One Good Turn: Tackling Poverty through the Circulation of Goods in Kirklees

When the Coalition Government came to power in the UK in 2010, David Cameron announced the Big Society initiative claiming it to be a “serious reform agenda to take power away from politicians and give it to people’ (cited in Slocock, 2013: 6). An independent audit conducted in 2013 found that the Big Society was “failing to live up to its own rhetoric in key areas”, but that it is nonetheless inspiring: “not only has it spawned many new initiatives with real impact on the ground, many people...are also continuing to turn to civil society as a positive force for social change” (2013: 6). One example of such a civil society initiative is a local community group called One Good Turn, which set up in Huddersfield during 2010. The group initially operated through a number of Facebook sites, where members listed the things they no longer required and those in need put their names forward to receive the items on a first come-first-served basis. Sophia Crawshaw took over the running of the sites in the summer of 2011, and in an article published in the local newspaper six months later, she explained that the group was set up “as everyone is struggling right now during the recession and even charity shops are becoming expensive.” The Facebook sites have a varied membership from teenagers to pensioners; “lots of young mums and first home buyers” and Sophia enthused that “it’s so lovely to see people giving things away to help others – it’s seeing the best side of human nature and kindness...” (Huddersfield Examiner, 2012). Within a short period of time under the stewardship and kind-heartedness of Sophia, One Good Turn became a registered charity, which now liaises “closely with other Kirklees Council Agencies and several other local charities to help as many people as possible” who are in need within Huddersfield and its surrounds (www.onegoodturncharity.org.uk )

Upward only rent reviews versus indexation: an investigation into the impact of differing mechanisms upon market efficiency within the commercial real estate sector

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the traditional, upward-only rent review clauses in English commercial leases can be replaced by rent indexation. Analysis of the existing literature found widespread criticism of upward-only rent reviews. Most importantly, they represent a disadvantage for tenants and an advantage for landlords. Contrary to this, analysis of the qualitative data, gathered through semi-structured interviews with professionals, showed that property market forces have shifted. This leaves tenants in a stronger negotiation position. A clear trend towards shorter leases and break options as opposed to rent review mechanisms. The evidence within the study suggests that the Codes of Leasing Practice have not had a significant impact on the flexibility of commercial leases. The findings of the study indicate that the Government should not legislate against upward-only rent reviews as this could have major negative impacts on the property market. Indexation was found to be a fair and reasonable option for both landlords and tenants. However, the exclusive use of indexation in commercial leases would lead to a distortion of the property market as the determination of market rents and values would be impossible. The principal conclusion of this dissertation was that the self-adjustment of the market, which led to a higher flexibility in commercial leases, made a restriction of upward-only rent reviews unnecessary. Moreover, rent indexation is a well-established rent review mechanism in England – a tool whereby both parties can benefit. An exclusive use of indexation in commercial leases though seems most unlikely

A phenomenological study of home baking: The ‘Rebirth of Romanticism' and the rise of the craft consumer

This paper investigates home baking as an instance of ‘craft consumption' (Campbell, 2005) against the backdrop of rising participation in the phenomenon of home baking and the increasing importance of emotion in consumption defined as the ‘Rebirth of Romanticism' movement (Gray, 2011). Phenomenological interviews conducted with a sample of 14 home bakers indicate that pleasure, authenticity and simplicity all play an important role in bakers' experiences, lending support to Gray's argument that a ‘Rebirth of Romanticism' can be discerned within this context of contemporary consumption. Moreover, our findings reveal that pleasure is linked in part to the opportunity to engage in ‘manual labour', an activity missing in the professional working lives of our consumer sample. These preliminary findings add depth to Campbell's (2005) theoretical conceptualisation of the craft consumer. Further research focusing on different contexts such as DIY and gardening are needed in order to assess the robustness of the concept of the craft consumer and the status of the Rebirth of Romanticism

Chemical Enhancement of Bloody Footwear Impressions from Buried Substrates

Footwear impressions are regarded as one of the most common forensic evidence types left at crime scenes. A review of research to date describes previous tests on the survival of footwear impressions in a range of contaminants on a myriad of surfaces. None, however, examined the effects of the burial environment on such impressions. Using human blood as a contaminant, footwear impressions were made on samples of white cotton, newspaper, and black plastic trash bags and were buried for specific time frames, from one to four weeks. The study examines the subsequent development of the surviving impressions postexcavation, using chemical enhancement techniques of ninhydrin, acid black 1, leucocrystal violet (LCV), and Bluestar. The majority of impressions recovered were from the substrates that were in the soil for the shortest period. Poor recovery rates and loss of impressions were observed on substrates buried for more than two weeks. LCV and Bluestar proved most effective for enhancing and retrieving impressions. Impressions were able to be examined by a trained forensic footwear investigator to identify class, individual, and wear characteristics of the impression itself. Potential survival of such identifying features is of paramount importance to an investigation