The support of Trusts and Foundations is vital to The Big Issue Foundation in making us able to provide our services; helping homeless people to move on and fulfill their potential.
We are always looking to develop and strengthen relationships with Charitable Trusts. We understand that Trusts have many demands upon their funds but we are confident that our innovative services can help fulfill your grant making objectives. There are hundreds of organisations throughout the United Kingdom which provide specialist services for homeless people. The Big Issue does not compete with these services; instead it cultivates strong working relationships with them and acts as a broker between the service providers and thousands of Big Issue vendors. We have found this to be the most efficient and cost-effective way to support our vendors.
How selling The Big Issue magazine works
We give the homeless community the opportunity and support to work themselves out of poverty. Big Issue vendors work for a living, buying the magazine for £1.25 a copy and selling it for £2.50 making an £1.25 profit per transaction and thus earning a legitimate income.
Where The Big Issue Foundation comes in
The Big Issue Foundation supports and encourages these vendors to make further changes to their lives so they can move away from homelessness and back into main stream society.
Homeless people are a notoriously hard to reach group and The Big Issue Foundation is in a unique position of having a regular point of contact and the opportunity to build trusting relationships through the process of buying and selling the magazine. Without this service many vendors would not be able to find the help available to them or would be too intimidated to approach them alone.
The mission of our work is to allow 2500 vendors across the UK to fulfil their potential. We recognise that our vendors are all at different stages in life and therefore their aspirations are likely to vary proportionally; from increasing their magazine sales to getting back in touch with family, saving for a deposit on a privately rented flat or starting up their own small business.
How you can help us
If you have links to a Trust or Foundation we would love your help. Please contact us if you are interested in finding out more about our work and how you can support us to make homeless people across the country socially and financially included. Please contact Clare Allsop on clare.allsop@bigissue.com or call us on 020 7526 3451.
We really encourage funder visits so you can see for yourself how we operate on the ground. Please do get in touch if you would be interested in visiting.
Vendor letter
One of our vendors, James, who sells The Big Issue in Bath recently wrote to us. His letter puts the benefits of our work and the opportunities which can arise far more eloquently than we could. I hope you enjoy reading it and find it pleasing to see the effect that your support could have. After all, it is people’s belief and generosity which enables us to offer the services which help vendors like James each day.
Financial statements
You can also find our downloadable accounts on our Financial statements page.