The Big Issue

How is it social?

The Big Issue does a considerable amount to help the homeless and highlight the issues around homelessness.  For vendors, the act of having to organise themselves and their money to sell the magazine teaches new skills and self-reliance, which in turn builds self confidence and can be the key to moving on.  Selling the magazine also provides an opportunity to access the services of The Big Issue Foundation.  It offers re-housing, training, employment, health and education for vendors, as well as assistance in areas such as substance misuse and mental health.  It also works in prisons with offenders who might be unprepared for life beyond prison.   The Big Issue Company also aims to promote itself as a model of how a social business, as opposed to a charity, can be a solution to homelessness and social exclusion.  The  Big Issue is a founder member of the INSP, which is a global association of 57 street papers with members from all over the world. INSP is an umbrella  organisaton which provides a consultancy service for its partner papers and advises on the setting up of new street papers and support initiatives for marginalised people.

What is its business model?

The Big Issue magazine is an award-winning entertainment and current affairs magazine, produced by professional journalists and sold on the streets by homeless people. In the UK, the vendors buy the magazine from The Big Issue for 70 pence and sell it on for £1.50, keeping the difference. The Big Issue operates regionally throughout Britain, and internationally, existing in Australia, Japan, South Africa, Namibia and Kenya.   Editorially The Big Issue magazine is committed to giving homeless people a voice in the media and raising difficult issues that are overlooked in the mainstream press. The company works as a business, but its aim is not to make money for its own sake.  The organisation exists to help vendors. Any post-investment profits the company generates are invested into The Big Issue Foundation (see social section below).

Its history

The Big  Issue was founded in 1991 by John Bird and Gordon Roddick.  The  inspiration for the magazine came from Street News, a newspaper sold by  homeless people in New York. With the assistance of The Body Shop, Roddick and Bird launched The Big Issue in September 1991, initially as a monthly publication in London.  In June 1993, The Big Issue went weekly and gradually regional editions of the magazine were established in Scotland, Wales, the North of England and the South West. The Big Issue Foundation was founded in 1995 to complement the magazine in helping homeless people to gain control of their lives and achieve greater self-reliance and independence (see social section below).  By the time of the magazine’s 10th Birthday in 2001 the focus of the organisation had extended from dealing with the problem of homelessness to preventing it.

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