How Big Issue tackled Christmas over three decades of publishing

So this is Christmas. For almost 35 years, Big Issue has been at the heart of the festive season, with human connection, goodwill and generosity flowing through from the pages to our vendors and customers.

As you begin to look forward to 2026, take a moment to seek out a Big Issue vendor – even a conversation can make a day. But, for the time being, we’ve been looking back.

To get the mood right and the spirits up, we’ve been digging through the Big Issue archives and discovered some crackers from Christmas past.

From Posh Spice to festive skip-diving, here’s a selection of how we’ve taken on Christmas over the years.

1998: Posh Spice is real

The year is 1998. Posh Spice is the Christmas cover.

“Of course I like nice shops and the rest of it, that’s how I got the name. But there’s more to me than people think. I really am real,” she told Tony Marcus.

The story came with a prediction: a Christmas number one that year was likely.

Not that Big Issue bowed down for the access. In that issue, we also gave the single in question, “Goodbye”, three stars. “Normally, of course, this wouldn’t be the Single of the Week, but there’s not much else around at present and this does have a half-decent tune,” wrote our reviewer.

They did in fact bag the Christmas number one.

Read more:

• How Wham! killed the Christmas number one
• Has Starmer been naughty or nice? Here’s Matt Chorley’s gift guide for politicians this Christmas
• I fled Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. This is what Christmas is like for refugee families like mine

1995: Mystic Meg gets into it

1995’s Christmas cover is a stark warning that 600,000 people were homeless. Just don’t check the figures now.

Even more eye-catching is the list of stories: a very festive “smack is back” on the return of heroin, “crappy Christmas” as Chester Zoo sell elephant poo for the festive season, an interview with Mick Hucknall and “Ranta Claus” on the dark side of saint Nick.

Celebrities told us their most significant moment. Mystic Meg had one for the ages: “The most significant event in 1995 was the planet Pluto moving into the more caring sign of Sagittarius on 11 November for the first time in two centuries. It should mark a transformation to a time when people matter more than profits.

“This cycle will last right into the next century and should make for a world more at peace.”

1993: Digging in a skip

Take a hop back to 1993 and the cover is a skip. Barely two years into Big Issue’s existence, we gave three working Londoners £20 and sent them to their nearest skip to find Christmas presents.

One person made shelves out of some wood they found. Another found a paraffin heater and turned it into a plant mobile and a candlestick.

There really is no excuse to be stuck for gift ideas.

2016: Happy Rexmas

Another typical festive favourite: dinosaurs grace a Christmas cover from 2016.

The kids cover competition gives us “Happy Rexmas” courtesy of eight-year-old Joe Evans.

Inside, there’s a gallery of the cream of the submissions. Just look at them.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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