Big Issue has announced that Derek Walker, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, and Rocio Cifuentes MBE, Children’s Commissioner for Wales, will appear on the panel of its upcoming Question Time-style event in Cardiff.
Walker and Cifuentes join multi-award-winning investigative journalist for the Guardian Will Hayward and Big Issue co-founder and crossbench peer Lord John Bird to consider the future of Wales at the upcoming Big Debate on Wednesday 14 May. Members of the public are invited to attend for free and can bring questions for the panellists. Tickets are available now on Eventbrite.
Chaired by Big Issue UK Editor Paul McNamee, the panel will engage local figures from the worlds of business, culture, politics and grassroots leadership. More panellists are due to be announced.
Big Issue’s Big Debate is one in a series of community events and activities set to be held in Cardiff in mid-May, as part of a drive from the leading social enterprise to highlight and encourage inspiring community-led responses to societal issues.
The Welsh capital is the next destination of the Big Community Roadshow, with Big Issue teams coming to Cardiff en-masse from Monday 12 May to Wednesday 14 May to both report on and actively support with issues facing people in poverty across South Wales.
A busy three-day line-up of events and activities includes a five-a-side football tournament, which will be held on the evening of Tuesday 13 May at Gôl Cardiff to raise funds for the Street Football Wales team to attend the International Street Football Tournament in Oslo this August.
Over 16s from any background or ability are invited to enter teams into the Mark Richards Memorial Football Tournament, which is being held in memory of a cherished Cardiff vendor who sold the Big Issue in Queen’s Street for over a decade.
Richards’ old pitch of Queen’s Street in Cardiff city centre is the venue for the majority of the Roadshow activity, with the PWSH Centre acting as a hub for both Big Issue’s support and editorial teams across the three days.
Big Issue will move its UK editorial team to Cardiff during the Roadshow and will focus on stories and issues important to the people of Cardiff and South Wales. There will have an open door for residents to drop-in and share their thoughts, or simply to learn more about Big Issue, at the PWSH Centre from 10-5 Monday to Wednesday.
There will also be an employer networking brunch on 14 May, run by Big Issue’s person-centred recruitment service Big Issue Recruit, plus opportunities for the public to learn more about the Big Issue Group’s full range of services and support throughout the week. A schedule of all activities being run by the Big Issue can be found on bigissue.com.
Paul McNamee, UK Editor of Big Issue, said:
“Big Issue is born of the streets and works, at our core, by listening to those we exist to serve. Our Big Community Roadshows allow us to get closer to the action, and we’re very excited to be bringing it to Cardiff this May. We’ve got a great series of activities in store, made possible thanks to our brilliant sponsor Wales & West Housing Association.
“It’s 10 years since the Future Generations Bill was passed in Wales; a different way to see the future that has helped shape Big Issue’s own view in recent years. Over the course of our visit, we want to engage with every level of society – from politicians and community leaders to business and the general public – to try to understand the issues facing South Wales a decade on from this landmark bill, and to celebrate some of inspiring community-led action already making a difference.”
Catherine Parsons, Managing Director of the Big Issue Changing Lives Community Interest Company, added:
“The Big Community Roadshow gives us the opportunity to showcase the support on offer for people who are struggling right now – from our vendor model helping people in extreme poverty earn an income, to our person-centred recruitment service Big Issue Recruit, which engages people facing barriers to work find sustainable work and creates partnerships with like-minded employers.
“We’re also pleased to be honouring Mark Richards, a much-loved vendor and colleague of the Big Issue team in Wales, with a memorial football tournament that will raise vital funds to help propel his former team to play in Oslo this summer.”
