Louis Wain, a most illustrious illustrator
By Erica Crompton To purchase your own Outsider Art like the one above, visit leading specialist Henry Boxer Gallery at www.outsiderart.co.uk. Bright, beguiling and saccharine are all words that can be associatedwith this month’s cover kitty, and the illustrations of cats, printed in thismonth’s animal special. Known as the Mona Lisa of Asylum Art, Louis […]
Bird twitching is good for your mental health
By Erica Crompton Since recently moving into an accessible bungalow that backs on towoodlands, I’ve discovered the joys of bird watching. Take a look atmy view from the French windows! All green and woodland.By far the best investment has been a metal bird-feeder to hang ona branch outside. It does need to be metal to […]
Baby snail poem by Erica Crompton
Dressed in glitter,with silken train,here comes baby,in curly frame. Pledge salad leaves,for him to eat,glides across,with wide-foot feet. And then he curls into a ball,into his house, his home, his hall. And if you watch him,you’ll grow fonder;curling, climbing,Pet of yonder By Erica Crompton
Accessible travel at Manchester United
By Paul Nicholls For this issue we visit a very special night of VIP hospitality,The Gallery Restaurant at Manchester United’s stadium,Old Trafford. The accessibility part of our evening was wellplanned by staff ahead of our visit and they arranged afar-reaching corner box for us to watch the game in. We ate allwe could in the […]
Summer Hopezine 2023 made with love with Unlock
With over 12 million people in the UK holding a criminal record, it’s time Hopezine handed over it’s pages to law-abiding citizens who have criminal records. This summer is the specialedition made with members of the charity, Unlock, for people with criminal records. Think it doesn’t apply to you? Tried cannabis in your teens or […]
An Education, written by Jen McPherson
University was my entire world. I thrived there both on and off my course. I edited the studentnewspaper, had a show on the student radio station and organised an international development summit. I loved my course – politics with international relations – and made friends from around the world. Then disaster struck. It started with […]
Abandon hope all ye who enter here, philosophical words by Con Cord
Were those words actually attached to the police station, the courtbuilding, the prisons or probation offices I visited during the course of my criminal journey?No, they weren’t.They actually refer to Dante’s Inferno and an inscription above the gates of Hell.Did I abandon all hope as I frequented those establishments?With hindsight……Not quite, but very nearly.It is […]
Addiction Ditty
Addiction is cruel, that’s the main rule.Abstaining from the vein, is the ultimate aim.Whether inhaled, ingested or intravenous injected.Drugs don’t discriminate who are infected.Loneliness, lies and broken family ties.No trees of green, just dark cloudy skies.Whatever ya poison, its basically the same.Nobody lives long in this perilous game.So a trip to the quack, to get […]
Apple Tree Philosophy by Just Ben
Do we live in a fallen world? What is the evil at work? Did God intend it thisway?This is something I have contemplated and prayed about.As with all things of God I have found a lot of paradox when seeking an answer.I believe that I have been lead to an understanding by Gods trees and […]
Prison is hope, a poem about life after prison
Prison was the beginning, the lowest of the lows,I remember telling my mum, the only thing worse was death,It’s difficult to think of a punishment so pointless,Yet, an experience that makes your life a mess,My first day in prison was hard, I felt so deeply lost,When you think about crime, you never think of the […]