The Big Issue
A The Big Issue is one of the UK’s leading social businesses,
which continues to offer homeless and vulnerably housed people the opportunity
to earn a legitimate income. The organisation is made up of two parts; a
limited company which produces and distributes a magazine
to a network of street vendors, and a registered
charity which exists to help those vendors gain control of their
lives by addressing the issues which have contributed to their homelessness.
B The Big Issue Company publishes a weekly entertainment and current
affairs magazine, which Big Issue sellers (or vendors) buy for 85p and sell for
£1.70, thereby earning 85p per copy. Any profit generated through the sale of
the magazine is passed on to our charity, The Big Issue Foundation. The
Foundation is also reliant upon donations
from the public to fund its crucial work with vendors. The organisation
currently supports over 2900 homeless and vulnerably housed people across the
country. The magazine is read by over 670,000 people every week throughout the UK. John Duffy is one of the
vendors.
C My name is John Duffy and I’ve been involved with The Big Issue in one
way or the other over the last 10 years. I was born in Manchester
but by adulthood I was living in London
where I married. Like many who find themselves thrust into a life on the
streets, the catalyst for my spiral
into homelessness was the break-up of my marriage. It hit me hard. I started
drinking - drinking heavily on the streets of London.
D My first experience of The Big Issue was when I initially wanted to try
and get myself together and away from my life where drink was an everyday
scenario. I started selling the magazine and after 6 months had got myself
together enough to take a job abroad as a bricklayer. A few jobs here and
there, in between which time I returned to sell The Big Issue for the stability
it gave to me, and I was in a position to consider setting up my own business.
E I proudly set up a book franchise company in 2003. Maybe success came
too quickly as I took more people on and got a friend involved as a partner in
a matter of months. Things were going so well that I took a holiday... When I
came back my world had fallen apart again. My business partner had built up a
huge amount of debt and had also ran off with my money. I was bankrupt and back
on the streets within days. But The Big Issue was still there for me.
F Most recently I have got myself a new job within The Big Issue
Foundation. I am now a Service Support Broker,
which allows me to directly help individual vendors and homeless people access
the support and services they desperately need.
broker - jednatel
catalyst – katalyzátor
reliant upon – závislý na
1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.
1 John became a vendor
2 Information about The Big
Issue
3 John’s business problems
4 Introduction
5 Why did John become a
homeless?
6 John’s life today
2) Read the article and answer the questions.
1 What is the article about?
2 What is the basic
information about The Big Issue?
3 Who is John Duffy? What
jobs has he performed?
4 What problems has he had
in his life?
5 What does he do nowadays?
3) Explain the following words.
1 foundation
2 donation
3 break-up of marriage
4 debt
5 support
4) Answer the following questions.
What are other magazines
sold by the homeless? Where can homeless find a shelter and help? What are
major reasons and causes for homelessness?
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