THE BIG ISSUE CALENDARS HIT THE STREETS

MEDIA RELEASE
Monday 23 November, 2009
The Big Issue Calendars hit the streets in time for Christmas.

Australia’s best-loved street magazine, The Big Issue, is getting into the festive spirit with its annual calendar hitting the streets today.

On sale until sold out the 2010 calendar is available for purchase from vendors in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Canberra, Perth, Melbourne and regional Victoria.

At just $5, the calendar is a great gift idea, with the added bonus that half the money goes directly into the pocket of your vendor – sharing the gift of giving.
The 2010 calendar celebrates the talents of some of The Big Issue’s regular cartoonists and contributing artists, including Andrew Weldon, Neryl Walker,Dean Gorissen, Michael Weldon, Keith Burt, Michel Streich and Ron Monnier.

The calendar also highlights, in words, some of the remarkable vendors who sell The Big Issue magazine throughout each year. The calendar will be followed by The Big Issue’s annual bumper Christmas edition, which will hit the streets December 7.

The Street Magazine Enterprise is an initiative of The Big Issue Australia. It uses the publishing model to deliver an independent, sustainable and self-funded business solution to homelessness. By selling The Big issue magazine, homeless, marginalised and disadvantaged people have the opportunity to earn an income and be actively included in society. Authorised vendors buy the magazine for $2.50 from the The Big Issue and sell it on the streets for $5.

In a report released earlier this year it showed that for every one dollar invested in the Street Magazine Enterprise four dollars fifty in benefits was generated to Australian society. Supporting a vendor group of some 350 individuals at any one time, the report showed that in the absence of the Street Magazine those individuals would impose additional aggregate demands on society at a cost of around $10 million per annum.