The Big Issue magazine was launched in
1991 with the aim of transforming the lives of London’s homeless through its
mantra ‘A hand up, not a hand out’. It was launched by John Bird and Gordon
Roddick as a response to the increasing numbers of homeless people in London.
A reader of the Big Issue is likely to:
- Be universally educated
- Be interested in politics
- Have a limited disposable income
- Want to make a difference to the society we live in.
The Big Issue supports the homeless and
those seeking to escape poverty. Vendors buy the magazine with their own money
and sell them at their own profit or loss. The Big Issue has helped almost
100,000 people since it began.
The Big Issue Foundation
The Big Issue Foundation was established
in 1995 to link vendors with the vital support and services which help them.
Since its creation the Big Issue
Foundation has provided services and referrals to address issues around
housing, health, finances, education, and employment helping Big Issue vendors
to regain their independence and turn a livelihood into a life. In the last
decade they have achieved over 40,000 positive outcomes with their vendors
alone.
Their work is primarily reliant upon
donations from the general public.
In 2015 over 2000 Vendor’s achieved
record levels of personal outcomes, their impactful, cost-effective work
included:
•teaching
transferable sales and customer service skills
•enabling
and advocating for decent accommodation, access to mainstream health care
(something people who are homeless are often excluded from) and access to
employment, training, education and volunteering
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