If you’re going to be in Liverpool in August, local independent restaurant Maray (Albert Dock, Bold Street and Allerton Road) have some specials - drinks and food - which you can buy to raise funds for the Red Cross Beirut Emergency Appeal. Contact Maray to find out more.

-Lucy

Liverpool Lock Down

The national lock down is pretty much over, with some businesses still closed (as of writing this anyway, who know what will have happened by the time you read this?) and debate still raging about how safe it is for kids to go back to school. My feeling is, and I am willing to eat my words if it’s not the case, is that Prime Minister Johnson will do everything in his power to make sure we never have to do that again. From the start he always seemed more concerned about the economy than people’s health, and the high number of deaths in the UK does seem to bear this out.

But if not a national lock down when cases increase as they surely will, then what? We’ve already seen Leicester, Greater Manchester and areas of Lancashire forced into government-mandated lock downs. But when Liverpool started to see an increase in Covid-19 cases in the Princes Park area of the city, the council took action and fast. They introduced hyper-local preventative measures, without any government involvement and set about doing everything they could to get back on top of the numbers. Two walk in test centres are available for anyone with symptoms with no pre-booking and taxi drivers with or without symptoms as often as they want. Community buildings have been closed and all community events have been suspended for two weeks. Volunteers are going from door to door to advise people about protecting themselves and others. People who had been shielding are being advised to stay at home and reduce social interaction as much as possible. People are being told not to visit other households unless absolutely essential, and certainly no overnight stays are allowed. Local businesses, including pubs, bars and restaurants are being visited and spoken to about precautions they need to be taking with their staff and customers. This has all come from the community. Recognising the lack of an effective track and trace system and still no contact tracing app, Liverpool, as it so often has in the past, has taken control. Why the government took the original track and trace responsibilities away from local government back at the start of the pandemic and then didn’t start it up on a national level until weeks later is really anyone’s guess.

And this approach is working. As of writing this, cases are coming down in Princes Park, and in other areas of Liverpool, cases remain low. And the government has acknowledged that national-level track and trace is not working, and are now looking to take it back to local levels, and to people who know and understand the areas they live and work in.

Much of this pro-action is down to Liverpool’s new Director of Public Health, Matt Ashton. He was on the ball from the moment he started on 1st April, and has the whole city in his sights, not just the areas where there appears to be an increase in cases. And he and his team are finding innovative ways of getting information to wherever it’s needed.

'I've watched many kids grow up round here, I'm on my third generation now.'

Ice cream man, Paul Wilson, knows everybody in Princes Park so the council's outreach team asked him to help deliver leaflets about #Covid19 guidance. #Liverpool pic.twitter.com/XYSo1rSr3t

— Liverpool City Council (@lpoolcouncil) August 9, 2020

One of the changes brought about by the appointment of Steve Rotheram as Mayor of the Liverpool City Region (LCR) is that he is in a position to see the whole picture rather than just one part of the region. This means that a collaborative and cohesive approach can be used across all boroughs. Issues can be spotted very quickly and dealt with, and in this manner, residents and community organisations can be compelled into action at speed. Whether there be any issues in Liverpool or one of of the other city region boroughs, he and his team are ready to jump in with that council and get things happening.

Yet another problem that the government has failed to get a grip of is people who are required to self-isolate once they have been contacted by track and trace personnel. Not everyone can work from home or is in a position to lock themselves and their household away for two weeks. Once again, Liverpool leads the charge. Within a month of lock down easing, the Covid Isolation Advice Line was set up to assist anyone finding themselves in the situation where they must self-isolate. The helpline will offer advice and guidance to people on all manner of problems, including access to food banks, signposting to organisations to help with all manner of health and welfare support, as well as assisting people with finding work, getting training etc. This sort of initiative only works on a local level - and Liverpool is on it. The helpline is open 8am-6pm, Monday to Friday on 0151 233 3066, and is available to all residents of the LCR.

For more information and to follow this story, I highly recommend following Liam Thorp, Political Editor at the Echo.

-Lucy

Innovative ice cream

We’ve all been there, Standing in front of a range of ice cream tubs wondering which to choose. One flavour? Three scoops? Tub? Cone? Sugared cone? So. Many. Decisions. Well, maybe when faced with some of these choices the only question would be, how adventurous are you feeling?

La Gelateria, London

An intriguing range of flavours including Cornish blue cheese and walnuts, Porcini chocolate cream and Pine nuts gelato. Not forgetting their award-winning basil and chilli gelato. There’s a great video on their website showing how they make their Menabrea beer-infused gelato.

Chin Chin Ice Cream, ships across the UK

ICE CREAM IN THE POST! DELIVERED IN DRY ICE! Forgive my excitement. I mean, who wouldn’t want to receive ice cream with their mail? For £15 you receive three tubs of ice cream, including their Coffee and olive oil flavour, or maybe even Basil chocolate chip. They do a vegan range too. Their online shops has a range of toppings too. Do it your way.

Three tiered ice cream cake, photo credit Ruby Violet

Ruby Violet, London

The team based in London produce really beautiful ice cream, desserts and cakes. The products on their website are stunning, They have an online shop but only for deliveries in certain parts of London. Notable flavours include Earl Grey tea, Lavender, and Lime and star anise. They also do vegan sorbets. They do have parlours around London. Honestly, I am a bit envious.

The Cowlick Creamery, Plymouth

This company do a great range of ice cream flavours, But that’s not why they’re featured in this list. It’s because they do an ice cream for dogs. Their doggie ice cream is specially formulated to be completely safe for them, made with no dairy. One flavour only - Peanut butter and banana - but provided in specially designed pots so they can reach every last drop. And the icing on the cake? A little doggie biscuit on top.

Ben & Bills, Maine

Anyone for lobster ice cream? I would probably try it, not sure I’d want a whole tub though. And you know if it’s from Maine then the lobster will be good. They make the ice cream with butter and fold in the lobster meat. It has been much reviewed and is one of their bestsellers in the summer season.

Big Gay Ice Cream, New York

Big, bold and brash. My kind of ice cream. These guys started out in an ice cream van and now have 5 shops in New York and 1 in Philadelphia. Their best seller is Salty Pimp, but my choice would be a Dorothy - vanilla ice cream injected with dulce de leche and rolled in wafer crumbs. Other treats include Shortberry Strawcake (yes, you read that right) and American Globs. Really, what is not to love?

Cheshire Farm, Tattenhall, Chester

I couldn’t do an ice cream list without mentioning a local company, who really make great ice cream. I admit I have indulged many times in Cheshire Farm ice cream. They have concession stands at attractions and shopping centres around the North West and supply a lot of restaurants too. My favourite flavour is the Honeycomb although I am also rather partial to their Turkish Delight too. The ice cream farm near Chester is a great day out for the whole family, and they boast the world largest ice cream parlour (by square footage) with over 50 flavours to choose from. What a conundrum.

-Lucy

Black Lives Matter

The best sort of day in Liverpool. Sunny, vibrant and buzzing with anticipation and emotion. As we waited to move off from the Rialto, a trumpeter swung from his window on Upper Parliament Street, serenading the crowd. An estimated 7,000 marchers joined a peaceful, socially-distanced march from Liverpool 8 to a rally at St George’s Plateau on June 13, in support of the Black Lives Matters movement. 

Liverpool’s black community is the oldest in Europe. Whereas the other two cities at the centre of the Transatlantic Slavery Triangle, London and Bristol, were already burgeoning cities, Liverpool’s growth was created by the slave trade. It was a small seaport on the Mersey before, by 1740, it became Europe’s most-used slave port, with Liverpool ships transporting around 1.5m slaves from Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

It became the city we know today in large part due to the money that flooded in through the slave trade, which was abolished in 1807. Many of our civic buildings, the Town Hall, Lyceum, St George’s Hall and oldest schools have links to the trade. 

The Black Lives Matters movement has been the most enduring image of lockdown: the passion and protests haven’t dimmed since they were ignited by the killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd. Perhaps, with more time to listen and reflect - or facing the fear of Covid-19 (and acknowledging the disproportionate deaths of people in BAME communities) – people are beginning to understand the deep-rooted, systemic causes and implications of racism. And the inequalities that it wreaks. 

Race, and racism, touches everything in Liverpool. From education and business and representation to music, fashion and football (there’s an excellent article about LFC and race here on the Athletic: https://theathletic.co.uk/1850030/2020/06/09/liverpool-and-racism/). And these conversations have opened up again in recent weeks.

While it was a day of great power and emotion, we mustn’t forget how much there is to be done and that work will take much longer. We are a small team, and we’re all white people; we’ve have been reflecting and learning about how we can do better in our work. We’re working now on putting things in place to make sure that we can be part of the solution, not the problem, and that has been quite confronting. 

It can be difficult talking publicly about Black Lives Matters when you’re white. Do I know enough? What if I’m wrong? What right do I have? But it’s good to feel challenged and awkward, and that’s the point. We know that we’re privileged in not having experienced racism. And we’re only beginning to understand our role in taking positive action to break down the structural inequalities that mean People of Colour are underrepresented in the media (and as lawyers, architects, tech developers or CEOs – and many more) and that we need to actively make decisions that make the world fairer.

• • • • •

Historian Laurence Westgaph spoke at the rally and has been the visible face of the movement locally, appearing on Anfield Wrap, TV and radio news; talking about Penny Lane, statues being pulled down and streets renamed.

Westgaph doesn’t believe that pulling down statues is the right way to address uncomfortable truths. He uses Liverpool’s public realm – the buildings, statues and street names - as a starting point for a conversation, teaching people about the city’s role in the slave trade. His focus is on raising money for a memorial to the slaves who lived, died and were buried in Liverpool. “Many of these individuals were not only interred without a marker but even without their names,” he says. “For example, on 23 Sept 1778 ‘A Black boy belonging to Captain Penny’ was buried at what is now St John’s Gardens. Although we do not know many of their names these individuals deserve to be respectfully commemorated.” 

If you’d like to donate to the campaign, find out more here: https://www.facebook.com/donate/621070001951860/1204184029951738/

Independent Liverpool has put together a great blog about local independent businesses, causes and charities. (https://independent-liverpool.co.uk/blog/a-list-of-black-owned-independents-causes-charities-and-platforms-you-should-support-in-liverpool/) Not to forget, too, we’re home to the International Slavery Museum (https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/international-slavery-museum) –I know… it’s not in London. So it seems to have been overlooked occasionally. But it’s one of the best places to learn and reflect, and well worth a visit when it reopens.

And, globally, you can check resources and support the work of the Black Lives Matters movement, here. (https://blacklivesmatter.com/)

– Fiona

Lockdown Diary Week 10

Welcome to the 900th week of March 2020, 3 years since we entered quarantine. I hope you have many masks and your bathtub hand sanitiser is boiling away nicely. It’s been a year, right? 

In the time since our last newsletter, we shipped the latest Ethos Magazine out to subscribers across the world - issue 12. We realised a week ago that we have a big birthday coming up for Ethos soon so if you’re a subscriber, watch this space. Hint: we’ll probably have a party of sorts and there will be alcohol. Although you’ll have to buy it yourself (from a local brewer or distiller, we hope.) And, if you’re not a subscriber yet, you could be in mere moments after you follow this link. 

After finally recovering from what I suspect was a mild case of Coronavirus, I was glad to tune into a series of great online events in the past week or two. The team at Kindred are hosting a series of peer-to-peer conversation for socially-trading businesses and organisations in the Liverpool City Region. The first one was titled Together we are mighty and was a reminder of how resilient and creative the social economy in the city region here is. They have more events coming up including this one tonight. Further afield I was invited to watch a discussion by the Impact Hub in Moscow who had a conversation with some social enterprises in Australia. 

After a full day of inspiration at last week's Impact Summit, I then spent last weekend watching the first of two Hay Festival talks online. Monday evening's talk was from Alain de Botton from the School of Life. I feel informed and inspired. 

I’ve felt grateful during all of these to see that despite the pandemic and lockdowns, there is still activity happening and the world is still turning. We are still finding new ways to connect, to teach and inspire one another and to learn, to have conversations about what might come next and to reassure one another that we’re here to help now and will still be there to help when we get there - wherever there is. And also we’re also not alone in this either - in Liverpool, Scotland, Moscow and Australia we're all having these conversations and asking what we might like to come next? 

Below I’ve shared some articles that I’ve enjoyed reading over this period - a couple from our partners at the Good Business Festival and Kindred, and one from Ethos 12. I hope you enjoy them. 

Until next time, 

Andrew x 

This blog was first published in the Wordscape newsletter on 28th May 2020

Lockdown Diary Week 6

We're living in the strangest of times. It is the most unexpected, unpredictable time of my life. I'm sure you feel the same.

As we go into our sixth week of lockdown, and seventh week of working from home, milestones have appeared, passed and faded in the rearview mirror. An Easter weekend camping on Anglesey; my environmental sustainability module in Berlin. For some friends, their wedding days. For others, family funerals. 

It's been a period of quietness, worry, productivity and reflection. Thinking about our changing routines, and what we'll carry with us on the 'other' side. The changes we'll make; the things we'll do first. I will eat fish and chips on the beach. 

We've done a collective 426 puzzles, jigsaws and Lego models between us here, I think. I've probably done well over 100,000 steps on digital dancefloors. I still haven't watched every episode of Tiger King.

But measuring time by quantity, not quality, feels redundant right now. It doesn't matter how many weeks, or how many jigsaws. Numbers are inadequate when we're missing things that most make our lives worthwhile. Friends and family and a hug and a beer garden on a sunny day. The things that matter when we talk about our weekends and our plans and we smile and remember. 

While I avoid TV news generally, The Guardian told me this morning that our economy will take three years to recover from the impact of coronavirus. So the question becomes how we balance the uncertainty and jobs losses with a re-evaluation of what's important to us? How do we reward the people we value the most, not just those who negotiate their own enormous bonuses and tell us they're important? Bobby Kennedy said that GDP measures 'everything except that which is worthwhile'. So how do we focus on what's worthwhile – even when it's silly and frivolous and life affirming?

Just a year ago, our survey said 99.9% of economists would dismiss that question out of hand. But no more. When the days are tough give some thought to what you value. Write it down and hang on to it. We need to make these voices heard and remember the power of this pause.

Stay well,

Fiona
x

This blog was first published in the Wordscape newsletter on 28th April 2020

Lockdown Diary Week 1

Anybody who has ever worked with me knows that I am really organised. Most of the time that pays off, but it has rather caught me out this time. I've known for a while that this would be my newsletter and had all manner of lovely things written about how it really felt like spring was actually starting to happen. I was even going to impress you with my use of 'vernalagnia', which is the posh name for spring fever, or that joyous feeling you get when the weather starts to get warmer and the days start to get longer and brighter.

I was hoping that this newsletter would offer up encouragement to start getting out and about by including an Ethos article highlighting ways to get more people out onto their bikes, and news about some exciting outdoor changes in the Baltic Triangle from Tristan Brady-Jacobs. I've still included these articles because they're great reads and we may well all need some interesting reading materials in the coming weeks/months/years, even if we aren't able to get out and about for a bit. On the same note, I have included a blog written by Andrew at the beginning of the year. It went out in the January newsletter but with the wrong link (sorry) so it's as good as new to most of you. And the blog contains some great quarantine-boredom-busting ideas.

We’ve been working from home for most of this week now, and will be for the foreseeable future. We know that we’re lucky to be able to shift the office to our respective homes and carry on, and we’re doing everything we can to support our clients, friends and collaborators, many of whom are having to completely rethink the way they work.

But we know that working from home’s not as easy as it sounds, either. To keep yourself sane, I’d recommend creating as much of a routine as you can, doing some exercise - lots of local instructors are heading to Instagram/ Facebook Live and Zoom with their classes - and making sure you see some friendly faces. We use Zoom for all of our meetings, and to catch up at the end of the day, but those techy peeps over the road at e-blueprint have put together this guide to help you smooth the transition to working remotely.

Finally, a quick reminder that this Sunday is Mother's Day. Flowers, chocs or something more imaginative might be in order rather than lunch out for the person that carries out that role in your life, but still, consider yourself nudged.

Stay safe and well,
Lucy 

This blog was first published in the Wordscape newsletter on 19th March 2020

Has a human right become a privilege?

A trip to the toilet is a basic act for most of us: we sit or stand, we do our business, we flush, we wash our hands and we go about our day without a second thought. But this mundane routine is unfamiliar to many people across the globe.

On 19 November the UN will be celebrating World Toilet Day. It is a day that marks the importance of effective sanitation; something that many people in many countries do not have. The World Health Organisation reports that 60% of the global population has either limited or no access to a safe toilet. Going to the toilet is one of the most private human acts, yet 673 million people currently practice open defecation – that is, defecating in an open space with no containment, regulation or sanitation of human waste. These sorts of practices mean that deadly bacteria spread and water sources become infected, spreading killer diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and dysentery. It’s an ongoing crisis that is taking the lives of thousands.

World Toilet Day was established in 2001 by the World Toilet Organisation in an effort to address government neglect of the crisis and to tackle the taboos of discussing sanitation care. It became a UN-recognised day in 2013 and aligns with the UN’s sixth Sustainable Development Goal – for everyone to have clean water and sanitation by the year 2030. This crucial mission will help the reported 1.8 billion people currently drinking unsanitary water, an action that contributes to the deaths of 280,000 people a year; 280,000 too many.

It is difficult to imagine living without access to a clean and safe toilet, yet this is the reality for millions. And it doesn’t just affect people’s health, but also their education. Many young girls will miss school during their period due to lacking facilities. What we regard as essential becomes a privilege in consideration of the many people who go without it. The UN reports that more people have access to a mobile phone than a clean, safe toilet. Many of us love to use our mobile phone during our longer-than-usual toilet trips – yet given the choice, we could sacrifice our phone for a time to use a safe, clean and private toilet. While we can exercise these freedoms, many others have no choice.

UNICEF Sierra Leone/2015/Kassaye

As it stands today, only 40 out of 152 countries are on track to meet the UN’s sanitation goal by 2030, and it was only in 2010 that human sanitation and access to clean water was recognised as a human right. It is unquestionable that every human being is entitled to sanitation and privacy, yet so many are deprived of it. The journey of providing sanitary management for all will ensure people enjoy both healthy and dignified lives.

If you wish to get involved, visit the World Toilet Day website which is full of information, resources  and events that you can get involved in.

– Rachael Willetts

This blog post was originally published on 24th October 2019

Awfully British reasons to cry...

Some awfully British reasons to cry...

Last year, us Brits admitted to being a nation of whiners. Research showed that 56% of us admitted to a daily moan and one in five (19%) confessed to moaning more than three times a day, resulting in 10,168 minutes of moaning a year. A Sunday scroll through Twitter led me down a rabbit hole and into a thread which got me belly laughing at some of the things we're actually moaning about.  #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry, of course, had much mention of Brexit, tea, fish and chips, the increased price of the Freddo and the pronunciation of scone.Here are some of my favourites, I hope they cheer you up if you’re having a dull day…

@shallowseal / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry Shelling out for a train ticket for it to not be checked.

@AndrewRoberts66 / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry The sandwich you wanted isn’t part of the meal deal.

@DistantValhalla / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry Half the digestive crumbled off into your tea.

@taesvnte / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry When it says ‘unexpected item in bagging area’ for the fifth time.

@CuriosityRocks / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry Woolworths.

@MRJGrist / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry Boris Johnson.

@PatWilliams18 / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry The queue in the next check out at the supermarket goes down quicker than yours

@Ianshad / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry You pay shit loads for Sky Sports and the footy’s on BT Sport.

@wildbunchtags /#AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry Microwaved tea.

@kurtaytoros / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry The weather.

@tavistockgirl / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry Someone left the big light on…

@BakemanMouse / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry Buffering.

@annette_xxxxx / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry When plans you wanted to be cancelled go ahead…

@JackGriffin1945 / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry When your next door neighbour changes his Wifi password.

@PaulPJB / #AwfullyBritishReasonsToCry The queen never flushed after sitting on the throne.

For more reasons to laugh (not cry), here's the twitter thread: https://twitter.com/hashtag/awfullybritishreasonstocry

-Emma

What colour is your name?

Have you ever thought about the colours in your name?For some people with the rare sensory trait called grapheme-colour synesthesia, this is the way their brain ‘sees’ letters and numbers. For those who don’t know, grapheme-colour synesthesia is a condition in which people associate specific colours with particular letters and numbers. I remember learning about the condition in a college art class and found it fascinating. I stared hard at black words on white paper and just saw black words on white paper, so I never gave it another thought.

Until a few weeks ago when I came across a blog, that led me to the colours of my name. Designer and artist, Bernadette Sheridan, who has grapheme-colour synesthesia, has built an online, interactive tool that can generate the letters of your name into a colour sequence. The colour sequence is made up of one specific colour for every letter in the alphabet and identifies how people with grapheme-colour synesthesia see your name.

Bernadette created the tool to allow us to understand how she experiences the world and so we can see our names come to life in colour. After Bernadette created the synesthesia gallery, made up of the names of everybody she knew, she noticed a pattern in which the colours of their names matched their personality. “The colour of your name triggers an overall assumption based on how light, dark, saturated or dominant your name appears, a lot of that is based on the vowels in your name.”, Bernadette writes in a follow-up blog.

I’m not going to lie, I was very excited to throw my name into the generator and see what colours it spat out. Optimistic Emma was expecting something bright, cheery and unusual (I like to think to match my personality). Emma is made up of the three primary colours. Kind of bright, kind of cheery but nowhere near unusual.

Find out what colour your name is...

-Emma