Thank you from the Big Issue
October 21st, 2009 by sparky
If you bought a programme at this year’s Big Chill, you will have bought it, along with a copy of the Big Issue, from one of the Big Issue’s vendors working at Eastnor, in the second year of our partnership with the Issue. We asked them to let us know how their weekend went…
Back when we were thinking about this partnership, The Big Issue and The Big Chill reckoned it would be a great experiment to give Big Issue sellers the opportunity to take on the programme selling, whilst providing extra reading material in the form of the Big Issue magazine. The Big Issue magazine is the UK’s only independent campaigning news and entertainment magazine - support it and you are supporting a whole load of good stuff.
We felt that the Big Issue vendors, who tackle street selling every day, would bring their own unique brand of energy and flair to the selling of the programmes, whilst at the same time giving them the opportunity to be part of the festival: bringing them in from the outside and making them an essential part of the team. Social justice, activism and music has always had a practical relationship and we see the partnership as a natural, innovative extension of that.
Then there’s the money. The Big Chill programme profits are shared three ways: between the Big Issue, a social business where all profits go back into making the magazine which creates an income for the homeless and vulnerably housed, to the Big Chill, whose costs are covered in producing the programme, and then crucially, the vendors themselves, with each vendor getting £1 for each programme sold.
However, we could never of predicted the real results of this project, above and beyond all that. There are various reasons for this. Because they are seriously struggling with money, many vendors are trapped in an urban environment, unable to afford the train or bus to get away for a break, or without the network to have anywhere to stay if they could get away. Amongst the beautiful valley surroundings of the festival, far from being a busman’s holiday, most vendors reported wonder and joy at having such a lively yet relaxing and rural holiday from it all.
Add to this the fact that the vendors get paid after the festival in a lump sum, meaning that for once they have a significant pay packet to plan for. With the support of the Big Issue, many of the vendors planned for and bought career training, professional grade equipment to support their work and contributed towards deposits on accommodation.
As you can see, the whole system, innovated by The Big Chill, and nurtured by you Chillers, actually brings the Big Issue model a step closer to its aim of being the link between homelessness and re-intergration into the world of work.
Then there’s working as a team towards the rewarding goal of making sure every Chiller who wants a programme has access to one, as well as the crucial interaction with all the punters onsite. After the festival, vendors reported making huge numbers of friends and of feeling integrally involved in something fantastic.
On top of all this, there’s all the side projects that come about with ideas like this. Big Issue vendor Adrian Cox, a programme vendor at the 2008 event, is now an official Big Chill photographer, after his shots at the Big Chill 2008 impressed the Big Chill team. He hasn’t stopped working since. In fact, he took all of the photographs in this feature.
With support from the Bell Tent company, who loaned Vendors beautiful big tents to sleep in, the vendors got stuck in to a weekend to remember.
Hazel, a London vendor, said she loved: “…the woodlands, sleeping in a tent, meeting a group of new people. Having a laugh.” Seeing John Cooper Clarke was her best moment, and she says she “…had some great chats. The [Big Chillers] were very positive towards us.” To the Big Chill organsiers, she says: “Thanks for the food vouchers, it made a big difference to us all. The best thing to come out of the trip for me was the people I met. Seeing all of us vendors working as a team. When I came back to London, I felt very positive.”
Kelvin, who says he had an “uplifting” experience, took his partner and her son to the festival with him, and says he has since approached their relationship “with more understanding”. He has this message to Chillers: “Thank you for your support. Keep on trucking.”
Some of the volunteers who worked with the vendors, restocking them and supporting their work, said “working with and meeting the vendors was one of the best things for me. I was really inspired by a couple of them.” Volunteer Darren Williams added: “The whole [festival] was amazing for me. Seeing the vendors interacting with people in their own cheeky way created great moments for me”. He also reported that the vendors he spoke to were really glad to be part of something so big, and that they loved inteacting with festival goers.
Another volunteer, John Ooi, told us that he “really enjoyed getting to talk to the vendors. This is not something I would ordinarily have done in my everyday life. I found it really interesting to hear their stories and to watch them in action.”
All of the Big Issue volunteers enjoyed the festival and talked about the benefits of feeling useful whilst having fun. Most felt that seeing the bands, the amazing weather, the really good vibe and the comradeship made it special. Many said it was great to see The Big Issue from another perspective. One had this message to festival goers - These are real Big Issue vendors - whether you realise it or not you have probably spoken to at least one homless person now!
There’s a way to go. Festival selling is way different from street work and the vendors are developing new ways of selling and in a whole new enviroment - and you can and are helping with that with every bit of interaction you have with the vendors. We have already addressed some issues, such as change - next year there will be more than enough to around.
We are quite simply amazed and delighted with how things have turned out. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best.Thanks to the amazing response from you, the Big Chill festival-goers, the vendors are being brought on board and this inclusivity is adding a unique, vendor-driven humour and spirit to proceedings!
