A HUGE guide to Christmas dinner on a budget

Good afternoon. Isabella here, back with another festive edition of Survival Guide!

The Big Issue is on a mission to help people have a special Christmas this year, in spite of the cost of living crisis. So we've teamed up with top chefs including Tom Kerridge, Instagram sensations BOSH! and Dan Pelosi to help you create a slap-up Christmas feast without breaking the bank.

Read to the end for our big guide to Christmas dinner on a budget, bursting with tips and recipes from chefs.

Also this week, I visit a hostel for people experiencing homelessness as they gather together to celebrate Christmas in a charming winter event. And reporter Charlotte Elton meets Keith, a father of a young man with complex disabilities as their family struggles to afford Christmas.

If you have a story to share, we want to listen. Get in touch at isabella.mcrae@bigissue.com or share your story here.

Keith's story: 'We're prisoners to our bills'

Disabled people are being forced to cancel Christmas because they can’t afford it in the cost of living crisis.

Christmas has always been a special time for Keith and Helen Butler, because it is when they adopted their son Geordie. Now 22, Geordie is deafblind, autistic and has a complex genetic condition that can lead to multiple severe disabilities.

For the Butlers, the costs of caring for Geordie are mounting. They must charge and run a feeding machine, operate a specialist bed, and keep the house warm because he is susceptible to illness. The couple pay £2,250 a year to get him to day services.

The family’s income, made up of Keith’s pension and Geordie’s universal credit, can’t cover spiralling costs. Christmas is particularly difficult, as Geordie doesn’t understand that “Santa has a budget”.

“When he sees his presents under the tree, he’s so happy, he’s excited beyond belief,” Keith says.“We can’t take that from him, so no one else will be getting a present. His three older siblings will only have a token gift, and likewise our six grandchildren.”

One in three disabled people told charity Sense that they will not celebrate Christmas this year because of the financial pressures. More than a third (34%) said they will not see any friends or family or buy any festive food (37%).

“We are prisoners to our bills,” Keith says. “We can’t live, Geordie can’t live. And there are families in much worse positions, under interminable pressure. We can’t wait another winter.”

Read Keith’s story here and make a donation to Sense to help kids with complex disabilities experience the magic of Christmas here.

In case you missed it

Risk of dying from cancer much higher in poorer areas of England, shameful study shows. New research has revealed the stark links between poverty and certain types of cancer – including lung cancer, which is the leading cause of death. Get the story.

Union leaders vow to resist Tories’ ‘unworkable and undemocratic’ new anti-strike laws. A change to the law is about to make industrial action a whole lot more difficult. Read about it.

How the tragic death of a man in an overcrowded flat exposed the dire truth about slumlord Britain. The death of 41-year-old Mizanur Rahman highlighted the shocking housing quality endured by the UK’s poorest residents. Here’s the story.

DWP using AI to assess benefit and universal credit claims poses ‘significant risk’, experts warn. The government has floated plans to introduce AI in public services, including in the DWP benefits system. But is it a possibility and what are the risks? We asked experts.

A McDonald’s security guard soaking a homeless man’s blanket exemplifies stigma rough sleepers face. It’s the latest episode in a winter that has demonstrated the perils of street homelessness. Read about it.

Housing benefit boost for renters will be wiped out by 2025, experts warn. Jeremy Hunt gave low-income renters a boost when he raised local housing allowance rates – but tenants face being back to square one in 18 months time. Get the story.

Read the latest cost of living news and help from The Big Issue

Like what you're reading? Let people know by going to our sign-up article and sharing it on your social networks!

Christmas in a hostel for people facing homelessness

Christmas classics sing out from the courtyard and fairy lights hang between the trees, as a young mother chases her toddler and an asylum seeker helps hang up the last of the decorations.

It is the start of the festivities in this hostel for people facing homelessness in South London, run by charity Evolve Housing + Support. There are more than 50 residents at this site, some of whom have just arrived and others who have lived here for years.

I visited their winter fair – a chance for residents, staff and volunteers to gather together and mark the start of the Christmas season, a time which can be isolating for people experiencing homelessness.

“Christmas is a particularly hard time for a lot of people, but particularly those who are excluded from society,” says Tom Markwell, head of operations at Evolve. “There’s the perception that everyone is having a lovely time and they’re very much alone.”

Read about the realities of homelessness at Christmas here.

1594_Budget-Dinners_generic-turkey_christmas_dinner (1)

Saving those coins: Christmas dinner on a budget

We want to save you as much money as possible and still make sure that on Christmas Day you have an enormous feast.

Christmas dinner should leave your family full and give you plenty of leftovers for a lazy Boxing Day. But to do all of that on a budget in a cost of living crisis? It’s tricky, but we’re up for it.

Last year, we challenged chefs BOSH! to cook up a £20 Christmas dinner for us, and they took it in their stride. Together we trawled through supermarkets to find the cheapest ingredients and they created a showstopper.

But food prices have shot up this year, and our budget Christmas dinner will now cost you £24 (still great value to feed a family of eight to 10 people, but an 18% increase on last year, well over the rate of inflation). We explain why your Christmas dinner is more expensive this year here.

It is still possible to celebrate the festive season on as tight a budget as possible. We’ve asked top chefs for their budget recipes and tips to make this Christmas as special as ever, and we were served up a treat.

These recipes can be adapted, whether that means doubling up on ingredients to stretch even further or swapping out the side dishes for your family’s favourites. See the full recipes here:

This week's Big Issue magazine

Find your local vendor or sign up for a subscription.