The Big Issue

[NorthernSoul]

The Big Issue magazine, the one that is sold on the highstreet by seemingly down on their luck perople, was brought up in another thread. I hadn't realised until then that isn't only being sold near me.

How does this work, does the company seel the magazines to the homeless individual for them to try to make a profit on? What is actually in it?

[Mulder]

I don't think there's anything sinister about it ... http://www.bigissue.com/ People buy it mainly out of charity as the content tends to be somewhat unexciting.

[Trinoc]

As far as I know they get a significant proportion of the selling price, and they don't have to stump up any money for stock in advance. I occasionally "buy" one from a chap outside of Sainsbury's, but tell him to keep the mag (and all the money) as I wouldn't read it and it would go straight into the recycling bin.

[Nasib]

The" Big Issue" was conceived about 25 years ago, in an area of London known for its transient community, 'bedsit land', with a number of hostels and hotels in the area temporarily housing homeless people. It was an idea thought up by the volunteers working in a 'Drop-in Centre' in the midst of that community, where people could go to meet and chat with others in similar situations. The Centre served as a lifeline for many lonely, disillusioned people of all ages who for all sorts of reasons happened to find themselves in the unfortunate situation of being homeless, consequently jobless - offering friendship, practical help and advice.

Publication of The Big Issue was intended mainly to bring the 'big issue' of the homeless situation to the notice of the wider community. Non-profit making, one stipulation was that those who went out on the streets to sell it were themselves 'genuinely homeless', each given a quota to sell, and a percentage of each copy sold would be theirs to keep (I believe it was 50% at the time). £1 per copy, so they would keep 50p for themselves. The rest of the takings went on the upkeep of the Centre, publication expenses, etc.

[Dubious Dick]

No doubt Nasib will forgive me for correcting her! Here, from the Big Issue website is the basic history.

Big Issue History


The Big Issue was launched in 1991 by Gordon Roddick and A. John Bird (http://www.bigissue.com/products.php?id=1) in response to the growing number of rough sleepers on the streets of London. Roddick, who also co-founded The Body Shop, was inspired by a newspaper called Street News, which was sold on the streets of New York. Upon his return from America he enlisted the help of Bird, who had experience in the print trade and who had himself slept rough. The two believed that the key to solving the problem of homelessness lay in helping people to help themselves, and were therefore determined to offer a legitimate alternative to begging.

I used to buy regularly in the early days, but then found that many of the vendors were addicts, and I did not agree with giving my cash to support their addictions. Instead I used to offer food and tea, which was almost always extremely gratefully received.

[Trinoc]

DD, I think you just made that all up! :smiley:

[Nasib]

Must have been a pilot scheme then - cos I was actually involved in collating and typing up some of the stories for insertion in what was then a very basic b/w put-together local newsletter, not the glossy mag of today - and that was definitely before 1991.

[Croydon Bob]

I stopped buying it fairly early on. There was a regular column where they would interview one of the sellers. One week the seller said he was saving up to go on holiday to the US again because he'd enjoyed it so much the previous year... needless to say I was not in a position to be able to afford any such holiday. I started saving up for my holiday by not buying the Big Issue and have never purchased one since.

[Floppit]

I stopped buying it fairly early on. There was a regular column where they would interview one of the sellers. One week the seller said he was saving up to go on holiday to the US again because he'd enjoyed it so much the previous year... needless to say I was not in a position to be able to afford any such holiday. I started saving up for my holiday by not buying the Big Issue and have never purchased one since.

I think TBI is very clear about it being a hand up not a hand out and that vendors earn the money which they then spend on whatever they want (same as the rest of us!). I'm not suggesting you should continue to buy it now that you're aware it's not charity just that there's no smoke and mirrors involved.

The Big Issue Foundation is a charity and their work extends well beyond supplying vendors with magazines at wholesale price but selling the magazine is paid work.

On a side note, just because someone is aiming for a holiday doesn't mean the aim is realistic. Unrealistic goals are often part of the difficulty in returning to mainstream society once marginalised.

I buy TBI because I find it a good read for £1.50 and I know alot of our local sellars because I work a rough sleepers night once a week through winter. Methods aside TBI Foundation acheives results for alot of individuals but not through coercion, not by babying, and not by telling them what to aim for (unless advice is asked for).