Campaign with us
Become a Big Issue campaign supporter. Take action today and join a movement to create a better future for tomorrow.
Let’s end poverty in the UK
Campaigning with the Big Issue means campaigning to end poverty in the UK. Right now, over 3.8 million people in the UK are living in extreme poverty. That’s 3.8 million people struggling to feed, clothe and keep themselves warm. And, with the cost of living crisis raging on, there’s no end in sight.
We need politicians to commit to investing in people to end poverty and improve society for everyone.
Active campaigns
Our movement to end poverty
Campaigning with the Big Issue has never been more exciting. We have a network of thousands of digital activists, journalists, and ambassadors speaking up for change. This network is supported in government in the House of Lords by our founder Lord Bird.
We’re raising the issues that matter most when it comes to tackling poverty and holding politicians to account.
We need your all to speak up now. It doesn’t matter who you are, we need your help.
Jane, Big Issue vendor and campaigner
Our poverty prevention pillars
We believe that ending poverty relies upon addressing five interlinked pillars of concern. Poverty affects people in many different ways, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
These pillars are the cornerstone of our campaigning and broader work at the Big Issue Group, and we believe that the government must adopt the same model to truly break the cycle of poverty.
- Housing: secure housing is an important step in creating a stable environment to move forward and rebuild peoples’ lives.
- Health & Wellbeing: poverty causes ill health, which drives inequality and increases the pressure on health services. Prevention improves quality of life, and is more cost-effective for the state.
- Community & Environment: communities can directly tackle poverty and inequality through local initiatives. These in turn will improve our environment.
- Employment & Learning: investing in lifelong education and skills results in more stable and secure employment, higher earnings and less exposure to poverty.
- Financial & Digital Inclusion: we tackle digital and financial exclusion by ensuring everyone has basic financial and digital skills, as well as access to the internet, communication tools, and bank accounts. This is critical for driving inclusion and enabling earning and employment.
We have also used our poverty prevention pillars to structure our Blueprint to End Poverty. These are the short, medium, and long-term policy areas that we believe the government needs to address to end poverty in the UK for good.
Our work in government
Learn more about how our work is supported in government in the House of Lords by Big Issue founder founder Lord Bird.
Taking the fight to end poverty into Parliament.
We’re working to embed poverty prevention in the heart of government.
Campaigning at the Big Issue can take many forms, but they always work to protect the most marginalised people in our society. Find out more about our past campaigns below.
