Positively brilliant

Positive News, that cheery little quarterly that only reports on upbeat good things, used to be slightly hand-knitted in general quality, but in the latest edition, all that has changed. It’s smartly designed and well illustrated, and packed with upbeat stories about sleeves-rolled-up activities that make a nice change from the morass of official idiocy. It has a wide international range, with news of visas for journalists in Burma and Nepal’s plans to eliminate illiteracy, but has a beady eye on home events as well. The Mayor of Bristol is taking his salary in their local currency, the Bristol Pound, East London Furniture is making useful stuff out of scrap pallets, Southwark has set up a college for homeless people.

Added to that, there are some thoughtful articles about money and its stranglehold on our way of life. It’s useful stuff, right enough, but Positive News prints some inventive ideas about ways to get round its domination. Links are given throughout the paper to sites that provide more detailed information, and it really is a handbook of positive, chirpy confidence. There’s no quoted price, though for £15 a year you can become a member and get your paper delivered to your door. Distribution is of course up to members. We’re not talking systems here so much a straight co-operation. Have a look.

positivenews.org.uk or phone 0845 458 4758