Big Issue North Trust
About us
Big Issue North produces a wide range of socially conscious media content, including a weekly magazine sold by people in the north of England with no other means of earning an income. Our team supports these people – our vendors – to change their lives and achieve their goals.
As well as selling the magazine, our vendors are given advice by staff on how to get help with anything from developing their skills or accessing English language courses, to getting housing, financial or health advice, which can help them achieve their goals and improve their lives for good.
Around 350 people sell Big Issue North each week. Big Issue North vendors buy the magazine from one of our regional offices for £2 and then sell it on established pitches in towns and cities for £4. They keep the £2 they make on every magazine. Selling Big Issue North also gives vendors motivation and helps to boost their self-esteem.
Alongside Big Issue North magazine, we produce a brand new news app, called Street News, and deliver service user engagement services in Liverpool.
What we offer
Big Issue North: Big Issue North is a weekly magazine sold by homeless and vulnerably housed vendors in the north of England. Our charitable arm, the Big Issue North Trust, supports vendors to change their lives and achieve their goals.
Community Voice: Community Voice is a user-led service, run by people who have been affected by drug or alcohol use, that works to get the voices of people affected by drugs and alcohol heard in the commissioning and everyday running of drug and alcohol services in Liverpool.
The New Issue: The New Issue is a quarterly magazine, which contains real stories – beautifully told. It offers stunning photography combined with high-quality independent writing, covering everything from changing landscapes and social issues to lifestyle and fiction. It’s a long read, something to take time over and savour.
Support Big Issue North Trust
Big Issue North Trust is a registered charity (charity number 1056041), which raises funds to provide a range of support for vendors, including support accessing services, help getting ID, home furnishing packages and projects such as breakfast clubs.
If you’d like to help us to support our vendors to change their lives for good, please click here.
To make a donation, please visit our JustGiving page, or text BINORTH to 70201 to give £1, 70331 to give £3, 70970 to give £5 or 70191 to give £10. Thank you.
The New Issue magazine
The New Issue is a quarterly magazine, which contains real stories – beautifully told. It offers stunning photography combined with high-quality independent writing, covering everything from changing landscapes and social issues to lifestyle and fiction. It’s a long read, something to take time over and savour.
While The New Issue is sold directly to subscribing individuals and businesses, its ethos remains that of Big Issue North. All profits from sales of the new publication go back into supporting the people who sell Big Issue North on the streets, creating more opportunities for people not currently earning an income, and facing homelessness or vulnerable living situations.
As well as its beautiful aesthetic, clear social purpose and broad editorial remit, the other thing that sets The New Issue apart is what isn’t in it – advertising. It means the content of the magazine is truly independent. It’s beholden to no one, but the peoples whose stories are told, and its readers.
Who is The New Issue for?
It’s for people who want to know more about the world around them, and who value the permanence and beauty that The New Issue offers in an increasingly transient world. Equally, it’s for people who want to make responsible, ethical purchasing decisions, at a time when so much of what we consume can be bound up in unethical, irresponsible consequences.
It’s for organisations that have a customer base that value the kind of insightful content that we provide, bound up in an aspirational, coffee-table package. Equally, it’s for organisations with a clear sense of social responsibility, who recognise their place in their communities, and the importance of taking every opportunity to do good and change lives.
How to subscribe
Pay upfront
Annual subscriptions and single issues of The New Issue are available on our online shop.
Spread the cost
Spread the cost of The New Issue through annual or ongoing subscriptions, with a direct debit taken from your bank account every three months.
If you want to buy The New Issue as a gift, or have it sent to a different address to your billing address, you’ll have that option once you’ve set up the direct debit.
Subscribe as an organisation
Subscriptions to The New Issue cost £40 a year. To discuss taking multiple subscriptions for your organisation, contact George Wright on 07870 509 965 or george.wright@bigissuenorth.com.
