The Big Issue offers people facing poverty and exclusion the opportunity to earn their own money; a livelihood. The Big Issue Foundation is an independent charity working alongside the magazine distribution network. We aim to maximize the success of each vendor’s selling career and engage them with opportunities to address the issues that have bought them to us in the first instance or issues that have arisen as a result of their experiences of poverty, social and financial exclusion.
We offer vendors opportunities of a life and seek to empower them through their finances and beyond; be it securing a safe place to live, reconnecting with loved ones, tackling health issues or embarking on training and development opportunities. It can be as little as 12 months from a significant life event to losing everything and arriving on the street. Last year we recorded the achievements of over 2000 vendors, focusing on programmes of work that seek to establish financial stability and inclusion.
