The Big Issue Korea drop in to The Big Issue’s Cardiff office during 2019 Homeless World Cup

What if the Queen had the vision of a Big Issue vendor? The street paper asked its team, who sell the magazine across the country, what they’d do if they were Queen for a day as the UK’s reigning monarch celebrates her Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years on the throne. The insights are intriguing.

It’s all happening for Big Issue vendor Oprea, 48. Originally from Romania, he has just moved to a new selling point – at Bristol’s Temple Meads train station as part of a partnership with Network Rail – where he is perfecting his sales technique, and he has a new card reader to offer digital payments. He is studying a business course at university too.

Ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, the global street paper movement calls on leaders to take urgent, coordinated and necessary climate action to protect the world’s most vulnerable communities.

As all large gatherings, especially sporting events, fell victim to coronavirus lockdown restrictions, this year’s Homeless World Cup, due to take place in Finnish city Tampere, was cancelled. In the wake of the pandemic, organisers of the tournament, which brings together street soccer teams from across the globe, moved everything online in an effort to continue to use the power of sport for good. The result is this weekend’s virtual Homeless World Cup Day.

The Big Issue took stock of how coronavirus is affecting the world’s homeless community, providing another update on just how severely the spread of the virus is impacting street papers and the people for which they provide an income.

Find out what cover stories have been making a splash on the streets around the world this month.

Coronavirus – or Covid-19 – has spread to multiple countries with street paper representatives, including Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Italy. INSP is gathering information about how measures by governments and the medical community, and the reaction of the general public, are affecting street paper vendors in those locations.

Each month we bring you a round-up of front pages that have been sold on the streets by our vendors in 35 countries around the world.

What’s been making the front pages of street papers during the past month?

Happy Halloween! The end of October is nigh, and we’re ready to dust off the cobwebs and send shivers down your spine with our round-up of covers from the past month.

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. This instalment features bodo vendor Jessica talking about Dortmund.

We’ve rounded up the best of the street paper covers we’ve seen being sold on the streets this September.

Remus has previous for selling street papers. In fact, he’s a bit of a veteran after a six-year stint as a vendor in Amsterdam. Now, he is selling The Big Issue in London, and using the skills he has learned to hone his craft in this new environment. He will also get the chance to utilise The Big Issue’s new contactless payments scheme.

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. In the midst of the worldwide renowned Edinburgh Festival, otherwise known as the Fringe, vendor George Whyte talks about the Scottish capital.

Representing INSP at the 2019 Homeless World Cup, Tony Inglis had a day to take in as much of the tournament as possible. With a number of the national teams represented being affiliated with street papers in their respective countries, he took it upon himself to ensure that he supported them all at least once over the course of the day. It presented an intriguing match clash which happened to bring out the best in what the event has to offer – fair play, camaraderie, friendship and excellent football.

INSP caught up with two of the younger players representing their country at the 2019 Homeless World Cup. Angela Ntoumanoglou, from Greece, and Jungho Kang, from Korea, are only teenagers, and both participate in street football for different reasons, though both agree that getting to play at the tournament was a once in a lifetime experience.