Big Issue launches app & digital edition to support vendors during Covid-19
Melanie May | 20 April 2020 | News
The Big Issue has partnered with publishing platform Pugpig to launch an app and digital edition to maximise sales and support vendors during the COVID-19 crisis.
The Big Issue app provides access for to the weekly publication as well as the “The Big Community”: a curated channel providing positive and inspiring stories focused on the people and businesses coming together in this crisis to support the most vulnerable in society.
The app was designed by the team at Pugpig at no cost to The Big Issue, and is free to download from Apple Store and Google Play. It will make the magazine accessible through weekly downloads at £2.99 for a copy or via subscriptions, starting from £32.99 for three months. Of magazine sales through the app, 50% of the net proceeds will go directly to supporting Big Issue vendors.
The app is fully optimised for iPad and iPhone, and readers can save their favourite articles to the Saved Articles section, as well as choose the number of issues saved on devices, and download the edition to read offline.
Joe Wicks, ‘the nation’s P.E. teacher’, is supporting the app launch and is the cover star of the first edition of the magazine to go live on it.
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Joe Wicks said:
“Since the Coronavirus crisis hit the UK, Big Issue vendors haven’t been able to sell on the streets. We need to ensure that, once this is all over, it’s still here to support vendors to earn a legitimate income and lift themselves out of poverty.”
Russell Blackman, MD, at The Big Issue, said:
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“Our income largely comes from street sales and without our vendors on the streets we are losing our ability to directly provide them with a source on income. They desperately need our help and we have continued to adapt to the situation, by launching our new app.
“We are so pleased that we were able to work with Pugpig on the app so that new and existing readers are able to keep reading and supporting The Big Issue throughout this incredibly tough time. The money raised will help to secure the future of the magazine and make a real difference to the lives of our vendors around the country.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.