Big Issue Group launches membership scheme to foster collective action on poverty
Melanie May | 23 September 2024 | News
Big Issue Group has today (Monday 23 September) launched its first membership scheme, with the aim of bringing people together to take action against poverty.
People can join as a member for £5 a month, or for free depending on their circumstances, and there’s also an option to become a corporate member for £250 a year.
Members receive a digital welcome pack introducing them to the Big Issue’s work and impact, and what it means to be a Big Issue member. They also receive a quarterly digital newsletter, a digital guide to taking action in their own community, and digital access to Big Issue’s exclusive 2025 Poverty Zero Summit.
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Campaign to encourage signups
The social enterprise is running a campaign to get people to sign up, which kicks off with outdoor advertising, starting with Elonex’s The Manchester Screen at Victoria Warehouse, which is the biggest billboard in the city and overlooks a major traffic junction. Elonex will also be sharing the campaign for the duration of its run on many of its 3,000 digital screens across the UK.
Advertising space has also been secured until 19 December with Clearchannel, Canopy and Global with other B2C and B2B advertisers supporting the campaign too.
According to a recent YouGov poll for Big Issue Group, more than two thirds (69%) of people believe issues are more effectively resolved when people and organisations work together on a local scale.
Out of over 2,000 people surveyed in early September, 54% said they felt the government is doing too little to help people in their local area who are afflicted by poverty. 45% of all respondents believed their local areas had changed for the worse over the last few years, with 42% saying their areas ‘had stayed about the same’ and just 7% reporting a change for the better.
Part of new Big Community initiative
The membership scheme is part of the Big Issue Group’s new Big Community initiative, launched in light of the poll findings. The initiative also includes a community roadshow, and a call to campaign for bold new government legislation. It aims to bring local people together to find solutions to poverty in their areas, and to call for real government action on poverty.
The social enterprise is calling for a ‘Poverty Zero’ law, which would force every government to set legally binding targets to reduce poverty – as with Net Zero.
The first Big Community Roadshow will visit Newcastle-upon-Tyne next week, with teams from the social enterprise based in the city for a week to listen, support and report on overlooked local issues.
Zoe Hayward, CMO of the Big Issue Group, said that this was “exciting new territory” for the social enterprise, adding:
“Poverty in this country is a growing, urgent crisis, destroying our society, affecting more of our neighbours, friends and family every day. The issue is out of control, the government isn’t moving fast enough and we at the Big Issue Group, can’t look away. We know millions of people in the UK are outraged. We want to bring people together who are demanding change through our new membership scheme.
“Our survey shows people still believe in the power of community, and the Big Issue membership scheme is a way for people to stand together. Through becoming part of our community, we’ll amplify the voices of those who are marginalised in our society and show those in power that we won’t tolerate their inaction.”
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.