Scavenger

Where some people see an overcrowded city brimming with rubbish, we see a sprawling metropolis with money-making opportunities in every nook and cranny.

Why not join us collecting domestic rubbish and see if you can find any accidentally discarded valuables or old shoes? Alternatively, drop down into the sewers and discover an Aladdin's cave of coins and jewellery hiding underground.

If you've not got the stomach for this and you really are down on your luck, why not try mudlarking? Wade into the mud alongside the Thames at low tide and pick up bits of coal, rope, bones or copper nails to sell. “It was very cold in winter to stand in the mud without shoes,” a child mudlark told the journalist Henry Mayhew. You won't get rich – the same boy said that he would “starve until the next low tide” unless he found something. However, this job may keep you out of the workhouse a little while longer.

Tasks & duties

• Scouring through rubbish/mudflats/sewers.
• Collecting any items of value.
• Negotiating the value of found items.

Personal requirements

• Excellent eyesight.
• Knowledge of health and safety regulations.
• Patient and hard-working.