Big Issue Foundation Scotland

For the last twelve years the Big Issue Foundation Scotland has been at the forefront of developing and supporting a range of initiatives designed to directly address the issues arising from and underlying homelessness. Our approach has been to develop new ideas and projects with the aim of enabling them once they have become established to become independent organisations. These projects have included;

• Grand Central Savings is a bank for those who have difficulty in opening even the most basic bank account. Established in 2001 in partnership with the Bank of Scotland. Grand Central Savings enables some of the most financially excluded sections of the community to access basic banking services often for the first time. In February 2008 with the support of an endowment from BIFS, Grand Central Savings was launched as an independent charity with excellent prospects for continued growth.

• Move On was established to work with homeless people to assist them to make positive choices in their lives which included, returning to education, training or employment. The project was very successful and is now operating independently covering both the Greater Glasgow and Edinburgh area.

• Edinburgh Employment Project was developed in partnership with Edinburgh City Council providing supported employment within the Housing Department. This project enabled several hundred homeless people to access sustainable employment opportunities within the local authority.

• The Homeless World Cup was supported in its first few years by BIFS including the 2004 tournament hosted by Scotland. This is now a truly global event and became an independent organisation in 2006 after the South African tournament.

• Artworks was supported by the Big Lottery to offer a range of short- term arts based courses designed to build the confidence and self-esteem of participants. The courses were targeted at the most excluded in society including the homeless and people dealing with alcohol/drug misuse. After many successful years of operation Artworks closed in July 2008.

Campaigning

We have also been involved in numerous campaigns to highlight the issues facing homeless people and have successfully influenced Health Boards, Local authorities and the Scottish Government to create new approaches in tackling homelessness.