Our 2024 calendar is here

At Big Issue North, we have just launched our 2024 calendar. It is on sale now from your local vendor or our online shop at just £7. 

This year, the calendar features our vendors alongside their beloved pets.  

For vendors, the power of a pet’s companionship provides great comfort. Owning a pet makes many vendors feel loved and needed, adding great meaning to their lives.  

“Bumper loves being on my pitch with me,” says vendor Justin. “There are no cars there so he can run around and play. If he’s not with me, he starts crying. I can’t even go into a shop without him howling!”  

Justin and Bumper sell the magazine in Manchester. They have been a popular fixture in Royal Exchange Square; Bumper enjoys the attention he gets from their customers and passersby. His impact on Justin has been life changing.  

“He saved my life, really. He kept me going through everything. He’s my baby, basically…makes me so happy. He is my life. He’s getting on now, but I hope he’s got a few years left,” says Justin. “As long as he’s alive, I’ll be okay. After that, I don’t care… I keep going for Bumper. I’d be lost without him.” 

A study by the University of Nottingham and Dog’s Trust showed that dog ownership – and the relationship between a person and their dog – has powerful implications for the owner’s physical and psychological state. 

Our vendors with pets are a testament to this. They often credit their pets with being an incredible source of motivation and support – essential for people trying to improve their lives. 

For people like Big Issue North vendors, who are often already in vulnerable situations, the support, love, and motivation that pets offer are invaluable.  Our 2024 calendar showcases just some examples of animals actively improving the lives of our vendors. 

Yet pet ownership can also perpetuate homelessness. Under current laws in the UK, if someone turns down social housing due to no-pet clauses, they are considered “intentionally homeless” by most local authorities and will be refused further housing aid, restricting access to support services. 

“It was difficult to find a place that let [Bumper] live with me,” says Justin, “I stopped telling people I had him.”  

“When I was homeless, I found a B&B that took pets, but that place has now closed… Luckily, the landlord of the place I’m in now is fine with dogs, so that’s great. We landed on our feet there. If there had been a problem, I’d have moved out.”  

There are ongoing campaigns to change the laws around housing and pet ownership. Big Issue recently covered the work of Dee Bonett, the driving force behind the John Chadwick Pet Policy, which aims to ensure that people do not have to choose between their pets and accommodation. 

If you have a pet yourself or know someone with a furry, scaled, or feathered companion, you will already recognise how powerful that bond is between owner and animal. 

For people like Big Issue North vendors, who are often already in vulnerable situations, the support, love, and motivation that pets offer are invaluable.  Our 2024 calendar showcases just some examples of animals actively improving the lives of our vendors. 

At Big Issue North, we want to ensure that people do not have to choose between their pets and accommodation. By recognising the importance of these relationships to both animal and human health, we hope to undercut the stigma that can surround pet ownership and poverty. 

Every penny raised from calendar sales either goes directly to the vendor or is reinvested in wider support for them. Whether you buy online or directly from a vendor, you are doing your bit to make a difference in the lives of our vendors and their dependents and helping us to do more to support people to earn an income.  

Buy the 2024 Big Issue North calendar via our online shop.

Support our ‘Power of Pets’ campaign here.