The Big Issue

• Founded in 2005, the big issue is an award-winning magazine that sprouted from a multi-million social investment, that offers employment opportunities to people in poverty.
• The big issue has been around for just over 25 years. 
• Its main aim is to dismantle poverty. 
• Vendors buy The Big Issue magazine for £1.25 and sell it for £2.50, meaning each seller is a micro-entrepreneur who is working, not begging. 
• Since 1991, the magazine has helped over 92,000 vendors earn £115 million. 
• There are currently around 1500 vendors, and last year alone we helped them to earn a total of £5.5 million. 
• Currently the magazine is read by an estimated 379,195 people across the UK and circulates 82,294 copies every week.
• Offers 120 similar magazines in 35 countries worldwide.

The Big Issue Invest: 

• The Big Issue Invest offers social enterprises, charities and profit-with- purpose businesses, loans and investment from £20,000 to £3 million. Since 2005, we have invested in approximately 300 social enterprises and charities, all of which have positively influenced the lives of an estimated 1 million people across the UK.
• Big Issue Invest is also helping to pave the way for 2.7 million social housing tenants to potentially improve their credit files, by partnering with Experian on The Rental Exchange.

The Big Issue Foundation: 

• Founded in 1995, The Big Issue Foundation is an independently funded registered charity, which works exclusively with the Big Issue vendors, connecting them to the vital support they need to enable them to rebuild their lives and determine their own pathways to a better future.
• The charity focuses on boosting self-esteem and helping vendors to reclaim their citizenship in order to deliver brighter futures. The Big Issue Foundation raises money for its work through individual giving, grant-making trusts, corporate sponsorship, and vendor day experiences – as well as many flagship fundraising events such as The Big London Night Walk, The Big Sleep Out and the London to Paris Cycle Challenge.
• Last year we recorded the achievements of over 2,000 vendors, focusing on programmes of work that seek to establish financial stability and inclusion. The financial journey of each vendor creates the building blocks of success in terms of further socially orientated objectives, the catalyst for personal change and an escape from the poverty of each person’s situation.