We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past year! 2012 has been a big year for INSP, working to support 122 street papers and their 14,000 homeless vendors in the UK and around the world. Here are some of our highlights:
December
A Christmas song, a Christmas story & a Herald supplement
New Orleans born singer-songwriter Acantha Lang has released her
first-ever single to raise money for INSP. INSP Ambassador and world-renowned Brazilian author Paulo Coelho has donated a Christmas story for street papers.
Read more. This month also saw our first supplement collaboration with
The Herald newspaper.
Read more.
November
Two public events & a new video
In partnership with The Herald and Strathclyde University, we held a two-part conversation series with high-profile representatives from both sides of the Scottish independence debate. In the first event INSP Ambassador
Jon Snow interviewed Alex Salmond; and in the second,
Alan Taylor interviewed Alistair Darling. We also made a special promotional video for the events, with a voice-over from Jon Snow - you can watch it
here.
October
Two social enterprise awards
INSP was named 'Social Enterprise Supporter of the Year' at both the Scottish and UK annual Social Enterprise Awards. Speaking of the two awards, INSP's Executive Director Lisa Maclean said: "This is a great recognition for the contribution of street papers to the social enterprise movement and we are proud to support such a dynamic network".
Read more.
September
A world first
We launched the world's first digital street paper in Manchester with
The Big Issue in the North. Development of the pilot has been supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and through pro bono support from Grant Gibson of the Herald & Times Group and David Craik of Bright Signals, with digital design and development by the team at 999 Design Group.
Read more.
August
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| Our feature in The Sunday Herald |
A special report
Street papers have witnessed the consequences of the economic downturn since 2008 and help to give a voice to those caught up in the ravages of the recession. The Sunday Herald recognised this and decided to support the production of a special report. 'Faces of the Recession' is a collaboration between street paper editors and journalists across Europe, in which we highlight stories that reveal the human cost behind the endless statistics.
Read more.
July
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| ©Simon Murphy |
A spiritual leader & £1.1 million
Homeless vendors made a combined profit of £1.1 million thanks to our exclusive Dalai Lama interview. Our interview and photo shoot were published by 72 street papers in 27 countries and led to sell-outs across the globe. The interview featured on the covers of street paper right throughout throughout the summer and a total of 1 million copies of the Dalai Lama editions were sold by over 10,000 vendors.
Read more.
June
A new Ambassador
World-renowned Brazilian author (of The Alchemist) Paulo Coelho became our newest Ambassador, saying: "The INSP is a network of vibrant papers that publishes real, valuable and independent content which educates and empowers. I am proud to be associated with INSP, and look forward to supporting the organisation's work in whatever way I can."
Read more.
May
A prestigious nomination
Our news service was nominated for the
Online Media Awards 2012, 'Specialist Site for Journalism' category, alongside journalism heavyweights including Reuters (Breakingviews), Bloomberg, Financial Times, The Guardian (Datastore), the Economist and Wired.
Read more.
April
A new concept for the future
We presented our digital street paper concept to Glasgow's business and media communities during an event at Glasgow's City Chambers, hosted by our Patron the then Lord Provost of Glasgow [pictured]. John Maxwell Hobbs, Head of Technology at BBC Scotland, and guest speaker at at the event, shared his view that the digital development would "increase the readership, aid consumer interaction with the media and will engage readers in a different way."
Read more.
March
A new government fund
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond announced funding for INSP and our sister organisation the Homeless World Cup. Announcing the Scottish Government fund Mr Salmond said that the fund is "a demonstration of our strong support for the work that international social enterprises carry out, both in Scotland and around the world".
Read more.
February
A brand new image
Our good friends at
999 Design redesigned us, creating a new logo and brand. The four bright colours represent the diversity of the street paper network and the bracket design symbolises journalism and the the power of the network to unite and support social enterprises in 40 countries.
Read more.
January
A trip to India
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| ©Simon Murphy |
A lot has been said about development aid for India. Can a country with an economic growth of 8 per cent, a booming IT industry, nuclear powers and a space programme not look after its own citizens? Our editor Danielle Batist went to India (along with photographer Simon Murphy) to find out. They talked to economists and industry leaders but spent most of their time listening to the stories of some of the country's half a billion people who still live in poverty.
Read more.
...and a partridge in a pear tree!
Our good friends at 999 Design redesigned us, creating a new logo and brand. The four bright colours represent the diversity of the street paper network and the bracket design symbolises journalism and the the power of the network to unite and support social enterprises in 40 countries. Read more.
