The bulb hoarders

By Steve Tomkins

The government wants your old-fashioned energy-hungry incandescent tungsten light bulb gone, and gone soon. But some people are willing to go to great lengths to hang onto the lights they love.

Incandescent bulbs - that's the traditional kind to you or me - waste 95% of the energy they use, according to Greenpeace. They calculate that phasing them out in the UK will save more than five million tonnes in CO2 emissions a year.

And yet some households are so attached to them that they not only keep buying them - they're stockpiling them ahead of the day when they're no longer available.

"The green ones might save you money and everything, but I just can't stand them"
Bradley
Bulb hoarder

In September last year, the UK government made a deal with major shops for the supply of traditional bulbs to be turned off. Some higher energy bulbs will be gone by January 2009, and all incandescent lights will be off by 2011.

The agreement is voluntary, but other countries have announced legal bans, including Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and the US.

The brighter bulbs are already fading from view, according to Glen Gotten of the light merchant Ryness. "100w and 150w are difficult to get hold of," he says. "The larger manufacturers have stopped making them. We still manage to get enough to supply our customers for now, but they will start drying up."

The 150w, in particular, is seriously rare. They're gone from Tesco. Morrisons have already chosen to ditch them, with 100w to follow in the autumn and 60w next year.

Buzzing noise

Hence the stockpilers. "I'm stocking up now, before they're banned or get ridiculously expensive," says Bradley, an insurance broker from West Sussex. "The green ones might save you money and everything, but I just can't stand them."

"They don't look right," he explains. "They're not bright enough and they take an age to come on. That's not what you want from a light bulb. You want it to light up the whole room, just like that." He clicks his fingers.

Jo, who works in the same office, agrees. "I did try the energy saving ones," she says, "but they're not the same. One of them made a buzzing noise, one of them kept going on and off. We gave up on them."

Are they not concerned about the environmental impact of incandescent bulbs? "I do my bit," says Bradley. "Recycling and all that. But at the end of the day, if they want us to use those bulbs they'll have to make them better."

"And anyway," he adds, "they've got mercury in, haven't they, these so-called green bulbs? What's that going to do to the environment?"

Government advice says that because of the mercury in low energy bulbs, if you break one you should leave the room for 15 minutes, clear up the pieces with rubber gloves, not with a vacuum cleaner, and take them in a sealed bag to your local council. The bulbs should not be thrown in normal waste.

Aesthetic issue

The Migraine Action Association has raised another health concern. The group reports that members have found that low energy bulbs seem to increase migraine attacks.

For most stockpilers though, the concerns seem to be more aesthetic than safety-conscious.

In a nutshell, many people prefer the warmer glow of an incandescent tungsten bulb to an eco-friendly compact fluorescent (CFL).

"The time has come to move into the 21st Century"
Ben Stewart
Greenpeace

Jill Entwistle, editor of Light Magazine, says much work has been done to improve CFLs but that many people still prefer tungsten.

"There have been issues with compact fluorescents. They have improved a lot, a lot of investment has gone into reducing their size and improving the colour by experimentation with the phosphors that affects the colour temperature. They have managed to warm it up."

She is against the ban and believes incandescent bulbs have been chosen as an easy target. "It is a shame. This is simplistic thinking."

But there are those who assert that the work done on CFLs mean that most people cannot tell the difference.

The Energy Saving Trust did a spot the difference test in a shopping centre. Of 761 shoppers, 53% could not tell the difference between a traditional bulb and a CFL.

"They produce the same level of light. The latest CFLs radiate a very similar light spectrum," says Lyndsey Hubbard, editor of Total Lighting magazine. The dislike of CFLs may be a result of encounters with more primitive examples of them sticking in the mind.

Campaigners see the hoarding of bulbs in a dim light. "It's a bad idea," says Ben Stewart of Greenpeace. "They're not only bad for the climate but mean a bigger electricity bill. Incandescent light bulbs were invented in the 1880s and use 80% more electricity than energy saving ones. The time has come to move into the 21st Century."

There are certain people who will stick to their incandescent lights, whether it be film companies, or art galleries using the yet-to-be-restricted halogen type, and get their supplies through specialist sources.

But for the ordinary punter, the pursuit of the warm glow of the traditional tungsten incandescent will soon get a lot harder.

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Send us your comments using the form below.

There is a factual error in the contribution from Tim Beechey-Newman, Reading. Each unit of electrical energy delivered to the consumer takes about four units of chemical or nuclear energy to generate it. Three units of energy are lost in the generation process and transmission.

Typically, central heating systems running on a fuel such as oil or gas use about one-and-a-half units of energy to generate one unit of useful heat for the consumer. Thus, when everything is taken into account, electricity is an inefficient way to provide heating. Indeed, this is reflected in the high cost of using electricity for heating. Energy-saving lamps, therefore, do exactly what is expected: they save energy.
Chris Latham (Physicist), England

I have a visual impairment (retinitis pigmentosa), which means I cannot see well at all in low light. The new bulbs leave it almost impossible for me to see well - I often stay in hotels and now many of them use these bulbs and I literally have to feel my way around the hotel room, whereas with the traditional bulbs I can still see reasonably clearly.
Chris Markiewicz, Barnet

Congratulations to anyone who can find 60 or 100W bulbs to hoard. I have been trying to replace my nice new CFLs because they take so long to get to full brightness that they are practically useless on my staircase. CFLs do have their place but there should NOT be a blanket ban until the technology is consistent across manufacturers. I am sick of being bullied by the green lobby, if I want to spend a few extra pence on having decent light on my staircase then I should be able to have that option.
Louise Allan, Wiltshire

There is a decided color difference between the two types of bulbs. I really don't like the CFLs, but I do like what's happened to my energy bill after I intalled them everywhere. I'm a smidge worried about the mercury, but so many other things are already polluting the air, water, food, what's the difference, really? I haven't heard of a place to recycle the lamps here in Denver, but I don't really need to worry about that for several more years until the bulbs start failing. Maybe I'll recycle them myself and open my own thermometer manufacturing company....
Thane, Denver, US

I will resist these energy bulbs for as long as possible firstly because I have just bought a beautiful light fitting that would look terrible with these bulbs and secondly because I suffer from migraine and do not wish to introduce something that could trigger an attack.
Alison, London

Something I didn't see mentioned in your article, is what about those of us with dimmers? I have one in each of the bedrooms; I don't always want full brightness, especially when I am getting up in the mornings or winding down for sleep. Why should I be made to remove these switches in order to use CFLs? I shouldn't is the answer. I am all for reducing our carbon footprint and all, but I already recycle, have a low emission car, and my commute is less than 5 miles, and I always shower, never bath. Why shouldn't I be able to retain my incandescent bulbs? It seems a small thing to ask.
Paw Bokenfohr, Bracknell, United Kingdom

Anyone who says they take ages to come on has no idea what they are talking about, Philips latest energy saving light bulbs only cost 49p and are on in a second, however there only downfall is at the moment they are not suitable for dimmer switches, which is a real shame
Callum, King's Lynn, Norfolk

The main reason I am hoarding them is that I object to the bullying attitude of governments over normal bulbs. I am quite willing to change when asked but I have always had an attitude problem with those who try to push people around without cause.
Jimmy R, Scotland

Low energy bulbs do not, in any case, save as much energy as claimed. This is because unlike conventional bulbs they produce very little heat. Therefore in a house using low energy bulbs the central heating system will have to work harder to make up the difference. Thus assuming one's central heating system is on for 6 months per year, the actual energy saving is only half what is claimed. Ask any physicist.
Tim Beechey-Newman, Reading

The so-called improved CFLs do not illuminate higher-ceilinged traditional domestic properties adequately. They do not suit traditional light fittings. They appear dim and have no equivalent to 150 & 200w bulbs which are necessary to illuminate older properties. The mercury content is of real concern in CFLs. We only use CFLs at home for cupboard lights as cosmetically, they are horrible - and don't light up the cupboard either. Much more development is required before the nanny state in this country imposes yet another restriction on its citizens.

Can a disabled model make it in fashion?

Tall, slim and with flowing locks, Lara Masters modelled in her teens. But the work dried up as she developed a degenerative nerve condition. So is the fashion world ready for its first big disabled model?

The fashion industry has a very precise, exacting and unwavering view of beauty: a model must be tall, extremely slim and physically "flawless". It's a code of understanding which has ruled me out of modelling even though I am 5ft 9ins, size 6 and, if you'll excuse my immodesty, beautiful.

FIND OUT MORE...

• Britain's Missing Top Model is broadcast on BBC Three, starting Tuesday, 1 July at 2100BST
• Or catch up using the iPlayer

I have a degenerative nerve condition that has been gradually paralysing my limbs for many years, and now use an electric wheelchair. As a writer, model (I use the term very loosely as will be explained) actor and TV presenter, I'm more visible than most disabled people. But I have never been accepted in any of these jobs for my skill alone - there is always a focus on my disability.

My mum, Debbie Moore, (founder of Pineapple dance studios) was a very successful model in the 60s and 70s. In my early teens, before my disability set in, I followed in her footsteps - modelling for girls' magazines and Mum's company. But from the age of 14, because I had some paralysis down my left side and an awkward gait, I could not get an agent and that was the end of my hopes for a modelling career.

I even tried joining an agency called Ugly which claimed to be looking for something "different". By the time my potential employers had scraped their jaws off the floor I felt that even for an agency that was thinking outside of the box, disability was more disturbing than different. Considering the agency name, I didn't know whether to be flattered or outraged when they refused take to me on.

Role models were in short supply, until Paralympic runner Aimee Mullins briefly took to the catwalk for designer Alexander McQueen in 1998 - sporting hand-carved wooden prosthetic limb. But when McQueen said he wasn't out to shock people but "to show that beauty comes from within", I was appalled and confused. It was patronising the stunningly gorgeous Mullins and seemed to be saying that having a disability makes you a beautiful person.

Eventually, when I started using a wheelchair, I got signed up by an agency that only recruited disabled models. It felt like I was only a casting away from becoming the new face of Mac or Aveda. Instead, I found myself on a poorly paid path of infrequent job offers to advertise wheelchairs, stair lifts and accessible buses - all important campaigns but a far cry from New York Fashion Week.

So when the BBC set out to challenge stereotypes of beauty, with a reality-style show in which eight young, disabled women compete to be a "top model", I was excited but also sceptical.

Car accident

It introduced me to other people who'd had similar experiences, such as 22-year-old Jenny Johnson, who had modelled until a car accident at 16 left her with some lower paralysis.

"I started modelling at age 14. I went on several photo shoots and gained some real experience. In spite of acquiring this knowledge, after my accident, it has been impossible to catch a break," says Jenny. "I've even been flat out informed that the reason the agency would not accept me was because of the way I walked."

So what about the industry's insiders - are they really willing to give disabled models a fair chance?

Designer Wayne Hemingway initially sounds an upbeat note. "We're learning to support diversity and be inclusive of disability in areas such as sport," he says, name-checking the Paralympics and the disabled basketball players who featured in a recent series of BBC One idents.

"In new buildings and transport systems it's now unthinkable not to design with disability in mind," he says. But fashion sees itself differently.

"The fashion industry is still seeking out so-called 'perfect symmetry' in impossibly skinny girls and being predictably immoral."

For Marie O'Riordan, editor of Marie Claire magazine, fashion isn't alone in its promotion of the "perfect" human form - it is reflecting wider prejudices in society.

It's a business

"Disability is largely ignored by the mainstream. Traditionally, fashion models have represented the 'ideal' of womanhood - they are taller and slimmer so that they can show off clothes to the maximum benefit. Being a clothes horse is not something most women could do very well."

"A disabled model, by definition, will be more memorable in a photo than an able-bodied girl"
Marie O'Riordan

The fact is that fashion is a business and it is us, the consumers, who keep it thriving. Is it any wonder the industry sticks to a winning formula and largely shuns the idea of using bigger, more representational female models, let alone disabled models whose physical forms will be even more difficult to sell as aspirational?

Yet maybe the BBC's reality show will make a difference. After all, fashionistas are always looking for something new, and disabled models are perfect to create intrigue and attract attention.

"A disabled model, by definition, will be more memorable in a photo than an able-bodied girl, thus making her attractive to a commercial person trying to sell clothes in an advert, or in editorial," says O'Riordan. Her magazine will feature the programme's winner in a high-end fashion spread by world-renowned photographer Rankin.

This gesture in itself would give any able-bodied model major kudos and guarantee further bookings, so it will be interesting to see what kind of impact this shoot will have on the future of the disabled model.

After that, maybe, it's up to the public. Are they willing to prove their readiness to accept a different ideal of beauty by buying a magazine featuring a amputee model. It's our collective responsibility. If we want to see the fashion industry broaden its parameters, we must put our money where our mouth is.

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Add your comments on this story, using the form below.

Models set impossible standards of beauty for the ordinary woman to emulate. Not long ago I saw a girl of about 20 dressed in an artsy fashion walking down the street with two artifical legs. She was not hiding the fact that her legs were gone. Still she wanted to look pretty. I was very moved by her spirit. Most females want to look good and if they are disabled even more so. The rest of us can be inspired by their courage
angelica adams, cambridge ma us

Good luck to all of you. It is time the fashion industry woke up to real life. I'm sure you will all look great. My father was disabled and (apart from things he was physically unable to do) let nothing get in his way!!
Jean Smith, Dunfermline

Does anyone REALLY care if a disabled girl can become a model? It's akin in a lot of ways to asking if someone suffering with a mentally debilitating condition can become one of the worlds top scientists! I'm not disabled and I can't be a model. These programs anger me because I don't believe they are about "hopes and dreams". I believe it's just more fodder for people who want to be shocked.
Helen, Warwickshire

Totally agree with Marie's comments about a disabled model being memorable. The girls shown are certainly much prettier than the usual models BUT I feel we live in a sad world that doesn't like "abnormalities" and I say that NOT meaning at all to offend anyone at all. I'm 54, 5ft 4 inches and about 4 stone overweight so I know people would never accept me as a model. Having said all this I wish all of them the very best of luck indeed.
Janis, Surrey

These women chose modelling as a career when their bodies matched what the industry wanted - a standard which automatically excludes the vast majority of people (especially those that fancy a meal every once in a while). How can they be surprised when such a shallow business discards them when they are no longer "perfect"?
Michaela, Runcorn, UK

2 points:

1. Heather Mills is disabled as is Gabrielle - both had decent modelling careers.

2. I am not disabled and I also can't get modelling jobs why? Because I'm ugly. Not everyone can be a model, or a singer, or a footballer. Special exception cannot be granted to one minority. That would be wholly unfair to everyone else. Ask yourself can Boris Johnson be the next top model? My guess is you will say no with a captial N.
Graham Pinnock, Norwich

In my mind, all of the girls from the BBC show are stunning enough to deserve the status of 'supermodel'. I don't like that they should have to compete to prove that only one of them can fit in with Naomi/Heidi/Kate etc. Rather than making them compete I would be much more interested in seeing them all modelling and comparing their lives to those of ordinary models. Maybe it's also time for people to adjust to the fact that 'flawless' doesn't automatically mean beautiful.
Heather, Willenhall

How offensive is the word 'pikey'?

By Tom Geoghegan
BBC News Magazine

Formula One commentator Martin Brundle is being investigated by media watchdog Ofcom after using the term "pikeys" in a television broadcast. But where does the word come from and how offensive is it?

It's a word very rarely heard on television.

In an interview with Bernie Ecclestone before Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Brundle referred to repairs being made to the track.

"There are some pikeys out there putting down new tarmac at Turn 10. Are they out of the way yet?"

Ofcom said it had received seven complaints and ITV apologised to viewers.

Brundle isn't the first media figure to be condemned for using the word, which is considered insulting by the traveller community.

Last year on ITV's Hell's Kitchen, chef Marco Pierre White said: "I don't think it was a pikey's picnic tonight."

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its first use in print was in the Times in 1837, referring to strangers who had come to the Isle of Sheppey island to harvest. Later that century it meant a "turnpike traveller" or vagabond.

But in more recent years it has become a term of abuse and in the eyes of the law using it can even be deemed a racist offence, given its association with Irish travellers and Roma Gypsies.

In December, at Lewes Magistrates' Court, Lee Coleman, 28, admitted using racially-aggravated threatening words and behaviour after a row with a nightclub manageress.

He had told her: "I'm not paying you, pikey."

Badge of honour

Charlotte Brewer, Oxford University lexicographer, says the OED clearly labels it as an offensive term that came from the word "pike" meaning a road on which a toll is collected.

It didn't make the early editions of the OED at the start of the 20th Century, which probably means it did not have any literary or newspapers sources at the time, although it was used. However "piker" did get into the first edition, which meant much the same thing.

In 1955, Peter Wildeblood, a champion of gay rights whose campaigning later helped decriminalise homosexuality, used the word as a badge of pride: "My family's all pikeys, but we ain't on the road no more."

Then it was a slang word, says Ms Brewer, but not necessarily an unpleasant or insulting one.

"But as we can see from the 2006 entry, the word seems to have come back into use more recently, and the OED editors use the words 'squalid, disreputable, vulgar' to define it. They are sure it is an insulting term.".

"This is the language of social discrimination and it's quite shocking that this language is now being bandied about "
Slang expert Tony Thorne

There is no word more offensive to a traveller, says Cliff Codona, a Roma Gypsy and chairman of the National Travellers Action Group.

"I'm very proud of Lewis Hamilton. It's fantastic what he's doing for the reputation of the country, absolutely outstanding.

"I would never think of calling that boy a certain derogatory word - that's what 'pikey' is to me and my community."

He senses that it is gaining popularity as a term of abuse because people have realised how insulting it is.

Slang expert Tony Thorne says "pikey" was being used as far back as the 16th Century but has only become more offensive in the mainstream in the past four or five years.

"Teenagers have been using it for the last few years to replace 'chav'. It's used pejoratively as someone who is sub-proletariat like 'gypsy' or 'gyppo' was used in the 1940s and 50s."

It used to be a word only used among country people who were speaking disapprovingly of a tramp.

Social prejudice

Brundle probably thinks he can still use the word "pikey" in that innocent way, but his attitude is naive, says Thorne, because it has become an insult and no-one would accept it as a description of themselves.

When used now in urban circles, it usually means a person is beyond the class system, someone without an identity who doesn't matter, and is off the social radar, Thorne suggests. Only in the villages is it likely to have retained its ethnic association with the traveller or gypsy community.

Thorne detects its increased use as reflecting a period in which, post-political correctness, social prejudice is now more acceptable.

"The language of snobbishness and class distinction has come right back, with words like 'posh' or 'pleb' or 'prol', words I thought had disappeared in the late 60s.

"This is the language of social discrimination and it's quite shocking that this language is now being bandied about. It started with 'chav' and then the 'posh' stuff about David Cameron and Boris Johnson."

Often these words are used by people who have always been prejudiced and nasty and who are now feeling they can safely express themselves again, he says, although this "petty snobbishness" has always been lurking below the surface of public debate.

But not everyone believes the word is quite so politically charged.

In his Daily Mail column, Des Kelly wrote: "To consider pikey a racial slur is as stupid as believing the word 'hippy' has racist connotations, or that 'hoodie' is offensive.

"Ban pikey, and then you might as well outlaw chav, townie, trailer trash, Hooray Henry, goth, Sloane, tinker and many more fairly innocuous labels."

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Here is a selection of your comments.

I am Irish living in the UK for the last 4 years and I have been called a "pikey" in the workplace. It is an offensive word however in the instance of this report I don't deem it to be offensive. I do however take great offence when my colleague thinks its funny to win a debate he mutters the word "pikey".
Nina, Northampton

I agree that we need to preserve a sense of humour in the face of passing insults and not be so touchy. I have my first experience, at 43, of being called an 'old bag' recently. I guess I should just take it on the chin, both of them.
Betty, UK

I'd never heard the term until it was used in the film Snatch. I'd suggest that its use in this film may have helped to re-popularise it.
Kev Williams, York

Given that Martin Brundle lives in East Anglia, I think it's safe to say he was using it as a colloquial expression (and a humorous remark) and I agree with Daily Mirror columnist Kelly that hippy and hoodie are similarly used.
Hayley Gilks, France

In my high school in the late 1990s and early 2000s, 'pikey' was used instead of 'chav' - but unlike what Tony Thorne says, it seems to have actually preceded chav, at least in South-West London. Only recently has chav gained widespread acceptance. Further, it wasn't the language of social discrimination but, if anything, cultural discrimination: my school was primarily middle-class, so those called 'pikeys' were middle-class boys who spoke in what is now called 'Jafaican,' and behaved badly etc(like, as we would have said at middle-school, 'hard nuts' - the inverted commas are purposefully used, because they thought they were so 'hard'). Outside of school, they would be identified due to wearing what are now deemed chav clothes, but part of the reason for calling these 'pikeys' in a derogatory manner was that they were NOT dressing, speaking, and acting like that out of circumstance; they purposefully did it to be cool. It was both humourous and depressing.
James C, London, England

To equate the word pikey with "the N-word" is to equate a dislike of the attitude and disruption caused to a society by some traveller groups with slavery and the historic treatment of some people as subhuman based on the race. Attitude like that is far more insulting that the naive use of a debatable term.
Peter, Luton

Peter from Luton: don't forget, the gypsies WERE treated as subhuman and were second only to the Jews as subjects for extermination in WW2 Europe. So they may well be sensitive to a perceived growth in prejudice.
Mike, London

Am I the only one on here who considers the use of this word extremely offensive!? We all know that it is a derogatory term and we are in an advanced enough age where political correctness is a co-requisite for a civilised society, it is certainly not "madness". I think it is correct that this underhand comment should be investigated and appropriate action taken!
Danny, Blackpool

All I want to say to the seven people who phoned in to complain is get a life. There are far more important things affecting us now than the need to send politically correct officials out running around like headless chickens investigating a man who in all honesty meant nothing offensive.
Michael Clark, Chesham

I live in Mitcham, south London. We have always had a large "Gypsy" population and as a child in the sixties I played with a large local family of "Gypsys". One of the grans told me that the name pikey was a term for the ones that used to steal the pike kept for food by the monks of Merton Abbey. She also told me of the hawks they would keep to pull down the Doves and Pigeons they also kept and that to get caught doing either was a very serious offence as the birds were protected.
Gerry, Mitcham

How much more are we going to allow the 'PC' brigade to restrict our freedoms. I watched the program and the use of the word was not, in my opinion, intended to be derogatory or insulting. It must be very difficult when conducting live unscripted interviews and this is one more example of how ridiculous things are becoming.
Mike Smith, Huntingdon, Cambs

One problem with Des Kelly's list of examples; I'm quite happy to be called a Goth - even if I don't have the hair for it nowadays. Being called a greebo is another matter...
Warren, Reading, UK

Another example of political correctness gone mad. It isn't the word itself that is offensive, but how it is used, in what context and in what manner. We are all aware that 'travellers' have a reputation for laying tarmac, and it was obviously used in connection to this in a light hearted manner. It seem that certain people within minorities will travel a long way to be offended. Grow a thicker skin, develop a sense of humour and encourage people to break their stereotype behaviours.
Andy, Overseas

I don't have the slightest interest in the racial origins of the people it is applied to, only in the way they behave. Not allowing any form of insult is an attack against free speech, and the start of mind control.
Mike Farnden, Ringwood

Delighted to hear that this kind of language is finally being recognised for the offensive term it is. It was becoming far too mainstream and acceptable.
Eva, Glasgow

'Pikey' is a word that has been fairly frequently heard for some years now within the middle-class world I live in. Generally, it seems to be used and received as a mildly humorous insult, used in a context which intends no hostility towards Travellers. I've never really perceived it to be any more offensive than calling something or someone 'gay' (the use of 'gay' as a form of insult in recent times having been previously covered by these pages)
Allan Moore, Chippenham

I have been called "Pikey" many times because of my name and I am not bothered in the slightest. However I can understand that "Pikey" used as slang for Irish "Travellers" could be mildly insulting, as mildly insulting as calling someone "posh"! Irish travellers are a proud and tough community who can give as good as they might get and I am sure they have their own names for those who do not travel and live in their own houses.
Nigel Arpike, Aylesbury

The term pikey has been used in the same context as the word "chav" for at least eight years in my memory - it sums up the tracksuit wearing, peaked cap-to-the-sky "elite" that seem to create the stereotypes given to teenagers. If it affects the Romani and offends them, then I don't personally believe they are truly Romani. Saying that however, I'm sure it could be seen in the same context as the word "Nomadi" in Italian, which, for all rights and purposes has the same effect.
A Vincent, Portsmouth

I think the British sense of humour needs to win out over the PC brigade and we need a little more common sense, there are FAR more important things going on in the world to waste column inches on this. I guess this may well turn into the media led witch hunt that it normally does. Perhaps we could have the same witch hunt against the many hedge fund owners who are trying to bankrupt us all as we speak !!
Paul Matthews, Guildford

The strange decline of the paperboy

By Finlo Rohrer
BBC News Magazine

People in many areas of the country struggle to get a newspaper delivered. It's the burning issue in the world of the newsagent - where did all the newspaper boys and girls go?

Becoming a paper boy or girl is a rite of passage for many children.

Perhaps more than any other part-time job, it educates the young future worker about the importance of getting up in the morning, of punctuality, of steadfastness.

POSSIBLE FACTORS IN DECLINE

• Rising pocket money
• Other job opportunities
• Concerns over safety
• Linked to tiredness in school
• New regulations

While the rest of childkind slumbers, lost in a dreamscape of gaudy electronics and instant gratification, the hardy paperboy ventures out into the gloaming so householders can have their news in time for breakfast.

But all is not well in the world of home news delivery.

The National Federation of Retail Newsagents represents thousands of shops across the country. At its conference this week, one of the topics of conversation that is preoccupying members is a sad decline.

Newsagents' pain

Stefan Wojciechowski, head of news and magazines at the NFRN, says while no exact figures are available, it is estimated anything up to a third of all independent newsagents have given up home delivery in the past five to seven years.

There's competition from supermarkets and convenience stores, people are commuting such distances that they leave the house before delivery is possible, and newspaper sales themselves are in long term decline.

"It was horrible - the papers were heavy, it rained every day, it was cold and I wanted to sleep but couldn't because I had to get up at 6.15"
Sarah Pine
Ex-papergirl

But most of all an absence of paperboys is causing newsagents pain.

"Kids don't want to do paper rounds because of increasing pocket money and other ways of earning money," Mr Wojciechowski says.

Joe Kelly of Direct News, in Garston, south Liverpool, realised 18 months ago that morning newspaper deliveries would have to stop.

"We just couldn't get the paperboys. We used to have a book full of names. We used to do 10 paperboys but it was gradually dropping off. Basically, they seem to have got too much cash. The majority seem to have unlimited funds from mum and dad."

Deliverers of news were typically 14 or 15 and could earn £10 a week for 20-25 minutes work per day. But no more.

And like the decline of the village post office, there are consequences wider than just people not being able to do the crossword while eating their egg and soldiers.

Kelly has lost 50 copies a day in sales, but he worries about the loss of community glue that the decline of the paperboy represents.

"Some of the elderly people we deliver to, they form a relationship with the paperboy. On a couple of occasions the paperboy has come back and said there's a problem at this house. It is a lifeline for some."

Brass in pocket

But is it rising pocket money that is causing the paperboy to stay a-bed?

A Halifax survey of pocket money certainly seems to indicate that it has risen much faster than inflation. Between 1998 and 2004, pocket money rose more than fourfold, from £1.76 to a whopping £7.82 a week, although it has now stabilised at about the £8 mark.

According to the same survey, in 2007 19% of working seven- to 16-year-olds had paper rounds, compared with 35% in 2004.

It's clear that there could be other factors at play - others sources of part-time work and parental concern about early starts and safety.

But those who do get up so early in the morning get to see a unique world. Their comrades are milkmen - suffering their own decline - early bird shop owners, sundry binmen and recycling crews.

There are downsides. It can be decidedly chilly at six in the morning even in high summer. Paperboys learn to hate the one far-flung address on the route, the house with the mad Jack Russell, and the infuriating owners of original Victorian doors with original tiny Victorian letterboxes, through which a meaty Sunday newspaper will not pass.

Bridging gap

And paperboys gain an entry into the world of work. Walking or cycling provides exercise, but the process of fine-tuning the round is even more valuable. The paperboy learns to maximise his efficiency and map out the most ergonomic route because the incentive of getting back indoors is so strong.

WORLD'S GREATEST PAPERBOY?

• Warren Buffett had several rounds
• By 14 had raised enough to buy farmland in Nebraska
• Now thought world's richest man

"It is a very good way of bridging the gap between school and work," says Mr Wojciechowski.

The big newspaper groups have already seen the danger of the decline of the paperboy. The Times offers to organise delivery for customers, passing their order on to a newsagent. It's also experimenting in London - where the ratio of delivering newsagents to people is the lowest in the country - with doing the delivery itself.

"People who get copies home delivered read the paper more and stay with us longer," says David Walker, head of fulfilment at the Times. "We realise there is still a massive demand from readers. It's up to us to make it as easy as possible."

Of the 14,000 delivering newsagents in Scotland, England and Wales, only 7,000 are actively seeking new business. The other 7,000 are contemplating getting out of the home delivery business. There are already areas of cities where it is a struggle to get a paper delivered and this will worsen.

The future might be "roundsmen", Mr Wojciechowski says. "Successful, sustainable home news delivery will probably be using vans and adults covering a much wider area."

Rain, cold

Sarah Pine, 15, is one of those who has tried paper delivery and decided it's not the ideal job for her. At the beginning of last summer she started a round in Orpington on the outskirts of London.

"I was really lucky because I had a short round and because my house was in the middle of the round," she says. "My sister had another round. Her round went very far away."

But after six months, Sarah realised that the £15 a week wages were no compensation for the negative aspect of delivering the news.

"It was horrible. The papers were heavy, it rained every day, it was cold and I wanted to sleep but couldn't because I had to get up at 6.15. My hands were really cold. If it was raining you couldn't have an umbrella - you needed your hands to do the papers."

Now early starts are solely due to GCSE revision and Sarah - who receives £17.50 pocket money a week - is no longer tired in school, but the paper round did offer one social advantage.

"I liked the fact I could say I worked for my money rather than being seen as spoilt."

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Here is a selection of your comments.

I used to love my paper round, rain or shine I'd be out on my BMX delivering. I remember the sunday loads that were massive compared with the weekly loads. I remember one morning my wet hair frosted over because of the cold, as well as the spiderwebs that would always get you in the face in the spring time. I think mostly it taught me that I could earn my own money and gain a small amount of independence at an early age; that was important to me then.
Peter, Warrington, UK

Why do people seem to think that kids would enjoy a physically demanding, low-paid job any more than an adult would? My brother and I used to deliver the local free paper. Every Thursday we spent about two hours delivering to two streets for a total of £6 between the two of us. It taught me the value of money and the value of hard work - I realised the work I was doing was worth more than they were paying me so I quit.
Steve, Peterborough, UK

I worked as a paper delivery girl for three years from 1966 to 1969, in those days the papers did not have so many supplements. I sympathise with modern day delivery boys/girls as the newspapers are so heavy and contain so much rubbish.
Sue Beale, Ipswich

Between 12-16 I delivered early morning papers in my hometown of Southport and relished the responsiblity and independence it bestowed. My three older brothers had all delivered the same paper round as me as well as afternoon local paper rounds. All four of us are now hardworking, successful professionals grown from the acorn of the morning deliveries. What goes a(paper)round comes around.
Louise Coward, Leeds, UK

In this day and age parents are afraid to allow their children out so early in a morning or in the dark evenings due to the ever increasing violence that we are witnessing, especially in remote areas or streets known to have a history of yob culture. It is a great pity because it gives children a sense of independence and also exercise which is sadly lacking in our TV. and computer-besotted era.
E Whitham, UK

For two years, I did two paper-rounds a day, which took upto an hour. On average, I had to deliver 30 papers which were quite spread out. Day in day out, I had to deliver, even in torrential conditions. What I hated most was having to deliver in a rough area, where older boys would kick my bike as I propped it against a wall to deliver papers.

Overall, I earned around £60 a month for delivering a grand total of 720 papers. That works out around 8 pence per paper. And considering the job must be done in all weather conditions and rough areas, it's no wonder there's less papergirls/paperboys.
Nicholas Hatter, Bristol

About six years ago, when I was 13, I worked for a newsagent doing a paper round. I enjoyed being able to work for my money and it was only at the weekends so I wasnt tired for school. But a lot of the time I had to do 3 or 4 rounds each morning as other kids stopped turning up. Then the newsagent decided to stop delivering so I moved to another shop. They paid OK. 20p per newspaper delivered which worked out at about £20-£30 per week. But it did include early mornings every morning. When I was that age, pocket money was minimal and I can see now that kids get a lot more. I think that parents are giving their kids more money so that they dont have to go out and work as many parents are worried about the safety of their child. I feel sad that this is the case as doing paper rounds gave me a good start in learning how to earn money and gave me independence.
Claire Haynes, Malvern, Worcestershire

I did a paper round and they were scarce. Getting a round that paid well often spilled over into politics of the playground. But, it was bloody awful work and I certainly wouldn't wish it on my kids. Early mornings, heavy (and long) Sundays (and this was before supplements). The newsagent paid a pittance and wouldn't think twice about handing the round on if you couldn't make it for a few days because of illness. Less to do with pocket money and more to do with awareness. Kids now wouldn't get out of bed for it. And I for one don't blame them.
Paul, Windsor

Our paperboy is wonderful, come rain or shine, I always make sure I give a good tip at Christmas, but the way some of my neighbours moan if he is late with the paper, is dreadful. Also we are lucky we live in a built up area so he is safe, but would worry if he had to go into blocks of flats or dark areas in the winter for his safety.
H, Surrey

I used to have a paper round through the local estates, it was afterschool however would take me an hour a day, which when you times that by the 5 day week was only £2 an hour. Even a 15-year-old can see that it's not worth the money. Expecting children to carry that number of newspapers on a daily basis is terrible. I done it for the summer but stopped as soon as it started raining, just wasn't worth it.
Duncan G, Reading

The experience of Sarah Pine sums up why kids wouldn't do it. These young workers realise that if they don't study at school they'll end up in similar menial jobs for the rest of their lives. Maybe they should make it compulsory as it may show some more that lessons and homework aren't that bad.
Jack, Surrey

I had a paper round which went to the other side of the town I lived in, sure it wasn't fun in winter or the rain, but you appreciated your money (£9/week). To hear that the average wage is only £10/week 16 years later is a bit sad. Even paperboys and girls need to be compensated for inflation.
David, Letham, Angus, Scotland

£10 per week? That's more than I earn here in India. Send me a visa you guys in the UK and I will do the paper delivering for you there.
Ravi, Chennai, India

My son has stuck with his paper round for 3 1/2 years now, he delivers evening papers 6 nights a week. It's good exercise for him and he likes having the money. The reason why children taking up the job is in decline is obvious in my mind. They are simply not paid enough. He works six nights per week, the round takes an hour and he gets £10 per week. If he misses one day, he doesnt get his full week "bonus" so only collects £7.50. I'm surprised he's stuck it so long and if this is the sort of monies other children are being offered, it's little wonder the agents are stuggling to find deliverers. Pay them a decent wage - its hard, back breaking work.
Julia, Hornsea, East Yorkshire

How to solve the British maths problem?

Tom Geoghegan
BBC News Magazine

The British are uniquely happy to admit being bad at maths, says a report. Why is that and how can attitudes change?

Imagine a famous television presenter joking that they couldn't read.

It's an unlikely scenario, such would be their embarrassment, yet no such reservations exist for mathematics, with self-confessed innumerates popping up regularly.

"I've always been rubbish at maths" is usually accompanied by a cheeky grin. The subtext is "I'm no boffin."

A report this week by think-tank Reform laments the drop in numbers of people taking maths A-level, at an estimated cost to the economy of £9bn.

A maths A-level puts on average an extra £10,000 a year on a salary, says Reform, yet it is acceptable to say that you can't do maths.

Despite - for want of a better word - countless campaigns in recent years, and role models such as Johnny Ball and Carol Vorderman fighting numeracy's corner, people still need to be persuaded about the merits of mathematics.

"In Korea or China they're really proud of being good at maths because they know the future of their economies depend on it"
Marcus du Sautoy
Maths professor and broadcaster

This can't-do attitude has even afflicted scientists, says Alan Stevens of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, and formerly a mathematician at Rolls Royce.

"Even engineers sometimes say they're no good at maths. The general public I hear saying it, and particularly journalists on television tend to say it - newsreaders saying they've always been rubbish at it - as if they're proud of it.

"This makes it seem even more acceptable and projects the wrong image, the image that maths is indeed an ivory tower which is dull and boring and of no interest or use to intelligent people. That's the wrong image."

It's not a recent development because it was the same when he was a teenager, he says, but is more evident on TV now. And while other subjects such as IT may have an equally geeky image at school, that indifference is not carried into adulthood.

Marcus du Sautoy, maths professor at Oxford University and presenter of BBC Four's Mind Games, says he can't understand the pride there is in being bad at maths.

"It's bizarre why people are prepared to admit that because it's an admission that you can't think logically. Maths is more than just arithmetic.

"I would rather do business with someone who admits they're good at maths.

"You don't get that in the Far East. In Korea or China they're really proud of being good at maths because they know the future of their economies depend on it, their finances depend on it."

He ascribes it to cultural factors and a failure of the education system and the media to put the case for valuing maths.

"But it's changing. There's a cultural shift in the adult world. There are films featuring maths, such as 21, and Ridley Scott's Numb3rs is doing for maths what CSI did for forensic science.

"We have very active lessons, very hands-on. No more text books, no more standing at the front"
Teacher Jonathan Heeley

"People say they love doing sudoku, so it's changing but we're fighting a climate of people who have been undersold with maths."

Mobile phones, the internet, Playstations and Google all depend on maths, he says - if people realised that, then they wouldn't poke fun at it so easily.

Family influence

Seven years ago John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders and a former maths teacher, publicly bemoaned the fact there were Lord Mayors who proudly said they couldn't do maths.

He thinks nothing has changed since then and believes the problem starts in schools where pupils wrongly believe maths is too difficult.

"I think people see maths in a different light to English language. They see it as being hard but it's no harder than other subjects. This attitude makes teaching maths a more difficult job.

WHY SOME CAN'T DO MATHS

• Some people have a genuine problem learning maths
• Dyscalculia afflicts between 3% and 6% of the population
• It means people who may excel at other subjects struggle with counting and identifying maths symbols

"You can teach it in a very engaging way but if parents and grandparents say how difficult they found maths, it takes a long time to turn these things around."

But creative lessons can get results, according to maths teacher Jonathan Heeley, who has won awards for his work with 11 to 16-year-olds at Rawthorpe High School in Huddersfield.

When he began there six years ago, the school was in trouble and there was a culture in which talented pupils preferred to fail for fear of being labelled swots. But in the past three years, he has helped to raise the GCSE pass rate from 12% to nearly 50%.

"It was about making maths fun and making them learn without realising it and using different ways to engage them. We have very active lessons, very hands-on. No more text books, no more standing at the front. Instead we use creative ways to get them involved."

Street culture is employed to teach, so the class raps and sings formulas, uses Eminem to demonstrate pie charts and football league tables for arithmetic. Dice and coins help explain probability and statistics, while pieces of fruit substitute for "x" in algebra.

He says he has his pupils shouting down the corridors: "I love maths!"

But pure passion is not going to sway everyone, so there's another possible solution, which is to appeal to their wallets.

The UK is moving towards a maths economy in which those with numeric skills will prosper, says Elizabeth Truss, one of the authors of the Reform report.

"So much of modern banking is based on maths. In the 1980s it was about doing a deal, now it's about understanding risk. The whole financial services industry is underpinned by very high-level maths."

So if imaginative teaching doesn't inspire the British to get their sums right, maybe the lure of an extra 10 grand a year will.

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Add your comments on this story, using the form below.

Mental arithmetic is not the same as maths which is a point that is often overlooked. I am an engineer and have a maths A-level... but I can't do mental multiplication or division. But I am good at maths and logical thinking. Lots of people get put off maths because they can't do times tables at primary school. Sad really.
Jo, Cambridge

It's not the lack of maths ability that they are probably coding but are instead alluding to left brain/right brain capabilities. Rather than appear boffin -like they are trying to give the impression that they are more comfortable in the social, gregarious, verbal or language sphere. High maths ability often equates in many peoples minds as one step away from the autism end of the spectrum
Robyn, Auckland New Zealand

I would freely admit that I am not good at maths because I have always found learning it difficult. That does not mean, however, that I can't do it.
James, Cambridge UK

This attitude has scared me for a while. I have heard so many big radio names say they can't do maths and they think this is ok. It's big celebrities telling kids that it's not "cool" to like maths, as well as parents thinking it's hard that makes this situation. Being able to tell if your gas bill is right, if that top in the sale is really a good bargain or how much the interest is going to be on your credit card are all useful and important things. How can we tell kids that it's ok not to know anything about maths?? It's just irresponsible!
Lindsey, Milton Keynes

Quite apart from the usefulness of maths, it is worth studying just for the beauty and symmetry it reveals. Someone who has never appreciated a beautiful theorem has missed as much as someone who doesn't like Wordsworth or Shakespeare.
Jeff Moreland, Southampton, UK

Perhaps we could all make an effort to reverse this. Next time someone proudly says "I'm bad at maths" respond with a cheery "Well you don't seem that thick, perhaps you should work on that a bit." Either that or sell them a loan.
Steve, Cheshire

I am 19 and currently doing Maths at Warwick University, I have always liked maths, but I remember that at school, being good at maths was a sever issue. Those who made any effort towards being good at maths and science were ostracized by the rest of the year group. I am certain that this was because of the portrayal of "nerds" and "keeners" in mainstream children s TV and film. When every day, kids are watching hours of nerds being beaten up, hated and generally victimized- you can only expect the same to happen in schools, and hence many children will make a conscious effort NOT to be good at it.
Ross Harding, coventry

Is it perhaps that people confuse poor arithmetic skills with poor mathematical skills? I find that frequently we associate being able to quickly compute large numbers with being good in math. In fact, I think more emphasis on the concepts behind math with less focus on mental computation might incite more enthusiasm. The adventure and thrill of working through a problem using mathematical logic seems overshadowed and undervalued by over-emphasis on computation. The nation would be far better off focusing on being good at mathematical reasoning and buying more calculators.
Kathryn, Cardiff

I feel that teaching is the most important factor in encouraging kids to *like* maths. We did say when I was in school, 'what good is maths, unless you want to be a maths teacher?' but our teachers were enthusiastic and we (mostly) enjoyed our lessons. Plus, it's very useful in daily life! Last week having dinner a friend of mine worked out that you got almost 25% more pie in a square pie than a round one at a restaurant - using pi!
Laura Mitchell, Lancaster, UK

Why are we so bad at maths, look at the average maths teacher who follows all these loony educational ideas. Why did I fail maths, because I refused to show my working out the problem. I got the right answer but it was still marked wrong. Hence as a teenager I gave up on maths. At the end of the day if the answer is correct, it did not matter how I got to it, as long as I did not cheat.

Mike, Southampton UK

What is with the British & the whole "It's cool to admit to be ignorant" attitude? Elitism may be a bad thing, but this popularisation of ignorance is ridiculous, as well as dangerous. Or is it a plot by a few to generate a populace who will be so clueless that they won't notice when the takeover comes?
Sharon Pearse, Portsmouth, UK

When I was doing GCSE maths, we were learning trigonometry and someone asked the teacher when it would be useful in our lives. She replied that it would be useful in passing our GCSE exam. I think that's part of the problem: that while people can see the obvious need to add/subtract/divide/multiply, most of maths seems completely abstract and largely useless to the vast majority of us. Some of Jonathan Heeley's methods, like showing practical applications such as leage tables, are needed to show students that what they're learning isn't stuff that can be dumped from the mind as soon as the summer holiday rolls around.
Olly, Bournemouth

Children will naturally acquire mathematical knowledge but they need to be inspired to enjoy it and appreciate the enormous life long benefits a solid grounding in this subject can bring. That inspiration can only come from knowledgeable parents and talented teachers. This is where effort has to be focussed. Too many children are turned off maths for ever because of the 'can't do maths but who cares it's cool' society we live in.
Jonathan, Birmingham UK

I'm great with maths. It was the only subject at school I was any good at thanks to a series of great maths teachers. 30 years on and I work with lots of numbers. All my friends & family that fall into the category of 'no good at maths' have money problems. There's a lesson there kids. Listen to the maths teacher!!!
Richard, Leeds.