Dogs of Big Issue

Many Big Issue vendors have dogs as a much-needed companion on their pitches, as well as in their lives. In a time-honoured Big Issue Christmas tradition, this week’s magazine celebrates the transformative impact that canine companions have on vendors up and down the UK. The bonny cover star is Marlene who started life as a street dog in Macedonia before being adopted by Big Issue vendor Ian. Now she’s on the cover of the magazine – what an incredible journey!

Also inside

• Last year Sebastian ate Christmas dinner in a cell, this year he’s cooking up a storm in a fine dining restaurant. We meet the chefs of the amazing Home Kitchen
• Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce warns of a “happiness recession” among young people today
• James Blunt tells us how he’s perfected the art of the self-effacing comeback to grow a whole new fanbase of followers
• What it’s like to be pregnant, a refugee, and homeless at Christmas
• Steven Frayne, the magician formerly known as Dynamo, talks about how he’s rediscovered his identity and love of magic in a Letter To My Younger Self
• Green co-leader Carla Denyer shares her favourite anagrams of ‘Merry Christmas’
• Two decades after Love Actually, Richard Curtis says his new animated film That Christmas is re-wrapping his feelgood festive formula for the modern age
• Boxer Cindy Ngama became the first representative of the IOC Refugee Team to win an Olympic medal. She relives the moment she stepped onto the podium
• And Motherwell vendor Colin tells us how he took to selling the magazine to save him from a dark place after his power-washing business dried up

Plus much more festive spirit!

If you can, please buy a copy from your local vendor.

If you can’t buy in person, you can purchase magazines from The Big Issue Shop or download a digital version via The Big Issue app, available now from the App Store or Google Play