Big Issue North

Big Issue North Supporting northern vendors of The Big Issue. Big Issue North is there for anyone who wants to sell it.

Please text BINORTH to 70970 to donate £5 to help homeless and vulnerably housed people to change their lives for good. Our vendors typically face numerous barriers to alternative forms of employment, such as a lack of a permanent address, ID or bank account, language barriers, a lack of qualifications or previous experience, physical or mental illness or disability, care responsibilities, and many other factors.

As the Commonwealth Games kicks off in Glasgow, we catch up with cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy – the six-time Olympic gol...
27/07/2026

As the Commonwealth Games kicks off in Glasgow, we catch up with cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy – the six-time Olympic gold medallist, 11-time world champion, GT racing driver, children’s author and all-round high achiever – as he prepares to gear up for his annual Tour de 4 charity bike ride in September. Hoy set up Tour de 4 after his own cancer diagnosis, to raise funds and awareness to support people living with Stage 4 cancer. In the interview, he is typically upbeat, sharing his secret to staying positive and how he finds strength by living in the moment. As he puts it: "It’s only when challenges are brought to you that you recognise actually, I can get through this. I’m tougher than I thought." Read the full inspiring exclusive only in Big Issue.
Also:
- The state of our social housing is a stain on the UK. It’s way past time for the state to step in
- After the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, we have a report from the front lines of a national tragedy
- John Bird is delighted that Andy Burnham put rough sleeping at the top of his agenda on day one. Will it finally be eradicated?
- Ruth Madeley kissed a lot of frogs before realising the right one had been in front of her the whole time
- We embark on the Otley Run pub crawl in Leeds (minus the pints) to examine the shocking disparity in life expectancy from one end to the other
- New Children’s Laureate Patrice Lawrence tells us about the book that changed her life
- Garrett Millerick’s Edinburgh Fringe show pits him against his own AI replica. Who will be funniest?
- London vendor Simon is always up with the lark to get to his pitch – a spot he describes as "a bit special"
Plus much more!
Find your local vendor: https://vist.ly/5cjdm

It’s all change at Number 10 as Andy Burnham steps up to the top job. Only two years ago, Big Issue published our Bluepr...
22/07/2026

It’s all change at Number 10 as Andy Burnham steps up to the top job. Only two years ago, Big Issue published our Blueprint for Change for the incoming prime minister at the time, Keir Starmer. We’ve dusted it off to rate what has been achieved over his term, and updated it for the new incumbent with a list of priorities for his in-tray. We explore Burnham’s concept of ‘Manchesterism’ and whether devolution could bring the UK out of the rut we’re in; take a look at his plans for housing; and offer a to-do list that we believe could bring about real change for the country. And as World Cup fever draws to a close, we ask why football managers – and prime ministers – are nowadays replaced so often and so easily.

Also:
- In a Letter to her Younger Self, Dame Elaine Paige reflects on her glittering stage career – and wasn’t it good?
- We look at how social media has become a popularity contest for politicians – and the surprising winners and losers
- Novelist James Meek explains why his latest book is all about grief, loss and the passage of time
- Tom Holland’s Spidey thwips back onto the big screen in Spider-Man: Brand New Day
- Taskmaster's Phil Ellis has a new hairline – and a story to tell from the operating table
- Invisible Cities guide Danielle takes us on a "real and raw" tour of her home town, Liverpool
- BIG Kids introduces a furr-miliar face: Downing Street’s longest-lasting resident, Larry the Cat
- Reading vendor Russell credits his dad, who has dementia, and his dogs for helping him to turn his life around

Plus much more!

Find your local vendor: https://vist.ly/5c3yj

Inside this week's Big Issue:For Earth Day on 22 April, we’re digging deep into the housing crisis and how it has made a...
20/04/2026

Inside this week's Big Issue:

For Earth Day on 22 April, we’re digging deep into the housing crisis and how it has made access to green spaces a social justice issue. While some of us are lucky enough to have lawns to mow this spring, many more are locked out of the wellbeing benefits that being close to nature brings. So we spoke to a YouTuber who has turned growing indoor houseplants into an art – and a career, and caught up with the 77-year-old TikToker whose enormous veg got him into Vogue magazine. There’s also a look at the magical healing powers of our humble wildflowers, and a tour of the urban jungle that peeps out from the pavement cracks beneath our feet. And we report on how the UK’s first geothermal electricity plant is potentially bringing mining back to Cornwall in the form of lithium extraction.

Also:
· Playing Aunt Lydia was life changing for The Testaments star Ann Dowd. But it took a long time to get there, as she recalls in her Letter to my Younger Self
· Ex-miners are on strike again. Photographer and Big Issue Changemaker Marc Davenant met them on the picket line at the National Coal Mining Museum
· Nicola Coughlan and Lydia West talk mental health ahead of their second season of Big Mood
· The terrifying things you hear as a probation officer
· Why the new Michael Jackson biopic is unlikely to give us the full picture
· How Robin Ince got roped in to break records at the world’s biggest book swap
· Canterbury vendor Mark Stevenson is looking forward to celebrating his 60th in May

Plus much more!

Find your local vendor: https://bit.ly/4c3eLdE

Inside this week's Big Issue:After his spine-chilling turn at Ozzy Osbourne's farewell gig last year won him a Grammy fo...
13/04/2026

Inside this week's Big Issue:

After his spine-chilling turn at Ozzy Osbourne's farewell gig last year won him a Grammy for Best Rock Performance, Yungblud is the undisputed crown prince of British rock. He's currently on a sell-out tour of the UK and America, but he took time out from conquering the world to catch up with his old friends Big Issue for an exclusive interview.

We last crossed paths in 2022 when he was our youngest ever guest editor. This time, Yungblud wanted to share his grief at losing his mentor Ozzy, wax lyrical on the joys of being a northerner, outline his Bludfest plans for 2026, and take us on a tour around Beautifully Romanticised Accidentally Traumatized, his fashion and community space in Denmark Street, Soho. Here, he and his best mate Elle Shoel are reimagining what retail outlets, fan hubs and gig venues could be – all under one leopard-print roof.

Also:
· Why are so many neglected heritage buildings catching fire? And how can we rescue them in time?
· In his Letter to my Younger Self, Ziggy Marley tells us there's just one thing he wishes he could say to his dad
· How most of our public statues are all-but invisible to us, yet a few become a lightning rod for progress
· Alan Cumming's 1990s airline comedy, The High Life, takes a domestic hop to the Scottish stage
· Sam Delaney often felt like an outsider growing up. But his Duffer of St George bag tells a different story
· We ask why no one is teaching the incredible history of the Women's Peace Camp at Greenham Common
· Finsbury Park vendor Gheorghe recalls his moment of fame on Instagram

Plus much more!

Find your local vendor: https://bit.ly/4c3eLdE

10/04/2026

When My Best Friend met Big Issue North vendor Nathan and Rolo 🐶 ❤️

Inside this week's Big Issue:There’s a vast, unpaid workforce of volunteers and informal carers that’s keeping Britain r...
06/04/2026

Inside this week's Big Issue:

There’s a vast, unpaid workforce of volunteers and informal carers that’s keeping Britain running. Millions of us volunteer to help our communities: in food banks, youth centres, homelessness charities, disability hubs and much more. Then there’s the unpaid carers – nearly six million of them – providing physical, practical and emotional support to those who need it every day. The labour they provide saves the NHS and social care £184 billion a year.

So what would happen if the volunteers stopped volunteering? If the carers stopped caring? We’ve looked at the numbers, spoken to experts and heard from the people who have worked on the front lines. And what we found is a system at breaking point.

Also:
· One year on from the start of the bin strike, we went to Birmingham to find a city under siege
· In his Letter to My Younger Self, pop star Rick Astley recalls career ups and downs and his grudge with Kylie – but now he’s on a roll
· The startlingly honest account of a 28-year-old who gave up his bank card to his dad in order to beat alcoholism
· Stand by Me turns 40, and is back in cinemas. But this time around it’s a far more poignant watch
· Comedian Fatiha El-Ghorri is here to open your mind
· Prince William takes his Homewards initiative into the classroom
· BIG Kids broaches the complex topic of child poverty

Plus much more!

Find your local vendor: https://bit.ly/4c3eLdE

-Ghorri

We are very grateful to Leeds Food Aid Network - FAN and Freedom4girls - our Big Issue North Leeds team recently collect...
01/04/2026

We are very grateful to Leeds Food Aid Network - FAN and Freedom4girls - our Big Issue North Leeds team recently collected a brilliant donation of food, essentials, and sanitary products, all of which will make an immediate difference to our vendors!

We’ll be sharing items with people as and when they need them, and some of the donations (including plenty of cereal!) will help us restart our Monday morning breakfast club. The breakfast club is a chance for us to check in with vendors, chat about any support needs, and enjoy a cup of tea together to start the week.

Thank you to the Food Aid Network and to Freedom4Girls Period Friendly initiative. A special thank you also to our vendor Martyn Flaherty, who helped bring everything inside❤️

Inside this week's Big Issue:Spring is here and our Kids Cover Competition inspired hundreds of young readers to send in...
30/03/2026

Inside this week's Big Issue:

Spring is here and our Kids Cover Competition inspired hundreds of young readers to send in their brilliant art, all created for this year’s theme of ‘Peace’. The winner was six-year-old April Floyer from Northampton, whose artwork features on this week’s cover. Her concept – a safe bed to sleep in – resonated with us, and also our judge, renowned Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler, who said: "In such troubled times in the world, it was great to see the younger generation thinking about and expressing the importance of peace, kindness and having a safe place to sleep."

Also:
· What will happen to the activists who are refusing to pay their water bills?
· Springwatch presenter Michaela Strachan looks back on a wild career in her Letter to My Younger Self
· The founder of Playrise explains why her charity is bringing play to children in conflict zones
· Why historian David Olusoga thinks our detachment from gun culture may be coming to an end
· Babies, a new BBC TV drama, sensitively explores some painful truths around miscarriage and its aftermath
· Comedians explain why working the stand-up comedy circuit is no laughing matter
· Bideford vendor Sam Oates is happy, thriving and making art after working really hard to turn his life around

Plus much more!

Find your local vendor: https://bit.ly/4c3eLdE

Inside this week's Big Issue:Kneecap have had a chaotic couple of years. From their Bafta-winning biopic and sellout tou...
23/03/2026

Inside this week's Big Issue:

Kneecap have had a chaotic couple of years. From their Bafta-winning biopic and sellout tours, via court cases and controversy, the Belfast/Derry hip-hop trio have faced the storm and come out stronger. Departing editor Paul McNamee gets the inside story of what happened next in an exclusive interview for Big Issue. It comes with photoshoot by Toby Goodyear, and cover created by graffiti writer 10Foot.

Also:
· When your bed for the night is a plastic chair – how councils are failing rough sleepers in extreme weather
· Why a House of Campaigns would give us the voice we need in parliament
· Baroness Hale pens her Letter to My Younger Self
· A Woman of Substance star Jessica Reynolds talks protest, activism and not staying in her lane
· The Glasgow synthesiser library bringing Moogs to the masses
· Cardiff vendor Paula Langa just loves to sing

Plus much more!

Find your local vendor: https://bit.ly/4c3eLdE

We’re running a book stall (and selling socks and records) to raise money to support our vendors from 11am-5pm today!Com...
21/03/2026

We’re running a book stall (and selling socks and records) to raise money to support our vendors from 11am-5pm today!

Come down to Kath Lock Centre, 123 Moss Lane East, Manchester, M15 5DD, and restock your bookshelves while changing lives 📚

Address

Zion Community Resource Centre, 339 Stretford Road
Manchester
M154ZY

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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