Public urged to help sell more copies of Big Issue

Members of the public are being urged to help sell more copies of The Big Issue under moves to keep supporting vendors amid the continuing Covid-19 crisis.

The magazine, which offers homeless and vulnerably housed people across the UK a means by which to earn a legitimate income, decided to safeguard its network of sellers by asking them to stop selling on streets for the foreseeable future.

Readers and others who want to offer support are being encouraged to download the magazine’s app, or take out a print subscription and sell three subscriptions to friends and family within a week.

Big Issue editor Paul McNamee said: “This terrible time has impacted on every single person and on every aspect of our lives.

“We have had to be fleet-footed and focused in our response. We needed to make sure we could get money to get to our vendors. The staff have been remarkable. The Big Issue team has done so much to grow subscriptions, shop sales and our app.

“We couldn’t have done any of it without the selfless help of the great British public as well as individuals and companies.

“Always, our vendors are central in our heads and our hearts. This initiative keeps them there.”

The Big Issue is aiming to recruit an army of supporters to sell more copies of the magazine and help vendors while they are unable to work on their pitches.

– Information on signing up is at bigissue.com/latest/sellasub.