Change a vendor’s life this Christmas
Buy from your local vendor and buy a Big Issue Vendor Support Kit online
BUY A KITSupport Big Issue vendors
This Christmas, 3.8 million people in the UK will struggle to eat, stay warm, or afford basic essentials. Around 354,000 people are estimated to be homeless. As winter sets in and energy costs rise, this crisis will only get worse.
Thousands of people turn to sell the Big Issue at Christmas to earn an income and support themselves and their families – but they can’t do it without your support.
You can support Big Issue vendors in three impactful ways to earn and lift themselves out of poverty for good:
1. Buy a Vendor Support Kit for £36.99, which will provide the tools they need to work through the winter and the training they need to improve their lives.
2. Buy a magazine from your local vendor in the street every week – every sale helps them earn. Vendors buy each copy for half the cover price and keep the profit on each sale.
3. Subscribe online to a Big Issue vendor. It’s a great way to support a vendor if you can’t visit their pitch every week – for every annual subscription, vendors can earn up to £75, helping them work towards a brighter future.
We’re also encouraging people to stop and talk to vendors – these interactions really do change lives. For vendors, a conversation is the difference between feeling respected instead of ignored, valued rather than a problem, and you could be the one who changes a vendor’s whole day.
Stop, Talk, Support, and change a vendor’s life this Christmas.
Your Vendor Support Kit purchase will provide a…
Hot Drink and Food Voucher
Sales and Employment Training
Stewart’s Story
I’m Stewart Campbell. I’m 59 and I sell the Big Issue in Dundee.
“I’ve been a chef since I was 16 till 2006 when I got run over. I got knocked off my bike, and for 18 months, I was injured. But I didn’t break any bones. My chef’s bag saved my head from hitting the ground. It was a drunk driver.
Two of my friends were actually working for the Big Issue and introduced me when I had sort of left my partner, and I was having a hard time going through the drug situation. I ended up getting into the Big Issue.
People have got a lot more respect because you’re doing something instead of sitting. I see the beggars all the time,I’ve been there myself, right, but it’s not a nice thing, but when you’re stuck in situations, you just want to survive. It kept me away from the drugs, it kept me pretty sane. And I enjoyed getting up and doing something instead of just sitting twiddling thumbs and wondering what’s going to come next.
I had a hernia operation last year, and then my mum passed away. And then my birthday was a day after the funeral and it’s just like it was one thing after another I was just not interested in anything, not even getting out. And then a week before Christmas I had hopped over the wire thinking I’m taking a shortcut and I broke my ankle.
I found out last week I’ve got bowel cancer last week. I know it’s a start, I know there’s cures, I know there’s remedies and I know that there’s a lot of treatments they could do.
When I wear the red Big Issue vest, I feel in charge. Every store has got their uniform, right? When I stand down there and put it on, I become a different person. I feel I’m here for a purpose.”
Big Issue presents ‘12 Days of Homelessness’ | 2024 Christmas Ad
The Big Issue 2024 Christmas ad, 12 Days of Homelessness, shines a light on the leading causes of homelessness across the UK, voiced by Big Issue vendors, frontline workers, and Big Issue ambassador Daniel Mays.
How the Big Issue Support Team helps
We’re on the streets every day, providing vendors with the support and encouragement they need to improve their lives.
We help vendors go cashless to make it easier for people to buy the magazine and increase vendor earnings.
We give vendors access to vital services like housing advice, health & wellbeing support, access to ID and bank accounts, and provide access to fuel and food vouchers.
Through our Big Issue Recruit service we provide support and training to move vendors into sustainable and long-term employment.
Our Vendors
Stewart Campbell, M&S Gallagher Retail Park, Dundee
Constantin Mustafa, Co-op Food, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol
Big Issue Promise
Your purchase of the Big Issue Winter Support Kit helps to cover the cost of the items in the kit and supports the vital efforts of the Big Issue Support Service (Big Issue Changing Lives CIC).
Our Support Team will distribute the items in the Big Issue Vendor Support kit to vendors as they visit local offices to purchase their magazines. Distribution of items will be based on the level of support from the public for the Winter Support kits and the individual vendor need for each of the items in the kit.
Our Support Team has enabled over 108,000 vendors to sell 229 million copies of the Big Issue magazine and earn more than £154 million in income, since 1991.
Our team helps set people up as vendors so they can sell the magazine and start earning an income from day one. The team also supports vendors to access essential services, across our five key impact pillars, to help people get back on their feet and work towards a better future for themselves.
See here for more information on how we manage your financial contribution to the Big Issue Changing Lives CIC.
Campaign photography credit: Juliette Pedram