INSP Advent Calendar: day 16

The Big Issue has been reaching out to vendors across the street paper network to get the inside scoop on the cities they know best. Here, vendor Steve talks about Oxford.

In this letter, Liceulice vendor Vesna Avramović tells a very personal story. She describes the personal changes that working as a vendor have brought into her life. She used to lack the confidence to communicate, was prone to anxiety attacks and was also afraid of all sorts of rejection. In time, these tensions lessened, and she started to find joy in her life and work.

The Big Issue has been reaching out to vendors across the street paper network to get the inside scoop on the cities they know best. Here, Nový Prostor vendor Slavko talks about Prague in the Czech Republic.

The Big Issue has been reaching out to vendors across the street paper network to get the inside scoop on the cities they know best. Here, Maurice Richards, a Big Issue vendor in Wales, talks about Cardiff.

Janko is a Nový Prostor vendor currently based in Prague, Czech Republic. He has over eight years’ experience of being a magazine vendor and he has worked in various European countries during this time. Here, he talks about what his life as a vendor is like and explains why striving for good fortune and having hopes for the future are important in life.

We recently crowned the winner of our People’s Cover Award – find out who took home the top prize, and take a look at the other covers making a splash and being sold by our vendors around the world.

In a twist on the long-running vendor profile feature, Claire McKenna tells us more about Toledo Streets vendor Rooster Tinch. Claire is a Toledo Streets vendor and program manager who has become close to Rooster since he started working as a vendor in early 2018. Here, she talks about how Rooster has become part of the Toledo Streets family and a valued and successful team member – and shares the maxims that he lives by.

Our picture gallery of the 2019 INSP Awards. Relive the highlights!

After news of his death broke early last week, tributes began to pour in for popular Big Issue vendor Paul Kelly. Today at his pitch, outside Sainsbury’s supermarket on the city’s main shopping street Buchanan Street, where flowers, messages and mementos had sprung up in his absence, a crowd of people joined friends, colleagues, and others who had been touched by his character and presence, for a vigil in his memory.

The winners of the 2019 INSP Awards have been revealed at the official Awards Ceremony, as part of the Global Street Paper Summit in Hannover, Germany.

Dr. Naheed Dosani is among a growing number of health care practitioners working to bring palliative care to those living on the margins. Megaphone spoke with Dosani, and others leading this initiative, as well as the individuals, and their families, it has helped. Last night at the 2019 INSP Awards, this piece won Best News Feature. Now, you can read it in full.

All of us experience some degree of stress in our everyday lives. For those who are homeless, however, stress can be a debilitating and chronic issue. Street Roots talked to a number of individuals about their experiences of life on the streets and about the impact that stress has had on their lives. This is especially pertinent as delegates at this year’s ongoing Global Street Paper Summit talk about dealing with conflict and vendor welfare.

Asphalt vendor Sascha talks about his struggles with his mental health, his childhood, his love of movies and his penchant for creating movie themed podcasts. Asphalt is based in Hannover, the city hosting this year’s Global Street Paper Summit.

At the end of January, when there was still snow in Cologne, Draussenseiter vendor Lothar was equipped with an analogue camera and asked to record a day in his life. He liked the idea and started documenting straight away. Here you can see the selection of photos Lothar captured, along with his comments.

Originally from Romania, Reghina (55) is now an Asphalt vendor in Hannover, the host of this year’s Global Street Paper Summit. Here she speaks about being the subject of discrimination in her home country, moving with her kids to the Czech Republic, and then herself to Germany, and finding a kind of friendship with her customers.

A group of #INSP2019 delegates were lucky enough to learn about Hannover’s homelessness situation from host street paper, Asphalt, and one of its vendors, Thomas. Delegates visited the Asphalt office, learning about its processes and were given a tour of social spots important to those living on the streets of Hannover.