Rogue Big Issue sellers under attack

By alfiebass | Thursday, March 17, 2011, 18:26

Rogue Big Issue sellers are under attack in Bournemouth where a campaign is being launched to stamp them out.

Big Issue vendor: the real thing

Luckily, in Dorchester, our Big Issue sellers seem to be a friendly lot and genuine - although we do seem to be getting a lot of charity workers pouncing on shoppers to sign up for the latest cause.

What do you think?

In Bournemouth, police are encouraging the public to report fake Big Issue vendors. It

follows reports received by Dorset Police of people behaving in an

anti-social way while selling The Big Issue. In these cases the majority

of the offenders were selling the magazine without permission from The

Big Issue.

Dorset

Police, Bournemouth Businesses Reducing Crime (BBRC) and The Big Issue

will be launching a poster campaign tomorr (Friday 18 March 2011) alongside highly

visible jackets and bags, which will be issued to all Bournemouth-based

vendors in the coming weeks.

The

jackets and bags have been funded by BBRC and will replace those issued

nationally last year. They contain a display pocket for the vendor’s

identity card and show the telephone number for The Big Issue’s

Bournemouth branch on the back.

Rogue Big Issue vendors will:

Sell out of date or damaged magazines
Roam around while selling – approaching people at cash points, while on public transport or in cafes/pubs
Say it’s their last copy and ask to keep it
Beg and/or not give change
Be rude, swear or behave aggressively
Obstruct the entrance to buildings
Say they are collecting money for The Big Issue