It’s time to reconsider the value of our waste. In the past these were valuable commodities you could sell on. Gathering rag and turning it into yarn was rich in the possibility of making things. This Manifesto is a unique, artist’s view of the traditional art of rag rug making for this age of the Anthropocene. Projects made in the artist’s studio and with a community group, highlight a reverence for our lost textiles, a response to the environmental impact of fast fashion and a proof that rag is a rich resource, wrongly classed as a taboo material. In this book Rachael Matthews gives us permission to cut up our old fabrics offering a support structure for decision making and a chart on how to make liberating decisions about destroying a garment – be it ‘Worn Out Emotional’, or ‘Brand New and Guilty' – and how our actions can develop community as well as our own self-esteem. A modernist interpretation of rag weaving European modernist painters, such as Ben and Winifred Nicholson, became interested in Rag Rug making in the 1920s. Picasso inspired freedom in creativity, using found materials and recognising that ‘primitive’ art was highly skilled. The art world missed a trick in not accepting these painterly rag works as true art and many have been lost. A century later, post pandemic, the need for a community to gather and make textiles was strengthened by a shared concern about the textile waste found on the streets where they live. This led to the artist founding Rag School, an on-line studio to rediscover the lost ways of making things. This led to a real-life rag studio with East London Textiles Arts, piloting ways that diverse communities everywhere could re-learn how to process textile waste in beautiful ways, caring for each other along the way. The transformation of waste has been a valuable remedy in recovering from the collective trauma of the pandemic: ripping is thrilling, storytelling cathartic, and the craft work a great place of focus and thought. The economic value of rag Textile manufacture is the second largest contributor to climate change and damage to the environment. The psychological impact that fast fashion imposed on us, has blurred our ability to see the potential of the materials we throw away. Popularity of handicrafts such as patchwork and dressmaking has led to an increase in knowledge of loveable, sustainable materials, but we often turn a blind eye to the more problematic fabrics. Some synthetic materials are unlikely to ever break down, while Itchy uniforms, saggy Lycra, odd socks, uncomfortable underwear and vulgar fashion statements come to their ‘end of life’ too soon. This book helps to break down all fears of what to do next with the rag pile. The stuff you loved can stay with you forever and the stuff you hated can be loved and laughed over in ways you never thought possible. Includes the techniques of plaiting; Welsh weaving sticks; peg loom; rigid heddle weaving; proddy on hessian; loomless weaving and passementerie.

Anyone can pick up a pair of needles and a ball of yarn. And everyone can be mindful. Mindfulness in Knitting casts fresh light on this renowned calming craft, and reveals how the act of “knit and purl� can be the epitome of conscious living. Ethical textile artist Rachael Matthews unpicks the threads of this popular pastime to explore how knitting connects us to each other and to the world around us. Through personal anecdote and expert insight, she unravels the true value of what it means to craft, its therapeutic benefits, and the joys of mindful making. This book is divided into chapters which will teach us to:  Find our place through yarn,  Knit sacred spaces,  Build knitting circles and connecting with others through craftivism,  The art of gifting our creations How knitting helps us discover ourselves. Filled with practical examples, personal insights and creative exercises for you to try at home, this book is suited for knitters of any ability, and will help you whether you want to relieve stress, build self-awareness or improve your mental health through the creative act of knitting. This book is from the Mindfulness series, a range of titles dedicated to exploring the mindful lifestyle, including Mindfulness in Gardening, Mindfulness in Drawing, Mindfulness in Baking, and Mindfulness in Wild Swimming.  

A cutting edge edited collection investigating the range of meanings associated with the local newspaper, its future and, ultimately, the value of its continued existence. Includes contributions from a range of scholars engaged with researching the local newspaper and its relationship to place, people and commercial imperatives. Explores how local newspapers function in different cultures and contexts through an array of case studies from such countries as Spain, Ireland, Denmark, the UK and the US.

A cutting edge edited collection investigating the range of meanings associated with the local newspaper, its future and, ultimately, the value of its continued existence. Includes contributions from a range of scholars engaged with researching the local newspaper and its relationship to place, people and commercial imperatives. Explores how local newspapers function in different cultures and contexts through an array of case studies from such countries as Spain, Ireland, Denmark, the UK and the US.

Drawing on expert contributions from around the UK, this collection brings together a series of insights into the contemporary local and community news media landscape in the UK. Offering an analysis of the ongoing 'crisis' in the provision of local news, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the book provides a critical space for practitioners and scholars to reflect on emerging models for economically sustainable, participatory local news services. It showcases new scholarly analyses of local news provision and community news practices, giving voice to the experiences of practitioners from across the local news ecology. In a set of diverse contributing chapters, campaigners and practitioners map out the period of recent rapid change for local news, questioning contemporary government initiatives and highlighting the advent of diverse, entrepreneurial reactions to the spaces created by a decline in local mainstream news services. This book is a timely examination of what we can learn from the variety of approaches being taken across the local media landscape in the commercial, subsidised and non-profit sector, shining new light on how practices that place the engagement of citizens at their centre might be propagated within this policy and funding landscape. Reappraising Local and Community News in the UK is a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in local news and journalism, as well as for anyone interested in the evolving local media landscape in the UK.

Regional newspapers around the globe are fighting to survive in the face of challenges to their economic model, due to the constant influx of new technology. At the same time, while studies of the national press have created a continuous narrative on the newspaper, the history of the regional press has been subject to relatively little academic scrutiny, despite being a significant industry in terms of a readership, circulation and profit. By focusing on provincial English newspapers, Matthews makes the case for the larger issue of the future of local newspapers worldwide. She argues that a comprehensive approach to the history of the regional press can result in a conceptualization of the industry in terms of the shift in emphasis between the key elements of state control, ownership, social influence and production techniques. They can be categorized into six distinct stages: the local newspaper as opportunistic creation; the characterization of the local newspaper as fourth estate; the impact of New Journalism; the growth of chain control, the shock of the free paper and new technology and finally, the current picture, the search for a new business model.

Regional newspapers around the globe are fighting to survive in the face of challenges to their economic model, due to the constant influx of new technology. At the same time, while studies of the national press have created a continuous narrative on the newspaper, the history of the regional press has been subject to relatively little academic scrutiny, despite being a significant industry in terms of a readership, circulation and profit. By focusing on provincial English newspapers, Matthews makes the case for the larger issue of the future of local newspapers worldwide. She argues that a comprehensive approach to the history of the regional press can result in a conceptualization of the industry in terms of the shift in emphasis between the key elements of state control, ownership, social influence and production techniques. They can be categorized into six distinct stages: the local newspaper as opportunistic creation; the characterization of the local newspaper as fourth estate; the impact of New Journalism; the growth of chain control, the shock of the free paper and new technology and finally, the current picture, the search for a new business model.