Sheffield MP backs ‘Right to Food’ movement to be made UK law as country struggles with pandemic
A petition aiming to make the government legally responsible for helping more than ten million people at risk of poverty in the UK has been endorsed by a Sheffield MP. The 'Right to Food' campaign has challenged the government to improve people's incomes, control everyday costs such as utility bills and improve access to good food. Sheffield Hallam MP, Olivia Blake, on Friday, said: “The determined work of councils, campaigners, charities and individuals to step in where the government has failed, and ensure no one is left hungry, is incredible. But it should not be necessary. “This government has continuously failed to take the steps necessary to ensure everyone in the UK has enough food. “Their piecemeal, inadequate support package - from refusing to extend free school meal vouchers, to shamefully insubstantial food parcels - has left millions of people hungry.”
Olivia Blake, 2019
(Credit: Fans Supporting Foodbanks)
Renowned Sheffield street trader defies pandemic to set up shop in Millhouses
Credit: @Crumb.Sheffield
A Sheffield street trader which has thrived throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is set to launch a new restaurant in Millhouses.
Pimlico Pizza started life as a food truck, serving pizzas to the people of Sharrow Vale. This meant, while Sheffield’s food and hospitality industry were decimated by three national lockdowns, they could still serve takeaways to their customers.
Being able to adapt to ever-changing restrictions has boosted their business, but despite Pimlico Pizza’s success over the past year, its owners Imre Von Schreiber and Isabella Phillips are parking the truck for now.
They have secured a lease on the old Floor Decor shop on Abbeydale Road and will begin renovations to turn the unit into the area’s newest restaurant.
Von Schreiber said: “We have been fortunate to live in this amazing city, with its brilliant hospitality community and support from loyal customers. Starting a restaurant will be a challenge, but we are hugely passionate and excited about what we do.”
The pandemic has severely impacted Sheffield’s economy. A business survey run by Sheffield City Council revealed that 58% of businesses in the city had seen cash flow worsen since the start of the pandemic, either significantly or to critical levels.
The city’s food and hospitality industry has taken the brunt of this damage. The council report shows that nearly three quarters of businesses within this sector are operating at critical sales levels, meaning their sales and income have plummeted.
Many well-known staples of the city’s food and drink scene have fallen victim to the pandemic since last March. Popular venues such as Harland Cafe and the Devonshire Cat were forced to close, making Von Schreiber and Phillips’ efforts even more remarkable.
Phillips said: “The past 12 months has been a terrible time for everyone. Throughout the pandemic, we have used social media constantly to engage with the local community and without this, the business wouldn’t have thrived in the way it has.”
”We feel that it is the perfect place for a pizzeria/bakery, and we hope that we will compliment the other businesses in the area and deliver delicious food to our customers.”
Von Schreiber and Phillips aim to open the restaurant in the early summer.
Rotherham United v Nottingham Forest Preview
Rotherham United will face Nottingham Forest at home on Tuesday 23 February at 7:45pm.
Rotherham are in the relegation zone and need to end a run of three consecutive defeats, while Forest could go 10 points clear of the bottom three with a win at the New York Stadium.
Rotherham United currently sit 22nd in the Championship but they are only two points behind Birmingham City in 21st and have two games in hand. Three points at home would allow the Millers to close that gap and could be huge in helping the club stay up this season.
After a narrow defeat at the weekend to Championship leaders Norwich City, Rotherham manager Paul Warne said: “All in all I'm pleased with the performance levels but just disappointed with the result.”
The Millers will now face a Nottingham Forest side with the the best defensive record in the bottom half, having conceded 31 goals in 31 games. However, Forest have never won at the New York Stadium in four attempts since it opened in 2012.
The midlands club are also facing a striker injury crisis. Lewis Grabban is out with a hamstring injury and Lyle Taylor was seen clutching his back on Saturday during the win against Blackburn.
Given the tight turn around for the Tuesday night game, 37-year-old veteran Glenn Murray could be likely to start. Murray had great success with current Forest manager Chris Hughton at Brighton and his experience as a striker will be vital.
The odds are stacked against Rotherham, as only Birmingham City have conceded more goals at home this season and their top scorer Michael Smith has just seven returns. The reverse fixture in October ended 1-1 with the game on Tuesday night also looking likely to be tight.
Predicted score 1-2.
The match will be available to Sky Sports customers on the Sky Sports Football Red Button or the Sky Sports App.
Rotherham United Championship form: WWLLL
Nottingham Forest Championship form: WWDLW
Livestreams and lockdowns: the 2020 Twitch boom
If you had never heard of the website twitch.tv before 2020, you could be forgiven. If in 2021 you have still never heard of it, then you have somehow managed to miss one of largest user increases on an internet platform. Twitch was first launched in 2007, by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear, as justin.tv. The site had different categories for users to stream under, with the gaming category quickly becoming the most popular. In 2011, justin.tv relaunched as twitch.tv and focused on gaming. Since then, the site has grown consistently in number of streamers and number of viewers. As the platform gained popularity, so too have the streamers themselves. Even celebrities have made guest appearances: Drake hopping on to play Fortnite with streamer Ninja in 2018 broke the single-stream viewer record at the time. Since March 2020, as lockdowns were being introduced to stop the spread of coronavirus, Twitch's unparalleled growth began.
Who's watching? Who's streaming?
This graph details the average number of people who are watching a stream on twitch at the same time. Lockdowns have incentive people to tune in to their favourite streamers or discover something new. Severe lockdown measures force people to spend more time indoors and away from others, so streams where you watch another person while you also talk to other viewers in the chat offer a different way to get social interaction. Many people were made to work from home, meaning that they can watch streams when they otherwise could not. Lockdown measures restrict what we can do but has given us time to pursue new hobbies and skills. This certainly applies to Twitch, with current streamers now available on more days and for longer. Additionally, new channels are being created with people starting their own communities. This graph shows the growth in peak number of active channels on the site: Twitch has gone from a small corner of the internet to controlling the room in regards to online culture. Some of the highlights from the past year include: Rapper T-Pain's incredible introduction to his stream, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern helping broxh with his carvings, and Formula One driver Charles Leclerc forgetting to let his girlfriend back in their apartment.What are they playing?
Twitch's own sub-culture is ever changing, as reflected by the data. Almost every video game ever made is being streamed by someone at some point on twitch, but there are games which constantly remain popular, while others experience mini booms in popularity and others fade away. This chart shows the viewer share over different games in 3 different weeks: Here, we see that classic esports titles such as "Counter-Strike" and "League of Legends" maintain consistent viewer numbers. The 'Just Chatting' category is consistently category with the largest view share, in this category streamers sit and talk to their chat, discuss politics and news or unbox things they have been sent. The largest trends make it easier to track the trends. April 2020 was the launch of the closed beta of "Valorant", a new first-person-shooter made by Riot Games, makers of "League of Legends". Riot created a 'drop' system for the beta, which meant if you wanted to play the game early you first had to watch a and hope you got lucky in receiving a key for the game. By September "Valorant" was fully released and nestled in with the other esports titles. The new most popular game was "Among Us", a game where crewmates have to repair a spaceship while impostors try and sabotage them. It gained sudden popularity due to the biggest streamers playing games with each other. Fast forward to 2021 and the "Among Us" hype has died down. While large streamers occasionally team up for a game, "Rust" became the new dominant force. "Rust" is an open-world sandbox survival game which launched in 2013, but once again the largest streamers on the site all gathered in a server together in a hunger-games-style event which dominated the twitch front page for weeks.
Among us was the biggest game on twitch throughout September
A smaller streamer perspective:
One shortcoming to Twitch is that it is a very top-heavy platform, something which is getting worse as it grows. The largest streamers get the most publicity. They sit at the top of the page when you browse the streamers or an individual game and people are more likely to click on them. This makes it harder for smaller streamers to experience the boom in its entirety, but when they do it is very encouraging. One streamer from the UK, Bryer84, is normally a freight train driver but also streams. When asked about his experience as a streamer in the pandemic he said: "I came back to it 2 months ago and went from 10 followers to 110 followers, with regulars that drop in and everything which I never had previously. Interactions happen if you engage with the audience, which I make a point of doing as its good for my mentality and I'd like to think good for those watching that they can have a chat." Train simulator is a niche market, even for Twitch, but Bryer has still managed to create a loyal and supportive community. People enjoy the ambience of the game which fills the void of not being able to travel on the train in person. Twitch provides an escape to the viewer and streamer from the stresses of life in lockdown. Bryer said: "Its provided me with a mental escape from lockdown. Being able to have "friends" join me in my home and chat about the games and railway as a whole." Bryer streams at twitch.tv/bryer84 The heart of Twitch lies within these communities. From huge streamers like Ninja and Shroud to small ones like Bryer, the last year made these communities stronger, and made twitch a nearly unstoppable force on the internet.
Residents in unsafe Sheffield flats left scrambling to pay remedial costs
Image by Olivia Hill, resident of Mandale House apartment block Major building defects – such as the lack of cavity barriers, internal compartmentation issues, wooden balconies and unsafe insulation – have forced flat dwellers into paying around £50,000 for urgent fire safety repairs in Sheffield. Three and a half years since the tragedy at Grenfell, the government has unveiled a £3.6bn fund to fix dangerous cladding on high-rise buildings in England, with the offer of loans to leaseholders to solve similar problems in shorter buildings under 18m. 36 buildings in the city have registered for the government’s fund, according to Sheffield Cladding Action Group (SCAG), but there are fears loans are not being distributed quickly enough and cladding removal from all affected buildings could take years due to the lack of specialist contractors. The campaigning organisation SCAG was set up by a group of leaseholders from four buildings across Sheffield affected by unsafe cladding and other building defects which are causing fire safety issues. It works closely with the council, South Yorkshire Fire, and the MP for Hallam, Olivia Blake and MP for Central Sheffield, Paul Blomfield. Olivia Hill, campaigner and co-founder of SCAG, is a final-year PhD student at the University of Sheffield. After finding out in October that her building, Mandale House, had failed the external wall survey and various other safety problems, she joined up with other leaseholders and began investigating the seriousness of the issue in the city. “It’s not ‘job done’ for the government now,” said first-time buyer Miss Hill, who has felt “let down and forgotten” during the crisis. “It’s probably only about 20% of the problem covered. We’re constantly paying out money now for the interim costs, just to keep our building open – around £40,000 to £50,000 per flat, which has wiped out people's equity.” This includes the cost of fire alarms plus around £80,000 for a waking watch, a 24-hour system where trained professionals patrol the floors of the building, checking for signs of fire and sounding the alarm if a fire starts. “Other buildings are paying way more than that, like £7,000 a week just to keep their buildings open,” says Miss Hill. “This is because if you don’t have these provisions in place, then the South Yorkshire fire department can just close down the entire building and everybody has to leave.” Residents in the North Bank apartment block on Wicker Riverside in Sheffield were evacuated by the fire service around Christmas time last year after the building failed fire safety tests. The Wicker building is now uninsurable. The problem doesn't only impact the homeowners, she adds. "I can't sell my flat now – if I wanted to move house, I probably wouldn't be able to buy in the near future. It's crippling the bottom of the housing market."
Olivia Hill, front, and fellow residents at the Mandale House apartment building in Sheffield, who are part of the Sheffield Cladding Action Group. Image by Olivia Hill.
Sheffield homelessness soars by 24% due to Covid-19 impact
Credit: Deadly Sirius
The number of homeless people in Sheffield rose by 24% this year, revealing the effects of the pandemic on the city’s most vulnerable.
Zoe Young, Housing Options and Advice Service Manager for Sheffield City Council, told a scrutiny committee that they expect to have dealt with 600 homelessness cases by the end of March, up from 484 at this time last year.
There was also a 73% rise in the number of people placed into temporary accommodation. While being asked to leave by family and friends remains the most common cause of homelessness, there was a substantial increase in those leaving their homes after suffering domestic abuse during lockdown.
Ms Young admitted that, for as long as the pandemic continues, it will be difficult to reverse this trend. She said: “There is a significant risk that this number of cases will increase because of the pandemic, and our services will find it difficult to improve because of the pressures on resources.”
Tracey Ford, the council’s City Centre Anti-Social Behaviour Manager, also discussed how the national lockdown had impacted the council’s ability to help those at risk of homelessness.
She said: “People were running around like headless chickens, wondering how we were going to keep up with those displaced by Covid, how we would make sure they were being looked after and staying safe.
“The likes of Ben’s Centre, The Archer Project and St Wilfrid’s really got their heads together and helped us to look at meeting the needs of these people.”
Daryl Bishop is the CEO of Ben’s Centre, an organisation which provides support to those suffering with homelessness, alcoholism and substance abuse. While he was impressed at the way in which groups around Sheffield have worked together to help those in need, he said Covid restrictions have frustrated everyone’s efforts.
“We can only really operate at half capacity, and we are just opening when and where we can to try and provide support for people and help get them in touch with housing organisations.
“Normally, people come to our centre and we chat to them, we get to know them. When this day-to-day conversation isn’t happening, we lose that information about people that we normally have.
“At the moment, there are less places for people to go and present themselves when they are in trouble, there’s less outreach going on. There’s probably a lot of people out there who really want help that are struggling to tell us they need it.”
Sheffield tenants slam “bad landlords” at city centre protest
Protestors rallied outside Sheffield Town Hall on Saturday to demand city-wide landlord licensing as part of their fight against "bad landlords". The socially-distanced demonstration was organised by ACORN, a community-based union of tenants, workers and residents, who support communities across the UK. ACORN Sheffield say they have seen an increase in their caseload during the pandemic, with complaints ranging from mould and housing in need of urgent repair to discrimination, harassment and assault. “We shouldn’t even have to exist”, said Will Russ, ACORN member and Public Liaison Officer for the protest. “But the Council can take too long, either by choice or by capacity. “Landlord licensing would be a major step, even at the base level, to make sure that houses are fit for human habitation, you’re not renting from a scumbag, you’re not renting from a criminal who has housing-related offences and you’re protected in your home.” At the protest, passers-by stopped to hear one tenant share their plight with a landlord, who charged over £100 in extra fees after rushing them to sign an empty contract when they were stuck in an emergency situation last December. Then one by one, union members piled up 50 red cardboard boxes with tenants' testimonies of mistreatment written on them to form a ‘house’, barricading the entrance to the Town Hall.
A 'house' built from tenants' testimonies barricading the entrance to the Town Hall
Some of ACORN members' testimonies
“Local authorities must use the powers they already have. A selective licensing scheme would not add new powers to prevent this kind of action; it would only increase the costs on law-abiding landlords and by extension, their tenants.”
Councillor Paul Wood, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety, has been contacted for comment.
For advice or support contact sheffield@acorncommunities.org.uk
Robertson states Doncaster are still in promotion battle
(Credit: Doncaster Free Press) Doncaster Rovers are still aiming for promotion to the Championship this season despite their recent dip in form according to midfielder Scott Robertson. Rovers are without a victory in their last four games, but are only six points off the top two, with a game in hand. Celtic loanee, Robertson, believes they can take positives from the last few games even though recent results have not gone there way. He states: “If you had told us at the start of the season we would be in this position, I think we would’ve taken it. It has been disappointing in the last few games, we haven’t picked up the points we wanted to, but we’re still in the mix. “We know the results haven’t been brilliant, but we haven’t been too far away of where we want to be in the last few games.”
Credit: Doncaster Free Press
Magical landscapes: the best places in the UK for literature
In "Wuthering Heights", Emily Brontë wrote: “In all England, I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of society”. Literature has the power to make us travel during lockdowns, even if we can only see the outside world through the window in our rooms. But is this still the case today, now everything is accessible through a screen? The past few months have shown us that human beings need to be creative. Whether by walking the dog or sitting down and reading a novel, every breath of fresh air is essential for maintaining good mental health. John McLeod, Professor of Postcolonial and Diaspora Literature at the University of Leeds, said: “Literature is always a form of mobility. You are transported outside of the arrogance of your own identity. You are transported outside of your own language, your own culture, your own nation. Even if I am reading a book set in West Yorkshire, two miles away, I am still being transported out of my own kind of environment. "What the pandemic has reminded us is how absolutely crucial culture is to provide those transports and to remind us of how much contact and motion are at the heart of human life”. This idea is shared by students. Millie Clarke, student of English Literature at The University of Sheffield, explained many people doubted her career options in the future, but her passion was stronger than those concerns. She said: “I like it when it feels like you are genuinely experiencing a new place through a book. If I am genuinely interested in the people of the novel, then I want to share in their experiences. "I want to see the things they have seen, feel like I am walking where they might have walked. Even though I know they are not real, it adds a bit of grounding to a narrative. We are wired to want to believe any piece of literature at least to a certain extent.” In a country with so many great writers, inspiration comes from all over the UK. Moorlands, castles, lighthouses, forests, communities and the sea have influenced authors from different generations and styles. [metaslider id=30067] Haworth, West Yorkshire Yorkshire’s landscapes have been the inspiration for many stories. One of the most well-known is "Wuthering Heights", the bleak setting of which was inspired by the moorlands near Haworth. The author’s house, Haworth Parsonage, gave her the perspective of two different worlds. The romantic, idyllic environment of the British countryside, but also the industrialised landscape of the city. John Bowen, Professor of 19th century literature at the University of York, told the British Library: “Nature is often deeply inhospitable in the book, not easily subdued to human purpose, comfort or design. Landscape is thus never simply a setting or something to be contemplated in Brontë’s work, but an active and shaping presence in the lives of its characters.” Today, people walk around these moorlands to feel close to the story and its characters. “The inspiration for a lot of the Brontë and a couple of the Austen books is quite close to Sheffield, so I enjoy going to see those. I have not studied it for a couple of years but the moorland around Yorkshire was an inspiration for Wuthering Heights’ setting. It is always in my mind when I go for a walk there.”, said Ms Clarke. [metaslider id=30113] Warwick, Warwickshire J. R. R. Tolkien's connections with Warwick are often overlooked. However, places like the Warwick castle and its surroundings left their mark on "The Lord of the Rings" by providing an inspiration for the Elven forest. The author married Edith Bratt at St Mary’s Immaculate Roman Catholic Church and the city provided multiple romantic breaks for the couple. Tolkien’s love of trees, hills and Warwick’s mystical landscapes is crucial to his book. “There are some writers, past and present, for whom the specifics of place are especially important and distinctive. For other writers perhaps their engagement with landscape would be less obvious but is also present. There is always a relationship between place and writer”, stated Prof McLeod. [metaslider id=30144] Stratford-Upon-Avon Shakespeare’s birthplace is a ‘must-see’ in the literary tourism across the UK. The playwriter divided his life between London and Stratford-Upon-Avon. His wife and children remained in Stratford while he was pursuing his professional career in the capital. The area influenced the Forest of Arden in "As You Like It". The author also learned about nature and flowers, which were later two very important subjects in his plays, while he was growing up in the countryside. Sally Gray, education officer at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, said: “[Shakespeare's] ability to explore human emotions and the creative language he used to describe the human spirit remains relevant today. His words provide a wonderful vehicle for children to discuss human attributes such as resilience and self-esteem and to explore their own characteristics, feelings and identities.” [metaslider id=30166] London London's multiculturalism makes it a perfect setting for contemporary novels. Zadie Smith, one of the most significant figures of our generation, sees London’s environment as a powerful inspiration. “London is an essential element of her writing. That urban environment, that urban landscape and its very multicultural dimension as well as its visible appearance. These things are essential to Zadie’s art. Zadie Smith without London would be kind of unimaginable.”, explained Prof McLeod. Another writer, Bernardine Evaristo, who won the Booker Prize in 2019, addresses the struggles of a mixed-race girl in London in her novel "Lara". The inspiration came after Evaristo grew up as the only black girl at her school in Woolwich. [metaslider id=30184] St. Ives, Cornwall The last stop on this literary tour is St. Ives in Cornwall. The seacoast city is hugely important for the work of Virginia Woolf. Her book "To the Lighthouse", although set on the Isle of Skye, is said to have been influenced by Woolf’s summer trips to Cornwall. “I also love the escapism of storytelling and how you can stop thinking about the crazy world around you for a while and just focus on the world in the story you are reading”, said Amy Kinsella, an English student from The University of Leeds.
Want to discover more about these famous locations? Check out the interactive map below.
77th Anniversary of the Mi Amigo crash celebrated despite Covid-19 concerns
Commemorations are being held this evening to mark the 77th anniversary of the catastrophic air accident at Endcliffe Park. The 'Mi Amigo memorial' stands to remember the brave pilots of the plane that crashed almost 80 years ago. On the 22nd February 1944, the American air force B-17 Flying Fortress 'Mi Amigo' was flying back from Denmark and crash-landed in Endcliffe park. The crew sacrificed their lives to prevent the deaths of a group of children playing nearby.
Mi Amigo Memorial, Endcliffe Park, Sheffield
Mi Amigo Memorial, Endcliffe Park, Sheffield
The dog theft pandemic: lockdown’s threat to dog owners
Dog thefts are estimated to have risen by 250% over the past year. Last week it was reported that the Home Secretary Priti Patel was looking to enforce stronger penalties for pet theft. However, this comes too late for thousands of owners across the UK who have lived through the nightmare of having their beloved dog taken from them. The law currently treats animal theft as the same offence as property theft, a crime which is tried in a Magistrates Court and usually incurs a nominal fine. However, the Pet Theft Reform Campaign highlighted only 1% of dog theft crimes have resulted in prosecution in recent years. Liv Turner, 19, whose Labrador Dexter is believed to have been stolen after he went missing on a walk in their home of Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire said: “At the moment the penalties for pet theft are similar to someone who’s just simply stolen a bike. Dogs are not objects they’re loved members of the family who have personalities and emotions.”
Dexter the Fox Red Labrador went missing in Beaconsfield
Louis the Dachshund was stolen from Southend
Ms McLoughlin with Bailey
Sheffield parents react to schools reopening
Schools are set to reopen on March 8, many South Yorkshire parents are pleased to hear. For some non-key worker parents from the Sheffield area, school closures have caused serious concerns for their children's education and mental health. 35-year-old Samantha Wood from Darnall has two sons aged seven and 14, who have had to stay at home since schools closed. She said: "My 7-year-old was top of the class at maths, he was the mathematician wizard. Since been off school I can tell a huge difference in his learning. "I don't care what anyone says, children have to be in the classroom to learn, being at home isn't helping them at all." Ms Wood said her youngest son has not played with a friend since finishing school before Christmas and feels as though this is having a huge impact on his mental health. She said she tells the boys' teachers they are struggling and cannot engage, but they said there is nothing they can do as "their hands are tied until children can go back." Bryany Wright, 24, from Penistone, has two daughters who are three and four years old. Her oldest daughter, Daisy, started school last September and has been struggling with the emotional and social toll of completing school from home. Ms Wright said: "I’m so happy to send her back, for her sake and ours. It’ll benefit her socially, but also her brain is so busy it needs the stimulation from school that I can’t give her at home." Being away from school has been emotionally difficult and has even affected Daisy's sleeping habits and appetite, her mum said. She explained: "It’s been really tough for her missing out, her emotions have been all over the place, one minute hyper, next minute angry, then two minutes later she’s crying because it’s all got too much for her. "The hardest part for her was knowing that some of her friends were still able to go to school being the children of key workers", she said. Rachel Louise Ken, 35, has three children and is currently studying for her masters degree in paramedicine, alongside working full time for the NHS. Rachel is not eligible to use childcare as her partner is not a key worker. Ms Ken said juggling her work, studies and having three children at home has been too much. She said: "Between home schooling, travelling two hours for practical studies, assignments, working nights, and general living, I'm ready for them to go back."