There cannot be many people in the UK who have never seen or heard of the Big Issue. Maybe you have seen one of the thousands of vendors selling the latest issue on high streets up and down the UK; maybe you have purchased one, or have a subscription. 

Founded in 1991, the Big Issue has become the most recognisable social enterprise in the world of ending homelessness in Great Britain. Its unique model sees vendors purchase the magazines at 50% of the retail cost, and retain the profits once sold. The more magazines a vendor is able to sell, the more income that vendor can make. 

Big Issue is much more than providing a way of making an income for people experiencing homelessness. To find out more about it, I was invited to head over to their Birmingham office and meet the team and vendors. 

On arrival at the Big Issue office based at the St George Community Hub, I was introduced to Salemah Ali, Sales and Support Worker and Mohammed Afzal, Frontline Manager who explained how things worked. 

Big Issue vendors who are supported by the Big Issue Birmingham and West Midlands Office can be based in the seven local authority areas of the WMCA, plus North and Mid Wales and Shropshire. 

Some vendors travel to the Big Issue Office to collect the magazines they wish to sell., For others, the Big Issue comes to them, with local distribution points in cities and towns across the Midlands where vendors can get their hands on the latest issue.  In Coventry, they are working with agencies based at the Steps Building on Lamb Street to provide a hub for vendors to attend for collecting magazines and providing ongoing support there. 

Mohammed tells me that they have plans in the works to try and create further local hubs in other areas across the West Midlands to make their services more accessible.

Individuals can refer themselves to Big Issue or be referred in by an agency to become a vendor. The process to start selling the magazine can be very quick and the vendor can even be out on their new pitchthat same day. However, staff also make sure that they understand the vendor’s situation and provide them with the support they need first. 

The Big Issue doesn’t work alone. Salemah shared about working partnerships they have across the region to assist with financial inclusion. These include:

• Support from the Refugee and Migrant Centre, ensuring a non-UK national is able to establish the right status to be employed and hopefully to be able access benefits such as universal credit.
• Supporting vendors into the scheme “Break the Cycle”, a HSBC and Shelter initiative to enable individuals who do not have a fixed address or a bank account to open one.
• From there, Big Issue can help the vendor registering for Universal Credit or other benefits they may be entitled to. 

Another member of the team, Josh, went on to explain that when a vendor first comes to access services at the Big Issue, he aims for that process to be as barrier-free as possible…

“From the offset, there is a really small piece of information that we need for someone to become a vendor. Name, Date of birth, address if they have one, and that is basically it. Then get a photo, get a badge, find a vacant pitch and then we provide them with a number of free magazines over the first few weeks to get them started. Once they have settled in to selling the magazine, generated a bit of income and have come to the office a few times, the idea is that they buy as many magazines as they wish to sell that week for £2 per copy, and then sell the magazine to customers for £4. The vendor is then able to keep the profit of each sale. 

The hope is that the vendor is then generating a bit of an income, engaging positively with members of the public. It gives them purpose, it gives them a focus for the day. They are able to form that discipline and structure as well as gaining skills in budgeting and managing money. The idea of the Big Issue is that it is there to ‘give a hand up, not a hand out’ and it gives people the option to make a micro business, and the more you put in the more you get out. The help Big Issue provides is tailored to fill in any gaps of support. They move people beyond the barriers and really improve their quality of life systematically.”

The Big Issue has a grant giving scheme called “The Hand Up Fund” that can be accessed by the vendor support team to provide help with financial assistance as and when needed. Salemah explains:

“The hand up fund can help vendors that might need a bit of help with something in their lives. So, for example, if they need a bus pass to see us more regularly or to access us, if they need help with clothing, school uniforms, cots, pushchairs, essentials that they are really struggling to buy. As it is a ‘hand up, and not a hand out’, we ask the vendor for a 20% contribution to the cost of the item or items. As we also have the capacity now for customers to purchase magazines through contactless payments with Zettle, we can also use the hand up fund to help the vendor purchase a smart phone so they can get Zettle”

Last week,the Big Issue announced a groundbreaking three year deal with mobile provider Giffgaff, which will see every vendor in the UK able to access a free smartphone through which they can take cashless payments. With customers in general carrying less cash and increasingly opting for contactless purchasing, having this facility through an app on their smartphone can help secure more sales and also make selling more efficient, which makes a difference as the weather gets colder and wetter. 

Customers can also choose to take out subscriptions via their regular vendor, either from the vendor directly or on the website, nominating that particular vendor to benefit. 

Angie, one of the support and outreach workers in the office, spent some time telling me about the scheme “Equal to Equal”, a remunerated volunteering opportunity for vendors which provides opportunities for upskilling, mentoring, and building confidence. 

“For every shift and training session they do, the vendor can receive a £60 voucher or £60 into their bank account. The idea is to help people transition from selling the Big Issue to working in an office environment, meeting vendors, speaking with vendors, and basically doing what we do. They can do two training sessions and up to six shifts as a volunteer. Each shift or training session is around 3.5 hours.”

Josh explained that the team also provides vendors with sales coaching to help increase confidence and resilience they need to sell the magazine a bit more effectively. 

Salemah adds that they do not necessarily see selling the Big Issue as being something that they would expect the vendor to do indefinitely, but that it can be a stepping stone to other employment. 

“We have connections with places like Works4U, an employment support programme which they can engage with for free alongside selling the magazine. We can also support people with CV writing.”

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Maria, a Big Issue vendor [not pictured], kindly spoke to me about her experience of selling the magazine. Maria explained that she is a long term vendor having started selling the magazine ten years ago. She was living with her husband and young children at the time and in receipt of universal credit. Maria was looking for a way in which she could work flexibly and get the income that was much needed as the cost of living was difficult to manage. Her husband was also a vendor at the start, however, he had to step back due to health. Maria has found the income made from being self employed has been helpful to provide clothing and toys for her children. Maria finds her customers are very kind and very good to her and has been able to build up a loyal customer base. 

“Every week they are asking for a magazine, they don’t go to other people to buy them, and if I am not there they don’t buy it. There are customers who, if they don’t come, will ask me to keep them a magazine.”

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The Big Issue are able to connect vendors with help and support from various agencies that provide food or health and well-being products. For example, they can issue vouchers for the foodbanks run by Trussell, or for a local baby bank that provides items such as nappies, baby milk, baby wipes, buggies, cots etc.

Then there is the Beauty Bank who provide essential personal care products to individuals and families experiencing hygiene poverty. Big Issue also has a partnership with Specsavers and are able to provide their vendors with vouchers in order to receive free eye tests and discounted eyewear.

Individuals who come to Big Issue to earn an income as a vendor do so for a variety of reasons.

This could be as a result of experiencing homelessness, social exclusion, financial poverty, or limited employment opportunities. 

A vendor may find the freedom of choosing their own working hours suits them and a family commitments they may have, another may find the structure and routine of being a vendor and going to work at their pitch helps them manage their mental health and well being.  

The only eligibility criteria to become a vendor is that they are over the age of 18 and are permitted to work legally in the UK. 

I’m interested in becoming a Big Issue Vendor in the West Midlands, how do I get started?

First thing would be to head to the Big Issue office at St George Community Hub, Great Hampton Row, Birmingham, B19 3JG. If you have ID, then bring it with you, and the team can register you as a vendor, set you up with a red Big Issue branded tabard, an ID Card, and a ream of magazines. You will then be told how to get to your allocated pitch and you can start selling straight away. If you have any questions for the team before you go and visit, they will be happy to have a chat on the phone, just give them a call on 0121 236 1936.

I want to buy the Big Issue, but there are no vendors near where I live.

Don’t worry, there are other ways you can buy a copy. You can set up a subscription and choose if you wish for the proceeds of your purchase to go towards the work the Big Issue does to support people out of poverty or you can nominate a vendor of your choice to purchase the subscription from. 

Is it possible to volunteer with Big Issue? 

It certainly is, and there are currently volunteering opportunities in Birmingham. To register your interest you just need to fill out an application form. Find out more and how to request the application form on the Big Issue website.

Is there a current campaign that the Big Issue is running that I can help with?

Big Issue are currently running their winter campaign, requesting members of the public support the vendors by purchasing a Vendor Support Kit. This can help with the funding of winter wear for when the vendors are selling the magazines to keep them warm, a poncho for wet weather, specialist training and the equipment a vendor needs to facilitate cashless purchases of the magazine or a subscription. 

Photos of vendors courtesy of the Big Issue website