The Big Issue Social took place last night at Social Bite café, 89 Shandwick Place.
Social Bite employs five ex-Big Issue sellers and have their eye on a few more! It was declared a huge success and organisers say it will definitely be part of their annual calendar of events! It was truly heart warming seeing vendors letting their hair down and having fun!
“Sam, who sells the magazine in Morningside brought his guitar along, there was singing, dancing and lots of laughter! We ‘re used to seeing vendors in ‘work-mode’, where their key focus is often hand to mouth survival. January and February are particularly tough months for Big Issue sellers, people are less inclined to part with their hard earned cash and vendors endure long hours outside in all weathers and often in the face of adversity.”
“The evening was a celebration of Edinburgh Big Issue vendors who are representatives and an asset to the organisation as a whole. They are a key part of the city’s streets and for most customers buying the Big Issue is much more than merely purchasing a magazine. They are giving someone a ‘Hand up, not a hand out’, enabling a vulnerable individual to move forward in their journey away from homelessness.”
The night was an extension of INSP’s (International Network of Street Papers) Vendor Week which took place last week in celebration of the incredibly tough job street paper sellers do all over the world. Last week celebs, politicians and CEOs (including the Lord Provost of Edinburgh) took part in The Big Sell Off where they tried their hand at one of the toughest jobs on the planet; selling The Big Issue! £20,000 was raised across the UK through fundraising.
Mov8 Real Estate who hosted the night, are The Big Issue’s newly established local sponsor. They have already been a great support to Edinburgh vendors, by promoting the ‘Spread the Glove’ campaign where they asked for donations of winter woollies to keep vendors warm on the streets over the winter. This has been a huge help to vendors and the supplies are still coming.
Some key facts that not everyone knows about The Big Issue
– Vendors BUY their magazines for £1.25
– They have to MANAGE their own income and expenditure
– They RUN their own business
– and most importantly they do this in all weathers and in the face of adversity
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
