The Big Issue

The Big Issue is a UK-based street paper that supports the homeless, the vulnerably housed asnd those seeking to escape poverty. Vendors normally buy the magazine for £1.25 and sell to the public for £2.50. We are using Zinio digital editions to create additonal revenue opportunities to fund our street-based and pastoral care services for our vendors. We are a social enterprise company and all revenues go to support the vulnerable communities we serve. Our goal is to move our vendors away from dependency and towards full time employment

A hard cell

THE DISPATCH • News, views & miscellany

The Big Issue

EDITOR’S LETTER • Sharing our own cultural touchstones can bring communal joy

BIRD’S WORDS

LETTERS

THE REAL REPAIR SHOP • The Repair Shop’s Jay Blades and former Big Issue vendor Steve Wyatt go way back. Next week they are opening a shop together. They tell us how bringing the best out of furniture has been the secret to bringing the best out in each other

I GREW UP IN POVERTY. • Sabrina Cohen-Hatton is a leading firefighter, an award-winning academic and a writer. She is also a Big Issue Ambassador, having sold the magazine as a teenager in Wales. That experience changed her life, by opening up a pathway out of homelessness towards a bright future. She’s just written her second book, The Gender Bias

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, SHERLOCK HOLMES AND BANKSY. VENDORS SHARE THEIR CULTURAL HIGHLIGHTS • Do you remember your first gig? What book would you take to a desert island? Learning about the cultural touchstones in someone’s life is the best way to get to know any of us. For National Vendor Week we asked our crew how they like to relax. Here are the books, films, TV shows, music and other activities that Big Issue sellers across the UK enjoy in their spare time

JON SNOW • From chorister to Channel 4 News anchor, it’s been a blessed life. And to think he was told at 16 he wasn’t very bright

STREET ART • THE OTHER ART FAIR LONDON: REFUGEE ART WORKS

Books

Film

Jessica Barden ‘BEING A YOUNG PERSON IN LONDON IS REALLY STRESSFUL. YOU FEEL LONELY’

ROBIN INCE IS ON THE ROAD

Music

Puzzles

MY PITCH INTERNATIONAL • For International Women’s Day, we find out how the street paper movement is empowering women around the world