Director on going from being homeless to ‘life outside of addiction’

A director has spoken about how the Big Issue helped her see there was a “life for me outside of addiction and homelessness”.

Lorna Tucker, who has been made an ambassador of the paper to mark International Woman’s Day, became homeless as a teenager and spent two years living on the streets.

Before becoming a director of documentary films, she had slept under Waterloo Bridge and in and out of sheltered accommodation.

Her debut film charted designer Dame Vivienne Westwood’s rise from the Derbyshire village of Tintwistle to fashion icon.

Tucker, who will release a memoir, Bare, next year, told the publication: “If it wasn’t for the Big Issue I would never have escaped a life that was leading me towards only one ending that I can think of.

“Not only were they responsible for saving my life, but for helping me to see that there was a life for me outside of addiction and homelessness.”

Dame Vivienne appears in Tucker’s 2018 film Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist, which debuted at Sundance where it was chosen for competition.

Tucker followed this with her second feature documentary Ama, about the sterilisation of Native American women across the US during the 1960s and 1970s.

She went on to release 2023’s Call Me Kate, a docudrama about Hollywood leading lady Katharine Hepburn, and this year’s Someone’s Daughter, Someone’s Son, based on her experiences of being homeless.

She said: “I am really pleased to be joining Big Issue Group as an official ambassador.

“The work the organisation does in order to support those locked in poverty is invaluable, especially now, with people facing the worst set of circumstances you can possibly imagine.”

Doctor Who actor Christopher Eccleston, Labour MP David Lammy, architect George Clarke and comedian Dane Baptiste have previously been named ambassadors for the Big Issue.

Lord John Bird, founder of the magazine, appeared in Someone’s Daughter, Someone’s Son.

He said: “We are so pleased to have Lorna’s voice and influence, especially as someone who has lived experience of what it means to be homeless, to help us raise awareness of the extreme difficulties faced by those at the coalface of poverty.”

Tucker has a screenplay for Bare, and upcoming documentary projects with Netflix and Sky, according to the Big Issue.