news
The Big Issue reveals new insights in Social Impact Report
The Big Issue has released new organisational insights through the first ever Social Impact report!
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vendor
Michael
The Big Issue is my favourite job. I like to sell the magazines and all that. I’ve got some customers that come from all over the place, and they buy from me.
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Around The Bend
As kids, Kerri Sackville and her sister were head over heels for gymnastics: a shared language and love that helped them through the somersaults of life.
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Jelly Slice by Brooki
Although there is nothing particularly fancy about a jelly slice, I have it on good authority that this is the best recipe out there.
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Assunta
Being homeless, I find it really, really stressful. It’s one of the reasons I sell The Big Issue, because it takes my mind off it, and I focus on the customers.
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Green Pasta Sauce With Wilted Greens
Every mouthful of this dish reminds me of home: family sitting around the table sharing food and stories.
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Jamaican Beef Patties
If you don’t have crumbs on your mouth or on you when you’re eating a patty, then it just simply isn’t 10/10.
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Train of Thought
According to James Colley, public transport etiquette should be set in stone – unless there’s a really juicy phone call that he wants to eavesdrop on, of course.
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Brendan
The income helps me heaps: you can buy a coffee, something to eat. I use the money wisely.
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Ka’ek Al-Quds and Eggs
A beautiful bread to use to dip into olive oil and zaatar, to cut open and enjoy with some eggs, a pinch of salt and sumac, or to create your own elaborate sandwich.
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Bigger than Jesus
Sixty years ago, four young men with strange haircuts arrived in Australia. The country – as Anastasia Safioleas explores – would never be the same again.
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Holly Days
Holly Days Brisbane vendor Holly P shares what she gets up to when she’s away from her pitch – including volunteering, gleeful swimming and making up her own rules to Monopoly!
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vendor
Alfred
I like selling The Big Issue, just the fact that you’re out there meeting people, and being outdoors.
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Whole Mandarin Cake With Poppy Seed Icing
Cake and tea – be it for a celebration or to uplift someone’s spirits after bad news – was always the answer when I was growing up.
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So Long, Farewell
Writer, comedian and beloved columnist Fiona Scott-Norman has left the building.
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Simon
About three years ago, I decided to do The Big Issue again. It gets you out of your comfort zone – I like the sense of confidence you build up, talking to the public.
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A Safe Journey
The pull of Xiaole Zhan’s mother tongue – over crackling phone lines and video chats – is an anchor to their memory.
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Article
Sarah Pound’s Warming Beef Casserole
When I serve up one of my beef casseroles these days, I’m not just serving a meal – I’m serving up a piece of my childhood.
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Herding Cats
When Big Issue vendor Stephen B accidentally inherited a pet, his world turned upside down.
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Clem
The best thing about The Big Issue is I’ve met so many nice people. They stop and have a joke, have a yak. Worth getting out of bed at six o’clock for.
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Crostoli
Crostoli is a delightfully addictive and moreish biscuit, dusted with a generous layer of icing sugar.
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Simon
It’s been hell, but you’ve got to do what you can, and The Big Issue is one of those things – it’s helped me, it really has.
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Chicken Paprikash
This chicken paprikash with cabbage salad brings me back to those times when the smell of Mum’s cooking filled the house.
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Food for Thought
Some people get excited about limited-edition sneakers or rare vinyl records. For me, I can’t get enough of new food discoveries.
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Grant
I had nowhere to go, so I turned to The Big Issue. It gave me a chance to build back my life again.
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Spiced Mussels With Sobrassada and Sherry
Whenever, wherever and for whomever I prepare mussels, I feel a strong sense of nostalgia. It means that, regardless of the culinary direction that takes my fancy, it feels like home to me.
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Maureen
I’m very proud to say that I work at The Big Issue. I like the companionship, working as a team, the laughter.
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Ban-Almond Double Crunch Cheesecake With Tropical Fruits
I baked it EVERY weekend until my family cried out for the relief of a chocolate cake!
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Chris H
My father sells The Big Issue and encouraged me to give it a try – the rest is history.
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Epic Tarragon Roast Chicken
Nothing makes me feel more at home than a roast chicken: a dish my family has lovingly cooked each other for generations, and which always spurs on warm conversation.
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Steve C
The Big Issue’s always been there for me. They’ll always welcome you back with open arms.
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Vendor MBK’s Ukrainian Vareniki
Once I had the first bite, the memories came flooding back.
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Meatsmith’s Salt-Baked Chicken
This recipe uses an incredible cooking technique Andrew first came across in Hong Kong, where chickens are baked street side in bags, buried in salt.
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Kirsten Tibbal’s Strawberry Trifle With White Chocolate Mousse
The trifle is great for an Australian summer: light and fresh with a touch of chocolate decadence.
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Monique
I like everything about selling The Big Issue. What I like about it is that I can work whenever, wherever.
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Bonnie’s Mascarpone, Raspberry & Rosewater Tart
Our gorgeous mum Bonnie is in charge of the sweetie treaties at Christmas. She makes the Christmas pudding a year ahead, and the tradition remains that she gets everyone to make a wish while you “have a stir”.
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Be Kind Rewind
Rod O’Hara’s small-town video shop is a treasure, and one of the last of its kind. We farewell an era with Bellingen Video Connection, a cult classic if ever there was one.
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Lasagne
My nonna Paolina was best known in the family for two pasta dishes – her gnocchi and her lasagne. When eating either, you were never in any doubt who had created the meal. She always told us her secret ingredient was love, but I suspect it was skill.
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Vesna
I was born in Melbourne. Mum told me I was born in the hospital in Moonee Ponds. I’ve got two sisters, but they do their own thing. I’m the youngest. My parents split up. We shifted from one place to the next – I’ve been all over the place. Because I’d been moving around, I ended up...
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For Millie
Mark Brandi reflects on the loss of his beloved dog and the comfort that her companionship brought to his life.
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Bill
I was born in America, and we moved to Perth four years later, when my Aussie-born mum and American father split. I have cerebral palsy, and my grandfather told Mum to bring me to Australia because the health system was much more affordable. I attended a “special needs” education facility in Mount Lawley, where I...
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Cheesy Roasted Garlic Bread
Growing up, garlic and olive oil were staple items in my mum’s cooking. No matter where I am in the world, the smell of freshly peeled garlic on my fingertips will always send me back to my childhood home. It also reminds me, even though I have grown up in Australia, to never forget my...
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Chris
I’ve lived in Whyalla for 21 years, and I started at The Big Issue 18 years ago. One lady even said I’m a Whyalla icon.
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Dennis
I was born in Bristol in England, but I grew up in Kent. I was adopted by my mum and dad when I was about six-and-a-half, along with my two brothers. I don’t remember anything about my life before then. My dad was fighting in India when he was 15 – he put his age...
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Poulet au Coco Rico
I didn’t start cooking until I got married. I had to remember the recipes that were made for me as a child. I didn’t have to ask anyone for this recipe – it was in my memory. I was always there when my grandfather would make it. He would tell me, “Sido, go get this. Sido,...
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Jack
I grew up on a farm in Coonabarabran in New South Wales. We had pigs. My childhood was pretty good. At the time, I probably didn’t like it so much, coming from a family of 10. I was the oldest boy. My sister was a bit older than me – she and I had a...
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Ted
I was brought up in Kingston, which is a few miles south of Woodridge in southeastern Queensland. It was my mum, dad and sister at home, but Dad was away a lot. Eventually my parents split up, so Mum did a lot on her own. I found primary school difficult and didn’t like it much...
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Tommy Pham’s Bò Kho
There’s a reason why my son Miles will eat bowls and bowls of this – you just can’t beat a bowl of juicy, melt-in-your-mouth beef in a thick and flavoursome sauce. You just can’t.
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MBK
I grew up with a single mum and an elder sister in St Albans, Melbourne. I never knew my father; he died when I was one. My mum’s parents are Ukrainian, and during this turmoil I’ve been wishing I could do more. I got the amazing Ukrainian trident (tryzub) tattoo, so now it’s always close...
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The Life of Warnie
We revisit cricket legend Shane Warne’s Letter to My Younger Self, in which he revealed the importance of good manners, good friends and good scents.
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Japanese Gyoza
It’s a longstanding family joke that I’m completely biased when I adamantly declare at every opportunity that my mum’s gyoza are the best in the world.
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Takin’ Care of Business
The Big Issue’s Women’s Workforce are a force to be reckoned with, as Melissa Fulton discovers when she joins them on a shift.
Read moreHomes For Homes
Homes for Homes is a simple promise that when a home sells, whenever that is, 0.1% of the sale price will be donated—helping build homes for those in need.
