Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Shakin’ Stevens shares his Christmas message for Big Issue: ‘A time to reflect and to think of others’
Music

Shakin’ Stevens shares his Christmas message for Big Issue: ‘A time to reflect and to think of others’

Forty years on from Merry Christmas Everyone topping the charts, Shakin’ Stevens tells us how the song unlocks the key to the spirit of Christmas
Using AI for your Christmas shopping could backfire. Here’s why
Christmas

Using AI for your Christmas shopping could backfire. Here’s why

The life of a Royal Mail postal worker at Christmas: ‘People aren’t robots. They can’t keep going’
Jobs with the Royal Mail are still prized, so why shouldn't others be in the UK service industry? Image credit: Maureen McLean/Shutterstock
Christmas

The life of a Royal Mail postal worker at Christmas: ‘People aren’t robots. They can’t keep going’

Top Stories

Arsenal star Emily Fox on a year of progress in women’s football: ‘What does women’s football not give you?’
Women’s football

Arsenal star Emily Fox on a year of progress in women’s football: ‘What does women’s football not give you?’

This is what Christmas will look like in 2040
Christmas

This is what Christmas will look like in 2040

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Inside the Big Issue: Our legendary Christmas special!
Christmas

Inside the Big Issue: Our legendary Christmas special!

Letters: In 2026 can we start making sure those without family aren’t left behind?
Letters

Letters: In 2026 can we start making sure those without family aren’t left behind?

Choose joy this Christmas
Paul McNamee

Choose joy this Christmas

Big Issue turns 35 in 2026 – help us celebrate at our Big Dinner
Big Issue 35th anniversary

Big Issue turns 35 in 2026 – help us celebrate at our Big Dinner

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Advice

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Clara Amfo shares tips to make Christmas feel calmer and brighter when you’re not feeling festive
Clara Amfo is supporting ODEON and Mind's Quiet this Christmas campaign. Image: ODEON
Clara Amfo

Clara Amfo shares tips to make Christmas feel calmer and brighter when you’re not feeling festive

27 places where kids can eat for free or £1 over the Christmas holiday
kids eat free/ easter holidays
Kids eat free

27 places where kids can eat for free or £1 over the Christmas holiday

Panicked by the Christmas food bill? Here’s how to save money and still have a festive feast
A family tucking into a Christmas meal.
Christmas

Panicked by the Christmas food bill? Here’s how to save money and still have a festive feast

Renting with pets: Know your rights
a woman sitting on a bed using a laptop, with a golden retriever lying beside her
renting

Renting with pets: Know your rights

Meet our vendors

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Nathan Dale, Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station

Nathan Dale, Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station

Grant Elder, Waitrose, Comely Bank, Edinburgh

Grant Elder, Waitrose, Comely Bank, Edinburgh

Mike Turner, Kings Chase, Kingswood, Bristol

Mike Turner, Kings Chase, Kingswood, Bristol

Stewart Campbell, M&S Gallagher Retail Park, Dundee

Stewart Campbell, M&S Gallagher Retail Park, Dundee

Vendor news

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Punk band The Molotovs stun Christmas shoppers with on-street show to back Big Issue
The Molotovs playing a concert for Big Issue in Soho
Music

Punk band The Molotovs stun Christmas shoppers with on-street show to back Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: Our legendary Christmas special!
Christmas

Inside the Big Issue: Our legendary Christmas special!

Watch Big Issue vendor André bring his Christmas song to life with a London choir
Big Issue vendor Andre Rostant and the Adam Street Singers smile at the camera at their performance spot in Covent Garden, decorated with Christmas lights
Christmas

Watch Big Issue vendor André bring his Christmas song to life with a London choir

Naturalist Chris Packham meets Big Issue vendor Martin McKenzie… and his fluffy dog Bella
Dogs

Naturalist Chris Packham meets Big Issue vendor Martin McKenzie… and his fluffy dog Bella

Opinion

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Clara Amfo shares tips to make Christmas feel calmer and brighter when you’re not feeling festive
Clara Amfo is supporting ODEON and Mind's Quiet this Christmas campaign. Image: ODEON
Clara Amfo

Clara Amfo shares tips to make Christmas feel calmer and brighter when you’re not feeling festive

I’m a mother of children with disabilities. My local support group gave me a chance to breathe
Michelle Keen and her son George.
Michelle Keen

I’m a mother of children with disabilities. My local support group gave me a chance to breathe

I am a British citizen and have lived in the UK for 20 years. But as a refugee, I feel afraid here
Union Jacks line the streets of central London.
Dine

I am a British citizen and have lived in the UK for 20 years. But as a refugee, I feel afraid here

This Lancaster Priory monument was a culture wars flashpoint. Then it became a force for good
The monument at Lancaster Priory.
Dr Chris Donaldson and Dr Sunita Abraham

This Lancaster Priory monument was a culture wars flashpoint. Then it became a force for good

Newsletters

Sign up to Survival Guide: The Big Issue’s cost of living newsletter with human stories at the heart
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Cost of living crisis

Sign up to Survival Guide: The Big Issue’s cost of living newsletter with human stories at the heart

Sign up to our free Inside the Big Issue newsletter
Big Issue magazine

Sign up to our free Inside the Big Issue newsletter

Culture

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Shakin’ Stevens shares his Christmas message for Big Issue: ‘A time to reflect and to think of others’
Music

Shakin’ Stevens shares his Christmas message for Big Issue: ‘A time to reflect and to think of others’

Forty years on from Merry Christmas Everyone topping the charts, Shakin’ Stevens tells us how the song unlocks the key to the spirit of Christmas
Tim Key: ‘Christmas will be drinks next to the wheelie bins opposite Costcutter’
My Big Year

Tim Key: ‘Christmas will be drinks next to the wheelie bins opposite Costcutter’

Can Bob the Builder fix Broken Britain?
Housing

Can Bob the Builder fix Broken Britain?

Letter To My Younger Self

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Nicola Sturgeon: ‘Scotland will definitely be independent much sooner than it feels right now’
Letter to my Younger Self

Nicola Sturgeon: ‘Scotland will definitely be independent much sooner than it feels right now’

Marie Kondo: ‘I didn’t think much about the opposite sex – I was completely absorbed in tidying’
Letter To My Younger Self

Marie Kondo: ‘I didn’t think much about the opposite sex – I was completely absorbed in tidying’

Renowned heart surgeon Magdi Yacoub: ‘It’s essential in life, and in science in particular, to be humble’
Letter To My Younger Self

Renowned heart surgeon Magdi Yacoub: ‘It’s essential in life, and in science in particular, to be humble’

Former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern: ‘Door-knocking for politics is easier than door-knocking for God’
Letter to my younger self

Former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern: ‘Door-knocking for politics is easier than door-knocking for God’

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‘Explain to me why I’m homeless’: Rough sleeper’s rage tells us a lot about what’s keeping people homeless
Homelessness

‘Explain to me why I’m homeless’: Rough sleeper’s rage tells us a lot about what’s keeping people homeless

‘Frustrated, angry, exhausted’: Food banks forced to ‘throw out food donated by supermarkets’
Food bank shelves
Food banks

‘Frustrated, angry, exhausted’: Food banks forced to ‘throw out food donated by supermarkets’

Disabled woman forced to quit job she loves after DWP support slashed: ‘I can’t make it make sense’
Access to Work

Disabled woman forced to quit job she loves after DWP support slashed: ‘I can’t make it make sense’

‘It’s devastating’: UK’s biggest companies locking autistic people out of jobs with personality tests
Workplace inclusion

‘It’s devastating’: UK’s biggest companies locking autistic people out of jobs with personality tests

Life

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This is what Christmas is like in Gaza: ‘We hope that peace will prevail so that we can celebrate’
Christmas in Gaza

This is what Christmas is like in Gaza: ‘We hope that peace will prevail so that we can celebrate’

Using AI for your Christmas shopping could backfire. Here’s why
Christmas

Using AI for your Christmas shopping could backfire. Here’s why

This is what Christmas will look like in 2040
Christmas

This is what Christmas will look like in 2040

Where do British Christmas traditions really come from?  
Christmas

Where do British Christmas traditions really come from?  

Inside The Big Issue

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Inside the Big Issue: Our legendary Christmas special!
Christmas

Inside the Big Issue: Our legendary Christmas special!

Inside the Big Issue: O Come All Ye Faithful
Inside the Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: O Come All Ye Faithful

Inside the Big Issue: Santa’s good boys and girls
Inside the Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: Santa’s good boys and girls

Inside the Big Issue: Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody at 50
Inside the Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody at 50