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Issue 1266 - Little Monkey

Don't have a vendor nearby? Then buy your copy of our award-winning magazine here.

Mark Siequien sells The Big Issue in Cambridge. Just a few years ago he was on the brink. Mark wanted to make a dramatic change in his life and a friend suggested he volunteered at a primate sanctuary in South Africa. He began to realise that working in the sanctuary, talking to fellow staff and visitors was having an amazing effect on his own mental health. When he returned to the UK he wondered what he could do to keep that positive process going. He turned to The Big Issue. This is Mark's incredible story.

Also this week:

On the theme of animal magic, we publish another fascinating tale: Vince Jones explains how his relationship with barn owls saved his life. Now, with the backing of Big Issue Invest, he has a hoot running a rescue centre for them.

It’s 50 years this summer since homosexuality was decriminalised in England and Wales. In a special report, TV stalwart Mark Gatiss shares the cultural moments that were life-changing for him as a gay youngster filled with questions and fear, and we look at life for LGBT young people in Britain today. Homelessness, shockingly, is often the end result.

In Letter To My Younger Self, we have crime writer Mark Billingham. "If I met the 16-year-old Mark now I’d probably think, what a horrendous gobshite." He doesn't hold back.

And, as always, much more...

Please note once this edition is no longer on sale with Big Issue vendors (from Monday 31st July) it will be classed as a 'back issue'. All back issues are priced at £4 per copy plus P&P

The Big Issue

The Big Issue's own-brand products support the creation of a range of work-based opportunities for disadvantaged people.
Big Issue has spent over 30 years at the helm of self-help revolution. It all began with the launch of The Big Issue magazine in 1991, which was created to offer homeless and disadvantaged people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income by selling a magazine on the streets. Since then over 200 million copies magazine have been sold by over 100,000 people. Vendors buy the magazine upfront for £1.75 and sell it on to the public for £4.00, and in doing so each runs their own micro-enterprise. In 2005 Big Issue Invest was launched, with the aim of extending The Big Issue's mission by financing the growth of social enterprises and charities across the UK. To date the organisation has directly invested in over 350 such organisations, and manages or advises on more than £170 million of social funds.
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