Search Results for: why i write

“The remarkable achievement of the text is to correctly, clearly and captivatingly expose the correlation between historically systemic and modern issues; and how, despite that, women around the globe continue to play an indispensable role in solving them.” – Dan Bernardo

Every day, 37-year-old Zeitu from Ethiopia walks five miles, lugging enough water to support her seven children. [1] Lately, her 15-year-old daughter Zahra has joined her, often missing school as a result. Zeitu and Zahra are by no means alone: millions of women in many rural communities are responsible for maintaining the household’s water, energy, and food supply, as well as childcare. Women make up 50-80% of food production worldwide, yet own only 10% of land. [2] As a result, women make up 70% of the world’s 1.3 billion poor, [3] so are more affected by threats to land and natural resources, and therefore climate change. Moreover, they have less access to technology that would help them to adapt to climate change, and are less involved in decision making, so are unable directly to affect change concerning the environment. 

After the 1991 Bangladesh cyclone, 90% of fatalities were women and children. In many cases, women, impeded by clothes or unable to swim due to ideas around modesty, could not flee. [4] This tragedy exemplifies how increasingly common extreme weather events will disproportionately affect women. During climate disasters, women’s responsibilities mean that they must work more, and harder, leaving less time for education and earning income: women are rendered unable to migrate and seek refuge. Furthermore, when struggling financially, families may remove girls from school to work or get married. [5] 

After Hurricane Katrina in the USA, violence from men towards women rose by 98% [6] – just one example of how climate disasters have complex social effects on women which intertwine with their domestic lives. Women’s health often declines after a disaster, due to reduced access to adequate maternity care, or spending long hours in drought conditions that cause heatstroke, and women become more vulnerable to domestic violence, sexual assault, and trafficking – a concept coined ‘climate violence.’ Men feel they should protect women, and frustration at their failure to do so leads to violence. As the economy suffers after a climate disaster, women struggle more to find jobs; nine in ten countries have laws preventing women from the same economic opportunities as men, including banning women from factory jobs, working at night, or getting a job without permission from husbands. [7]

However, this is not to say that women are utterly helpless in these situations. These expectations imposed on women in many cultures can be harnessed in times of climate disaster. Skills involving water storage, food preservation, and management of natural resources can, with adequate female representation in power, be invaluable. Said representation is sadly minimal, with only one quarter of people brought onto TV to talk about the climate in 2020 being women, [8] and even fewer women of colour. There is, obviously, no evidence to suggest that women are less competent in decision-making roles – quite the contrary; women often recognise the risk around climate change’s proposed ‘solutions’ more. Indeed, white males have been proven to possess a lower risk perception, so are likely to take bigger, more dangerous risks: the ‘white male effect’, [9] a phenomenon proved by the Women’s Environment and Development Organisation (WeDo). Perhaps unsurprisingly, carbon dioxide emissions per capita are lower in nations with more women in government, and a study of the European parliament showed that women are more likely to support environmental legislation. [10] 

Moreover, many women internationally have been given agency to recover from and prevent issues arising from climate change. Activist Charlot Magayi established the Mukuru clean stoves initiative to help women in Kenya replace cooking stoves with greener alternatives, and women in Africa are heading the initiative Solar Sister, which helps communities build small-scale solar grids to be more in control of their energy source. The Barefoot College, set up in India, trains women to be solar engineers to, again, control their own energy production. The latest G7 summit had a section on gender and climate change, and charities like ActionAid are working with women to empower them into leadership roles. International financing funds now require systems to include women in programmes- for instance, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, which prioritises women farmers. [11] 

Women all over the world are empowering others and overseeing change. Kenya’s Dr Wangari Maathai was the first African woman and environmentalist to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. While nowadays Greta Thunberg is a familiar female face of the climate activism movement, few remember that Maathai, an African female environmentalist orchestrated the ‘Green Belt movement,’ for women to plant and look after trees. Thanks to this movement, tree nurseries have been built, fifty-one million trees planted in Kenya alone, and women trained in things like beekeeping. [12] 

Another African woman who has made a huge impact is Isatou Ceesay, who founded the One Plastic Bag recycling movement in Gambia, and a project that produces bags made of recycled waste and gives many West African women jobs. Alongside these stories are American marine biologist Rachel Carson, who helped ban DDT and to establish Earth Day, and sailor Emily Penn founded eXXpedition to carry out women-only plastic pollution expeditions. [13] Yet still, there are dozens of unsung female heroes of environmental activism, whose voices are rarely heard. In the USA, two-thirds of those who organise climate strikes are women, [14] and female scientists in Africa are bringing their knowledge of agriculture to laboratories and research departments. 

The only thing that can solve any of these problems is true gender equality, and there are still countless examples of a gender divide evident in any environmental negotiations. For example, the UK leadership team for COP26 was originally 100% men; disparities in vaccine access worldwide meant that who was able to attend COP26 was unjust. [15] Things need to be tackled at the fundamental level: inequalities in job opportunity, domestic roles, and education need to be eradicated. A step towards this should entail women-only policies in any development schemes, and more female representation in decision-making. We must work together to build a ground-level network that stretches worldwide, to ensure that no-one, man, woman, or child, is left behind as the world changes irreversibly every day. 

1 ‘Women and children walk up to 20,000 steps a day for water, reveal WaterAid and Wimbledon Foundation’, Water Aid UK, 9th July 2018 

2 Balgis Osman-Elasha, ‘Women… In the Shadow of Climate Change,’ UN Chronicle, accessed 10th March 2022  

3 Ibid. 

4 How To Save a Planet, ‘We Can’t Solve the Climate Crisis Without Gender Equality, We’ll Prove it to You.’,  Spotify podcast, 6:29, September 2021,  

5 ‘Climate Change and Gender’, Action Aid UK, updated 17th November 2021,  

6 ‘We Can’t Solve the Climate Crisis Without Gender Equality, We’ll Prove it to You.’, 9:05

7 ‘Climate Change and Gender’, Action Aid UK 

8 ‘We Can’t Solve the Climate Crisis Without Gender Equality, We’ll Prove it to You.’, 17:41

9 ‘We Can’t Solve the Climate Crisis Without Gender Equality, We’ll Prove it to You.’, 15:14 

10 ‘We Can’t Solve the Climate Crisis Without Gender Equality, We’ll Prove it to You.’, 19:43 

11 Joe McCarthy, ‘Understanding Why Climate Change Impacts Women More Than Men’, Global Citizen, 9th March 2020, 

12 ‘We Can’t Solve the Climate Crisis Without Gender Equality, We’ll Prove it to You.’, 22:51 

13 ‘Beyond Greta Thunberg: the Women Fighting Against Climate Change’, Acciona, accessed 10th March 2020 

14 ‘We Can’t Solve the Climate Crisis Without Gender Equality, We’ll Prove it to You.’, 41:58

15 ‘We Can’t Solve the Climate Crisis Without Gender Equality, We’ll Prove it to You.’, 44:51

We asked our 2021 and 2020 Orwell Youth Fellows to interview our new 2022 winners and runners up. Below, 2021 runner-up Marnie McPartland interviews Ruby Kalayil-Peacock about the importance of research and the inspiration behind her essay ‘Women and Climate Change’. You can also read Marnie’s 2021 article ‘Equality in Education’ here.

1. You support your argument with multiple interesting sources. How did you go about your research and what do you think such evidence adds to the piece?

I mainly conducted my research online, using Google, and particularly the websites for the United Nations and ActionAid, both organisations committed to combatting gender inequalities and climate change worldwide. I felt it was important to include plenty of concrete, quantitative evidence in my piece, as it seems that often issues surrounding climate change and gender inequality can feel rather abstract and distant, and I wanted to ensure that I made it clear quite how grave these problems are. There are people who still deny their existence, and so I felt I should prove it using factual evidence.

2. What inspired you to approach the climate crisis from the angle of women’s involvement?

I first heard about the increased effects of the climate crisis on women from a podcast that I was listening to, and was deeply surprised that I had never heard this topic being discussed before. I decided to write this piece to bring about awareness, and thought that if I approached the subject of the climate crisis from a more social angle, not simply an environmental one, I could convey how deeply human beings are affected by what can otherwise feel like a rather abstract concept; as we in the Western world do not often feel the direct effects of the climate crisis, we do not always fully grasp its severity.

3. Do you think your conclusion that inequality in the crisis ‘need[s] to be tackled at a fundamental level’ is achievable?

I do feel that tackling inequality between the sexes at its root, and therefore greatly reducing the increased effects of the climate crisis on women, is achievable. Indeed, I feel it is the only truly effective way of dealing with this ancient issue. A lot of ‘action’ being taken against sexism can be seen as simply papering over the cracks when it is too late, and I think that governments worldwide should make it their mission to tackle disparities in education and job availability between the sexes. I concede that changing deeply-engrained attitudes and practices is by no means easy, but it is certainly achievable.

Find out more about all our Orwell Youth Fellows here and buy their climate crisis zine, Axial Tilt here.

Enter the 2023 Orwell Youth Prize here.

“A parable, set in the 19th century, in which a naturalist builds a wall to save a forest, but gets little help. Nicely written, wry and fluent.” – Professor Michael Jacobs

January 14th 1884

It is with great ardour that I write these words. At long last, it seems that my plight has been answered. A Mr Jonathan Percival from the Dorset County Council has allowed me to have an audience with the board concerning the fossil problem I have been raising awareness on. I hope my proposal will finally convince them to take action on this issue. In a few days, events may at last go in my favour.

January 18th 1884

The day has been confusing, to say the least, but nevertheless I have achieved my goal. Upon entering the elegant hall that the Council resides in, I was greeted by Mr Percival and the other distinguished gentlemen, who had given me half an hour to detail my ambitions to them. I informed them of the situation of the fossils: how half a century of excavation has left the landscape covered by the remains of creatures from aeons past, how vulnerable these fossils are to weathering and the action of the waves, and how significant, nay essential, they are in revealing more of the rich history of life on our planet. An entire lost ecosystem could be gone forever if these processes continue at the same rate. As I spoke, I tried to weave passion in my words, aiming to rally these gentlemen like a military commander before a major battle.

Mr Percival looked in the direction of his fellows, each gentleman giving a brief nod. “We thank you for your speech,” he told me. “Clearly this is a complicated situation, and we all see that action must be taken. Would you care to enlighten us as to what you have planned?”

I prepared myself to deliver my proposal. “The biggest threat to these fossils is the slow yet continuous rise of the ocean. In a mere few years’ time, they may be lost to the waves, and with them, knowledge of the world before mankind. Therefore, I propose a short wall, further down the beach, which will protect the fossils for another few decades, giving my colleagues enough time to extract them and take them to museums, where they shall be treated with the care they deserve.”

Before consulting the other gentlemen, Mr Percival asked, “This extraction process is expected to last a few decades?” 

“Oh yes,” I answered him. “Great caution must be taken to avoid damage to the fossils. Once one is broken, it can never be fixed.”

“Of course. These fossils must not be damaged. So. What does the board say?” Some gentlemen whispered among themselves. Most simply nodded again. One man raised his voice and asked, “How will this wall change the appearance of the beach?”

“The wall shall be made of rock, taken from elsewhere, in order to blend in with the coast,” I responded.

“Good,” the gentlemen said. “You must understand that tourism is a significant, nay essential, part of the local economy. I would hate to see it sacrificed for the sake of some- for the sake of these valuable remains.”

As there were no further questions, Mr Pervical addressed me again. “It appears we are unanimous. You may build your wall for the sake of these fossils. You must take care, though, to keep it in line with the natural theme of the coast.”

“And now,” he continued as I left, “it has been confirmed that a member of the royal family will soon holiday in our esteemed county. We must ensure that they are given a-”

His voice was drowned out by the frantic speech of the other board members, each eager to be heard above the others. I fear that such a lackadaisical triumph as mine is no triumph at all. Yet, approval was what I desired, and approval was what I received. In the morning I shall begin construction.

January 19th 1884

I enlisted the help of a few locals to help me begin mapping out where the wall would go. Amazingly, none of them were aware of the danger the fossils were in, and all agreed that it was noble of me to do all I could to save them. They did regret to inform me that an innumerable amount of other tasks will prevent them from giving me any further aid, but they wished me all the best in my efforts. I am heartened by the faith people have in me. I do not work at this wall on my own. After all, doing what you love is never truly work.

March 10th 1884

The sea wall approaches completion. My funds are growing thinner, but I have never had to pay any other workers, so my situation could have been far worse. While I have presented a donation box, it is only too understandable that much of the population simply cannot afford to fund me right now, which is why my own fortune is being used to supplement the humble grant given by the Council.

Every morning I walk to my store of rock, and, carrying as much as I can in my trusty wheelbarrow, trudge down to the beach. There, I deposit the wheelbarrow’s contents and begin adding to my barrier. It brings me great joy that it is keeping back some of the weaker waves.

Sometimes I spy a few people watching me work from afar. I am pleased that they are as invested as I am and eager to see the wall being created in order to save these magnificent fossils.

Yet this endless toil is beginning to affect me. There are times when I trundle my wheelbarrow down the beach, and stop and catch sight of the fishermen out on their boats, or the shopkeepers opening for the day. Then I gaze at my wall, a meagre, shallow thing, and the awesome and terrible waves crashing against, spraying the precious fossils with droplets of surf, and for a split second the truth of what is actually happening sinks in. Then I notice somebody watching me and continue walking, anxious for them to see me working away, and secretly hoping that another set of footprints will follow mine down to the shore.

We asked our 2021 and 2020 Orwell Youth Fellows to interview our new 2022 winners and runners up. Below, 2021 winner Jude Leese interviews James Lomax about metaphor and allergorical fiction, and the characters in his story ‘The Conundrum of the Fossils’. You can also read Jude’s 2021 winning poem ‘Work Experience as a Young Campaigner’ here.

1. With there being an abundance of allegorical fiction out now regarding climate change, why did you decide upon fossils in the 19th century as your metaphor?

I chose fossils in my piece to show how much information and knowledge can be taken from the natural world. The fossils are of animals long dead and gone, but they’re still full of information from the nature of evolution to the nature of extinction. If we can learn this much from life that is no longer around, how much can we learn from life that we still have the chance to save?

2. How did you plan out the individual features and characters of your parable? Do they all represent specific kinds of people or institutions which you feel are preventing us from saving the planet?

All the characters each represent different attitudes held by different people. The narrator is the one who understands the crisis and wants to do all they can to slow it but finds themselves relatively alone. Mr Percival is the public figure who gives an impression that they care but doesn’t really, at least not as much as about other, less important, issues. The board member that raises a question about tourism represents the kind of person primarily occupied with money first and the environment second. Finally, everyone else represents the general public – they know about the crisis, and some of them care, but it’s not very important and only a minor aspect of their lives overall. When writing this piece, I wanted to exaggerate all these different kinds of people to essentially call them out and make them sound rightfully ridiculous.

3. The narrator of your piece could be interpreted as either optimistic or naïve. Which do you think it is?

I can’t say they’re optimistically naïve, can I? I wanted to make the narrator quite a pathetic character in their little efforts to do their bit, just to show how much the climate crisis needs many people all working together to combat it, instead of one person who is trying their hardest but probably won’t accomplish much. Their attitude is of one who expects support that will never come and I hope this makes my piece a bit more moving.

Find out more about all our Orwell Youth Fellows here and buy their climate crisis zine, Axial Tilt here.

Enter the 2023 Orwell Youth Prize here.

“A dystopian science fiction short story set in Paris and on an unnamed shoreline in the global South. Experimental in form, the writing achieves a disturbing dramatic tension.” – Professor Michael Jacobs

25-10-2054

Northern Hemisphere, Grigny, Paris

She looked at the empty containers. After taking them from the storm cellar she had just left them sitting on the counter, dreading what their vacant bodies meant. When the cellar got down to the dregs then it was time to replenish, else face the inevitable reality of starvation.

Today she’d have to go outside. With a new face mask delayed by Neoquick’s trademark slow delivery service, she would have to brave the air alone.

The girl downed another glass of water before optimistically slathering on sunscreen, a thick layer of white to cover her flushed skin. She flashed a smile to whoever may be watching through the front camera before she flicked to the Paris air alerts. She studied the screen, not bothering with the flat’s windows. It may look clear and sunny out there but she knew better. Everyone did.

The app indicated the air quality had decreased dramatically over the last hour; the Capital had issued a red warning: STAY INSIDE. She sighed and went to close the phone, not wanting to see another ad, but without failure, a propo from the rebellion popped up.

Today the hackers had replaced the normal image of smiling Parisian farmers working from the kindness of their hearts for their twisted truth: 

the Capital’s propo is sent out daily to ease the minds of the rich who had condemned their fellow Frenchmen to death. To ease the mind of sinners. Many don’t care as so many of the Capital’s farmers are immigrants, escaped from the uninhabitable land of the equatorial belt. Unable to speak French, unlike yourself, no work is available to them and now they can’t even get necessities-

She shut off the phone, bored of their ludicrous proposal.

Rolling her eyes, she flopped onto the easy clean sofa that was positioned directly opposite the kitchen. She wasn’t entirely sure why it was designed this way but it was always too hot for her to consider moving it. Tugging her knees into her chest defensively, she attempted to bypass her reality.

She buried her face in her hands, the darkness giving her space to think. Her mother had gone out this morning, this she knew without even checking. Her mother would be out late into the night, working hard in order to allow her to order things on Neoquick. But since wages had dropped again, ordering on the web was impossible. She didn’t have a choice.

Removing the ice, she rose and headed to the door. She didn’t bother checking her phone, knowing the warning would only work to dissuade her from the task at hand. Taking the scarf from beside the door, she tossed it around her neck before gathering the containers.

After the Crisis had begun its steep incline, the Capital stepped in. No single-use plastics would be tolerated, as if this would close up the disintegrated mess of the Ozone layer. No one tried to fault the stupidity of this plan from either the illusion of hope or the reality of what would happen if they ever did.

The girl pressed her hand against a square panel hidden in the surface of the wall, listening for the hiss of the door release. As the iron door slowly rolled open there were three short beeps before her morning pill shot into her mouth. Dutifully she swallowed it, without a second thought, and tightened the scarf over her nose and mouth before stepping into the hallway.

The apartment block was as hot as everywhere else in the suburbs. There were rumours of air conditioning in central Paris, where the elite lived; spread through whispers that have no discernible source and without a defined source there can never truly be truth.

She stepped out into the sweltering heat and doubled over, unable to breathe. The air was hot and heavy, clogged with the pollution of her ancestors who she silently cursed, her eyes watering as grit poked at them.

She tried to cough the grit out of her, tying the scarf even tighter. Hoping and praying that this time wouldn’t be the time, that today wouldn’t be the day that Marjorie Morel died.

Southern Hemisphere: off the grid

Frances’ head broke the warm surface of the water, rivulets of the foul smelling substance rolling down her face. She threw her spear and morning catch onto the shore before dragging herself to meet it.

After the Capital had banned practically everything, Frances had had enough of watching others slowly fade away on the rations that had been provided. She had taken her life into her own hands, fuelled by the rumbling pit in her stomach. With no family or friends left, she headed back down the rocky mountain trail but nothing could have prepared her for the sight that greeted her return.

Her home entirely sunk beneath the dark surface of the swollen Indian Ocean. It wasn’t something easy to get used to and even after a week Frances wasn’t sure if she ever could.

Returning to her home was preferable to complying to the Capital and blindly following their soldiers. The water submerged most of their cameras and short circuited the rest and with the soldiers all deployed on the Capital’s relocation missions, she couldn’t have been safer.

After the Capital’s warnings she had avoided the ocean at first, chewing on bark to alleviate some of her gnawing hunger. Then she decided enough was enough and used a sharp stone to fashion her first spear.

Frances lay back, letting her hair pool around her as she let the sun dry her off. In these moments the stifling heat was a little more bearable. As she took a second to breathe, she thought about today’s hunt.

It had been much harder than usual: the water harder to move through, the jellyfish harder to spot. Today she’d had to settle for lumping handfuls of salty seaweed into the shell she used. The shell was likely her greatest success, it was large and green with a curve that made it a great bowl. Whatever creature that had called it home was long dead so she had little qualms in taking it from the ocean bed.

Sitting up, Frances reached over to her Capital-issued water bottle. Other than the clothes on her back, it was the only thing she had kept as its distilling function allowed her to drink

from the sea. She wasn’t entirely sure of all of the science behind it but she knew some of the basics. It was designed to remove salt, cells of dead marine animals and carbon dioxide among other things.

She took a sip of the water, it was gritty but she was used to it. After she had knocked the bottle, one of the mechanisms had been damaged and it didn’t work right but it had kept her alive so far so she wasn’t complaining. Frances looked over at her pathetic pile of seaweed, pushing a ringlet of readily dried hair from her face. Then she heard it-

The unmistakable buzz of helicopter blades.

Fear clenched her chest, stopping her heart as the realisation hit her. She hadn’t been careful enough and now the Capital was coming for her. 

Foregoing the collection of her meagre morning catch, Frances ran. Darting through the trees, she wound her way uphill trying something they wouldn’t expect. The helicopter persisted.

The machinery was faster than her, skimming across the top of the canopy as the soldiers peered down at her. Soldiers dropped to the forest floor, boots landing with heavy thumps.

She only noticed their chase as the helicopter darted away, inspiring her to pick up the pace though she couldn’t work her aching limbs for long.

Darting to the right she heard them crashing around behind her. The pounding of her heart in her ears was too loud for her to realise they were close enough to hear her breathe.

Feeling herself begin to slow, she willed more air into her lungs, more strength into her pumping legs. It wasn’t enough.

The soldier pounced: his solid weight driving her face-first into the ground as he chanted the Capital slogan, chilling her to the core.

“Tell Tale Tit, your tongue shall be slit; and all the dogs in the town shall have a little bit.”

We asked our 2021 and 2020 Orwell Youth Fellows to interview our new 2022 winners and runners up. Below, 2020 winner Hugh Ludford interviews Eleanor Mead about her tips for budding writers and the inspiration behind her story ‘2054’. You can also read Hugh’s 2020 winning story ‘You Are What You Eat’ here.

1. Is the grim future your piece presents something you could see coming to pass in the coming decades, given the date you chose?

Grimness is all I can see for the future as of late. The climate crisis will not be abateing any time soon, as no policies can truly support the future science foresees for us. My story exaggerates the 2050s as a reminder of what is to come if we fail to change our ways in the face of our rapidly heating planet.

2. What would be your one tip for a budding writer?

Stories don’t always come to you as you’d expect, taking some time away from your work can sometimes be the best thing for your story.

3. Which other writers inspire you?

When writing dystopian pieces I tend to find inspiration from authors such as Margaret Atwood and Christina Dalcher. Both are feminist icons who write stories that view the female experience through a different lens. I would like to emanate their ability to shine a light on feminism in my own work.

Find out more about all our Orwell Youth Fellows here and buy their climate crisis zine, Axial Tilt here.

Enter the 2023 Orwell Youth Prize here.

Now you’re feeling inspired, it’s time to start researching your piece. In 2023, we asked writer and researcher Sujana Crawford to tell us a little about her own research methods – read her tips for getting started here. Stay tuned for more resources coming soon.

Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

George Orwell, ‘Politics and the English Language’

Writing is always a creative process, but a bit of research is useful whatever form you’re writing in. You might come across surprising facts, unsung heroes, untold stories, striking images, new perspectives, shocking statistics, unexpectedly poetic phrases – all material which will be really helpful for your work.

Below we’ve collected some articles and programmes recommended by members of the team and our Youth Fellows to provide some inspiration, which we’ll continue adding to throughout the year.  You don’t need to start here (and you certainly don’t need to read all the suggestions!) but have a browse and see if you can find anything which helps develop your ideas further, or take them in a new direction.

Let’s get the facts in order!

Whether you’re writing an article, a story, a poem or even a game design, it’s important to know your facts. The Research stage of the pathway aims to help you begin finding out more about the topics which interest you and identify reliable sources of information.

Whenever you’re researching a subject, you will find that some sources of information are more reliable than others. Some may not even be reliable at all. Here are some links to advice on ways to critically examine the information you encounter, especially online.

• The BBC’s ‘Real News‘ page. They also have helpful resources on reporting generally.
• For Sixth Form students and teachers, this series of quick online lessons introduces fact-checking and source-checking.

Like The Orwell Youth Prize, The Orwell Prizes exist to encourage good politically-engaged writing and reporting. Why not research the work of a previous Orwell Prize winner, or read an interview with an Orwell Prize nominated journalist over on our Substack?

Recommended reading, watching and listening (it really is optional)

The Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness

• 2023 was the first year of a new Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness. Read about the entries which made the shortlist here. They cover a range of forms of homelessness and hidden homelessness. They also include reporting from our 2024 judge, Vicky Spratt! Please note: some pieces contain strong language, and mention of sexual assault and violence.
• Listen to ‘Down, Not Out’, the Orwell Prize podcast series, with the Prison Radio Association. The podcast includes discussion with guests who have experienced or are experiencing homelessness, and with Orwell experts, talking about Orwell’s own experiences of homelessness, and extracts from Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London (contains some strong language, and includes discussion of drugs and sex).

Reading

• “Football teams are rooted in place.” This resource on politics and football by Wyn Grant explores the globalisation of football and how this has affected football’s place in local communities.
• Read the poem ‘A Portable Paradise’ by Roger Robinson – and watch the poet himself read it, along with other poems from his T S Eliot Prize-winning collection of the same name.
• Read Orwell Prize winning journalist Janice Turner’s article ‘Clearing out my family home’ on clearing out her parents’ house when her mother went into care.
• Or why not take a look at architect Rowan Moore’s article on stone as a sustainable building material.
• Explore the trade journal Inside Housing for up to date news stories about housing and social housing in the UK.

Watching

• Watch a talk from 2022 Orwell Youth Prize Judge, Professor Michael Jacobs, on the politics surrounding the climate crisis, the power which global leaders and governments have, and also the power individuals have to affect change.
• Watch ‘Decolonising the Wonder House: Orwell, Empire and the Museum’, the Orwell Memorial Lecture 2020 by Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Dr Hunt explores George Orwell’s and Rudyard Kipling’s very different relationships with the British Empire and imperialism, the role of museums as ‘homes’ for objects, and how museums can create a public space that acknowledges the colonial legacies of empire whilst remaining open to people of all backgrounds.
• Watch and listen to some videos from the Orwell Prize winning series ‘Anywhere but Westminster’ with John Harris and John Domokos (includes some strong language).
• Watch this virtual tour of The Museum of the Home.
• Speaking of virtual tours – have a look at the Architectural Digest celebrity home tours and think about how homes can be representative of the self, why we are intrigued to look around other people’s (particularly famous people’s) homes, and the role of celebrity culture in how we think about aspirational homes.
• Get inspired by these photographs of famous authors in their homes…
• Watch 15 year old Mariam Mekhail’s TED Talk on the true meaning of home.
• And look through the collection catalogues of The Museum of the Home.

Prize-winning Inspiration

Below are some previous Orwell Youth Prize entries which we think might inspire you to think about this year’s theme…

In ‘Blackpool’, 2022 winner Cerys Shanks writes about her hometown, memories, anxieties and hopes for the future.

In ‘On Keeping a Time Capsule’, 2021 winner Jennifer Yang writes about moving home and family history.

In ‘Mending the Safety Net’, 2021 runner up Ruby Alexander writes about approaches to tackling homelessness.

In ‘The Radcliffe Line’, 2023 winner Zaeema Assad writes about personal identity, culture, and historical legacy.

In ‘”Beware of the dog,” says the man with the gun’, 2023 winner Iris Mamier writes on the refugee crisis, asylum seeking, and what it means to try and make a home in a foreign country.

In ‘The Catharsis of a Crane’, 2023 winner Heike Ghandi’s writes about a father trying to give his daughter a better home, breaking out of a cycle of poverty.

‘Work Experience as a Young Campaigner’ is 2021 winner Jude Leese’s poem, on local politics – trying to make your community, and by extension the world, a better place.

“This writer conveys an important message through a strong and personal tone. Their research skills and attention to detail contribute to an overall excellent piece, exploring racial issues within a modern context. With a particularly powerful analysis of racism online and in the media, it’s a piece which must be read and understood by everyone using such platforms.” – Jessica Johnson

I had come across a book called ‘Loud black girls’ last year and being so intrigued by the title alone, I purchased it straight away. It told me that “Being a loud black girl isn’t about the volume of your voice- and using your voice doesn’t always mean speaking the loudest or dominating the room.”[1] I was reminded of the stigmatization that came with being a black girl and found myself repeating ‘that’s so true!’ or ‘that’s happened to me!’ as I read each page. The black community shares so many of the same experiences and relate to each other in so many different ways, despite the irony that we are often talked about as if we are one person. We live in a society that has shown us how white people stay in the spotlight while black people are kept behind the curtain, their talent and hard work going without credit. So many years have gone by, yet most of the same issues that black people faced around discrimination and racism back then, are the same today. Despite the protests, laws and even the Black Lives Matter movement, issues that we faced over 70 years ago are still rife in today. Here are some notes on being black that I think are worth listening to.

‘Racism is not getting worse, it’s getting filmed.’
The media is something that touches all lives in some way, so heavily influenced by what we see and read in everyday life, including social media. Apart from being so eager to find out what celebrities are up to online, there’s a much darker and more damaging side to being so easily exposed to what we see. The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmuad Arbery, Elijah McClain and many other innocent black lives lost due to racism and police brutality, have highlighted the systematic racism that prevailed not only in America, but all parts of the world and a lot closer to home. There is a lot of distressing content in the news and videos that are shared online, often without any warning. “Staying away from socials just to avoid hearing the blood curdling agony in George Floyds voice again and again.”[2]- This was what singer, actress and businesswoman Rihanna posted last summer in support of justice for George Floyd and other black citizens who have died. Videos like these circulated on the internet, making it hard to escape from the devastating murders that were happening in America, and also had a big impact on our mental health and wellbeing. Seeing black people persecuted, arrested and abused all the time is traumatic. More can and must be done to identify and abolish racial hatred within the police force, as well a safer way of spreading awareness of police brutality and murder in the media that is cautious and understanding of black peoples mental health, because as said by Will Smith: “Racism is not getting worse, it’s getting filmed.”[3]

‘Appreciation not appropriation’
Whilst racism and hate crime is an obvious act of prejudice, there is so much else happening that has been normalised. For example, the commedical and ridiculing representation of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) by non-black people and ‘blackfishing’ online, the phenomenon of non-black influencers and public figures using bronzer, tanning, Photoshop, or even cosmetic surgery to change their looks to appear black or mixed race. One time I read online that people were debating whether or not saying ‘black people’ to refer to, well, black people, was offensive or not. The problem with this is that people are assuming the word ‘black’ has negative connotations in the first place, adding to the problem even more. These not so important twitter debates, shifts our focus onto less relevant news and activism. There is so much more behind a word. The way we present ourselves is so much more than just a hairstyle. The appropriation of black women in particular is further established by celebrities spending fortunes on huge lips, skin tanned too dark and having surgery that can now give them unrealistically wide hips. The standard physical attributes of a black woman have been popularised and colonized by white women who had once oppressed black women for their natural features. American TV series like ‘The real housewives of Atlanta’[4], explicit music videos targeted at the black community and other forms of popular culture have also shamelessly pioneered the ‘black woman’, depicting us as loud, aggressive and hypersexualised, just for entertainment.

‘You’re not what we’re looking for’
In the past, there has been nowhere near as much representation for people of colour interested in cosmetics or hair compared to the western beauty standards that celebrate ‘whiteness’, in fact, this can still be seen today. A message that has probably been drilled into every black girl’s head is that “you’re going to have to work even harder than everyone one else because you have two strikes against you- your gender and race.” I often find that as a black girl, everything we search up about ourselves has to be marked: ‘Black girl hairstyles’ or ‘Black girl makeup routine’. When I was younger, I was given the rare beauty magazine for black women- that was only sold in black hair shops. Once a month. I was also the only black girl in my class at primary school (until one other girl joined in year 5) so people would always touch my hair and ask me why I didn’t just straighten it to fit in. I share my experiences with many black girls all over the world, but this goes a lot deeper than just magazines and childhood memories. It’s compounded by seeing brands and publications that have historically excluded and marginalized Black people, yet now share messages of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Where was this solidarity when Black people were applying for jobs? A study by the centre for social investigation at Nuffield College found that minority ethnic applicants had to send 60 per cent more applications to get a positive response from an employer than a person of white british origin. These results were compared with similar field experiments dating back to 1969, revealing that this type of discrimination has remained unchanged for over 50 years. [5]

‘This world does not move without black creativity’
More emerging black artists, creatives, engineers and scientists are pushing through the industry barriers and making their voices heard. Although we are tired of not seeing enough black people in executive roles, and the systematic disenfranchisement that exists within these industries. Not enough has been done to support black people into executive roles in the creative industry, even though black culture is unquestionably one of the most popular and sought after ‘aesthetics’ amongst mainstream media, from music to fashion and art. Since the Black Lives Matter protests more people have woken up to the reality of how the black community is not, and has never really been, represented or credited in mainstream brands/ businesses. The societal realisation of how black individuals go on to achieve despite the prejudices and institutional racism they encounter, has resulted in the mass emergence of ‘Diversity and Inclusion programmes’ that in progressively diversifying their business by allowing the ‘best’ black candidates to occupy the same roles that dismissed them in the first place. We have always been silenced and stereotyped, preventing us from getting executive roles for years. We have been labelled as the ‘angry black girl’ at school and always had to run that extra mile in order to be given the equal opportunities, whilst constantly being pulled down by white privilege. This is an evolving conversation, and it requires evolving education.[6] It’s now 2021 and young black children who are interested in art, history, sports, fashion, science or engineering need to be able to see successful and affluent people in those industries who look like them, in order to be inspired and achieve. So how can we move forward? Well, we can begin by understanding and recognising the exploitation that black people still face within the media for profit and entertainment, enabling the promotion of black culture to become more well known as something positive. Secondly, give black people the jobs and platforms so that they can achieve and earn just as much as their white counterparts, ending a cycle of career deprivation and unemployment. This world does not move without black creativity [7], so it’s about time we start appreciating it.

REFERENCES

1. Loud Black Girls: 20 Black Women Writers Ask: What’s Next? (1 October 2020)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Slay-Your-Lane-Presents-Black/dp/000834261X

2. Rihanna Laments ‘Blood Curdling Agony’ of George Floyd’s Death (30 May 2020)
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rihanna-george-floyd-death-1007883/

3. Will Smith: “Racism Is Not Getting Worse, It’s Getting Filmed” (3 August 2016)

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/will-smith-colbert-race-relations-obama-politics-sings-summertime-916816

4. The Real Housewives of Atlanta (2008) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1252370/

5. NEW CSI REPORT ON ETHNIC MINORITY JOB DISCRIMINATION (21 January 2019)
https://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/news-events/news/new-csi-report-on-ethnic-minority-job-discrimination/

6. “Racism Is A Global Issue”: Edward Enninful On The Importance Of Cultivating An Anti-Racist Agenda (1
June 2020) https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/edward-enninful-racism

7. #blkcreatives (pronounced hashtag Black creatives) was created by Melissa Kimble to uplift Black creatives
+ remind us of our creative freedom.(17 June 2020) https://blkcreatives.com/about-us/

“Witty, charming and, most importantly, real. The author captured a moment in time and translated it into an essential and honest conversation our society is having right now.” – Dan Bernardo

INT. SCHOOL HALL – DAY
In a school hall, there is a circle of chairs. Variously
slumped and sat on these are 6 students around age 16, and a
teacher.

PANS TO:

KAYCEE, with unkempt hair and an unassuming smile, sits with
a grubby-folded-up piece of paper in her lap, sitting on her
hands.

CLARA has her hair in a ponytail and sleeves rolled up, and
bright blue hearing aids. She is sprawled out on the chair,
but in an intimidating way.

TAYLOR has their hair in bunches and rolled up blazer cuffs,
and hold a piece of paper with blue scrawls all over it,
their legs neatly crossed underneath the chair.

AMELIA, with a concise bob and optimistic demeanour, sits on
the chair backwards, straddling it. Her blazer is adorned
with badges, for bands, political movements and squirrels.

MAY, with dark hair and eyes that flit around, and a half-
endearing, half-annoying habit of saying everything like a  question, sits with her arms and legs crossed, as if trying
to shrink.

ISLA, very long red hair, and many bracelets and bands on, is
the only one without a jumper or a blazer. She sits leaning
forward, one cheek smushed into a fist.

Finally, the TEACHER: a woman in her 20s, warm,
understanding, won’t take any rubbish, cross-legged.

TEACHER

So who’d like to start?
Anyone? Or should I pick someone…
(points finger playfully)

MAY (O.S.)

I’ll start??

PANS TO:

MAY, is tightly gripping a piece of paper with deep fold
marks in it. She fidgets a little.

MAY (CONT’D)

(she reads, shakily)
Wanderer’s Nightsong I, Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe.

CLARA groans and slumps forward, head in her hands. The
TEACHER raises her eyebrows at Clara, who goes quiet. MAY
stops, and watches nervously, like a cat at a ping pong
match. TEACHER gestures for MAY to continue.

MAY (CONT’D)

(a little quieter, without
much rhythm)
THOU THAT FROM THE HEAVENS ART,
EVERY PAIN AND SORROW STILLEST,
AND THE DOUBLY WRETCHED HEART
DOUBLY WITH REFRESHMENT FILLEST,
I AM WEARY WITH CONTENDING!
WHY THIS RAPTURE AND UNREST?
PEACE DESCENDING
COME, AH, COME INTO MY BREAST!

Beat.

TEACHER

(with a reassuring smile)
Thank you, MAY, that was lovely. I
think CLARA might have heard it
before?

CLARA’s a little sheepish.

CLARA

No… it’s not that.. just… we
always have to study the work of
very posh and very dead white men
and metaphors I can’t understand…
It just doesn’t feel…
(motions as she struggles
to find the word)
relevant.

That hangs in the air for a beat. Flickers of agreement in
the eyes around the room.

MAY

(rapidly)
I’m really sorry, I, it, was in the
library… and I just, I thought it was nice.. I’m sorry-

TEACHER

(interrupting, warmly)
No need to say sorry, MAY! I asked
you to bring in a poem you liked
and you did just that.

MAY offers a weak smile.

TEACHER (CONT’D)

But… Clara has a point.
Sometimes, we hear a lot of the
same… voices. Anyone got anything
not by a ‘very posh very dead white
man’?
(laughs)

ISLA

I’ve got Warning by Jenny Joseph.
You know, ‘when I’m older I’ll wear
purple’… Jenny Joseph is a bit
dead, though, so…

AMELIA

(abruptly)
I have that poem from the
inauguration… Amanda Gorman, The
Hill We Climb? Amanda Gorman is
definitely not dead, or white, or a
man… she might even be president
one day!

TAYLOR

That’s very… political, though…
I mean… not everything is politics-

AMELIA

(overlapping with Taylor)
Poetry is political!

Beat.

TAYLOR

But people write about their
personal lives, and love, and
nature, and they’re not
political… that… that’s just
small things.

They look at the TEACHER. She gestures for them to continue.

TAYLOR (CONT’D)

Do you think that everything in
life’s political? Even the small
things?

AMELIA

Yes… yes I do.

TAYLOR sighs.

TEACHER

Taylor, what did you bring in?

TAYLOR

I brought in June Jordan’s Poem for
My Love. It’s beautiful, and not
political.

TEACHER

Well… it could be argued that
June Jordan’s work was very
political – she was a bisexual,
Jamaican-American poet who wrote
about gender, race and
representation, amongst other
things.

TAYLOR

But it’s love! Just because you’re
an oppressed person shouldn’t mean
that you have to always be
politically engaged!

AMELIA

That’s privilege – when your mere
existence, let alone your equality
or rights, is not inherently
political, or a protest.

TEACHER

(shrugs)
You both make good points…
Kaycee? What about you? What’ve you
got?

KAYCEE

Oh!
(fumbling around with
paper)
I… brought… an A.A. Milne poem.
The guy that wrote Winnie the Pooh
I love Winnie the Pooh – I love
Eeyore. Anyways, it’s a poem in one
of my little sister’s books I read
her, Daffodowndilly.

TAYLOR

See! Daffodils and Eeyore aren’t
political!
(turning to AMELIA)

AMELIA

Well, A.A. Milne was a white man,
so he had the luxury of being not
political, I guess?… I don’t
know.

A smug look from TAYLOR. The TEACHER observes this, brow
furrowed, then renews her smile, turning to CLARA.

TEACHER

Clara, you haven’t told us what
poem you’ve got?

CLARA

(suddenly diminutive)
Oh, no, it’s rubbish… everyone
else’s is so… they don’t wanna
hear mine, I mean…

TEACHER

(smiling encouragingly)
Come on! I asked everyone and that
includes you.

CLARA
(spilling out, quickly)
My Wi-Fi broke and I, I didn’t have
any data and I was too scared to go
to the library…

AMELIA

(half-shocked, half-
laughing)

You? Scared?

TEACHER shoots her a sharp look. She looks down, sheepish.

CLARA

(sharp intake of breath,
rapidly)
I wrote my own poem.

Beat. AMELIA’s eyebrows raise, and any sheepishness is
replaced by earnest. CLARA sees her interest and takes
courage from it.

CLARA (CONT’D)

(gesturing to AMELIA)
Writing is an act of protest,
right?

AMELIA nods.

CLARA (CONT’D)

I figure my own poem could be the
most… relevant one I’d find. Even
if it’s a small thing.

CLARA takes a deep breath, and raises the piece of paper to
eye-height. Her mouth opens to read. Cut to black.

“‘An incredibly memorable and thought-provoking piece, reminding us how starting small begins with a human connection to someone or something. The writer perfectly demonstrates the sense of disconnectedness that looms over all of us, but shows that by re-developing our relationship and emotional connection with objects, we will once again re-grow our connection to those around us.” – Jessica Johnson

When they’d sold the house, they’d thrown away their ‘impractical possessions’
along with it — outdated ration tickets, traditional Chinese paintings, and old stamps.
My heart lurched. Slow panic. My grandparents had just left my treasures with food
straps. An irreversible action. Soon a new family would move in — a mechanical motion,
an insignificant click in the grand gyres of time. It was as if they had never been there
at all: their indistinct chatters, smoke from cooking, evaporated into plain air, so
simply, dismissively, cruelly. Their new twenty-first floor flat is tidy, modern, and
efficient.

My grandparents are not alone. It seems natural to leave old things behind as
civilisation moves forward tirelessly, but our consistent pursuit of the new and the
advanced has, in some ways, deprived us of appreciation for who we really are. We
want to show we are following the direction of the masses– technology, convenience,
minimalism — so we are constantly buying things and throwing them away, just to
keep up with the flow. We are gradually adopting an ‘ending is better than mending’
mentality where we’ re losing patience for our items.

This is a dangerous mentality — the way in which we treat our items might evolve
into ways in which we treat others. Trendy things are, by their nature, short-lived and
disposable. Abandoning these items seems justifiable. We no longer invest in any
emotional connections with these items because it’s too effortless to buy another one.
Then, is that why we’ve become quick-to-judge, impatient, and unwilling to spare our
precious time for others? In the end, what have we been rushing after and what
remains important to us?

That’s when one returns to the embrace of a time capsule for comfort — a
refrigerator for unchangeable memories dwindling in the absurd flow of time. I’ve
never met anyone who keeps a time capsule, and I can’t help but wonder who engages
in this outdated idleness. Those who would keep a time capsule must have a
melancholic temperament, an inescapable longing for things that are bound to decay,
and a scrupulous mind that takes every miniscule item into account. They might be
accused of being hoarders, as they are so reluctant to clean their already-brimming
drawers.

For me, a time capsule is a brilliant realm of old pages, bronze bell, and broken
shards of memories. These items have long lost their practical uses, but they still
remain as testimonies of 20th-century China. The bronze bell, say, intricately carved
into the shape of a roaring tiger, was given to me by my grandfather. He wore it
around his neck as a child, for the ringing bell would remind his busy parents (probably
preparing dinner for their huge family) that their son was just playing in the longtangs
(narrow streets between neighbourhoods in Shanghai), and thus probably not lost or
kidnapped. I’ve never participated in that part of history, but I can visualize it: wisps
of smoke wafting out of the shared kitchens, mingling with the laughter of children at
play. Such is the power of time capsules — they relate you to something seemingly
distant yet familiar. In my time capsule, there’s an item that stands out to me the most.

The beaded mouse, a 串珠老鼠 (in Chinese), was given to me by an old man in
a care home. He was highly intelligent and curious — eighty odd years had not
bleached his passion for Maths challenge questions. But for him as a young boy, the
path to university was made impossible — re-education through forced labour has made him a factory worker. His job was to make beaded decorations — vases, cupmats, small animals. As he aged, he developed a leg injury and needed care-takers; his wife had passed away and his son did not have enough time to take care of him. Then he was put into this care home.

‘Here’s a gift for you,’ he said, placing the beaded mouse into my palm,
‘superfluous stuff, really, they’re everywhere.’ The old man had a smile borne out of
genuine care; his hands were surprisingly warm on that chilly winter day. Then I
realised he had been lonely. One or more years without a visit from his preoccupied
son in this care home, with those red numbers flashing poignantly on electronic clocks
from one second to the next. The old fellow would vomit next door. The caretaker
removed his sick. The caretaker served his glutinous lunch. Then evening would ensue.
He longed for that delayed visit as he finished another beaded mouse. My beaded
mouse.

I could never quite capture what I felt that day. The colour of the mouse’s plasticky
beads would always intensify all of a sudden, as if reminding me that those wrinkled
hands have sewn time, memories, history, longing together, into a domestic,
‘superfluous’ mouse. Like all other mice, it occasionally lets out a strident squeal to
remind me it’s lonely, just like its creator.

The demographic crisis in China will bring more populated care homes in the
future, and even the most dispassionate mind would grieve at how painfully silent
these care homes are. Meanwhile, our obsessions with trendy yet disposable items
reveal our lack of patience for anything associated with the past. In the process of
doing so, we gradually, unconsciously lose patience for each other, and we stop
thinking of others.

Perhaps, one way for us to hold onto each other is to keep a time capsule. A simple,
tangible box that stores the memories and emotion that seem increasingly rare as we
evolve into more efficient creatures. It might be slightly absurd to see how our topics
of interest have changed drastically over time, but time capsules can show us
something more surprising: how we’ve participated in shaping those changes. And
when one discovers how easy it is to connect with another seemingly unapproachable
member of society, one begins to have more patience with the rest.

We can now announce the winners of The Orwell Youth Prize 2021: ‘A New Direction: Starting Small’ 

Congratulations to all our winners, and thank you to everyone who took part this year and trusted us with your writing.

By seeking out new audiences for young writing, and reflecting back all our entrants’ collective concerns, we aim to make your priorities part of the national conversation.

You can read each entry, hear from the winners themselves and read responses from writers, journalists and campaigners by clicking on the individual links below. We will also be posting highlights on our social media throughout the afternoon.

Each entry was read by at least two assessors, and the final winners were chosen by the 2021 judges Adam Cantwell-Corn, Naush Sabah, Jessica Johnson, and Dan Bernardo.

Judge Dan Bernardo, founder of Playtra Games, had the following message:

This year, we also asked every entrant to tell us the ‘one positive change’ they would most like to see in their lives. Answers were ‘inventive, bold and optimistic’, seeking to solve issues from racial and gender inequality to climate change.

We will be sharing some of the most original and inventive responses on our blog and social media in the coming days and weeks, as well as interviews with this year’s winning writers, curated by the Orwell Youth Fellows.

‘A New Direction: Starting Small’ is sponsored and supported by ‘Rethinking Poverty: The Webb Legacy‘, and George Orwell’s son Richard Blair. The Orwell Foundation is grateful to every young person, teacher, volunteer, school and community group who got involved, and all our partners and sponsors, for making this year possible.

In 2021 The Orwell Youth Prize received poems, short stories, prose, essays, journalism, screenplays, game designs, speeches – and everything in between. The winners were:

Senior Winners

‘Work Experience as a Young Campaigner’ – Jude Leese (Poetry)

‘The Quiet Revolution’ – Max Baker (Fiction)

‘Two for Joy’ – Isabella Rew (Poetry)

‘New Hair, Who Dis (Dear Mrs Johnson)’ – Faith Falayi (Poetry)

Senior Runners-up

‘Mending the Safety Net’ – Ruby Alexander (Essay)

‘A New Direction: Starting Small’ – Marnie Rauf (Fiction)

‘Notes on Being Black.’ – Laurell Jarrett Anderson (Journalism)

Junior Winners

‘It’s Not Your Fault’ – Katie Sherley (Essay)

‘A New Direction: Starting Small by Creating Norfolk Wetlands‘ – William Walker (Essay)

‘On Keeping a Time Capsule’ – Jennifer Yang (Essay)

‘A Small Thing’ – Anya Edgerton (Screenplay)

Junior Runners-up

‘Equality in Education’ – Marnie McPartland (Journalism)

‘Why?’ – Varscha Arul (Essay)

‘The Voting Booth’ – Charlie Owen (Fiction)

The following pieces were also highly commended: 

Joe Pierce – A Way Out (Junior)

Hannah Bush – Think twice (Junior)

Anouk Wood – How to Fix a Broken Planet: Terrestrial Maintenance for Dummies (Junior)

Tilly Heath – Born The Souls who Settle in the Soles of our Shoes (Junior)

Benjamin Yu – Little Brighton (Senior)

Jamie Chong – Walking Home in a New Direction (Senior)

Nathaniel Tompkins – Explained, but not Understood (Senior)

Wyn Grant is emeritus professor of politics at Warwick University.  His book ‘Political Football’ will be published by Agenda Books in June 2021.  He is secretary of the vice-presidents club at Leamington Football Club and a regular contributor to their programme.  He writes regularly for the Charlton fanzine Voice of the Valley.  His football blog is athttps://footballeconomyv2.blogspot.com/ 

Football teams are rooted in places.  Their names reflect a particular location and provide a means of identity with that place, not least for people who have moved away.  Yet, over the last few decades, that link between football and place has been shaken in a way that has important political implications.

If one goes back a hundred or even fifty years most clubs were owned by locally based businessmen. Even if the players did not come from the locality, and some of them always did, they lived nearby, often in relatively modest houses provided by the club.   They would come to the ground by bus or walk, mixing with fans on the way.

Football has now been globalised. For the leading clubs the number of followers they have round the world far exceed those in the ground on match day.  Many of these followers may never visit the ground, but they are a market for the club’s merchandise.  Firms from around the world will sponsor the club’s kit, even items like corner flags.  (Mlily is the official global mattress and pillow partner of Manchester United.)

This matters because globalisation raises a number of issues, including foreign ownership of clubs and the treatment of migrants, some of whom come to Europe with a dream of playing football.   Globalisation has slowed down in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic but not in football where private equity firms see an opportunity to acquire clubs at knockdown prices. However, it also provides an opportunity to use football to bring about positive change across the world.

Clubs do still try and play a role in their local communities. Many are located in or near deprived areas and make efforts to tackle poverty or to offer sporting opportunities to youngsters.

In some ways, place has become more important than person in electoral politics.  In the 2019 general election, the Conservative Party successfully appealed to so-called ‘red wall’ seats with disadvantaged economic geographies.

A Case Study: Manchester City

Few clubs have been through bigger changes than Manchester City.   Once located in one of the most deprived parts of the city, they have moved to a new stadium complex and have been able to spend to acquire a world class manager and players.  This was made possible by the club’s acquisition by Sheikh Mansour in 2008. Sheikh Mansour is the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, he is also Minister of Presidential Affairs in the UAE and a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family. He is the chairman of the International Petroleum Investment Company and also has a stake in Virgin Galactic.

City claim ‘we’re using the ‘football effect’ to promote health, education and inclusion, to improve the lives of young people in Manchester and all over the world. ’ Using football as a magnet to engage young people, the Club’s Foundation, City in the Community (CITC) delivers a range of award-winning programs, focusing on three main areas: Health, Education, and Inclusion.

Among the ‘inclusion’ activities are holiday soccer schools, girls football and walking football alongside one of the club’s longest-standing initiatives called ‘Kicks’ – which delivers community football for 8-19-year-olds during peak times of anti-social behaviour in the most deprived communities in the city. The aim is to promote increased community integration and combat negative stereotypes.

Projects across the world

Through City Football Group, which owns Manchester City and clubs around the world, projects are being delivered in many different countries such as Brazil, India and South Africa. For example, Ghana is one of Africa’s fastest growing economies and has made significant progress in reducing poverty. However, more than 60 per cent of the population still lack access to safe drinking water, leaving them vulnerable to water-related illness and disease. This can affect children’s education, especially girls, as they often have to walk long distances to collect water, making them late for school, or they are absent due to illness from waterborne diseases.

Football is being used to teach children about life-saving water and sanitation education, keeping them healthy and in school, and will be combined with equipment to provide clean water access to the local community.   Football is used to teach children about drinking healthy water, regular hand washing and staying away from germs.

The city of Manchester

Manchester City is one of two world class clubs in Manchester, the other being Manchester United.  A major football club also helps to raise the profile of a city, facilitating the attraction of overseas investment.

A study completed in 2013 by Cambridge Econometrics looked at the impact of football on Greater Manchester. It was estimated that football supported 5,000 full-time equivalent jobs in Greater Manchester, and that the gross value added associated with footballing activities was £330 million per annum in 2011.

In addition to the positive impact on tourism, and not just on match days, it was noted that “Missions looking to attract trade and investment to the Greater Manchester area use football in a number of ways. The most direct method is co-ordinating mission dates with Manchester United and Manchester City on their summer tours to major overseas markets”.

But then there are losers

In the nineteenth and early twentieth-century Manchester was  known as ‘Cottonpolis’ because of the number of cotton mills, many now used as apartments, offices or for entertainment.   It was surrounded by a ring of cotton towns which in their time were quite prosperous with the mills offering regular employment for women at a time when this was less usual.

However, all these towns have been hit by economic and social challenges and this has been reflected in their football teams. After all, Premier League football in Manchester is just a tram or train ride away. Look at what has happened to these teams elsewhere in Greater Manchester:

• Bolton Wanderers in the Premier League for many years, in League Two in 2020/21
• Oldham Athletic in the Premier League when it was set up in 1992, now in League Two
• Bury, disappeared other than as a ‘phoenix’ non-league club
• Stockport County, at one time in the second tier of the Football League, now a non-league club
• Rochdale, in League One in 2020/21, but fighting relegation
• Wigan Athletic in administration in 2020/21 and fighting relegation from League One

Now think about clubs that started as non-league clubs and are now in the Football League ().   Where do they come from?

• Southern England: AFC Wimbledon; Cambridge United; Cheltenham Town; Crawley Town; Forest Green Rovers; Oxford United; Peterborough United; Stevenage; Wycombe Wanderers (9) (The derby between Cheltenham Town and Forest Green Rovers is known as ‘El Glosico’)
• Midlands: Burton Albion (1)
• North of England: Barrow; Fleetwood Town; Harrogate Town (prosperous northern spa town); Morecambe; Salford City (owned by former Manchester United players) (5)

The stadium and a sense of place

The stadium is where fans go to see home games, but it is also where they go to meet friends, some of whom they only see at football matches.   For example, when Charlton are playing at home I leave Warwickshire at 9.30 am to meet friends in my birthplace of Greenwich for brunch and a pre-match drink.

Charlton fans were exiled from The Valley after it was deemed unsafe to play in and had to share the ground of their South London rivals Crystal Palace.   New owners were prepared to fund a return to the ground, but Greenwich Council was reluctant to give planning permission.  Fans formed a political party called The Valley Party and fought local elections, securing the defeat of the chairman of the planning committee.   They subsequently were given permission to return and now have good relations with the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Coventry City fans left their ground in the city centre for the new Ricoh Arena on the outskirts of the city. They did not own the stadium and a series of court cases followed which saw them playing home matches at Northampton Town’s ground and then in 2020/21 at St. Andrews, the home of Birmingham City.   West Midlands mayor Andy Street helped with negotiations between Coventry City and the owners of the Ricoh, Wasps Rugby Football club.   In March 2021 it was announced that they have signed a ten-year agreement for Coventry City to play at the Ricoh, pending the construction of their new stadium on the Warwick University campus.

Ticket prices

A common complaint made by fans and some journalists is that the demographic base of football is changing. High ticket prices exclude traditional working-class supporters and also cannot be afforded by younger people, leading to an ageing support base.

In 1960, tickets at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge cost 1 per cent of the average weekly wage, which rose to almost 3 per cent by 1990 and in 2010 stood at 10 per cent. Supporters have become more affluent with clubs particularly keen to sell lucrative corporate boxes.

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire has noted: ‘Some clubs deliberately restrict season ticket sales in order to maximise income from football tourists, who pay more for tickets for individual matches and are more likely to spend money on merchandise in the club megastore.’  His research shows that between 1966 and 2018 ticket prices “outstripped inflation … by over 2000 per cent for the cheapest tickets, and a mere 750 per cent for the most expensive.’

Nevertheless, observations of this kind often overlook the fact that society as a whole has become more middle class and affluent with a decline in the number of those in manual occupations.  People have more discretionary income to spend.

Further reading/listening/watching

• Kieran Maguire is one of the leading commentators on football finance. His book The Price of Football (Agenda) is now in its 2^nd edition and is a treasure trove of information.  He tweets daily @PriceofFootball.   His twice weekly podcast is here: ‎‎The Price of Football on Apple Podcasts.
• Another leading tweeter on football finance is @SwissRamble.
• David Conn of The Guardian is one of the leading critical football commentators. Twitter @david_conn.  https://www.theguardian.com See David Conn talking at the Supporters’ Summit here: Clubs in Crisis, Fan Protests & More – Journalist David Conn on Leeds United, Liverpool – YouTube
• The website of the Football Supporters Association is at: https://thefsa.org.uk
• The Financial Times has a new weekly email newsletter called Scoreboard which has some interesting stories. https://subs.ft.com/scoreboard.

Questions for discussion

What does the increase of global football tourism, rising ticket prices and foreign ownership of clubs mean for locally based supporters?   Are they happy to accept the additional funds that are brought in which means that the club can win more matches and trophies?   Or do they think that their links with the club as fans and as an important source of their identity is undermined?

Can you name the club that once played in League One but whose stadium has now been demolished and the club only exists as a non-league phoenix club.   What was the stadium called and what famous product did the club’s owner make?    The first person with correct answers sent to The Orwell Youth Prize will receive a free copy of Wyn Grant’s book Political Football.

Research task: do stadiums matter?

What is particularly challenging about stadiums as economic assets?   Can one rebuild a stadium to secure a better return – for example, have Tottenham Hotspur managed this?   Did Arsenal take a financial hit on their pitch from their move to the Emirates?   Why have new stadiums not boosted the fortunes of Middlesbrough and Sunderland?  Chelsea have long sought a new stadium location as Stamford Bridge is difficult to rebuild – but then how did Brentford manage to build a new stadium on an awkward site?   Is the new stadium for Forest Green Rovers, known as ‘the Vegans’, really environmentally sustainable?

Finally, a prompt for the Writing Prize

What does the future hold for football and place? How can a small non-league football club owned by its fans develop as a club and as part of the local community?   What forms of help are available?   How can it provide training for youngsters and develop a team for women?   Perhaps look at the website of Lewes FC https://www.lewesfc.com as a starting point.  You can also google stories about Lewes in the national press. What are the similarities and differences between ‘grassroots’ football campaigns, and other forms of political action?