Meet the new Big Issue ambassadors helping to end poverty once and for all: 'We're in a fight'

It’s a beautiful day on the South Bank in London when Big Issue’s five new group ambassadors Chris Packham, Michelle de Swarte, Mike Soutar, Kwajo Tweneboa and Rotimi Merriman-Johnson gather for a photo shoot.

Each has a passion for our mission to defeat poverty, eradicate homelessness, offer opportunity to people who are excluded and increase health and wealth equality in the UK. And they each bring expertise as well as energy to the fight. 

With Big Issue founder Lord John Bird and vendors George Anderson, André Rostant and Kelvin Gregory also in attendance, it’s a lively encounter in the underpass between the iMax cinema and the BFI Southbank. 

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The fact that this exact location was known as Cardboard City and home to hundreds of people in 1991
when the Big Issue was launched is not lost on vendor Kelvin. 

Alliances are made and friendships form quickly as vendors and ambassadors exchange stories. The new recruits join our ranks alongside other notable names who have worked hard to spread Big Issue’s message far and wide, including Christopher Eccleston, Daniel Mays, Sophie Winkleman, Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, Lorna Tucker, George Clarke and Rose Williams. All share a genuine desire to use their platform to improve lives. And as they speak, they see how their areas of specialism intersect around tackling inequality and poverty and the root causes of homelessness that Big Issue works to counter. Let’s meet them… 

Chris Packham – Environment & Community Ambassador

Environmental campaigner and natural history broadcaster

I’m an enormous fan of Big Issue and have been for a long time. I like practical solutions to problems. I like intelligent solutions to problems. And I like available solutions to problems. Big Issue ticks all those boxes. I like the democracy of the magazine and the breadth of what it offers. It’s politically aware, it’s socially aware and it’s culturally aware. And I like the social comment – it suits my politics, my ethics and my morals.

We’re in a fight. And one of the things that’s not being joined up at the moment is how poverty is intrinsically entwined with climate breakdown. The impacts are being felt more severely in countries where there is more widespread poverty. This is the greatest crisis our species has ever faced. We are one species on one planet with one massive problem and one last chance to sort it out. But until we recognise the need for equality we will not address the climate crisis. Our politicians still pander to big, bad businesses – the oil giants, agricultural giants, food giants – who are responsible for precipitating abject misery for millions of people. 

I want to bring that conversation to Big Issue and make sure it’s integrated with the other conversations that are taking place. Until we address inequality we’re not going to deal with the other issues.

• Chris Packham: ‘My younger self would be my biggest critic’
• Chris Packham explains why he supports Just Stop Oil as new BBC series Earth launches

Michelle de Swarte – Health & Wellbeing Ambassador

Comedian, writer and actor

I have a strong belief that being a Big Issue buyer is something passed down from generation to generation. My mum always bought Big Issue. And because of that, I have always bought it. Not only is it a great publication but it does something for the economy of people that don’t have homes. 

I always remember me and my mum buying it, even at times when we were technically homeless ourselves. She would send me with money to go and get a Big Issue, then we’d flick through it on the train or the bus. To be part of it now is genuinely an honour. 

I’m excited to speak to the vendors. And I want to remind people of the importance of what Big Issue is – I feel like people are not seeing vendors in the way they once did. I don’t know if it’s a post-pandemic thing, but it’d be nice if there was the same compassion and respect for the workforce as there used to be.

And I’m a comedian. So I want to put on Big Issue comedy nights as a night of entertainment but for a good cause and to get younger people feeling the way I used to when I was that age. 

When things are bad – I know definitely with myself when I was struggling with homelessness – people can go into denial. And when you’re in that headspace, you drift towards escapism, which can mean drugs, alcohol or just avoidance and denial. Wellness and mental health are the foundation of being able to change the situation you’re in. But an acknowledgement and acceptance of the situation you’re in is genuinely the first step of being able to change it. 

• Spent star Michelle de Swarte: ‘Someone had to tell me I was homeless – I was in such denial’

Kwajo Tweneboa – Housing Ambassador

Award-winning housing campaigner 

I felt really pleased when I was asked to become an ambassador because I’ve done a lot of work with Big Issue over the last couple years around homelessness and housing. It was an absolute no-brainer. 

Housing is the biggest crisis this country faces. Not enough is being done. So, by working together, we can continue to highlight the issue of poor quality of housing, the lack of access to housing, homelessness. We need to understand that good housing is a foundation for the lives of every single one of us. 

Michelle, like me, has lived experience of homelessness and housing insecurity. What she was going through in her teenage years is exactly the same as me – we didn’t realise at the time that we were homeless. It wasn’t until we were older and looked back we realised absolutely that was the case. We also both recognise that things have got far worse for young people. Far too many are suffering. 

It’s really good meeting the other ambassadors. All these issues are directly interlinked. They’re not isolated problems. They affect each other. By joining up we can make that clear and change perspectives.

• Kwajo Tweneboa wants his new documentary to make you angry about the housing crisis
• Activist Kwajo Tweneboa: ‘We’re facing the biggest housing crisis since World War II’

Mike Soutar – Learning & Employment Ambassador

Business leader and Apprentice star 

I was honoured to be asked to be a Big Issue ambassador. The work Big Issue does is extraordinary. And what’s important is the tangibility of that work. It’s about helping people help themselves – and that spirit and ethos runs right through the magazine, which is a phenomenal, award-winning piece of work. 

John Bird is an incredible character, an extraordinary person and fills you with determination to help change happen. He was very clear about the role I can play in amplifying the issues Big Issue champions. I’m particularly interested in Big Issue Recruit, which is a valuable initiative that can really help people working their way out of poverty to take a step ahead. 

I come from a business background. I hope that puts me in a good place to influence employment policies and open people’s eyes to opportunities. At the same time, I hope to be an advocate and help the people Big Issue helps, to think about employability and how they can get themselves on that ladder.

Rotimi Merriman-Johnson – Financial & Digital Inclusion Ambassador

Financial influencer and educator, also known as Mr Moneyjar 

I felt hugely honoured and excited to be asked to be a Big Issue ambassador. It felt like the role had been created for me because while I talk about money day in, day out, my second love is technology. I’m a huge tech enthusiast and interested in the impact that technology is going to have on work and society going forward. Digital inclusion is so important here. 

What I would like to achieve is threefold. I’d like to offer financial education to the Big Issue family – subscribers, readers and vendors. I would like to help tell the Big Issue story because lots of people don’t realise the breadth and depth of the organisation – most are familiar with the media business and vendors, but there is also Big Issue Recruit, Big Issue Invest, all these different arms to the company. Thirdly, I would like to cross-pollinate with the other ambassadors. Because all these topics – financial and digital inclusion, housing, the environment, health and employment – are interrelated. 

It’s been a very difficult decade around the world. But we have our unique set of challenges here. We’ve got a lot of work to do around the cost of living, around digital inclusion, around net zero, around housing. Just today bills have gone up. All these issues need solving. Let’s get to work. 

As Rotimi says: let’s get to work. And we need YOU with us in this fight as well.

With poverty now at its highest point in the 21st century, the UK is facing a poverty crisis – with 3.8 million people experiencing destitution – struggling to eat, clothe and keep themselves warm.

Become a Big Issue member today and join a community of people fuelling our work to end poverty in the UK.

By becoming a Big Issue member, you’ll support us to deliver four critical services, key to ending the poverty crisis.

• Earning – we enable people living in poverty to earn an immediate income by selling the Big Issue
• Campaigning – we’re calling for a Poverty Zero law that requires every government to set targets to reduce poverty, which they would be legally accountable to
• Coaching – we help people facing barriers to employment into work
• Investing – we facilitate social impact lending into social-purpose businesses, creating core solutions at a local level to end poverty in the UK

Plus – wear your support on your chest with a FREE Big Issue membership pin badge!

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