Glasgow Caledonian University gifted with thousands of Big Issue archives
Glasgow Caledonian University has been gifted the world’s largest collection of street newspapers.
8,000 copies of the Big Issue have landed in the university’s archive.
They were handed over by the International Network of Street Papers (INSP).
The Glasgow-based charity, founded in 1994, represents 92 street papers in 35 countries.
Many of the newspapers contain stories written by those that sell the magazines themselves and revolve around personal experiences of homelessness and poverty around the world, providing a rich cultural and social history.
Simon Docherty, archive assistant at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: “We’re really excited and really proud that the Internation Network of Street Papers chose us for their archive.
“To house it we felt proud that we were custodians of this and that we are trusted to take care of it.”
Docherty told us that the university was chosen due to its motto of “for the common good.”
The university’s archive is about community outreach and social justice and social reform, which the INSP felt was a good reason to entrust the archive with the magazines.
The Big Issue, founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in 1991, supports thousands of people across the UK to earn a legitimate income by selling the magazine.
