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The Big Issue // "Helping People Help Themselves" // The Big Issue is one of the biggest organisations helping the homeless in Melbourne, Australia and the World. They run many programs all aiming at one thing, "Helping People Help Themselves".

The Big Issue was first launched in London, England in September 1991 by Gordon Roddick (husband of the late Anita Roddick, founder of the body shop) and A. John Bird. It is a magazine written by professional journalists and sold by homeless people. The magazine first hit the streets in December 1991 as a monthly magazine, but in June 1993, it went weekly (fortnightly in Australia). The Big Issue foundation was launched in November 1995, with the aim of fighting the main issues causing homelessness. Since its creation, the foundation had provided a lot of services assisting issues surrounding housing, health, education and more. They also help the vendors achieve what they never thought they could.

Today, The Big Issue is an international organisation, having shared its trademark to seven other countries worldwide, Australia, Japan, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi & Namibia.

In Melbourne the Big Issue hit the streets for the first time in 1996 as a fortnightly magazine. The Big Issue runs two main programs here aimed at assisting the homeless, 'The Big Issue Street Magazine', 'The Community Street Soccer Program' and one other program aimed at teaching people about homelessness, 'The Big Issue Classroom'.

-** The magazine is sold by the homeless, the disabled and addicts all trying to improve their lives. - The vendors buy each magazine for $2.50 and sell each one for $5, earning $2.50 from each sale. - The Big Issue Street Magazine is one of Australia's leading social enterprises supporting the homeless. - Since its launch in 1996, The Big Issue vendors have sold over 5 million magazines, by using this method The Big Issue has earned over $10 million for the homeless and unemployed.
 * The Big Issue Street Magazine


 * [[image:Homeless_World_Cup2.jpg width="309" height="230" align="right" caption="Homeless Soccer program held at the Fed Square"]]

 The Community Street Soccer Program ** - Community street soccer program is a new approach to relive the difficulty of homelessness. - It gives the homeless a sense of belonging and boosts their self esteem - The program can be adapted to meet the challenges and desperate needs of local communities throughout Melbourne, Australia and the world.

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The Big Issue Classroom **  - The Big Issue Classroom gets regular primary and secondary students to understand the seriousness of homelessness and encourages empathy and tolerance towards all people - Students attend 1 hour session, which can be held at the big Issue Headquarters, somewhere in the CBD or at the school. - In the sessions, group discussions, games and fun activities are used to help the students understands homelessness in Australia. - Overall, the sessions give students a true experience that encourages them to break down the stereotypes about homelessness and the homeless.

On the 4th of November, we went to the Melbourne branch of the Big Issue of get some photos and find out a bit more information about homelessness in Melbourne. The main thing we took in from the whole excursion was the true story that Alice, the educational director of The Big Issue Melbourne, told us.
 * Our Visit to the Big Issue**

The story was about a boy called Aaron who went through hell for over 10 years. He became addicted to drugs, suffered depression, hung with the wrong people and by doing so, he went to jail. When he came out of jail, he wanted to have a nice and peaceful life, he returned to school soon after being released from jail.

For the past 2 years, he has been working as a big issue vendor, and his wife (who he met when he returned to school) was due to have her baby on the 4th of November.

Overall the session was really eye opening and showed us how lucky we are not to be marginalized from the society.

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