Isabella McRae

United Kingdom

Senior Reporter at The Big Issue

Senior reporter @BigIssue covering social justice | [email protected]

Articles

I went from warehouse worker to starring in a film about exactly that

5 days ago | bigissue.com | Isabella McRae

Film On Falling tells the story of the relentlessness of working in a warehouse, and it features people with lived experience like former warehouse worker and comedian Louis Utieyin Louis Utieyin was working six days a week, waking up at 4am, as a picker in a warehouse. He despised the work but it led him to a role in On Falling, a film made Ken Loach’s production company Sixteen Films.
Homeless centre forced to turn young people away due to 'unprecedented demand'

1 week ago | bigissue.com | Isabella McRae

Housing New Horizon Youth Centre provides a 'vital' service to young people facing homelessness in the capital, including emergency accommodation, advocacy and advice London’s only day centre for young people facing homelessness has had to close its services for new clients as a result of “impossibly high numbers” needing help.
Disabled children face 200-day wait for social care assessment

1 week ago | bigissue.com | Isabella McRae

Social Justice One mother of a disabled child described how the process to get support from the social care system 'consumed all of my spare time' Parents of disabled children are at “breaking point” as one in three have been unable to access the support they need from social care services, a new report has revealed.
Mouldy homes on London estate leave almost every tenant with health issues

1 week ago | bigissue.com | Isabella McRae

Housing A new Medact report has found residents are facing worsening health as a result of poor housing on the Nags Head estate, more than a year after the Big Issue covered tenants' situations Tenants on a housing estate in East London face “unliveable” conditions which is having an “alarming” impact on their health. On the Nags Head estate in Tower Hamlets, 95% of residents had visible mould in their homes, according to a new report by charity Medact.
DWP urged to withdraw 'dangerous' disability benefits consultation

1 week ago | bigissue.com | Isabella McRae

Social Justice The government has been accused of 'preventing people whose lives are impacted by these decisions from sharing their concerns' in the consultation on disability benefits reforms Disabled people’s organisations have expressed “serious concerns with the human rights implications” of the Department for Work and Pensions‘ (DWP) consultation into disability benefits reforms.
Blind people feel 'anxious and outraged' over Labour's benefit cuts

2 weeks ago | bigissue.com | Isabella McRae

Social Justice 'It’s always the most vulnerable who get hit the hardest,' says Frankie, who is registered blind, as she expresses fears about the government's plans for disability benefit cuts Blind and visually impaired people have said they are “outraged” and “scared” by the government’s plans for billions of pounds of disability benefit cuts.
Survivors of torture face 'gruelling' process to get disability benefits

2 weeks ago | bigissue.com | Isabella McRae

Join our new Big Issue ambassadors and become a member to end poverty Social Justice Charity Freedom from Torture is sounding the alarm about the impact disability benefits cuts will have on survivors of torture Survivors of torture living in the UK have faced unimaginable horror. They may have been arrested, detained, abused, and have made the journey to seek asylum.
Scrap two-child benefit cap to give local councils a much-needed cash injection

2 weeks ago | bigissue.com | Isabella McRae

Social Justice Hundreds of thousands of children would be lifted out of poverty, saving constituencies millions each, if the two-child limit on benefits was scrapped Scrapping the two-child benefit cap could give local councils a much-needed multi-million pound boost, a new report has found. The End Child Poverty Coalition has revealed that one in nine children are impacted by the two-child limit on benefits across the UK, with families losing out on more than £3,500 annually.
Our kids are in prison for murders they didn't commit. We're fighting for justice

2 weeks ago | bigissue.com | Isabella McRae

Get 8 issues for only £9.99 - delivered to your door Social Justice The Big Issue has spoken to six mothers of children jailed for murder under the joint enterprise act, as well as a lawyer and a Labour MP, about why they believe that the law should be changed so that people are convicted for the crimes they committed – not ones to which they were merely bystanders Sally Halsall collapsed screaming when her son Alex Henry was convicted for murder.
Water bills are going up in April 2024. Here's what to do if you're struggling

3 weeks ago | bigissue.com | Isabella McRae

Social Justice We've rounded up all the support available if you can't afford to pay your water bills, as costs go up by more than the rate of inflation in April 2025 Water bills are going up in April, at a time when household budgets cannot afford to be squeezed much more. The average water bill is expected to rise to £603 each year, an increase of £123, according to industry body Water UK. But you could be paying more or less, depending on your supplier and where you live.