英國街頭雜誌 The Big Issue... Monica lives in Ipswich and travels by train 4 days a week to Bury St.Edmunds to sell her Big Issues. She does this, she says, because there are many Big Issue vendors in Ipswich. She is Romanian, is only 19 or 20 years old, and has 4 children aged 5 or under. She is part of an extended and devoted family group. She lives in a house with 10 to 12 family members. She and her husband and 4 children live in one room. The 2 youngest, aged 1 and 2, share a cot, and this leads to many problems. Monica often sleeps on the floor. Monica's dream is to have a house just for her family of 6. I like and admire Monica because she is steadfast in working hard selling her Big Issues. She stands near Waitrose car park, in an alleyway which is often a wind channel, sometimes icy cold. She is always pleasant, and likes a chat. Recently an aunt of hers in Romania died quite suddenly, and the aunt's 16-year-old disabled son has now come to live with them all in Ipswich. My local vendor is Cled who works outside Pret a Manger at Holborn (opp. Procter Street, WC1). He sleeps on friends’ floors and rides on the night buses. We have talked about him going to college in 2011 (as a mature student) but he doesn’t know where to start. He tells me he is educated to O level standard so I said I thought there may be “access” courses for which he may be suitable? (原文出處：http://www.bigissue.com/Hopes___Dreams_Campaign_110.php) The organisation currently supports over 2900 homeless and vulnerably housed people across the country. The magazine is read by over 670,000 people every week throughout the UK*.
The Big Issue 是一份源起於英國倫敦的週刊雜誌，創立於1991年，內容涵蓋時事、社會議題、文化、娛樂等。英國有這麼多雜誌、大報小報，為什麼要特別介紹這本雜誌呢?
事實上，The Big Issue 特別之處在於，它是一個社會企業(social Business)，
你在一般商店並無法買到這份雜誌，
因為這份雜誌是專門由街友(homeless and vulnerably housed people )販售。
其方式在於每一期雜誌出刊後，交由街友於特定地點販售，扣除製作成本後，街友可賺取中間利潤。
希望能幫助街友以自力更生的方式慢慢脫離窮困生活。
除此之外，它們也透過此雜誌讓許多街友(這些相對弱勢族群) 的心聲被聽到被幫助。
並藉雜誌的管道舉辦許多有意義的活動~
譬如說，2011年1月最新一期的The Big Issue即以 "What do vendors dream of ?"的主題呈現，
雜誌在前一段時間即在網站上發起一個名為 "the Hopes and Dreams Campaign"，
當時正值去年的聖誕節，當人們計畫著聖誕大餐和想著要送甚麼禮物給親朋好友時，
不知道大家有否想過一些比較不幸的人，他們的夢想是甚麼呢?
The Big Issue 邀請讀者訪問身邊販賣雜誌的街友，他們對於未來的夢想是甚麼?
邀請讀者替街友發聲，將他們的夢想上傳於網路，由編輯統整後，在這一期雜誌發佈，
並期望以捐助的經費能幫助他們達成夢想。
許多街友生活的情形或許是我們平常沒有想過的...
在這邊節錄一兩個例子...
Claire
Karen
The Big Issue 不只在英國六大地區有不同的版本，在澳洲、日本等九個國家也有不同版本販售。
台灣也在2010年4月取得The Big Issue 中文版授權，
並於2010/4/1正式發刊，以月刊的型式每月1號出刊，
目前在台北各大捷運站出口都可以看到街友拿著當期的The Big Issue中文版販售~
(點此有詳細的販售點)
每本刊物批價為50元，售價100元。台北縣市以外，則以7-11為主要販售點，
收入的一半再扣除通路成本後撥入公益組織，做為幫助弱勢族群之用。
其實回歸到雜誌本身，內容依然是最重要的東西，不過因著不同的主題每個人喜歡的內容都不相同，
建議有興趣的朋友可以至The Big Issue中文版的網站看看當期的主題摘要，如果喜歡的話，
下次經過捷運站出口注意一下販售街友的身影，再去購買囉!
只是這樣立意良好的雜誌，希望可以讓更多人知道和更多人分享~
台灣將The Big Issue翻譯成 大誌雜誌，
創刊號主題為"愚人世代"
很喜歡創刊號中的總編輯關於愚人世代的一段話，和你一起分享~~
"Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish" 是我們送給這個世代的箴言，
同時也是這本雜誌的核心精神。它來自Steve Job 在2005年史丹佛大學演講時的結尾，
我們對這句話的解讀是：
保持飢餓，這樣你才能在最平凡的食物中品嘗出最自然的美味，
保持未知，這樣你才能在最無奇的事物中查覺到這世界的奧秘。
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.
--- The Big Issue大誌雜誌總編輯 李取中
關於The Big Issue的創立&介紹原文如下，有興趣的朋友可以來看看順便練習英文吧~
有幫你把可以利用的單字和句型給標粗體囉~
History
The Big Issue was launched in 1991 by Gordon Roddick and A. John Bird in response to the growing number of rough sleepers on the streets of London. Roddick, who also co-founded The Body Shop, was inspired by a newspaper called Street News, which was sold on the streets of New York. Upon his return from America he enlisted the help of Bird, who had experience in the print trade and who had himself slept rough. The two believed that the key to solving the problem of homelessness lay in helping people to help themselves, and were therefore determined to offer a legitimate alternative to begging.
原文出處：http://www.bigissue.com/History_34.php
Introduction
The Big Issue is one of the UK’s leading social businesses, which seventeen years since its inception continues to offer homeless and vulnerably housed people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income.
The organisation is made up of two parts; a limited company which produces and distributes a magazine to a network of street vendors, and a registered charity which exists to help those vendors gain control of their lives by addressing the issues which have contributed to their homelessness.
The Big Issue Company publishes a weekly entertainment and current affairs magazine, which Big Issue sellers (or vendors) buy for £1 and sell for £2, thereby earning 85p per copy. Any post investment profit generated through the sale of the magazine or the sale of advertising is passed on to our charity, The Big Issue Foundation. The Foundation is also reliant upon donations from the public to fund its crucial work with vendors.
原文出處：http://www.bigissue.com/Introduction_2.php
資料來源：
The Big Issue 英國網站：http://www.bigissue.com/Home_1.php
The Big Issue Taiwan 台灣網站：http://www.bigissue.tw/
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