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I was trafficked and forced to work 23 hours a day. How was I meant to return to normality?
Modern slavery

I was trafficked and forced to work 23 hours a day. How was I meant to return to normality?

Ilja Abbattista is now a board member for the Bright Future Co-operative, which is supporting modern slavery survivors into safe and secure employment
Tenants win more than £250,000 of rent back from billionaire landlord in five-year legal battle
Somerford Grove Renters in Hackney
Renting

Tenants win more than £250,000 of rent back from billionaire landlord in five-year legal battle

Donald Trump’s import tariffs could ‘completely destabilise’ UK’s car industry
Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s import tariffs could ‘completely destabilise’ UK’s car industry

Top Stories

People in poverty feel disconnected from democracy. But it doesn’t have to be this way
Hannah Paylor

People in poverty feel disconnected from democracy. But it doesn’t have to be this way

Benefits, rent rises, and energy bill hikes: All the tax year changes in April 2025 you need to know about
Social Justice

Benefits, rent rises, and energy bill hikes: All the tax year changes in April 2025 you need to know about

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Letters: Covid was a chance to reset. So why are we still working until we drop?
Letters

Letters: Covid was a chance to reset. So why are we still working until we drop?

Inside the Big Issue: Jeff Goldblum and his keys to life
Inside the Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: Jeff Goldblum and his keys to life

Big Issue’s Kids Cover Competition is back for Earth Day – judged by the legendary Chris Packham
Kids Cover Competition

Big Issue’s Kids Cover Competition is back for Earth Day – judged by the legendary Chris Packham

Introducing the Big Issue 100 Changemakers of 2025
Changemakers 2025

Introducing the Big Issue 100 Changemakers of 2025

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Advice

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Living on the edge: How to avoid falling into poverty amid rising costs
Stock image of bank notes and coins
Poverty line

Living on the edge: How to avoid falling into poverty amid rising costs

DWP payment dates in March 2025: When you will get your benefits this month
image of cash
Benefits

DWP payment dates in March 2025: When you will get your benefits this month

Crisis-proofing your finances: How to prepare for the unexpected with an emergency fund
Emergency fund

Crisis-proofing your finances: How to prepare for the unexpected with an emergency fund

36 places where kids can eat free or for £1 in February half term
kids eat free/ easter holidays
Cost of living crisis

36 places where kids can eat free or for £1 in February half term

Meet our vendors

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Bryan Binyon, TK Maxx, Sunderland

Bryan Binyon, TK Maxx, Sunderland

Gemiliana, Pero’s Bridge, near Arnolfini Arts, Bristol

Gemiliana, Pero’s Bridge, near Arnolfini Arts, Bristol

Paul Thompson, Tesco, Bridgend

Paul Thompson, Tesco, Bridgend

Florina, M&S, Dunblane

Florina, M&S, Dunblane

Vendor news

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Inside the Big Issue: Michael Sheen’s great debt battle
Inside the Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: Michael Sheen’s great debt battle

Inside the Big Issue: 40 years on from the miners’ strike
Inside the Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: 40 years on from the miners’ strike

Aberdeen vendor shares fears over M&S closure with local MP: “She’s in our corner”
MP Kirsty Blackman and Big Issue vendor Pamela smile during a meeting in Aberdeen.
Our campaigns

Aberdeen vendor shares fears over M&S closure with local MP: “She’s in our corner”

It’s Random Acts of Kindness Day. For this Big Issue vendor, kindness is always around him
Random Acts of Kindness

It’s Random Acts of Kindness Day. For this Big Issue vendor, kindness is always around him

Opinion

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How building a healthier society will get Rachel Reeves out of a bind
chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of the Spring Statement
Laurie Lee

How building a healthier society will get Rachel Reeves out of a bind

People in poverty feel disconnected from democracy. But it doesn’t have to be this way
Hannah Paylor

People in poverty feel disconnected from democracy. But it doesn’t have to be this way

Social opportunity should take the place of social security 
John Bird

Social opportunity should take the place of social security 

Being diagnosed with a brain tumour was the best day of my life. Here’s how it let me help others
Timothy Samples, pictured with wife Michelle, suffered seizures, a brain injury and a brain tumour
Timothy Samples

Being diagnosed with a brain tumour was the best day of my life. Here’s how it let me help others

Newsletters

Sign up to Working On It: The Big Issue newsletter about making work better
Working On It.
Future of work

Sign up to Working On It: The Big Issue newsletter about making work better

Sign up to Survival Guide: The Big Issue’s cost of living newsletter with human stories at the heart
cost of living newsletter graphic
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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Football legend David James: ‘I had difficult moments at every club, not just Liverpool’
Letter To My Younger Self

Football legend David James: ‘I had difficult moments at every club, not just Liverpool’

It was high jump or football for David James, but the promise of free food tempted him between the sticks
Hedonist ex-MP Victor Grayson tried to expose corruption and scandal. Then he disappeared forever
Corruption

Hedonist ex-MP Victor Grayson tried to expose corruption and scandal. Then he disappeared forever

Top 5 gritty thrillers, chosen by viral sensation and best-selling author Lloyd Devereux Richards
Books

Top 5 gritty thrillers, chosen by viral sensation and best-selling author Lloyd Devereux Richards

Letter To My Younger Self

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Football legend David James: ‘I had difficult moments at every club, not just Liverpool’
Letter To My Younger Self

Football legend David James: ‘I had difficult moments at every club, not just Liverpool’

Writer and comedian Mark Steel: ‘Doing my car tax was more stressful than having cancer’
Letter to my younger self

Writer and comedian Mark Steel: ‘Doing my car tax was more stressful than having cancer’

How Canada’s next prime minister Mark Carney came to be inspired by Big Issue
Mark Carney is set to be the new Canadian prime minister
Canada

How Canada’s next prime minister Mark Carney came to be inspired by Big Issue

Fashion icon Twiggy: ‘David Bowie singing my name was the thrill of my life’
Letter To My Younger Self

Fashion icon Twiggy: ‘David Bowie singing my name was the thrill of my life’

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The inside story of how Tony Blair’s New Labour all-but ended rough sleeping
Rough sleeping

The inside story of how Tony Blair’s New Labour all-but ended rough sleeping

Should care experience be a protected characteristic? Care leavers speak out on status debate
A group of diverse people sit in a circle, in a support group formation
Children’s social care

Should care experience be a protected characteristic? Care leavers speak out on status debate

Domestic abuse soars by 38% when England lose. This Euros, we need change
'no more years of hurt' on a scarf - women's aid domestic abuse at the euros campaign imagery
Teresa Parker

Domestic abuse soars by 38% when England lose. This Euros, we need change

Count Binface: ‘The British people will be watching you, Keir Starmer’
Count Binface

Count Binface: ‘The British people will be watching you, Keir Starmer’

Life

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Brits are uncomfortable talking about money and debt. Can comedy change that?
money

Brits are uncomfortable talking about money and debt. Can comedy change that?

Letters: Covid was a chance to reset. So why are we still working until we drop?
Letters

Letters: Covid was a chance to reset. So why are we still working until we drop?

Covid exposed the brutal realities of UK health inequality – has anything really changed?
Two people in vests work on the Covid memorial wall
Five years since the pandemic

Covid exposed the brutal realities of UK health inequality – has anything really changed?

Chav Solidarity author D Hunter: ‘My violent childhood left me without role models for parenting’
10Foot Takeover

Chav Solidarity author D Hunter: ‘My violent childhood left me without role models for parenting’

Inside The Big Issue

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Inside the Big Issue: Jeff Goldblum and his keys to life
Inside the Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: Jeff Goldblum and his keys to life

Inside the Big Issue: Alison Hammond answers some Big Questions
Inside the Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: Alison Hammond answers some Big Questions

Inside the Big Issue: The 10Foot takeover
Inside the Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: The 10Foot takeover

‘The world will be a better place!’: Why Big Issue became one of the original B Corps
B Corps

‘The world will be a better place!’: Why Big Issue became one of the original B Corps