Bonus: Chris & Amy from "The Big Issue"

Good morning.

You're on the air with Lauren Clinty as well.

Now, the other day I was out on Chapel Street with some girlfriends going out for dinner and as we left, I saw something that got my attention and it was a vendor for The Big Issue. And I've always loved buying The Big Issue. And if you don't know exactly what the Big Issue is, we'll go into it in a minute. But if most of my girlfriends that I was with said, what is the Big Issue?

How does it work?

And I was trying to explain to them it's this amazing magazine. It's been around for a really long time, but the way it works and operates, I think is just such an important pillar of our community. So I really wanted to get the guys in here this morning to explain to Melbourne just how important The Big Issue is to our society and to our community. So this morning we are joined by Big Issue vendor Chris. Morning, Chris, and the Big Issue editor Amy Morning. Amy. Hi.

Firstly, thank you for coming in well, thanks for having us.

And Chris is wearing his best. He's going to try and flow this a magazine. That's right.

You might have seen these men and women around because you wear this very bright high these vest, You're hard to miss in that criz. Exactly how long have you been selling the Big Issue?

I have been selling the Big Issue since twenty eighteen, and I've got involved because of my father.

And Amy. How long have you been the editor?

I've been the editor almost nine years.

For people don't understand the concept behind the Big Issue, can you explain it to us please?

The Big Issue is a nonprofit social enterprise, So vendors buy the mag for four fifty, they sell it for nine dollars, so the vendors earn four dollars fifty for every magazine. Soul. That's the social enterprise part of it.

So that's the actual person we're buying it off is getting the money directly.

But every time you buy a Big Issue, it's really supporting the person who is your boy, right Frum. We turned twenty nine this year this month. Wow, we started in Melbourne back in nineteen ninety six.

Feels like a very Melbourne thing. I actually didn't realize it was all around the country.

Yeah, it is. We picked up the idea from the UK, so there are something like ninety street papers like ours, all around the world now, but yeah, it's one of those things that started in Melbourne. It's now all around the country and we have had about seven and eight thousand people get jobs through the Big Issue.

I just love knowing that when I buy the magazine, I'm talking to the person who's actually going to benefit.

From it, and that's what's so great about it. I remember when I was at school, we'd go into the city and I'd always seen see the same guy that I will buy The Big Issue from it. Even when you can tap now because it used to be a lot more cash base. You can tap and you get a little notification on your phone of who your vendors who sold it as well, because the vendors are pretty special.

Chris, how does this help you well.

As a vendor? It helps me financially, but it also helps me interact with the community and working for the Big Issue brings me back on to the main page, whether that be free selling, but also free selling. I've got opportunities, which inside the Big Issue is I'm now in their education enterprise called the Big Issue classrooms, and with that I go in. I tell my lived experience of having a disability as I'm vision impaired and also

So you were vision impaired and homeless at seventeen, yes, wow? And when did you start selling the Big Issue?

I started selling The Big Issue when I was eighteen in Canberra. At the time, I was living with my now wife up there, and I got involved because my father, who's the current Big Issue vendor down here in Melbourne, who sells in Burke Street.

Oh, he's got prime.

Does everyone get their spot?

Well?

So we ring up to get our spots. So we book a day before and we say we want to work here if it's available. So I work at Southern Cross station on the burk Street Bridge and I'm up there from seven to nine generally, and you know, I ring up and get that spot every day. And because I've been working there for a while now every couple of days I know they know I'm going to be there, so they pre booked me.

So what sort of response do you get, Chris, And how heartwarming is that response?

Well, I get really good responses from people, and that's the positive thing we get at it. It's not just about selling a magazine. We're being interacted in the community, and the community sees us out there. For myself, I have people that come up to me every day and talk that may not buy a bag, but they're coming out there to talk to me and interact and they see me out there. And I get supporters from people like my local coffee shop down at Southern Cross because

No, exactly.

Yeah, it's amazing.

Amy When it comes to the magazine, there's a lot of magazines these days that aren't around because a lot of them were just your trashy, celebrity gossip bags. What's the sort of stuff you get in the big issue.

Well, we tell stories that are sort of arts and culture. The next one is about Jaws turning fifty. The current edition has a story about homelessness and housing. The most important thing is that we also tell the stories of the people who sell the Big Issue, and so it's really important for us to make sure that we platform voices that are not necessarily heard in mainstream media. So we have a story about a vendor in every edition,

Hey, Chris, what's a good day at the office for the Big Issue for you? How many are you selling?

I average around I average around twenty magazines a day, Okay, but that's an average. I could one day, I could sell thirty. One day, I could sell one. Every day is different, and that's the beauty of But it's not just that, you know, and we're running our own small business, mind you.

Yeah, exactly.

So it's not like we're adherent to you know, Pacific hours. And that's for me. I like the routine of being up going to work. I travel two hours go to work every day. So I travel in from the Gips and from Liatroe Valley, I travel to Melbourne. Take me two hours. I work for two hours and then I go home. If I don't have a classroom to go to and you know that's I'm committed to that because that's my work, that's mine nine to five.

You must feel a lot of independence out of it as well.

Exactly. I feel not just independence, but pride about what I do and sharing my story, sharing other vendors stories as well through selling to maybe Chris.

Where would you be without the Big Issue?

Well, I don't know. Like I was lost when I started working for the Big Issue. And I would say, I've found my place. I've found the thing that's called to me.

That's so cool to hear, it's amazing.

Where's the sweet spot in Melbourne? Where's the spot everything?

The guy on Chapel Street the other night was doing very well, Jeffrey.

What's the primo location?

I will say Burke Street Mall. We have a lot of vendors that's all around there. Teresa is one, my father David, he's one out there. There's a lot more. I can't think if there's a lot of vendors that's all around there anyway, but.

This is the beauty of it. You get to know your vendor as well. On Glen Parry Road, there's a bloke who sits there with his blue heeler, is it, Yeah, just outside the Westpac Bank, and you know, go up and get to Patty's dog, sagurday to him, see how he's going. It's like a check in and then he checks in on me as well. It's there's a beautiful story and relationship that a company has the sale of this, and.

I can't recommend it enough. If you do see a Big Issue vendor out, go and say hello. The magazine is a great read as well. I always get it whenever I see it, which is why we wanted to talk about it today.

Ed your kids about it too.

They're nine dollars and the vendor personally gets fifty percent of that, so you get four dollars fifty per magazine. But you'll meet some really great people with some amazing stories to share as well. I mean, you must be so proud of all of these vendors who work for the Big Issue.

Yeah, I really I have a long relationship with a lot of our vendors. We have vendors who have worked for the Big Issue for almost twenty nine years and some that come for a couple of months and use it as a stepping stone to go on to other things too, But as you said about the community around

Well, get out and support your local big issue vendors. Chris and Amy, thanks so much for coming in. Guys, thank you very much.

Jason, Lauren l wake up feeling good following them on the socials.