Big Issue

Working to end poverty in the UK. Award-winning journalism and opportunities to work, earn, learn and thrive. Follow for news, campaigns and impact.

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

This week’s Big Issue is out today! Inside:

💡 Rethinking prisons
🐶 Could you choose between your dog and your home?
🎧 Superstar DJs Chase & Status play it back

Buy a copy from your local vendor – and read a sneak peak here. https://t.co/FcZPoq6QAJ

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

💛 How do you buy your Big Issue?

Whether cash or contactless, here are some top tips to give you the best buying experience.

When buying your Big Issue, you should:
📅 Check the vendors badge is in date
📕 Check the date on the front cover
💰 Pay with cash, card or the QR code

Remember to take the magazine and enjoy the read!

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

“Last year my flat caught on fire. If it wasn’t for Big Issue I’d have nothing”

📍 Karl Burns sells Big Issue outside NatWest, The Square, Bournemouth

“I don’t know if you remember but there was a homeless man beaten half to death in St Peter’s Church. That was me.”

➡️ Read the full interview on our website : https://t.co/5ibjdp4URU

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

Campaign win 🚨

We have won our call to make it easier for councils to bring empty homes back into use.

After months of campaigning, the government has listened. Councils will now be able to take control of empty properties after only 6 months and rent them to people who need them.

With 309,000 long-term empty homes in the UK and record levels of people experiencing homelessness, this is an important first step. But there is still more to do to. We are continuing to call for a National Empty Homes strategy to bring these properties back into use as low-cost rental accommodation.

👉 Read more about this campaign: https://t.co/5En4GhjPwd

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

This week’s Big Issue is out today! Inside:

⭐ The limitless Lenny Rush
✏️ Mapping homelessness
💷 How Right to Buy is costing councils

Buy a copy from your local vendor – and read a sneak peek here. 👀https://t.co/ond5PGMDR8

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

@BigIssue https://t.co/mt15gX26EH

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

🐾🏠 Sleep rough or give up your dog?

The people we asked didn't even need to think about it. But for people experiencing homelessness, being locked out of safe accommodation because of your pet can have devastating consequences.

Nobody should have to make that choice.

Around 1 in 4 people experiencing homelessness has a pet, yet temporary and emergency accommodation often doesn't allow animals.

That means people are being forced to choose between a safe place to sleep and the animal they love.

This is #TheImpawsibleChoice. It shouldn't exist.

On World Homeless Day, we’re calling on the government to make temporary and emergency housing pet-friendly by default.

✍️ Help us reach 10,000 signatures. Sign the petition via the link in comments.

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

This week's Big Issue is out now! Inside:

🥫 Food for good
🤝 The charity showing Labour the way
🎨 Louis Theroux gets his portrait done

Buy a copy from your local vendor today! And read a sneak peak here. 👀

https://t.co/WJfqzQgUbi

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

“I would describe my upbringing as living through hell.”

📍 Richard Broadway sells Big Issue outside Co-op, Westgate-on-Sea & Co-op, Birchington

“When I’ve been at my lowest, just wanting to end it all, the friends I’ve made over the years have kept me going.”

“I would recommend Big Issue to anyone that has a mental health problem. It stops you thinking about the bad stuff.”

“I went through five and a half years of suffering, and I watched my mum and sister suffer too.”

“All I want is to get my garden clean and manageable, and then I could get myself a dog. That would solve a hell of a lot of my problems. It would mean the world.”

“I’m known in Westgate and Birchington as the dog whisperer. Their owners get dragged to where I am!”

➡️Read the full interview: https://t.co/fDVwaGEIRg

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

This week's cover star KSI looked back on his 2023 cover of Big Issue 💫

He reflected on how different his life looked then compared to now.

YouTuber, musician, entrepreneur and talent scout, KSI has worn plenty of hats.

Now he’s added another to the list: part-owner of Dagenham & Redbridge FC. He told us all about his new role in this week’s magazine – pick up a copy from your local Big Issue vendor 🗞️

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

💛 Buy this weeks edition of Big Issue, featuring cover star @ksi, from your local vendor.

YouTuber, musician, entrepreneur and talent scout, KSI has worn plenty of hats.

Now he’s added another to the list: part-owner of Dagenham & Redbridge FC. He told us all about his new role in this week’s magazine 🗞️

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

This week's Big Issue is out today! Inside:

👁️ Big tech is watching you
🗣️ Escaping modern slavery
🤖 Do we really need all these data centres?

Buy a copy from your local vendor today – and read a sneak peek here.

https://t.co/AOcT2q6Zm3

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

'Everyone's capable of recovery with some hope'

Deputy Editor of Big Issue, Liam Geraghty, sat down with Andy Burnham to discuss his plan to end homelessness by Christmas.

👉 Read the full interview in this week's magazine

💛 Buy from your local vendor or online

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

📣 Need. Resources. Put them together.

Bringing empty homes back into use is 2.6 times cheaper than building new.

It’s also quicker and greener 💚

The facts are:
👉 There are more than 309,000 long-term empty homes in England.
👉135,580 households are living in unsuitable temporary accommodation in England.
👉1.34 million households are on local authority social housing waiting lists.

Big Issue is calling on government to publish a national Empty Homes Strategy to help tackle the housing crisis.

🏠 Find out more: https://t.co/G7qmXuf4Rn

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

Vote For Light - Jamie Reid

👉 What's your big issue?

To celebrate 35 years of Big Issue, @grow_up_art_ invited 35 artists to create a piece of work to show what their big issue is.

Buy now 👉 https://t.co/o3RG6sZk3F

This exclusive artwork has been created for Grow up's Paste, Present, Future project, in collaboration with UNCLE. 25% will be paid to Big Issue to support people experiencing poverty in the UK. Grow up invited artists to create work based on their 'big issue' - all views expressed in their work belong to the artist.

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

This Machine Kills Fascists - Grow Up

👉 What's your big issue?

To celebrate 35 years of Big Issue, @grow_up_art_ invited 35 artists to create a piece of work to show what their big issue is.

Buy now 👉 https://t.co/JTgtIDZOEN

This exclusive artwork has been created for Grow up's Paste, Present, Future project, in collaboration with UNCLE. 25% will be paid to Big Issue to support people experiencing poverty in the UK. Grow up invited artists to create work based on their 'big issue' - all views expressed in their work belong to the artist.

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

For 35 years, we've been giving people a hand up not a hand out.

Andy Burnham reflects on this history of Big Issue, and the generosity of the public that supports us and vendors nationwide.

'What Colin always used to say to me is just how wonderful people are, the generosity of the public'

👉 Read Andy Burnham's full interview in this week's magazine.

💛 Buy it from your local vendor or online

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

'Now our commitment to homelessness is there, let's see what we can do'

Watch Andy Burnham speak on his commitment to ending homelessness by Christmas.

'I'm standing here as Prime Minister, and I'm saying to you, this will remain a policy for as long as I'm in this job'

👉 Read our full interview with Andy Burnham in this week's edition of Big Issue

💛 Get your copy from your local vendor, or buy it online

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

"We're like a telephone box. We're part of a British institution. We are Big Issue and we're a voice."

📍 Kelvin Gregory sells Big Issue outside Somerset House, London (Mon - Fri) and on Lordship Lane, Dulwich (Saturday)

🎈 Kelvin has been selling the magazine since its inception in 1991, the perfect person to tell us how Big Issue has changed over the last 35 years

"The magazines were just banded and the ink was bloody wet. The ink used to come off on your hands"

"Before people might think it was a scam. Now with all the official stuff, the logo... we've learned from our mistakes"

🗞️ Vendors buy each magazine for £2.50 and sell it for £5, keeping the profit on every sale.

➡️ Read the full interview: https://t.co/Q89JlR3x5C

[Big Issue @BigIssue]

🎈 1,735 Big Issues in 35 years

For 35 years, we've been been helping to grow opportunity with a hand up, not a hand out.

To celebrate our birthday, Big Issue founder John Bird looked through some of his favourite covers.

🎉 Here's to another 35 years!

💛 Support Big Issue. Buy from your local vendor or subscribe online.