About this issue: Overview
When BBC programme makers pitched up in former steel town Redcar to make a new real-life series, residents were initially suspicious they wanted to make poverty porn. But although many of the stories are grimly familiar, The Mighty Redcar offers a more complex, sympathetic picture – with some signs of hope, reports Roger Ratcliffe.
In the latest in our popular series The Way I Work, Luke Agnew, grounds maintenance supervisor at a Wirral cemetery, tells us about tending graves, helping people find their way around them – and encouraging life in the shadow of death.
Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary – who last week said she would like to stand for office – reveals what it was like to have grown up in the White House in a letter to her younger self.
On the news pages, we interview Marc Abraham, the vet who led the successful Lucy’s Law campaign to ban the sale of puppies and kittens from third-party sellers, and talk to campaigners trying to persuade Barnsley Council not to build a roundabout on much loved parkland.
In arts and entertainment, we preview this year’s Open Heritage Days – 5,000 events in September allowing visitors to explore the country’s history and culture. One of them celebrates Ethel Haythornthwaite, who devoted her life after the First World War to preserving the rural areas around Sheffield.
Plus, our crossword, Sudoku and the chance to win some great Big Issue North merchandise.