Nothing to see hear…

Charlie and I cycled over to Twickenham yesterday (30 mile round trip) to meet up with some other people taking the London to Paris challenge, as well as talk with people from the Big Issue Foundation about the work they do.

It was really quite useful, and informative.. I didn’t realise the scope of the foundation’s work was so wide, stretching beyond the magazine scheme. They also pointed out some of the core ethics of the charity, repeating “street trade not street aid”, and “a helping hand up, not a hand out”. Apparently many people aren’t aware of how the Big Issue works, and some are often sceptical about the magazine system, claiming that it encourages begging.

I was completely unaware of this until yesterday, so I thought I’d mention it to be really clear about why I think the Big Issue is important…

Apparently, many people don’t realise that the vendors pay for the magazines they sell. It varies regionally, between 70 and 75p per copy, which they then sell for £1.50. Vendors buy their magazines on a non-returnable basis, which means if they don’t sell them then they lose out.

This may seem a little harsh, but the point is to give people an opportunity to become self employed, budget and account for themselves, and take pride in their work – and for some it means an opportunity to develop personal and social skills which they might be lacking.

Beyond this, the Foundation which is funded by donations primarily (the London to Paris ride being the biggest yearly earner), provides a host of services to help people find safe housing, and provide educational paths and opportunities which might normally be difficult without a permanent address. These are really important things clearly, and to learn that our bike ride is the charity’s biggest earner has spurred me on further to try and raise even more money.

We also met the people who will be guiding us on our three day trip, who really seem to know their stuff.. plenty of bike training advice was given, including recommending against doing it on heavy old mountain bikes. Ahem, oh well.

In other news, I’ve done some serious maintenance to the bike.. photos to come.