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.

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 📚

Inside this week's Big Issue:Long-running TV favourite Peaky Blinders hits the big screen with Peaky Blinders: The Immor...
16/03/2026

Inside this week's Big Issue:

Long-running TV favourite Peaky Blinders hits the big screen with Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man in cinemas and coming to Netflix this month. Cillian Murphy is back as Tommy, with Barry Keoghan playing his wayward son Duke. We talk to the show’s creator, Steven Knight about themes of succession, redemption, and the rise of fascism.

Plus, it’s B Corp month! Our special edition catches up with Formula E bosses, who are revved to have received the first ever certification for a sport. We examine how the impact economy is shaping the UK, and take a look at some of the movement’s best guilt-free food offerings.

Also:
· 40 fabulous years of Flare, the BFI London LGBTQIA+ film festival
· Social media star Big John talks about Britain, bingo and the rise of the ‘Bosh Soldier’
· Lucy Sweet dissects Channel 4’s latest watch-through-your-fingers gameshow, Handcuffed
· Deb Grant delves into the volatile friendship of Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart
· Bridgend vendor Paul Thompson looks back on the opportunities selling the magazine has brought him

Plus much more!

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

After Aaron was made redundant in 2008, he fell into addiction and homelessness. But thanks to Big Issue North, he has s...
15/03/2026

After Aaron was made redundant in 2008, he fell into addiction and homelessness. But thanks to Big Issue North, he has stopped drinking and gambling and has a home he loves.

It costs £32 to provide someone with everything they need to become a vendor and start earning money by working, not begging.

Please help us to change more lives today. To donate, click the link in our bio, text BINORTH to 70970 to give £5, or go to https://easydonate.org/big-issue-north/binorth

Texts will cost your donation amount + standard network message charge.

Thank you.

On Saturday 21 March, we will be running a book stall at the Wellbeing Exchange at Kath Lock Centre, Manchester from 11a...
13/03/2026

On Saturday 21 March, we will be running a book stall at the Wellbeing Exchange at Kath Lock Centre, Manchester from 11am to 5pm, raising funds to support our vendors.

You can help by coming along to browse our books, or by donating yours!

Please bring or post books in a box marked 'Big Issue North' to Kath Locke Centre, 123 Moss Lane East, Manchester, M15 5DD. Thank you!

The event will also feature wellbeing activities, workshops, talks, a vintage clothes market, great food and more.

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

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Big Issue North posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organisation

Send a message to Big Issue North:

Shortcuts

Share

Category