This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Sue, who sells The Bis Issue Australia in Melbourne, chose the late Aretha Franklin’s rendition of ‘Amazing Grace’.

David K has been selling The Big Issue for over a decade from his pitch in Brisbane’s central business district. He started working as a vendor when his life was on an upswing, and things have only improved since then. David is the proud father of a daughter now in college and a keen street soccer player, and he wants to thank his customers for their support over the years.

Women aged 24 to 34, often with children, are the most likely to access homelessness services in Australia, while homelessness among older women is on the rise. Big Issue Australia vendor Cheryl shares her experiences of being homeless as a woman.

This Big Issue love story begins at a wheelchair touch football game and continues on through joy, devastation and more love – an abundance of it. The Big Issue Australia’s editor Amy Hetherington speaks to newlywed vendors Kelly and Greg.

As the final round of group games comes to a close, street papers across our international network are still in the grip of World Cup fever. Down under, The Big Issue Australia’s Anastasia Safioleas writes about their Community Street Soccer Program, further proving the transformative power of the beautiful game.

When The Big Issue Australia published their first issue, 60,000 Australians were homeless. Now, that number is almost double. New census figures released this month show that there are more than 116,000 people who don’t have a place to call home. For their latest edition, The Big Issue decided to go beyond the statistics to hear from the very people these numbers represent – their vendors. Their stories are illuminating, devastating, and hopeful, and evidence that homelessness is more than not having a place to sleep.

Big Issue vendors from across Australia offer words of advice, reflection, consolation and love to their teenaged selves in these special letters written for #VendorWeek 2018.

To celebrate #VendorWeek 2018, The Big Issue Australia took an in depth look at the ways street papers around the world are creating extra employment opportunities for the people who need them most. And what better way to learn about them than from the people who are employed by and benefit from them. Social enterprises featured in the article come from these INSP members: The Big Issue Australia, =Oslo, The Curbside Chronicle, Shedia and L’Itinéraire.

One sure-fire way to begin to understand what street paper vendors do every day is by stepping into their shoes. Selling events are popular throughout the INSP network during #VendorWeek, and The Big Issue Australia’s is the biggest and most established. The 2018 instalment is no different.

Allan, a proud Aboriginal man from Wurundjeri country, and a Big Issue Australia vendor for 21 years, has spent his 2017, as he has most years of his life, fighting for his people and his culture to be properly recognised.

Allan is a long-time vendor who has been selling The Big Issue in Melbourne for 20 years. Here, he talks about his Aboriginal background, struggles with addiction and how his spirits are lifted through the power of song.

Finland’s Iso Numero – one of the youngest of the world’s 110 street papers – spent a week in March learning from The Big Issue Australia, as part of INSP’s Intensive Learning Programme. They reflect on their lessons learned.

In 2017, Craig aims to get a two-bedroom place so his daughter can come to visit him. She hasn’t been able to in the rooming house he currently lives in.

Peter makes a living selling The Big Issue Australia in Perth. He is hoping to make a trip back to the States were he was born but says he will miss his loyal customers when he’s away.

In the midst of the tournament, we learn how The Big Issue Australia helped seven players bring the infectious “Aussie team spirit” to the Homeless World Cup in Glasgow. The experience has already rendered goalkeeper Shannon “speechless”.