Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Go to your local soup kitchen this winter, even if you don’t need to
It’s important to show solidarity with those using foodbanks – to show them that they are not outcasts, says ADRIAN HEALD
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
I KNOW IT sounds absurd, but many people I speak to who need the help of foodbanks or soup kitchens are embarrassed to go there, often because they come from a generation where there is stigma attached.
There should be no stigma towards people in poverty — the stigma is with the government that relentlessly pushed austerity on us.
Nevertheless, we are still fighting an uphill struggle with people being in need, being in working poverty, living off a state pension (which is not a benefit, it is something they paid for through their tax) who consider it shameful.
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