Monday 21 March 2016

Last Chance to Save James Joyce

Regular drinkers in the Temple Bar will be so over-familiar with a mural on the interior of the Unthank Road wall that they will scarcely give it a second glance. New visitors to the pub often ask me "Why have you got a picture of Adolf Hitler on the wall?"

Give 'em no choice, Joyce
As should be obvious, this is clearly a painting of James Joyce - writer of such modernist classics as Ulysses and Finnegans Wake - (I suppose giving him a brown shirt doesn't really help.)

This portrait of the author as a middle-aged man has inspired people to ask the bartender a lot of questions. "Who is he?" must have even overtaken "But what will happen to all the ashtrays?" by now as the most asked question in the pub. A question that often leads to a conversation about the literary merits and inherent limitations of Twentieth Century modernism. (Unless there are chefs in - chefs hate talking about modernist literature and always try to steer the conversation round to quantum physics and black holes). 

But the boss has just ordered that the mural be painted over with blackboard paint so that upcoming sports events can be advertised. Now I'm not saying we should save the whole mural. The weird Thomas the tank-engine faced pint of Guinness can go, along with the bridge and the claddagh ring and the map of Dublin. Joyce needs to stay and it is your last chance to save him.

The Bigger Picture


In my first experiment in clicktivism, I have started a petition at change.org that I would like you all to sign if you would like to see the master of Twentieth Century modernism keep his place in the Temple Bar, Norwich.

Wednesday 2 March 2016

More Alfred than Batman

Like Batman, I have two jobs. But unlike Batman, I am not a millionaire playboy by day and a masked vigilante by night. At night, I serve drinks (more like Alfred than Batman) and by day I write thoughtful articles (like Lois Lane?) for the websites of local tradespeople. Sometimes, I forget that I am not a crusader for justice (like Batman) and write what I think. Like when a local firm of plumbers asked me to write about 'Energy Saving Tips for Pensioners' in the wake of the Age UK/E.On energy firm scandal.

I sent them the following that they (rightly, I should concede) rejected, but did graciously say I could publish elsewhere provided I didn't link the views therein to their company in any way!

The Charity Trap: How Big Business Ruined Charity

Proverbially, charity begins at home. As far as big business was concerned, a system based on helping your neighbour was a system crying out for monetizing and they muscled in on the act. The deal struck was that a corporation would donate huge amounts of money to charities and this would improve the company’s image and the donations could be written off against paying tax. Plus, if charities were more like businesses, everyone reasoned, more money would be available to help the disadvantaged. Charity directors could pay themselves six-figure salaries like business CEOs and there would still be more money available for the disadvantaged than there was under the old system. Everyone’s a winner.

Case Study: Age UK

Take charity Age UK as a case in point. Eight of their executives pay themselves more than £100,000 a year. This is justified by the principle that because this is a huge charity with a commercial arm, it needs to be run by people with the relevant business skills and the only way to attract them is to pay them wages equivalent to what they would earn in the corporate sector. Age UK’s dealings with the corporate sector brought in double the money that donations did - over £100 million. So far so good.

A Scope for Corruption?

One of the dangers of the big-money private sector corporations being too closely intertwined with the charity sector is corruption. One company that donates to Age UK is energy giant E.ON. When Age UK wrote to elderly people with an “outstanding deal” on energy, it was a package offered by E.ON for £1049 that was being advertised. We hope that not too many hard-up pensioners took the charity’s word for it - E.ON’s cheapest tariff is £245 cheaper than that. Age UK have refused to apologise.

Charity volunteers (as distinct from the paid 'charity muggers') have always done great work, giving up their time for a good cause. It is the involvement of big business interests that threatens the good reputation of charities whose intentions historically have generally been good. At [local plumbing firm], we think that everybody deserves to stay warm at a reasonable cost. One way to ensure this is to have your heating system serviced. An efficient heating system will burn less gas, saving you money on your bills.

Were charities right to make a deal with big business? Let me know what you think.