“Big kudos to Big Issue for everything you do”: Bryan Adams named Big Issue Ambassador on its 35th birthday

• The Canadian rocker’s record-breaking hit (Everything I Do) I Do It For You topped the charts when Big Issue was launched in September 1991
• Adams and the Prime Minister Andy Burnham are interviewed in the Big Issue’s thirty-fifth anniversary special, out today
• Big Issue has supported 110,000 vendors to sell more than 233 million copies of the magazine since 1991, creating more than £162 million in earnings for people in poverty and homelessness

Monday 14 September – Canadian rocker Bryan Adams and the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham are amongst those showing support for the Big Issue as it publishes its special thirty-fifth birthday edition today.

Adams, who was top of the charts with (Everything I Do) I Do It For You when the Big Issue published its first edition, becomes an official ambassador for the social enterprise, raising awareness of its ongoing mission to support people in extreme poverty with earning and training opportunities.

In 2019, Adams published Homeless, a photobook of intimate portraits of Big Issue vendors and other people experiencing homelessness. Proceeds from book sales and the subsequent exhibition were donated to Big Issue. Now he joins their official ambassador roster to continue his support for their work.

The cover of this week’s Big Issue is a recreation of the magazine’s very first edition, published thirty-five years ago this week. It reworks the original cover’s thought-provoking strapline “But Why Can’t The Homeless Just Go Home?” as “Can The Homeless Finally Go Home, Andy Burnham?” – with the new Prime Minister himself interviewed about his pledge to end rough sleeping inside in the magazine.

New Big Issue Ambassador Bryan Adams said: “I want people to understand that when they see a Big Issue vendor, they see someone selling the Big Issue, how important it is to contribute if you can. Because you are helping somebody who is trying to help themselves. Big kudos to Big Issue for everything you do.

“What the Big Issue does is so great. And I want to be able to be there to support as much as I can. So keep fighting the fight.”

The Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “I can’t believe how old it makes me feel now the Big Issue is turning thirty-five! So many lives changed, so many lives lifted. I’ve been proud to support you over the years, and you can count on my support going forward.”

“It’s been a really incredible thing, the opportunities it’s given people to turn their lives around. And I thank the public who continue to buy it because it still stands for something really important and perhaps more so in these times in which we live.”

Lord John Bird, the founder of the Big Issue, said: “Thirty-five years ago, on the double yellow lines of London’s West End, a simple but radical idea took hold. The Big Issue was created as a way for people facing poverty and homelessness to earn, be in control, and stand tall.

“We weren’t interested in handouts. The Big Issue has always focused on hand-ups, on providing opportunities for people to rebuild their lives. All these years later, we’ve never changed that trajectory. That same ethos has been carried into new opportunity engines – our social investor Big Issue Invest, our recruitment service Big Issue Recruit, and more.

“Happy birthday Big Issue. God bless anyone who has ever sold or bought a copy.”

The Big Issue was first published in London on 11 September 1991. Since then, it has been sold on Britain’s high streets by more than 110,000 people experiencing financial hardship, including many rough sleepers. They buy their magazine stock at cut price and sell it at the cover price, keeping the profit as income. Big Issue vendors have earned more than £162 million since 1991, with 233 million copies sold across the UK.

Also interviewed in this week’s Big Issue is former Big Issue vendor Dan Bleach, who overcame homelessness and addiction to represent England at Over 40s Hockey this summer.

Dan Bleach said: “When you’re an addict, people generally avoid you, they cross the road or pretend you aren’t there, but if you’re holding the Big Issue, it gives people a reason to stop and speak to you.

“Selling the Big Issue allowed us to have proper conversations with people and reminded us that we were still part of society.”

The thirty-fifth anniversary special of the Big Issue is on sale from vendors across the UK from today.