Good morning. Isabella here. Welcome to Survival Guide.

Last month, the Big Issue headed up to Newcastle to meet communities who felt ignored and forgotten, and we told their stories. We are continuing our commitment to making sure their voices are heard now.

Off the back of our visit, a grassroots organisation made up of families in the west end of Newcastle got in touch to ask if we could share their story of fighting poverty from the ground up. 

I spoke to a founding member of the group Mwenza Bell, who was recently out protesting against child poverty alongside other parents, while facing challenges of her own. You’ll meet Mwenza in this newsletter.

Also this week, are you wondering why your turkey is so expensive? Farmers took to the streets this week over the changes to inheritance tax, but the industry is facing even deeper challenges which means our Christmas dinner is looking pretty expensive this year.

We’ve also got a suggestion for an alternative festive feast on a budget. Read on for more…

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

'It can't stay like this': Meet the North East families fighting child poverty by themselves

Mwenza Blell is a mum of two on maternity leave, but she still finds time to petition the local government over staggering rates of child poverty in the North East. Alongside fellow parents, she was recently out protesting in Newcastle’s west end to demand action to ensure that no child grows up poor.

“People are willing to walk long distances for small amounts of food,” says Blell, a founding member of grassroots organisation Food & Solidarity, which fights hunger and housing injustice in Newcastle.

“They are willing to work. They are willing to make lots of effort for very small amounts of money. Things are rough, not just for the people that you know are struggling and the people who tell us they are struggling, but for all kinds of people.”

Food & Solidarity started during the pandemic, delivering food to vulnerable neighbours, and became a lifeline as prices surged in the cost of living crisis. Although inflation has reached near normal levels, prices are still rising and people have nothing left to sacrifice.

Blell has felt this on a personal level. “It’s been really challenging. Being lower down the income scale, you feel like you are constantly at risk of being hit by things you can’t plan for. That loomed over me. You don’t know how bad things are going to get. You can feel yourself being squeezed and trying to come up with strategies to cope with it.”

Read the full story.

In case you missed it

DWP admits winter fuel payment cuts will plunge tens of thousands of pensioners into poverty. Minister Liz Kendall disclosed the figures in a letter to the work and pensions committee. Read the story.

'This cannot go on': Hundreds of thousands of people turning to food banks for the first time. Campaigners are calling for the government to end 'the normalisation of a charitable response to poverty'. Read more.

Is the cost of living crisis over and will prices in the UK ever come down? Inflation rose again last month. Will prices come down? Here's what you need to know about whether the cost of living crisis will ever end. Find out more.

More than 16 million people in poverty, report finds – with deprivation at highest level in decades. A third of children in the UK are living in poverty. Get the story.

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This is why your Christmas turkey costs more this year

Farmers were out protesting in the street this week as changes to inheritance tax left them fearful for the future of their businesses. But there is a more urgent threat to farming in Britain – one that impacts us all. At every level of the food chain, from field to plate, people are adapting to the a reality of higher costs and higher prices.

Farmers have been bruised by inflation more than most as supermarkets squeezed food producers’ prices, and with them their profits, to keep prices down for consumers. And then there are Brexit-related staffing costs, which are making festive favourites like turkey unaffordable to produce.

Tom Horn, a writer who grew up on a farm, explains why your turkey is so expensive – read the story here. If you’re looking for an alternative to turkey this year, we teamed up with Instagram-famous chefs BOSH a couple of years ago to create a Christmas dinner on a serious budget. Here’s their recipe (I can certify, it was delicious).

This Christmas, you can make a lasting change to a vendor's life. Buy a magazine from your local vendor in the street every week, if you can’t reach them, buy a Big Issue Vendor Support Kit.