TOP 100 CHANGE MAKERS 2021

At the turn of each of the last two years, we’ve celebrated what was to come. We settled on a list of the innovators, creators and radical thinkers we believed would be doing remarkable things to make the world better for others in the coming 12 months.

But as we all know, 2020 was a year like no other. Making predictions will make fools of us all. But we do feel that finding and saluting Changemakers has never been more vital than now. We are looking at our collection of Changemakers for 2021 a little differently. While we shine a light on those likely to make waves in the time ahead, we also wanted to reflect on the astonishing work done by so many in the last 12 months.

It was a year that demonstrated the wealth of community spirit across Britain, with countless people using what resources they had to make a positive difference. In a time of fear and distance, when thousands are losing their jobs and millions are forced to rely on foodbanks, the generosity of neighbours proved life-changing for many.

Our Changemakers collection includes people who’ve been out on the streets of London supporting rough sleepers nearly every day since the UK locked down in March, and the residents of a small town who turned their local tourist information centre into a foodbank overnight. We salute the boxers making sure young people don’t lose out on future opportunities, and those who are continuing their legal fight to protect human rights. You’ll learn about some of the young activists who drove 2020’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations, and we’ll tell you about some of the people who got creative to raise money for The Big Issue during a most difficult time. Changemakers collection edited by Hannah Westwater with additional help from Claire Hutchison, Alexander Smail, Skye Butchard and Caitlin Fyffe.

POVERTY PREVENTION

Covid is leaving a trail of economic ruin – but our first group of Changemakers are making sure no one is left behind

01 Marcus Rashford

The Manchester United star turned child food poverty campaigner fought tirelessly to stop kids going hungry during school holidays amid widespread pandemic redundancies, and has been open about his own experience of food poverty in childhood. After Rashford penned an open letter to the UK government, which put child food poverty firmly on the news agenda, Boris Johnson made a U-turn and promised food vouchers for around 1.3 million children in low-income families to cover the summer. Rashford went on to set up the Child Food Poverty Task Force, a coalition of major supermarkets, charities and food companies. His petition to end child food poverty amassed more than a million signatures in a matter of days and saw the government once again bow to public pressure and agree to continue the holiday and food programme into the Christmas and Easter breaks. The 23-year-old recently gave an exclusive interview to The Big Issue, setting out his plans to continue standing up for hungry youngsters in 2021.

02 Monica Lennon MSP

The Labour MSP has spent three years fighting to end period poverty and this year, after a historic vote in Holyrood, Scotland became the first country in the world to make period products available free for all. The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill means it will be mandatory for schools, colleges, universities and public buildings like libraries and courts to offer them. Some MSPs previously opposed the bill, arguing instead that period products should be free only for people on low incomes and those with conditions like endometriosis, but Lennon said products must be available universally to help tackle stigma around poverty and periods. In its third and final vote, MSPs backed the bill unanimously – meaning it will be written into legislation.

03 Tricky Period

This group of activists in London took an innovative approach to helping people in need access period products – by creating a unique partnership with libraries.

Tricky Period put free supplies in libraries where people low on funds can get what they need under a strict ‘no questions asked’ policy. Anyone who wanted to use the service could tick off the items they needed on a form and hand it over to a librarian, who would retrieve the necessary supplies just as though they were going to get a book.

Tricky Period was launched shortly before lockdown when homelessness volunteers were hearing increasing reports of people forced to shoplift for period products and being caught short when living on the streets. When libraries closed, they provided deliveries and set up temporary hubs in family centres. Now they have expanded to give products away through foodbanks and women’s centres, mother and baby units and sex workers’ breakfasts in the city.

04/05 Mark and Paul Watson

As the pandemic drove a rise in child poverty, Christmas was a worry for parents on low incomes across the UK. But comedian Mark Watson and his brother Paul, a journalist, campaigned to make it a special one for disadvantaged children – with the gift of a Christmas football kit.

Through their Kitmas drive, pre-loved kits were donated to grassroots community groups and kids who might not otherwise get a Christmas present. And through cash fundraising – their crowdfunder hit its £3,000 target in a matter of days and more than doubled it within a month – new kits were bought too.

Donating football kits to deprived areas was not a new venture for Paul, who discovered the power of football in bringing communities together when he worked as a coach on a remote Pacific island (he wrote about his experience in his book Up Pohnpei). Since then, he has worked with refugee organisations to send kit everywhere from Zanzibar to Somalia and Tibet.

Hundreds of shirts were sent to Paul and donated to children in places including London, Stroud, Gloucester, Bristol, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Glamorgan and Glasgow. While the pair were focused on getting gifts to children in time for Christmas, they hope to continue the drive through this year.

06 Jimmy Wilson, FARE Scotland

FARE Scotland is a charity based in Easterhouse, Glasgow. Led by CEO Jimmy Wilson, the organisation provides everything from youth clubs to employment support. But during the first lockdown, as pandemic redundancies and income cuts drove already struggling communities into hardship, the charity saw demand for emergency food parcels soar. Raising nearly £20,000, collecting donations and working with supermarkets, they delivered food to households in need, giving away tens of thousands of meals as well as providing help with toiletries and fuel bills. Decades of working on the front line mean the charity has a unique relationship with locals and could help other organisations, like housing associations, get supplies to vulnerable people who were self-isolating.

07 Peter Krykant

Peter Krykant, a 43-year-old from Maddiston near Falkirk, has been putting himself at risk to save lives amid Britain’s most severe HIV epidemic in three decades. The activist runs a mobile safer drug consumption van in Glasgow, working with heroin and cocaine-injecting drug users to curb drug deaths and stem the spread of HIV and hepatitis after the city recorded the highest drugs death rate in Europe. Krykant was charged by police for operating the illegal facility under the Misuse of Drugs Act, but Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf backed the initiative and called for a change in the law to allow vans like Krykant’s to save lives.

08 Kelly-Marie Hearsum

 Tillicoultry shop worker Kelly-Marie spent months gathering food and toiletries to give to vulnerable people across Clackmannanshire. She planned hampers for Scottish Autism, Trust Housing, Women’s Aid, local care homes and foodbanks and got help from her employer, B&M, to put them together.

The Big Issue: Why did you decide to do something for your community?

Kelly-Marie Hearsum: The aim of these hampers wasn’t just to help people with food, but also to let them know they’re not alone in these tough times. Just something little to put a smile on someone’s face.

What did you learn from putting together the hampers?

This year I’ve learned that nothing is set in stone. I’ve started making the most of every day now as anything can happen at any moment and Covid-19 has proved it. I really wanted to help people quicker but back in April I was ill