Big Issue North office, 116 Tib Street, NQ, Manchester, England, UK, M4 1LR

The Big Issue is a street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. The Big Issue is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer homeless people, or individuals at risk of homelessness, the opportunity to earn a legitimate income, thereby helping them to reintegrate into mainstream society. It is the world's most widely circulated street newspaper In 1995, The Big Issue Foundation was founded to offer additional support and advice to vendors around issues such as housing, health, personal finance and addiction. In 2001, the magazine sold nearly 300, 000 copies per week. Between 2007 and 2011, the circulation of The Big Issue declined from 167, 000 to less than 125, 000. Competition between vendors also increased at this time. In January 2012, the magazine was relaunched, with an increased focus on campaigning and political journalism. New columnists were added, including the Premier League footballer Joey Barton, Rachel Johnson, Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park and Samira Ahmed. The cover price was increased. In 2016, The Big Issue celebrated surpassing 200 million magazine sales. To become a vendor, one must be homeless or almost homeless, vulnerably housed or marginalised in some way. The Big Issue recognises, however, that for many people, being housed is only the first stage in getting off the streets; therefore, The Big Issue Foundation exists to support vendors in gaining control of their lives by tackling the various issues which lead to homelessness.