Liam Geraghty
@lgeraghty23.bsky.social
@bigissue.com journalist. Writes about housing, homelessness and a bit of everything else. Story tips to liam[dot]geraghty[at]bigissue[dot]com. Personal posts will be about video games.
I grew up only a few miles from Heywood.
I visited recently to try and understand why people are taking it upon themselves to "police their own streets".
Here's what I found
www.bigissue.com/news/activis...
I visited recently to try and understand why people are taking it upon themselves to "police their own streets".
Here's what I found
www.bigissue.com/news/activis...
Meet the head of a Manchester group patrolling schools looking for 'outsiders'
The Heywood Community Guards, which patrols schools looking for 'outsiders', is raising difficult questions around vigilante justice.
www.bigissue.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:24 PM
I grew up only a few miles from Heywood.
I visited recently to try and understand why people are taking it upon themselves to "police their own streets".
Here's what I found
www.bigissue.com/news/activis...
I visited recently to try and understand why people are taking it upon themselves to "police their own streets".
Here's what I found
www.bigissue.com/news/activis...
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
🚨EXC: Starmer promised to house all veterans in need. But scheme which has got 1k vets off street is in doubt
👉Veterans orgs tell me future cash is uncertain
👉Orgs warn they'd have to shut housing without funding
👉 One org listed by gov as taking referrals never got cash
👉Veterans orgs tell me future cash is uncertain
👉Orgs warn they'd have to shut housing without funding
👉 One org listed by gov as taking referrals never got cash
Hundreds of veterans face homelessness as future of support scheme uncertain
Keir Starmer promised millions towards supporting veterans under threat of homelessness. Big Issue looks at how those promises worked out.
www.bigissue.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:53 AM
🚨EXC: Starmer promised to house all veterans in need. But scheme which has got 1k vets off street is in doubt
👉Veterans orgs tell me future cash is uncertain
👉Orgs warn they'd have to shut housing without funding
👉 One org listed by gov as taking referrals never got cash
👉Veterans orgs tell me future cash is uncertain
👉Orgs warn they'd have to shut housing without funding
👉 One org listed by gov as taking referrals never got cash
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
Liquid drips through the walls. Black mould creeps around the windows towards my bed. I hear screaming from downstairs. Rodents sneak out of the floorboards. A strange man lets himself into my home unasked.
Is this a haunted house or my first London flat? Find out:
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
Is this a haunted house or my first London flat? Find out:
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
Haunted houses are a classic horror trope – but are they scarier than landlords?
Haunted houses have appeared in Gothic literature and horror films for centuries. We look into how the trope has changed in the modern day.
www.bigissue.com
October 31, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Liquid drips through the walls. Black mould creeps around the windows towards my bed. I hear screaming from downstairs. Rodents sneak out of the floorboards. A strange man lets himself into my home unasked.
Is this a haunted house or my first London flat? Find out:
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
Is this a haunted house or my first London flat? Find out:
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
Awaab's Law will change how damp and mould is treated. Big Issue joined @kwajo.bsky.social to visit a family who've faced the issue for 10 years.
Read more: www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
Read more: www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
October 29, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Awaab's Law will change how damp and mould is treated. Big Issue joined @kwajo.bsky.social to visit a family who've faced the issue for 10 years.
Read more: www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
Read more: www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
My favourite stat about rent reforms is that Theresa May promised to ban no-fault evictions on the same day Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire.
The cathedral has been rebuilt and reopened for almost a year
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
The cathedral has been rebuilt and reopened for almost a year
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
Labour's landmark rental reforms receive royal assent and finally become law
The Renters' Rights Bill has become the Renters' Rights Act as the king gives it royal assent to finally scrap no-fault evictions.
www.bigissue.com
October 28, 2025 at 9:11 AM
My favourite stat about rent reforms is that Theresa May promised to ban no-fault evictions on the same day Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire.
The cathedral has been rebuilt and reopened for almost a year
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
The cathedral has been rebuilt and reopened for almost a year
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
It was a privilege to interview Awaab Ishak's father Faisal Abdullah last week ahead of Awaab's Law coming into force today.
Faisal and his family were horribly failed but their tireless campaigning will hopefully save many lives
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
Faisal and his family were horribly failed but their tireless campaigning will hopefully save many lives
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
Dad of boy who died due to mould in flat says he's 'proud' of his son
Awaab Ishak's father has spoken of his pride at the legacy Awaab's Law will bring as it promises to fix damp and mould in social housing.
www.bigissue.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:17 PM
It was a privilege to interview Awaab Ishak's father Faisal Abdullah last week ahead of Awaab's Law coming into force today.
Faisal and his family were horribly failed but their tireless campaigning will hopefully save many lives
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
Faisal and his family were horribly failed but their tireless campaigning will hopefully save many lives
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
I recently had the privilege of visiting Finland to find out just why the Finns are so happy.
We distilled everything I learned down into this special edition Big Issue magazine.
From homelessness and Housing First; security to sauna, there's plenty to learn.
www.bigissueshop.com/product/issu...
We distilled everything I learned down into this special edition Big Issue magazine.
From homelessness and Housing First; security to sauna, there's plenty to learn.
www.bigissueshop.com/product/issu...
October 24, 2025 at 8:12 AM
I recently had the privilege of visiting Finland to find out just why the Finns are so happy.
We distilled everything I learned down into this special edition Big Issue magazine.
From homelessness and Housing First; security to sauna, there's plenty to learn.
www.bigissueshop.com/product/issu...
We distilled everything I learned down into this special edition Big Issue magazine.
From homelessness and Housing First; security to sauna, there's plenty to learn.
www.bigissueshop.com/product/issu...
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
In 2014, Hackney Council sold a property under Right to Buy for £95,050
In 2021, they bought it back off the ex-tenant for £365k
In ~6 yrs, the council lost £269,950 on a single property
It's not an isolated example. @bigissue.com has uncovered 100+ 'Yo-yo Homes'
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
In 2021, they bought it back off the ex-tenant for £365k
In ~6 yrs, the council lost £269,950 on a single property
It's not an isolated example. @bigissue.com has uncovered 100+ 'Yo-yo Homes'
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
How ex-council tenants make over £200k selling homes back to councils
Big Issue investigates the Right To Buy properties sold back to councils for massive profits, just years after being bought at a discount.
www.bigissue.com
October 13, 2025 at 9:24 AM
In 2014, Hackney Council sold a property under Right to Buy for £95,050
In 2021, they bought it back off the ex-tenant for £365k
In ~6 yrs, the council lost £269,950 on a single property
It's not an isolated example. @bigissue.com has uncovered 100+ 'Yo-yo Homes'
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
In 2021, they bought it back off the ex-tenant for £365k
In ~6 yrs, the council lost £269,950 on a single property
It's not an isolated example. @bigissue.com has uncovered 100+ 'Yo-yo Homes'
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
With this week marking what would have been Thatcher's 100th, I asked the local council in Grantham why they were holding ThatcherFest in her memory.
Fair play, the answer made me laugh:
www.bigissue.com/culture/marg...
Fair play, the answer made me laugh:
www.bigissue.com/culture/marg...
October 15, 2025 at 11:45 AM
With this week marking what would have been Thatcher's 100th, I asked the local council in Grantham why they were holding ThatcherFest in her memory.
Fair play, the answer made me laugh:
www.bigissue.com/culture/marg...
Fair play, the answer made me laugh:
www.bigissue.com/culture/marg...
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
Asylum protests vs the local park run. @lgeraghty23.bsky.social runs the numbers for the Big Issue
www.bigissue.com/news/social-...
www.bigissue.com/news/social-...
Revealed: Asylum hotel protests dwarfed by runners going to Parkrun
Protesters outside asylum hotels over the bank holiday weekend were vastly outnumbered by Parkrun runners, Big Issue analysis found.
www.bigissue.com
September 2, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Asylum protests vs the local park run. @lgeraghty23.bsky.social runs the numbers for the Big Issue
www.bigissue.com/news/social-...
www.bigissue.com/news/social-...
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
Of all the things related to immigration I have been asked to comment on, this by @lgeraghty23.bsky.social for the @bigissue.com was a strange, but fun, one.
How is this even a debate? Of course Superman is an immigrant. He is the very definition of one.
www.bigissue.com/culture/film...
How is this even a debate? Of course Superman is an immigrant. He is the very definition of one.
www.bigissue.com/culture/film...
Superman has always been an immigrant
The new Superman film has caused controversy after James Gunn called it the story of ‘an immigrant’. The character has always been this way.
www.bigissue.com
July 12, 2025 at 5:37 AM
Of all the things related to immigration I have been asked to comment on, this by @lgeraghty23.bsky.social for the @bigissue.com was a strange, but fun, one.
How is this even a debate? Of course Superman is an immigrant. He is the very definition of one.
www.bigissue.com/culture/film...
How is this even a debate? Of course Superman is an immigrant. He is the very definition of one.
www.bigissue.com/culture/film...
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
Big Issue is coming to Cardiff – and we want to hear from YOU!
🗓 12–14 May
📍 PWSH Centre, Queen St
🕙 10am–5pm
Our journalists are in town to listen, report & connect. Got a story? Drop in and chat to us; no appointments necessary.
Let’s shape the news together. Cardiff, we’re all ears. 👂
🗓 12–14 May
📍 PWSH Centre, Queen St
🕙 10am–5pm
Our journalists are in town to listen, report & connect. Got a story? Drop in and chat to us; no appointments necessary.
Let’s shape the news together. Cardiff, we’re all ears. 👂
May 9, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Big Issue is coming to Cardiff – and we want to hear from YOU!
🗓 12–14 May
📍 PWSH Centre, Queen St
🕙 10am–5pm
Our journalists are in town to listen, report & connect. Got a story? Drop in and chat to us; no appointments necessary.
Let’s shape the news together. Cardiff, we’re all ears. 👂
🗓 12–14 May
📍 PWSH Centre, Queen St
🕙 10am–5pm
Our journalists are in town to listen, report & connect. Got a story? Drop in and chat to us; no appointments necessary.
Let’s shape the news together. Cardiff, we’re all ears. 👂
How did we get from reducing rough sleeping to virtually zero at the start of the Covid lockdown to the record-breaking numbers on the streets today?
I analysed the Everyone In scheme's mixed legacy, five years on buff.ly/GtgJI3J
I analysed the Everyone In scheme's mixed legacy, five years on buff.ly/GtgJI3J
In the five years since Covid saw thousands of people taken off the streets, rough sleeping has soared. Was the Everyone In scheme a success or one of the greatest missed opportunities of the last decade?
Read more. ⬇️
buff.ly/GtgJI3J
Read more. ⬇️
buff.ly/GtgJI3J
March 25, 2025 at 6:08 PM
How did we get from reducing rough sleeping to virtually zero at the start of the Covid lockdown to the record-breaking numbers on the streets today?
I analysed the Everyone In scheme's mixed legacy, five years on buff.ly/GtgJI3J
I analysed the Everyone In scheme's mixed legacy, five years on buff.ly/GtgJI3J
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
Excellent piece in the @bigissue.com by @lgeraghty23.bsky.social on the conclusions of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the UK. The article begins with social security, and goes on to cover a range of recommendations on housing, wages, work, poverty reduction & measurement
March 4, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Excellent piece in the @bigissue.com by @lgeraghty23.bsky.social on the conclusions of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the UK. The article begins with social security, and goes on to cover a range of recommendations on housing, wages, work, poverty reduction & measurement
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
🚨 LATEST FIGURES: 📊 The number of people rough sleeping in England has skyrocketed by 20% in just a year.
An estimated 4,667 people were homeless on the streets on a single night in autumn 2024. 📈 The rise is the third consecutive year in which rough sleeping has increased.
bit.ly/4kkuz0y
An estimated 4,667 people were homeless on the streets on a single night in autumn 2024. 📈 The rise is the third consecutive year in which rough sleeping has increased.
bit.ly/4kkuz0y
February 27, 2025 at 10:56 AM
🚨 LATEST FIGURES: 📊 The number of people rough sleeping in England has skyrocketed by 20% in just a year.
An estimated 4,667 people were homeless on the streets on a single night in autumn 2024. 📈 The rise is the third consecutive year in which rough sleeping has increased.
bit.ly/4kkuz0y
An estimated 4,667 people were homeless on the streets on a single night in autumn 2024. 📈 The rise is the third consecutive year in which rough sleeping has increased.
bit.ly/4kkuz0y
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
Inside Ukraine's fight against homelessness after three years of bloody war: 'Peace is hard to imagine'
Inside Ukraine's fight against homelessness after three years of bloody war
Depaul Ukraine is fighting homelessness in the war-torn country. CEO Anka Skoryk shares how the charity is looking beyond the end of the war.
bit.ly
February 24, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Inside Ukraine's fight against homelessness after three years of bloody war: 'Peace is hard to imagine'
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
Surge in renters losing their homes due to no-fault evictions ahead of ban: 'This is frightening'
Surge in renters losing their homes due to no-fault evictions ahead of ban
More than 11,000 households lost their home to a section 21 'no-fault' eviction in 2024, government statistics show.
bit.ly
February 13, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Surge in renters losing their homes due to no-fault evictions ahead of ban: 'This is frightening'
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
Academics and campaigners have claimed a new basic income pilot in Greater Manchester could “end absolute poverty” in the city region, starting with people experiencing homelessness – if it gets the green light from mayor Andy Burnham. 🚦 Find out more. ⬇️
https://bit.ly/3EwrI4q
https://bit.ly/3EwrI4q
February 11, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Academics and campaigners have claimed a new basic income pilot in Greater Manchester could “end absolute poverty” in the city region, starting with people experiencing homelessness – if it gets the green light from mayor Andy Burnham. 🚦 Find out more. ⬇️
https://bit.ly/3EwrI4q
https://bit.ly/3EwrI4q
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
Finland has been held up as an international example to follow in tackling homelessness but the Scandinavian country has just reported its first rising numbers in 11 years. 📈
@lgeraghty23.bsky.social reports. ⬇️
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
@lgeraghty23.bsky.social reports. ⬇️
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
February 11, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Finland has been held up as an international example to follow in tackling homelessness but the Scandinavian country has just reported its first rising numbers in 11 years. 📈
@lgeraghty23.bsky.social reports. ⬇️
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
@lgeraghty23.bsky.social reports. ⬇️
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
🚨 Breaking: Rough sleeping in London 'as bad as it’s been’ but Sadiq Khan warns things won't improve until 2026
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
Rough sleeping in London 'as bad as it’s been’ but Sadiq Khan warns things won't improve until 2026
A total of 4,612 were rough sleeping in London at the end of 2024 as Sadiq Khan warns of wait until 2026 to see falling numbers
www.bigissue.com
January 31, 2025 at 11:12 AM
🚨 Breaking: Rough sleeping in London 'as bad as it’s been’ but Sadiq Khan warns things won't improve until 2026
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
www.bigissue.com/news/housing...
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
This week's issue is out now! 📰 Inside:
💯 We introduce our Top 100 Changemakers for 2025, celebrating people and organisations who have focused not on themselves but on the rest of society, as voted for by YOU
Find out more ▶️ https://bit.ly/4h8iYzI
💯 We introduce our Top 100 Changemakers for 2025, celebrating people and organisations who have focused not on themselves but on the rest of society, as voted for by YOU
Find out more ▶️ https://bit.ly/4h8iYzI
January 27, 2025 at 9:00 AM
This week's issue is out now! 📰 Inside:
💯 We introduce our Top 100 Changemakers for 2025, celebrating people and organisations who have focused not on themselves but on the rest of society, as voted for by YOU
Find out more ▶️ https://bit.ly/4h8iYzI
💯 We introduce our Top 100 Changemakers for 2025, celebrating people and organisations who have focused not on themselves but on the rest of society, as voted for by YOU
Find out more ▶️ https://bit.ly/4h8iYzI
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
agdq’s crazy taxi run has a mosh pit
January 11, 2025 at 11:08 PM
agdq’s crazy taxi run has a mosh pit
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
I visited Glasgow's new safer drugs consumption facility, The Thistle, ahead of its long awaited opening:
Inside the UK's first safer drugs consumption room – and how it can save lives
The Thistle, Glasgow's safer drug consumption room, launches this month. It's a radical step in tackling Scotland's drug deaths crisis.
www.bigissue.com
January 10, 2025 at 9:20 AM
I visited Glasgow's new safer drugs consumption facility, The Thistle, ahead of its long awaited opening:
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
hello 👋 looking to hear from people working on any sweet photo or art projects in the areas of: social justice and activism; housing and homelessness; nature and climate change; immigration; health; human rights; other cool stuff
is this you? hit me up on ryan dot butcher at big issue dot com
is this you? hit me up on ryan dot butcher at big issue dot com
January 9, 2025 at 10:18 AM
hello 👋 looking to hear from people working on any sweet photo or art projects in the areas of: social justice and activism; housing and homelessness; nature and climate change; immigration; health; human rights; other cool stuff
is this you? hit me up on ryan dot butcher at big issue dot com
is this you? hit me up on ryan dot butcher at big issue dot com
Reposted by Liam Geraghty
Homeless woman reunites with couple who 'changed her life' when they gave her a bed for the night
Homeless woman reunites with couple who 'changed her life'
Yasmina was homeless and living in car when Depaul UK's Nightstop service sent her to Mark and Elisabeth Bryant's home. It changed her life.
buff.ly
December 23, 2024 at 10:23 AM
Homeless woman reunites with couple who 'changed her life' when they gave her a bed for the night