The Big Issue magazine

I buy the Big I whenever I see it for sale, round my parts there isn’t too many homeless. I get it on trips to London or similar.
It has some great reports in it, and is mostly a better read than a newspaper.

…has been ‘alleged’ that they are part of organised ‘pimped’ gangs who wholesale buy up The Big Issue from local offices, depriving the local vendors a batch. I can recall being verbally abused by one or two vendors for not wishing to purchase a copy.

It is a pity that anything set-up to help genuine people seems also to attract those determined to abuse it.

I remember a very good late-night series on the BBC about ‘homeless’ people living, I think, in Bristol. One of them was a man who had had mental-health problems and used to supplement his income by buying the Big Issue with his benefit money; if he sold them all he stood to double his money. He also used to try to recover pound coins by returning supermarket trolleys and his rented house was full of junk that he had collected to take to car-boot-sales (not that he had a car). On one classic occasion the film-crew ended up taking him and all his stuff to the sale in their own vehicle!

I’d been watching the series for a while when the producers dropped the bombshell that he was also trying to look-after his son who was about eight. It was truly heartbreaking when later in the series they said that the man’s health problems had returned and his son had to be taken into care.

Wish I could remember what the series was called.

I usually get mine from an elderly woman who sells it outside our local S&M.We’re a prosperous town.

Ahem… cough… I’ll bet it’s prosperous with those kinds of stores on the go…:D

But to be serious, on my patch and in Glasgow it’s all eastern european women selling the Big Issue nowadays, wrapped up in headscarves and heavy coats like Russian dolls. It has been ‘alleged’ that they are part of organised ‘pimped’ gangs who wholesale buy up The Big Issue from local offices, depriving the local vendors a batch. I can recall being verbally abused by one or two vendors for not wishing to purchase a copy.

I can also raise a chortle at the time whilst heading for a train home from the BBC’s Edinburgh studio after shooting an interview with the head of Big Issue in Scotland, being verbally abused by one of their vendors about my sartorial choices that day. I have to say he didn’t look the least bit homeless either…:rolleyes:

A good cause, a good idea but I can’t help thinking it’s lost it’s way a little.

Good for you Anna,it’s too cold for anyone to be standing around today.
And Dave,you might as well read it next time.I’m not having a go,but it does make the point in the magazine that it’s run as a business and they like it if people take the magazine and read it.Actually it has a good variety of articles.
I usually get mine from an elderly woman who sells it outside our local S&M.We’re a prosperous town – Heck,we’ve got the biggest Poundland in the country – and hundreds of people pass her,but very few of them buy the magazine.I feel really sorry for her,as she’s there for hours,Sometimes I buy her a bottle of water if it’s a hot day.
The older I get,the more I seem to see this contrast in the world between the haves and the have-nots.

Don’t buy it regularly as I live in the suburbs/semi-rurals which are obviously not good sales pitches; but when I (reluctantly) go into the mighty metropolis (:eek:) I usually buy one (then donate it back to the seller). I have to admit that I haven’t actually read one.

I bought a copy today from an extremely polite lady, I felt so sorry for her standing out in freezing conditions.

Thanks to Moggy for bringing me up to date. And I too find it scandalous that in the 21st century there is not enough housing for those who do not have it. However with a small rider, which is that as evidenced by a couple of documentaries, in the past year or so, there is a minority who do not want to be housed. But I have no doubt that most do and should be.

I only know one other person who buys it regularly,and she lives on benefits herself.
Even among my Christian friends there seems to be a strong attitude of ” if they’re homeless it’s their fault “.
I think it’s an absolute scandal that in the 21st century there are still people living on the streets.Our local shelter regularly has to turn people away.The council is obliged to find homeless people a roof over their heads in extreme weather,but this doesn’t kick in unless the temperature falls below freezing at night for THREE nights consecutively.
Imagine that when you get into your nice warm bed tonight.

The ‘profits’ from the magazine go into various projects, all of them related to homelessness and street dwelling.

The vendors are sold the copies at one price and sell them on at another. It’s transparent, with a statement on the editorial page so you can see how much goes to the vendor. Effectively they are micro-businesses.

I tend to round-up the price when I am feeling comfortably off so as to increase the vendor’s margin.

The Big Issue exists to offer homeless and vulnerably housed people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income. We produce a weekly entertainment and current affairs magazine which vendors buy from us for 75p and sell to the public for £1.50, keeping 75p for themselves. Vendors must adhere to a code of conduct whilst selling the magazine.

We believe in offering ‘a hand up, not a hand out’, but we also recognise that earning an income is the first step on the journey away from homelessness. The Big Issue Foundation is a registered charity which exists to link vendors with the vital support which will help them address the issues which have led to their homelessness. The Foundation works exclusively with vendors, offering support, advice and referrals.

Moggy

Mod Edit: No need to ‘quote’ when your reply is directly beneath 🙂

Thank you, Moggy. I do remember that it had quite a strong political content at the time. How is the revenue from the magazine used? Does it financially help the homeless or generate profit solely for the publication of the magazine? Are the vendors remunerated from the sales? I will look out for a vendor when I am next in a more populous area.

The purpose of the Big Issue is twofold

It’s a good, entertaining read, if a little political at times for my tastes.

The vendors are all homeless or vulnerably housed. Without a regular job and income they find it hard to find places to rent, without a home address most people won’t employ them – vicious circle.

The vendors are all identified by their badge and to my mind are establishing that their problems are due to circumstances, not an unwillingness to work. If I was interviewing and a Big Isue seller applied I would give them serious consideration. It’s not an easy way to earn a living and if they stick at that they’ll certainly stick at a more traditional job.

So yes, I buy a copy whenever I see a vendor. When our office was in the local market town that was every week, now we are out in the boondocks it is less often, and I regret that.

Moggy

Does anyone else buy this magazine regularly ?
Or have you never bought it and wouldn’t dream of doing so ?

Once, ages ago. If I am right the purchase is actually a contribution towards housing homeless people, isn’t it? Or was it originally and is now something completely different. It is rarely seen in our neck of the woods.