Speaker Biography

John Bird

John Bird - born into a poor London Irish family, homeless at the age of 5 in an orphanage between the ages of seven and ten, and went into prison in his teenage years. He slept rough on the streets of London and had several prison sentences in his late twenties. He became a man who pricked the conscience of us all on the plight of the homeless, and gave many of those homeless hope and their self respect with a job selling the Big Issue. With John as the Editor in Chief the Big issue has become the biggest social business in the world. As a result of the success of The Big Issue, The Big Issue Foundation was established in November 1995 to address the wider needs of homeless people. It initiated fundraising to address homelessness and introduced services such as medical support for mental health issues and resources to deal with drug and alcohol abuse.

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