The Pavement

Londonist interviews the founder of a magazine aimed at improving homeless people’s lives. Richard Burdett writes, edits and finances the free The Pavement magazine for homeless people with other volunteers. Here’s an extract:

Londonist: Most readers won’t be familiar with The Pavement. What’s it all about?

Burdett: It’s a free monthly magazine for the homeless, whether street or in temporary accommodation, with news, features, a service listing and humour from the UK’s best cartoonists. It’s that simple. Our aim to be a good read above all else.

It’s read by rough sleepers, those in day centres, and hostel residents. Of course, we know from correspondence that a lot of those working in homeless organisations read us, but our target audience are homeless. And that’s our core readership. We send out 3000 copies a month, and they all go. In fact, they go to places we didn’t send to, as readers carry copies across town and beyond. We’ve had copies turn up in Doncaster, Edinburgh and Cork, which is encouraging.

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