About this issue: Overview
Pop-punk band Paramore are touring following the release of their game-changing album After Laughter. Lead singer Hayley Williams reflects on growing up in the spotlight and how technology has changed the music scene as the group head to Manchester.
Nick Stirk describes his life living on the streets, in hostels and precarious flats in Yorkshire. He explains that the ultimate kindness that a stranger can give the homeless is a voice.
From Salford to Preston, local authorities under fearful central government-imposed austerity have been seeking innovative ways to keep residents and businesses going. That means everything from free copies of birth certificates so homeless people can prove their identity to persuading hospitals and universities to spend their vast budgets with local suppliers.
Penrith hosts the annual World Marmalade Awards, bringing global tourism to the Lake District. Organiser Jane Hasell-McCosh explains why it’s such an increasingly popular preserve and offers her own recipe for it.
The Centre Stage page brings you a look at this year’s Push Festival, which celebrates the North West’s emerging artistic talent. One of the shows is Marcus Hercules’ Rasta Liv, a piece about his father’s immigration that celebrates sport, Ethiopia, Rasta, family and human spirit.
Plus actor Zoe Wanamaker, star of Harry Potter and Poirot, writes a letter to her younger self and columnist Roger Ratcliffe looks over the government’s Northern Forest scheme. We have music, film and TV reviews, an author Q&A with Neil Olson, crossword, Sudoku and more.