It what we're calling the radio for ideas lab we've brought together 3 brilliant minds the very best in their field who offer their expertise for free to help get his idea of the ground. A social innovator is Steven Berkoff Well conceiving Good morning tell us your idea what you think you can resolve what we're trying to solve 2 big problems in the u.k. 1st solve the housing crisis and every one of the weather crisis and the impacts on younger people in particular who need a photo housing the 2nd issue we're trying to resolve is about the growth in a segregation in our country few people actually have contact with other generations outside their own family there are well over $2000000.00 older people who are living on their own and therefore experiencing loneliness So our proposal is around intergenerational housing bringing older and young people together either under one roof or in communities alongside each other providing mutual support companionship practical support friendship making sure those benefits are mutual I'm really curious to know why you are so personally invested in this idea when I was growing up my grandmother was one of the most important people in my life she was literally really lived around the corner from where we lived when my parents were both working she provided a lot of our childcare and you know a lot of my interests actually reflected her interests in terms of cricket and football and just the no nonsense way she lived her life and is that what you want to replicate for other people that but very close bond close bond between generations is spent about contacts and mixing across the generations which will make our society a lot stronger because I've been doing a bit of research and the interesting thing about intergenerational housing other than it's a bit of a mouthful is that there isn't a one size fits all models are going to take a look at 2 of them one is privately funded and one is publicly funded. So the 1st model it into generational housing that we've come to have a look at is something called a home stand. It is actually pretty simple it's a way of putting young people and old people literally under the same roof it just so happens that the particular relief I'm looking at belongs to a 5 storey stucco fronted Regency mansion and that's because it's located in a rather push bit of London Chelsea. Was. The houses owned by 94 year old John Corbett Singleton we met in the sitting room with a slightly faded pale yellow walls or dawned with fine art and photographs John his daughter my Saturn around a big oak table to chat I was getting older and older than my wife had just had she was very much in charge of the house and very much in charge of me and we'd been married 65 years so when she passed away and you were in the house on your own Well you came up with the idea that you should have a younger flatmate. Not quite my daughter I mean there. I think she'd a is she so is she there years she did themselves and John is self-effacing and virally charming but his age is catching up with him I think it was for us to mirror that is from their idea or you know what not to with clout rigamarole around the house or I could I was wrong the 1st one was called Poppy she was born there Poppy day I think. Probably now lives elsewhere when she moved in with John she was just 24 years old and about to start a masters degree in London Hi Poppy Lare How are you living on a tight student budget she wanted somewhere that was cheap consentual she turned to the community interest company Sharon kept they almost where I could touch make you service and the fact they match up your personalities to see if you might click and after that I pretty much moved in and I was there for yes and was it love at 1st sight we certainly clicked straight away we've got a lot of common interests so it would be reading the newspaper at the reading which have a science magazine it was very sweet hobby pays no rent instead both flatmates pay Sharon Kat $180.00 pounds a month for that price the company carries out a criminal record in credit checks and a detailed assessment of the flatmates personalities the home showers are expected to spend around 10 hours a week together they do my shopping they do my cooking and I'm very grateful Poppy the main suspicion people have it would appear that this scheme is that you somehow become a domicile or a cat worker there is certainly a level of responsibility in the same way the external for any night is far more companionship and trying to recreate the males that his wife cooks to him to try and keep that home atmosphere for him and show that there was someone else in the house. On the other side of London and then less well heeled neighborhood I discovered another example of intergenerational housing Laurie house in Tottenham is a low rise block of $52.00 flats the vast majority of them provide sheltered housing for its elderly residents like 94 year old Joy and her friend Brendan King . She's coming again on the face yes it is right you have a stripper and it was going to tell you yes and say we're. Going to tell you my leg. So I did. I'm very innocent me how much did you take everything no. Joy in her all the cheeky friends that Larry House have been almost to open the doors of their community to 6 single moms and their babies who'd been on the council's housing waiting list Joyce rather direct about what she 1st thought of the idea no. I said no to it because they're not brought up the way we were brought Tra was the image that you and many of the older people here had of young people most of that be on drugs and they would have meant coming in at all hours of the night the scheme is a pilot project run by Haringey council it aims to create a community in which to vulnerable groups who both experience isolation support one another feel that they just for that we was reckon boards to come in with our loud noises and they were scared because of what they see on telly but what they see only is that's 23 year old shiny Mhor babies just 10 months old in exchange for agreeing to spend a few hours a week socialising with the old residents she's been housed in a one bedroom flat shame lives one floor below joy are 4 I would be Ok but they don't know how they will be towards me and the baby and for me to just put myself in their space was a bit scary at 1st tell me about when the 1st mums moved it was that like one exception I found them all very nice they're friendly Shara lives underneath mate with her baby she said Does he have a view and I said No I don't know you all there. Be under no illusion this is a carefully crafted community the residents are just dumped together in the same building instead Council funded support workers encourage mixing by way of shared activities like The Breakfast Club you can hear in the background and in common with spaces like the shed laundry room where Joy help because there's free new washing machines she does not know how to use them we sit and talk and she's a very nice girl she's got a job. The scheme's organizers are adamant that this pilot is not expensive both types of residents have to be housed the true cost is that support workers like the new lock take on the responsibility of being the glue that binds the 2 generations together we have to do all the organizing to physically get them to be in the same room to start challenging some of the prejudices and stereotypes that both of them have of each other do you generate conversation yes Bret's it is a big one. A way to get away from it I do think that me enjoy your friends we talk. In the longer it will be very embarrassing that he didn't think we were friends yes oh yes actually our trust and this is a pilot project what is the big picture what are you trying to be to do to stop the separation of generations is the biggest hope Britain has become very divided and very angry and you can see that you can feel it but here is little pockets of sweetness actually it's very sweet it is very sweet and not a 1000000 miles away from what I witnessed in Chelsea John's Homeshare range man is one of just 372 nationwide which is a little surprising considering he and his flatmates are adamant that intergenerational Housing Works I launder to stay in those. They've been part of the process which is unable to do that quite successfully or happen to like these people very much indeed do you think you've been able to offer them some thing apart from just over there really there it was almost like having an honorary grandfather definitely made my meeting to a new city so much easier he sold it I mean my husband and he had a job. But honestly even I'm not going to pretend that was a representative sample of people taking part in these housing schemes but what I will say is that everybody involved was incredibly positive about an interesting the the organizers all said that they felt it was run at a relatively low cost so I can understand why it is not taking off with the $2.00 very good examples very different examples but I think they also highlights some of the issues one of which is about culture and ages and not about attitudes between young and older people towards each other but I think there's a wider issue about ageism in our society more generally for housing professionals people in local authorities planners who are responsible for leading a lot of this but I actually find it quite easy to build bricks and mortar but actually we talk about building communities here bringing people together and that's a lot harder to do Ok so at ages I'm that's the thing you want to solve in the ideas lab is place right across our society from public policy makers so that is no small task so let's get down to business this is where the radio for ideas lab comes in we've brought together 3 experts all leaders in their own fields who we think can help you shift the attitude and just a quick side bar just sitting at home and him saying that I am not talking about a blindingly white glossy that is meeting room in Silicon Valley margin instead a slightly shabby radius to you hidden in the dark recesses broke off the house a way back to our experts 1st off Dr King on West is a social psychology. Based at Goldsmiths University he's been doing groundbreaking work on prejudice and how crucially to overcome it as to Foreman has the official title and c.e.o. Of the social change agency describes herself as a chief encouragement officer she spent 15 years working to change the minds of the public and politicians and finally David help and he's at the helm of the behavioral insights team no you probably don't know what that is but you will know it by its nickname the knowledge that it wants at the very heart of the Cabinet Office and prove so successful that it now sells it services around the world how do I want to. Thank you for joining. Us You spent years investigating prejudice and I think we really need to take a step back and get to grips with the nature of what age is and. Stephen Augie's prejudice is a social construct you know but is there any indication that I have just hard wired that way so we're hardwired to differentiate between different groups of people and we're hardwired to treat people differently but the idea that we're hardwired to be prejudiced in the way that we are is simply not true it's obviously the case because societies differ quite drastically so if you were to look at attitudes towards women one society would be adamant that women should never speak in public and should always remain behind the men in the other society would be happy to have a female head of state humans can be difficult and that we tend to prefer members of our own groups to members of other groups but what's interesting is how we define or groups some things matter and some things don't so blue eyed and green eyed people for example don't think of themselves as a unique interest group they don't think I'm a blue eye and I hate those green eyes those green eyes have come here and taken our blue eyed jobs but we do differentiate not an eye color but on skin color and we differentiate on things like gender and we differentiate on things like age and is there any distinction between ages and those other isms that you just murder so many so every ism is a different ism so it's not usually helpful to treat all isms as if they're the same butt. One of the things that's really interesting about ages them is that if you are being ages you are discriminating against a group that you either have belong to or will belong to which is kind of funny very few white people will ever become black very few men will ever become women however you define any of these things I mean it's possible to change in any direction from anything but it's unlikely for most people but if you are young you are almost certainly going to be old one day and if you are old you are absolutely guaranteed to have been young at some point in time you know about the eve don't do you found a single best way to overcome negative attitudes and reverse segregation and bring people together I am hesitant to speak of a single best way to do anything because there may be a better way to morrow but I will say that funny enough contact which is exactly the solution you've suggested is undoubtedly one of the strongest and one of the most reliable and one of the widest researched ways of reducing prejudice that we've ever had to give you a bit of context in the 1950 than a lot of different countries a lot of scientists thought for some crazy reason they should keep people apart segregation was a great idea they said if people mix then their innate differences will rise to the surface and they'll be riots and hostilities and the kill each other but when they actually look at the numbers they found that generally wasn't the case if you leave people from different groups together long enough in a space where they can interact they don't generally kill each other they tend to make friends some of them tend to make babies and they tend to like each other quite a bit more than we didn't have a baby making but we definitely had Jo I'm not sure they're all going to be because no one is going to be the most important. But we definitely had you know joy and that coming together there was a real bottom that was put on death and that should happen and that is what tends to happen most of the time if you allow people to interact they like each other more and more than that they don't just like each other as individuals they like each other as groups so you start to like all the members of their group a bit more you must be boys by the state and I mean it's fantastic you know that makes. Me want building into generational relationships with all. Your idea is brilliant this is a good idea it is backed by decades of scientific research it is an excellent proposal thank you Cale if you like cheering but Stephen The thing is you don't want to just change the minds of individuals you want a wholesale shift in public opinion and the person who we believe can help you do that is our next expert as to form and from the social change agency you have worked on many campaigns way you have moved attitudes wholesale What's the key to doing that this is where the campaigning will be able to conjugate we've all sat here and listened to incredible stories and we've all had our hearts and minds may like have been once lived in tell us the only experience the joys of I know the women giving advice about how to bring up to it and it's brilliant but how do you achieve that scale if you want to do contact in a way that achieves in Princeton his relationships within a generation you need to be looking at scale and the way that scale is going to happen is through storytelling there's really think about all of the big narrative change campaigns that happen if I think about the past x. Revelation the whole green movement has been going for decades and decades and decades but yet it kind of only really reached public penetration off to that shocking David Attenborough image of a sea go trying to feed its young plastic rings suddenly everyone went Oh my God what we actually dating and even though there was huge amounts of campaigning lobbying Titian's March here is it was that one image that helped shift public consciousness and actually this is not acceptable so you need deep storytelling and that is how you create a sea change in attitudes so we've given you a couple of scenarios that how would you disseminate those stories and who would you describe them to you say absolutely say well the challenge for this is actually can we create that moment in time the shifts narrative and it's who at that point arises you need to be getting a ducks in a row you need to be thinking about where all the stories road to get to. That is well they're young people and old people where they go why don't you go into the headdress as the old people use and get their head dresses talk to their clients about intergenerational living so it's almost personal recommendation it's finding these contact points if you think about Twitter other social media you're actually more inclined to believe something that your best friends told you through Twitter then someone you don't really know and it's that peer to peer storytelling is a way the change hearts and minds can be very cheeky and something Steven into generational housing I mean that is not sexy is it as an. Intergenerational housing I just want to see it when you have all of them and there was there was nothing about academic studies I know a great deal paced Stephen about in general has ng on a website and I was thinking you know what if you're 23 and struggling to find somewhere to live it's not the 1st thing that you look up so there's definitely a kind of brand thing that needs to happen around it all right so if I have understood this correctly what you're saying is Stephen would need to create powerful stories of success that are then spread through a kind of guerilla marketing campaign that is targeted at those people whose minds you want to be shifted Yes so you can yeah I mean the language thing is really important and homes for all ages all communities for all ages I think as he says it better and we need real people talking about it as a service but Stephen before we get too carried away there is an obvious and crucial set of people we haven't talked about and that of course is the politicians and the policy makers and presumably you want them on board because you want their backing and possibly their funding Well they set the framework for all of this whether it's planning policy or whether it's the funding to make it happen and we want to see happening in every community Ok so then to a final experts David help and you of course as we said it work to the heart of Number 10 head of the so called Not Junior extremely well placed to tell us how Stephen can change the minds. Of those in power but before we get there isa lot of ideas come and go have an what do you make of yes indeed we spend our time trying to generate new ideas Well it's a really interesting puzzle is an exam the face of it it's a great idea Piers immediately as I grew up with my grandmother living next door to and so on so you know how good an idea as it were on the face of it's brilliant right we got 7000000 under occupied homes in Britain which means 2 more bedrooms not being used I mean a lot of people who need accommodation Well that seems like it's magic right we've got a growth of single households there's even this remarkable evidence about how powerful the current health effects are of having relationships so social isolation by a number of matter analysis as we call it is estimated to have the same negative effect on your health as 15 cigarettes a day and so it's worth unpicking just one of the really the barriers even the best ideas if you really want to persuade policymakers you need to show that it really really work and what's very striking this area is a very very few good evaluations to show how well does it work to people live longer are they happier it seems plausible will be the case but it's one thing so it's plausible another to actually imperfectly shows the case so if we want to go from a few 100 to a few thousands or tens of thousands we need to bridge that evidence gap in all my years as a reporter I've reported lots of policy rollouts of policy announcements from various government various issues but honestly usually boils down to one thing when they're selling the s. To the general public and it is this either this idea or all this announcement is going to save the taxpayer money or it's going to cost very little and it's going to have hugely disproportionate benefit is that still a persuasive factor when it comes to the Treasury is storing Still I would say we're on the cusp of it becoming much much more central you know a program like this is in very very plausible ideally right what's called a randomized control trial or something like that and see well let's see if people go into the housing does it work much better are they happy or do they live longer you know do they save money let's answer those questions or David this is very interesting because in the run up to this recording. My producer and I rang various economists and asked them Is there any evidence that this is beneficial How do you weigh the cost and benefit thinking when is this social benefit and they all said it's too small scale to do that is that it is somewhat true and you can do small scale studies but often if you think about it like it is a something different about that particular person would it replicate would it go to scale so fundamentally this is a catch 22 for Steven because he needs the evidence to go and persuade the policymakers and the politicians but he's not to scale to the point where he could actually do that what can he do you probably things we need to attach to your lab this in here in the in the past regarding house is what I call problem innovation fans we need to have money to try out new things and then the most important thing we have to attach to that robust evidence of the idea of a lab if you think about a lab is about experimentation you very one thing you don't vary other so you can figure out what has a causal impact and also which version so there's lots of versions of co-housing which are out there which version works best for who these are important questions so we should be ambitious about trying out new ideas like Stevens I totally back that's not my life doing that but I also think we have to touch to it this kind of rigor in order to persuade lots of people it's not by we just persuading policymakers it's persuading people who is going to be right for you so is your advice actually in a way to go back to what Esther is adjusting and what Kiran is suggesting is you create the contact you get the great story you disseminate it you shift public opinion you get enough people buying into these games and then you measure it yeah I would go a little further so what we saw Michael a kitchen sink example let's try the best version of Stephen's idea let's try and sufficient scale and then even better now let's figure out which version of it works best and then you can really put a rocket behind it measure it get the evidence persuade the politicians Well let's agree with what I was saying we need more example in this country where we can gather that evidence but some some of the savings are going to be long term because a lot of it is about prevention whether it's about improving. People's health or whether it's about improving the long term prospects for those young people involved in the scheme David if there was a single bit of advice you could give Stephen to get him on the road what would it be well Stevens a lot there's actually a fund in $98000000.00 function better aging which should be precisely the kind of thing you're plenty and we actually spend a lot of money on aging but we tend to spend on pharmaceuticals on pills and drugs and so on and what you're talking about is something which is much more interesting exciting really which is to try and change the way we live our lives to support that raging in a much deeper more meaningful sense so let's try to get some of that money which we otherwise pour into biomedical indeed end of life care and so on and spend a little bit earlier to make our lives a bit better David Stephen came to you with this idea as a proposition met you for coffee next week honestly what would you say you know I'm Briley Cain I think we definitely are yes I mean I don't administer the. Do I think look do I do think you know we should try to make a society and a government one of which is much more open to trying out new ideas and some of them won't work that's fine yes exactly we should be doing and then we'll see where we get to as to put you to speculate I think part the problem with this though is you're still framing the whole thing around aging and not around young people or housing emergency that are currently existing and and I think that if you carry on down the reframing at the narrative as aging better you're going to lose the younger people they still 50 percent of the equation and you're not really appealing to them is this not about just living better I think actually I mean I completely agree with that both of you said I think in fact merging it together in a certain way part of the problem is that we are approaching things as if everything is a 0 sum game that you must help one group or another group and 0 sum game would be a game like football where if I score you lose a point that everything for me it's a negative for you and most of life isn't a 0 sum game in most situations if I benefit you also benefit and this is one of those very obvious cases where we have empty houses people who need somewhere to live and people who need someone to live with it's a clear again for almost. Everyone so selling it that way seems like a very good strategy Qian west as to whom and David help and thank you very very much feel time indeed but of course the acid test is the least even you came here telling us you needed help changing attitudes towards intergenerational housing Have you heard anything today that will help build on that idea and get you from local project t.k. Might engine is actually made me really hopeful and I think concern how we can make and cherish our housing happen in every community Qian has talked about the need for contacts and relationships to break down ages and in our society Esther showed us how we can actually raise awareness among all groups and David has shown that there is an appetite I think within government and within policymakers to actually make this a reality Stephen it's been absolutely pleasure having you here thank you for taking part and ready for ideas lab you certainly convinced death dying a little cynical journalist that bit of positive thinking can go very long way. Just one last thing a reminder to tune into positive thinking tomorrow when Krupa party will be looking to solution proof the idea of a rat free Britain Today's positive thinking was written and presented by Sankey to my ska the producer it was 7 bear. Now Radio 4 for thought is for a general. Hello and welcome to forethought recorded in front of a live audience at the prima donna literature and Arts Festival in Suffolk our speaker Ashley Hicks in love and believes passionately in the power of reading and writing he was once an English teacher a profession to which he may return after completing his Ph d. In creative writing at the University of East Anglia and surfing the wave created by his debut novel The 392 set on a London bus is a novel which he hopes could speak to his former pupils and help them like him to leave another kind of life behind Please welcome Ashley Hicks in love and. Tattooed across my chest from the top of my left shoulder to the top of my right one are the words the pen is mightier than the sword in fancy cursive writing I got it done when I was about $21.00 friends have ridiculed my choice of tat because the words pen and is Charisse Li close together. Yes I basically have the word penis on my chest for the rest of my life. But I haven't let their tones affect me on any application I take the opportunity to show off my tattoo chest often opting to wear a low cut to display what I paid about 200 pounds for even the awful photo at the back of my debut novel features me wearing my favorite top of the chest revealing black top but what does this phrase mean and why have it indelibly into my skin for the rest of my life. Like any modern millennial with questionable tattoos my defense may seem tenuous I was born and grew up in Hackney east London a bar associated with multicultural working class communities and higher than average crime rates especially in the 1990 s. When I was born not that I was really aware of that back then generally I recall my childhood being a happy one yes money was tight we didn't go on holidays or have Sunday roast with all the trimmings but I never went to bed hungry no was I forced to wear clothes from charity shops I never lived in my dad it was just my mum and me in the flat until my younger half brother was born Hackney and in particular Hoxton was for most part a great place to grow up had every think I needed to have a contented childhood it was a real melting pot of coaches and nationalities a mixture of black white and Turkish predominantly I made close friends of lots of the boys in the area who lived in the same estate and who were roughly the same age as me football brought us all together living just 20 minutes away from Arsenal's old hybrid stadium I was basically the only Manchester United fan in the block. Across the road from the estate with 2 gravel 4 pitches when these weren't being hired out by office workers from nearby Old Street white men he was there for it under their shirt and tie we could kick ball until the sun went down just to relax kick about 1st then maybe a bit of Wembley and when we had enough players a big match using the full pitch everyone was welcome no matter your race age or sex as long as you put a shift in for your team you were an asset when the sun did go down for me it wasn't the dark I was afraid of no from across the road as soon as the last line of light slivered out of sight the coast from my mum bellowing my name from off or floor balcony could be heard. If people in the estate didn't know my full name already everyone knew it then her shouts was so loud I used to be so embarrassed trudging back through the estate because they're almost felt like a telling off as if while I had been out playing football she discovered something naughty I had done while I was out scoring goals like Andy Co her voice like a religious coach a prayer meant for me at least that was the final whistle home time but for many of the other boys boys with mums not as strict as mine or boys whose mums perhaps didn't care as much as my mum did or boys whose mums were from different cultural backgrounds than mine the sun going down didn't mean it was time to make your way back some boys from the estate my friends were often allowed to stay out longer than I was deemed old enough mature enough to keep playing so they themselves got bored or hungry or both shortly after my departure from the football field I would hear that the game had finished so for the stragglers who remained it was time to do something new soon I would hear from my bedroom window the role of a moped doing laps around the park the pacing screech the laughter the unbridled joy of being young during the summer months when there was no school laps of shortage park on a moped that someone had found borrowed or stolen was a common past time I had to go once I remember my mom must have been napping one night the sun went down and so didn't yell out my name one time I remember riding the noisy pedal around showed it park in pitch black I vividly remember the feel of it how grown up I felt where the moped came from and who it belonged to originally didn't matter the moment I skidded to a stop having completed my lap giddy and exhilarated. Over time the friends I played football with grew up the friends who enjoyed harmless moped riding fun around the park grew up over time the moped riding activities soon became more illicit soon a hierarchy of dominance was formed among the existing friendship groups friends from my state and other boys from neighboring ones various odors boys a year or 2 older than me had assumed control of the areas around where I lived they told the youngest like me sometimes what to do and when to do it don't go to school today touch that girl's bum rub that boy's phone etc It was often an uncomfortable dynamic but we have the odors around I somehow always felt safe in my area I always felt that someone I knew would come to my rescue if someone ever tried some become me on the bus from school gradually a lot of the boys I knew became consumed by a new life that seemed to promise quick money brand new train is and the best looking girls but these weren't hardened criminals odors were just young boys looking to firstly make enough money to eat chicken and chips and after that have nice clothes to make them feel better about living in a rough area with a heavy burden of being a young man from an ethnic minority boys I knew robbed and carried knives frightened vulnerable musical witty sporty talented young boys some of the boys I knew used the knives and also some of the boys I knew lost their lives at the hands of a knife at this point age 14 or so it could have gone either way for me but under the strict stewardship of my mum I turned my attention to reading and writing . I could have joined my friends I could have continued following the instructions of the odors each command becoming riskier each time but I didn't my way of escaping the parent inevitability of living in my Hackney state for the rest of my life and becoming like one of the odors was to look at websites of universities I could potentially attend one day places like Oxford and Cambridge I was ultimately driven by a determination to make my mum proud my spirited sometimes stubborn sent Lucian born Mum She encouraged me to always aim high I'm sure like most West Indian parents she would have wanted me to become a doctor lawyer or engineer being a bus driver as I wanted to be initially was not enough ambition she was naturally protective of me and perhaps recognise and early promise I showed more than just the unconditional optimism that comes of being a parent she became pregnant with me aged just 17 and left school with little qualifications I suppose she didn't want the same things happened to me on Wednesdays when mum had to collect her benefit money from the post office I would wonder next door to 2nd hand book shop bored of waiting I used to love going into find one new Ode for autobiographies they had in stock I remember finding and devouring the autobiographies of George Best Bobby Charlton Leigh shop Roy Keane and Rio Ferdinand this was the 1st time that I can remember becoming fully engrossed in books and reading a passion for writing soon developed at about this age mid teens apart from wanting to be a bus driver I decided that I wanted to be a teacher I loved helping others sharing my homework whispering the answers to a friend during a test my g.c.s.e. Weren't great but I passed them all good enough to allow me to study for my preferred a levels. Desperate to move away from London amid rising knife crime in the city Hackney obviously included I studied hard at 6th form to get into a decent university I ended up in Brighton studying for an English degree at the University of Sussex after my b.a. And a short stint as a teaching assistant in a primary school I qualified as an English teacher in 2014 from then I made a personal mission of mine to encourage my students especially young black boys to read for pleasure and then hopefully write more creatively too for many of the black boys I taught during my time in the classroom reading was considered boring uncool and probably even alienating but we've deliberate measures to try and engage them I gradually observed a change in their habits and perceptions of literature whole class library lessons didn't always work so instead we took small groups out of assembly to encourage reading in a more intimate and hopefully less disparaging environment smaller groups allowed for bigger discussions and gave students a conducive space to voice their true opinions without fear of judgment on the text that we were reading they were soon gripped by the stories we shed with many asking if the books we were reading had been turned into films yet I use what I saw as a teacher to inspire me to write my debut novel stands as a response to the dearth of literary fiction written by black British men and hopefully provides an option for inquisitive students who want to read something that is more recognizable to them alongside the study of the kind and it's essential that young men of color are exposed to the literature of b m e writers especially those who have published works more recently to show younger perhaps more reluctant readers that literature of varying forms can still be relevant and accessible. As a critic and coordinator I added Robin Travis his memoir prisoner to the streets to the year 9 scheme of learning it's into woven with numerous anecdotes of sometimes violent altercation with former friends and rivals and was predominately penned while Travis was serving time in prison in Jamaica those years along behind him now I don't know the numbers but having grown up in Hackney as a young black man from a single parent home I'm sure I was probably more likely to be involved in a gang get arrested or killed than end up getting a degree becoming a teacher finishing my masters starting my Ph d. And publishing my debut novel before reaching the age of 30 in addition to having a very driven mother I owe much of my success to being bold enough to pick up a pen and start writing about the world around me and not succumb to the veiled criminality of my surroundings not everyone can have a mother like mine but everyone deserves the key to the world of books which could change their lives everyone especially our young people deserve the opportunity to use literature as an escape from the daily strife of modern British life the pen is mightier than the sword the style of my chest tattoo might be questionable but the message certainly isn't thank. Him for thought was actually Hickson eleventh's the programme was presented by a general and the producer was Sheila cook. If you'll show more when she needs to continue Schloss Oh it was a slap in the face punch in the chest people with a story to town and some aren't says to find I did feel threatened I felt like immediately they are like why are you here with you doing here what are you recording and personal experience of the biggest issues of our time from sexuality in sport to homelessness move back and change the world in my own little way only and we can start with this documentary My name is yes it does need to change and it really does people are finding their voice now on b.b.c. Radio 4 next Monday night at 8 now on longwave in d.a.p. Digital radio it's time for the daily service led by David Waters Good morning and a very Happy New Year where you made it to the chimes of midnight or were safely tucked up in bed long before I hope your New Year's Eve was a happy one but the closing of another year indeed another decade can bring mixed emotions I can barely believe it's 20 years since my friends and I woke up to a new millennium and it's the pressure to have the perfect New Year's party we tried to do something a little different and spent the night in my parents' caravan seemed like a good idea at the time I was not quite 21 and looking back I don't think I realized what a special time it was to be young so look forward and wonder about all that lay ahead. Well busy lives and miles between us I mean we don't see each other as much anymore but I'm happy to say we're all still friends the past 20 years have brought joys and sorrows marriages jobs moves abroad and 12 children between the 8 of us. The future looks a little more intimidating now but there's so much to be thankful for not least that we need not face the future alone but safe in the love of God. Father God thank you for this time together as we stand at the beginning of a new year we come to you just as we are with the law hopes disappointments off failings and joys we commit our lives to you a fresh and ask that you may lead us to walk in your light men are reading today is the 23rd Psalm The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he makes me nightgown in green pastures He leads me beside still waters he was stores my soul he leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil for the hearts with me Tyrol deny stuff they comforts me. Prepares to table before me in the presence of my enemies though knowing to my head with oil my cup overflows surely goodness nursy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Those words of David composed so many centuries ago are some of the most enduring of all passages from the Bible I find it humbling to contemplate just how many people have read or recited those words and prayed them as a prayer. As the pace of life seems to increase every year perhaps we pray them even more earnestly it's a prayer for peace and comfort but it's also an affirmation of who God is and it's only in knowing that the one who leads us is greater than any fear greater even than death that peace and comfort can take hold I think it was no accident that some of the 1st to hear the good news of Jesus' birth was shepherds there they were looking down on the town of David the shepherd boy who was raised up to be king and then on that holy night on those streets came the one who was born the new David the good shepherd the king of haven't come to earth to bring his kingdom of love and peace and then came the wise men following the star there's been much speculation about who those travelers were and what exactly was the star that they followed those insights are fascinating but even just that image of a star shining in the darkness drawing people to the light of the world is so powerful I was very privileged to study in the shadow of the great Durham Cathedral but it was only years after I left that Christian physicist Tom McLeish told me more about the man who's buried at the cathedrals West-End the venerable beat was a monk most famous perhaps for writing the 1st post Roman English history book but he also wrote about science around his tomb is displayed a beautiful prayer of beat in which he talks about Christ as the Morning Star and the reason for that I think is very beautiful. The morning star is the planet Venus which rises long before the sun does but in the same part of the sky when this bright shining light is there the night is still as dark as midnight with no other sign of dawn yet for those who know what this sign means Dorn will surely come soon that's why for beat Christ is our morning star because those who see his resurrection though life might be very black and the present might be very grim they have the sure sign of hope in the future. As we begin this new year I hope we can look back with thanks for how God has led us to this point but also look forward and follow His way follow the star the Great Light of His resurrection to live in the great hope that one day all will be restored and until that day lived to build towards that day to build his kingdom of love and justice and light and peace here. With the business. With. The being. The be. With. The big. Concern. For. The brave because I am. I am. The best. In the early days of the Methodist movement John Wesley devised a special covenant service to enable Christians to renew their promises and to recommit their lives to God it's been adapted over the years but in the coming weeks many thousands of Methodist churches and those of of the denominations will use it to begin the new year I would like to use parts of the press now. Load God Holy Father. I am no longer my own but yours put me to what you will rock me with whom you will put me to doing put me to suffering let me be employed for you all laid aside for you exultantly you are brought low for you let me be full Let me be empty let me have all things let me have nothing I freely and wholeheartedly yield everything to your pleasure and disposal and now glorious and blessid God Father Son and Holy Spirit you are mine and I am yours so be it and the covenant now made on earth may be ratified in heaven Armin and now the Lord's Prayer after other who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done On earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and leaders not into temptation but deliver us from evil for the Highness the kingdom the power and the glory for ever and ever amen. As we step into this new year we pray as we sing lead us haven't a father lead us. So . Good. As. Gold is it was love. The list did. C.v.t. . Me. From. Him and. May the God of Love and Light lead you into this new year and be with you this day and every day and May the blessing of God Father Son and Holy Spirit be upon us and on those for whom we pray now and always in. B.b.c. News at 10 o'clock the mother of a British teenager who was convicted in Cyprus of lying about being raped by a group of men has backed calls for a tourist boycott of the country the Foreign Office has expressed serious concern about the case and I end up or the 19 year old claims Cypriot police forced her to withdraw the allegation of rape although they deny that the writer Joan Smith campaigns against violence against women and girls this is actually a really terrifying message for young women and the young woman's mother is saying that she doesn't think that people can rely on the justice system and I think it certainly sends a message to young women that if you get into trouble on this island that you may not get a fair investigation and the police may not actually do their job properly the Australian authorities say there are unable to reach some areas where bushfires are still raging after the deadliest day since the fires began the bodies of 8 people have been fined in New South Wales and the neighboring state of Victoria 3 people have been killed in a crash in Surrey a car and a lorry collided in Stanwell near Heathrow Airport last night 2 men and a woman in the car died all were in their twenty's a 2nd woman was seriously injured no arrests have been made Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini has strongly condemned American attacks on an Iranian backed militia in Iraq in his 1st public reaction the u.s. Military carried out the airstrikes on Sunday killing at least 25 people in response to a rocket attack that killed a u.s. Civilian antigovernment protesters in Hong Kong have begun 2020 with a big rally demanding democratic reforms and an investigation into the police tens of thousands of people joined the March Hong Kong police have fired tear gas. The Pacific island state of Palau has become the 1st place to implement a ban on sun creams that harm or marine life the ban covers the sale and use of lotion containing any of 10 common ingredients that stunt the growth of young fish b.b.c. News in an hour's time here on Radio 4 we meet Tanya Hirshman who's the writer in residence at one of Europe's largest graveyards the southern cemetery a multi-faith burial site in Manchester as a happily single woman walking between the gravestones watching the seasons change she wonders who might call her beloved when she dies that's at 11 o'clock 1st it's time for Woman's Hour recorded just before the new year with Jenny Marie Good morning and a very Happy New Year to you as we begin 2020 today's program is devoted to what needs to be sorted out in the coming year and decade and how it can be achieved I'm joined by 4 women who set up their priorities when it comes to women's health the workplace for women and that perennial problem which so often falls to women to take care of social care my guests throughout the program other feminist economist and author of Do Not economics Kate Rae with Angela Samy who's the author of inferior how science got women wrong and the new research that's rewriting the story Sarah Jarvis who's a g.p. Or regular contributor to Woman's Hour and clinical director of patient access dot com and the writer and activist b. Campbell now for some years now social care has been at the forefront of political discussions about the really important things that need to be reformed and properly funded but what really.