Very Public People

ebook4 28 very public people interviewed by 16 artists

Pauline Taylor & Pamela Nelson / Stephen Hopcroft / Tony Vogan

ContributorsAnia Bas / Shona Bland / Grace Gelder

I used to be a warden around here in West Brom. I was made redundant and someone said find a hobby, why don’t you learn a language? I said I never thought of doing that, I never thought I was clever enough, my self-esteem was not top notch. I tried Esperanto and I did it for a month, I downloaded lessons from the Internet. Somebody said: what are you learning Esperanto for? Why don’t you learn Polish, so the many Poles around you can at least use it here in England! So I have downloaded 10 lessons for learning Polish. I played flash cards on the Internet using the Polish alphabet. I did it for fun

at first, for a laugh, but I used it in my job recently! A Polish man approached me while I was patrolling. And he said: I speak little English, help me. He was looking for a place and I gave him directions in Polish as this is what I have been learning recently: prosto, prosto i w lewo. (straight, straight and then left!) And he was shocked and surprised!

It constantly surprises Polish people that Anglik (Englishmen) can speak Polish. And apparently my accent is very good! And I can do the sounds right. Someone said I have to be gifted. I made friends this way, Polish friends.

Tony Vogan

Neighbourhood Warden Interviewed by Ania Bas at The Public

Tony Vogan

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“As a neighbourhood warden I know how to be with people, I let them have their moan: You are rubbish, not good at your job. And when they run out of breath, and they will certainly do at some point, I can say how I can help them”

I have been told that I am a born salesmen, that I know how to talk to people, so I have been looking for a job that would keep me close to the community. I did one of these career tests and the results were: neighbourhood warden, radio DJ, TV presenter & customer services. I have send an e-mail to the BBC, but have not heard back, I think there is a bit too much competition out there in this area. So I am a neighbourhood warden still and it suits me.

As a neighbourhood warden I know how to be with people, I let them have their moan: You are rubbish, not good at your job. And when they run out of breath, and they will certainly do at some point, I can say how I can help them, that I can contact people for them to sort out problems. I know how to bond with people, with the community. Not with everybody though, this is not possible.

My role is to keep the neighbourhood clean and safe. I do patrols on the street, I deal with environmental issues, and I deal with antisocial behaviour, abandoned vehicles, graffiti and street furniture damages. I make sure the street lamps work, that there is no furniture dumped on the streets or offensive words written on the buildings. I make people feel safer and encourage people to take care of their own area, to empower people to deal with their own problems.

I quite like the fact that I pick up more and more Polish as I travel through the town. I have heard Polish girls saying Anglicy to kretyny (Englishmen are daft!) and I said to them: Tak, rozumiem! They where shocked and they covered their faces, embarrassed. It teaches them not to be overconfident in their own language abroad.

We are the first two black women who run a pub in this area. We keep it clean and lovely. The quality of beer is better and people behave well. And people notice. They ask: what has happened? They stand in the doorway and can’t believe how much it has changed since we began running it.

Now we have more black women coming in, to warm up before they catch the bus to go home. Now it is inviting, welcoming and women pop in for lemonade, for a chat.

Star & Garter A - Z

A for Appleton Rum, from Jamaica, very strong and in Jamaica cheaper then Coca Cola

B for behaviour is good in this pub

C for crisps

D for dancing, we play music normally here and people like it

E for entertainment

F for friends

G for good

Pauline Taylor and Pamela Nelson

From Star & Garter Pub Interviewed by Grace Gelder at the pub

“We are the first two black women who run the pub in this area. We keep it clean and lovely.”

Pauline Taylor and Pamela Nelson

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H for happy

I for interesting place and interesting work

J for jokes from customers and jolly and Jo Jo

K for kind

L for laughter (apart from when we are tired)

M for moments (it has it’s moments this pub)

N for nice people

O for oh my life!

P for polite and Pauline and Pam

Q for questions and queries

R for rushed! It is busy here!

S for stressful

T for tired!

U for useful information from people (i.e. where to buy your radishes!)

V for variation (i.e. different ages of people coming together!) people get out from the house for a drink, to be with friends, to save on gas bills too

W for window view (it is a good view, you can catch a bit of the high street)

X for X factor – we have an opera singer who comes in here and sings, he is doing it very well and he comes in here regularly.

Y for why? Why for years I have been doing this? I have been working in pubs since I was 18 or 19! Y for Years of experience!

Z for zero tolerance in this bar for misbehaving. i.e. no smoking by the front door, smoking is allowed only at the back!

I have worked for West Bromwich Albion for 5 years and I kind of fell in love with West Brom when I came. It is one of these clubs that not until you get here do you realise what a great history and tradition they have. And I wasn’t aware of it although I have lived in Birmingham all my life. The first year was a real learning curve to get to know the club and it’s supporters. The supporters want the team to play in a certain way and they are very patient with the

team. People who work here do not tend to plan anything short term, it is all about doing things right in the long term. My job is to find young footballers for the club aged between 7 and 18 and in some cases aged 6. So we start looking at boys when they are really small. When I started this job 10 years ago boys aged 9 or 10 were the youngest kids we would look at, but now we pay attention to kids from the moment they’re kicking the ball. So I have help from

Stephen Hopcroft

Head of Youth Recruitment at West Bromwich AlbionInterviewed by Shona Bland atWBA training Ground

“We are looking for unpolished diamonds. And the vast majority of these unpolished diamonds are just on our doorstep: West Brom,

Smethwick, Handsworth”

schoolteachers, development centre managers and inner city project workers. We have spotters and we try to look anywhere where young people are playing football spotting talents. And hopefully we are looking where other clubs don’t. We are looking for unpolished diamonds. And the vast majority of these unpolished diamonds are just on our doorstep: West Brom, Smethwick, Handsworth. It is an area really close to the ground that is densely

populated with families who are in love with football. My job is to identify the players, recruit them and sign them. And we never forget the reasons why they are playing football, making sure they are enjoying it.

We are making sure it is an enjoyable experience and learning environment – and if the two go together this usually keeps most of the parents happy.

I was a failed footballer myself as I wasn’t good enough to make the grade. So I had numerous jobs before I got this one. I went into the army when I didn’t get a professional contract as a footballer. When I left the army after 5 years I had a stall selling fruit and veg, and this is something my family has always done, and then I was a policeman for ten years, and I was playing for non-league teams. And when my son was 6 or 7 he asked: Dad can we have a team? So I started a small team for the kids. And people shortly afterwards were telling me:

Oh you have one or two really good players there can I take them to Aston Villa? And people said to me, could you find any more players? So this job sort of came to me really.

There is nothing like home- grown talent playing for the team, there is so much more of the connection with the supporters and the supporters want to see players coming through the youth policy because half the crowd would know their family. There’s more of a feel for a homegrown player and I don’t think there are any local players in our first team at the moment.

Stephen Hopcroft

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Very Public People