Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
SPECIAL PRICE: Just £9.99 for the next 8 weeks
Subscribe today
Employment

How Big Issue Invest is working to beat rising unemployment

Our social investment arm is helping to offer skill and training for young people in deprived areas in a bid to reduce the 1.47m Brits out of work

Job centre

Government figures revealed that unemployment has risen at the fastest rate for five years this week – highlighting the need for creative business solutions to get people back to work.

The total number of jobless Brits grew by 46,000 to 1.47 million people, pushing the percentage of the population out of work up to 4.4 per cent.

Unemployment had been sitting at the lowest level since the mid-1970s before the spike, which has been put down to an increase in the number of young people under the age of 24.

Big Issue Invest is hoping to turn the tide by continuing to invest in businesses that boost skills and training to create opportunity for some of the most marginalised young people in society.

The recently-announced Equity Impact Fund is just one of the ways that our social investment arm dismantles poverty and improves work prospects.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

The aim of the fund, run in collaboration with Aberdeen Standard Investments, is to create good employment opportunities by investing in listed companies that are assessed for their potential to support job creation, offer fair wages, promote gender equality, create opportunities for young people, and tackle regional deprivation.

The fund manager, ASI’s Lesley Duncan, identifies companies for their potential to grow and sustain strong long-term financial returns and then they will be assessed to determine if they are committed to delivering sustainable employment opportunities.

It is hoped that the fund will generate a financial return over the long term by investing in companies which promote and implement good employment opportunities and practices.

Our 2020 Impact Report

The Big Issue has given more than £1 million support to Big Issue vendors struggling due to the lockdown restrictions. To mark the significant milestone, we have published an impact report, documenting the seismic shift the organisation has undergone in the past 12 months.

View Report
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

READER-SUPPORTED SINCE 1991

Reader-supported journalism that doesn’t just report problems, it helps solve them.

Recommended for you

View all
Universal credit sanctions 'undermine' Jobcentre employment support, DWP warned by MPs
A DWP Jobcentre
Department for Work and Pensions

Universal credit sanctions 'undermine' Jobcentre employment support, DWP warned by MPs

Watering down the Employment Rights Bill after Rayner exit would be 'gift' to Farage, experts warn
Workers' rights

Watering down the Employment Rights Bill after Rayner exit would be 'gift' to Farage, experts warn

Disabled people warn of brutal 'secret' cuts to DWP Access to Work support: 'It's been horrific'
Access to work

Disabled people warn of brutal 'secret' cuts to DWP Access to Work support: 'It's been horrific'

Zelda Perkins, Harvey Weinstein's ex-assistant, applauds UK's NDA ban: 'It's given me faith in democracy'
Workers' rights

Zelda Perkins, Harvey Weinstein's ex-assistant, applauds UK's NDA ban: 'It's given me faith in democracy'

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue

Reader-supported journalism that doesn’t just report problems, it helps solve them.

Every day, Big Issue digs deeper – speaking up for those society overlooks. Will you help us keep doing this work?