The Big Issue

We are in the midst of “global, social evil”, according to climate activists, after a bombshell global warming report shone a light on slow progress being made in the face of humanity’s greatest threat. Today’s politicians will be the last to have a

From Edinburgh to Truro, from Ipswich to Bristol, 44 people have answered our call to help us Stop Mass Nomelessness in communities around the UK. The Big Sssue’s campaign launched a month ago to urgently prevent thousands of people hit by the pande

Reading the article on rent arrears and evictions in the latest issue gave me an idea. While the total arrears is a big number, the individual average of £700, while no doubt all-consuming and overwhelming to an individual with no job or a low-paid j

Following a long lockdown, vendors in England, Scotland and Wales are back out selling the magazine. Please continue to support them. Since the first lockdown in March last year, we have supported our vendors with more than £1m of financial assistan

Low-income families are facing a “perfect storm” when energy prices rise, furlough ends and Universal Credit is reduced later this year, charities have warned. Organisations voiced their concerns when energy regulator Ofgem announced the price cap w

Wildfires have broken out across Greece and have reached the capital, Athens. Chris Alefantis, editor of Greek street paper Shedia, says citizens have disappeared from the streets and vendors are struggling in this great, ancient city. “There is so m

To say our current property tax system is out of date would be a major understatement. Council tax is based on property valuations from 30 years ago, undertaken when Chesney Hawkes was No 1. Perhaps The One and Only was simply a reference to your fir

Camping is in my blood. I’ve been doing it since I was a teenage runaway aged 14. Taking a tent and disappearing. How of course you don’t have to rough it like in those early days, but still you are not laden with comforts; unless you glamp. Somethin

Images of missing stock in UK supermarkets began to emerge from June 2021 onwards. Rows and rows of bare shelves. Fridges left unfilled. Bemused shoppers, standing questioning with empty baskets. Slowly but steadily the frustrated muttering made its

A good week for fans of interactive maps. On our news page we featured one showing parts of the country that will be under water if climate change isn’t stopped. Another, drawing on research from University of Sheffield academics, breaks down the nu

One day this spring, Abiodun Ogunyemi, an Uber Eats driver with an approval rating of 94 per cent, peered into his phone and read the words: “We have made the difficult decision to end our partnership with you.” Ogunyemi was being fired. Uber’s faci

Does it sound melodramatic to say that drama can have an incredibly dramatic effect on a person’s life? Cardboard Citizens is an award-winning charity that makes theatre with and for people with lived experience of homelessness. This year it celebra

Frequent Street Art contributor Michael submits his work via the 240 Project, a London outreach centre for the homeless. Ne likes there to be humour in his art. “The more ridiculous the better,” says Michael. “I loved Monty Python and the whole silli

I had just gotten into folk music when I was 16. I got a guitar and I was learning everything I could, which basically ended up being three chords. There was a radio station in Washington DC, about 25 miles away, which played folk music every night.

Emilia Teglia shared how Cardboard Citizens changed her life many years ago. Their work continues to have an impact on people today. Since 2019 they’ve run Cardboard Camps, partnering with local theatres in cities up and down the UK. At the heart of

At the age of 47, aǼter putting it o›f for nearly two years, S finally bit the not inconsiderable financial bullet and accepted that S needed varifocals. If the pain of purchasing these particular spectacles was borne mainly in the wallet, my ego was

The Homeless World Cup is one ofthe sporting highlights of any year – when there’s not a global pandemic and it can actually take place. Regular readers of The Big Issue will be more than familiar with the inspirational, life-changing event – and a

It’s been a tough 18 months for everyone who believes in the power of live music, and Tom Odell is nothing if not a devotee to that cause. The Brit and Ivor Novello award-winner has come out of lockdown with a new album – Monster, his first since 201

At the start of his new series, 6.5 Children , Ashley Blaker explains that the reason he has yet another show on Radio 4 is because of the Jewish Conspiracy. Throughout the series, he does not shy away from using lightness of touch when dealing with

A couple of years ago, capitulating to an early mid-life crisis, I decided to go back to singing lessons. I told my teacher at our first meeting that I liked jazz, and she flipped open her piano stool and dug around for the sheet music for a standard

Winning gold at the Atlanta Paralympics in the men’s T32 100m was the biggest achievement of my life. To this day, I still don’t know how I won the gold medal in the state I was in. I had a headache, and I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent. It could’ve bee

NEED HELP? Why not get together with other Big Issue readers on Twitter – @BigIssue Get the answers in next week's mag! Good luck 1. Matt, Chris and Dominic are the first names of which UK band that formed in 1994? 2. Mount Vesuvius overlooks which

I started selling The Big Issue three or four years ago. It’s nice here in Morningside, so beautiful, and selling the magazine is great because I can work some days and be home on others for my daughter. She’s five and so I sell it when she’s at scho