The Big Issue

The Big Issue is one of Britain’s leading news and cultural magazines. Every week’s edition is packed full of original takes on the biggest issues of the day as well as interviews with the most significant figures in politics and entertainment. The Big Issue was founded 1991 to give people experiencing homelessness the opportunity to earn their own income. We continue to support hundreds of vendors across the UK and all proceeds from sales go to help anyone wanting to lift themselves out of poverty.

Meet the beetle

THE DISPATCH • News, views & miscellany

The Big Issue

EDITOR’S LETTER • Denying reality is a waste of energy

YOUR LETTERS

BIRD’S WORDS • On the write side

LETTER TO MY YOUNGER SELF SPECIAL DOROTHEA BARRON • After leaving school, she joined the Wrens – the Women’s Royal Naval Service – and served at the allied base at HMS Hopetoun in Port Edgar, Scotland as a visual signaller. The training centre on the Firth of Forth was where British and allied navies carried out training in preparation for the D-Day landings. Barron is one of the last few surviving Wrens who fought in World War II. She still teaches yoga and shows no signs of slowing down. Last year, she celebrated turning 100 with a ride in a Spitfire. To mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day (on 8 May), she spoke to Big Issue for a special letter to her younger self.

JOIN THE WRENS!

POVERTY IS A WAR WE’RE STILL FIGHTING

VOICES TO END HUNGER AWARDS SPOTLIGHTS THE COMMUNITY CHAMPIONS KEEPING PEOPLE FED • More than seven million people are living in food poverty in the UK and the grassroots champions working to feed them often don’t get the credit they deserve. These awards give them recognition

KEEP CALM AND OPEN A CANTEEN • During World War II, the public canteens set up by Winston Churchill became an integral part of British life. Now, in our modern age of social disconnection, it could be time to bring them back

FROM KITCHEN STOVE TO COMBAT ZONE • War forces people to get creative to keep the population fed in times of shortages and rationing. For example, recipes from World War II used parsnips in place of bananas, and bulked out puddings with potato. Writer Felicity Spector recently returned from Ukraine, where she met the resourceful chefs feeding those on the front lines with hard-won nourishment and undimmed hope

How to make the world a wildly better place

PUFFINS ON A ROCK LEDGE

Class clowns

The weight of expectation

Banning books is fiddling while Rome burns

Wave of desperation

Flower power

‘THOM SAID THIS WAS GOING TO BE REALLY DIFFICULT’

ROBIN INCE IS ON THE ROAD

We need to rethink how we define ‘work’

Vicky Pattison • The Honesty Box host and jungle queen has a fondness for the Spice Girls, body glitter and Street Cat Bob

Puzzles

MY PITCH • Middle Meadow Walk, Edinburgh Monday-Friday 8am-10am and 4pm-6pm, Saturday 9am-noon