Olivia Lockyer volunteered with BBC Outreach to help Big Issue North produce an induction film for vendors.
'It was fantastic to be able to experience and learn new skills'
I felt lucky to work with the BBC Outreach team on a project with Big Issue North. We were helping the magazine by making a film for new vendors and office staff to illustrate what it takes to be a vendor and how to operate on the pitch.
This included planning the storyboard for the film, directing the shoot and then editing the film. We also ran a workshop about making content for online and social media to help the Big Issue North outreach team to make their own videos on their phones.
I work for a team called BBC Make it Digital doing a number of different things but mainly producing digital content and working with external partners to help audiences to get creative with digital.
I have always thought the work of Big Issue was brilliant and although Big Issue & Big Issue North are separate entities, their values and principles are very similar. I know how easy it is to be in a position where because of work, relationship or health issues you are at risk of losing your home – I find it a shock to see some people’s attitudes to people on the street.
I feel the Big Issue concept fulfils an important need for work when, without a fixed address, this can often be a hard thing to find.
We worked with some brilliant people as part of the project and it was great to meet such a range of interesting people.
We filmed with one particular vendor who had done acting work and starred in production, he was hilarious as he had these amazing catch phrases that he’d say like “The sun is out, the sky blue, why not buy a big issue”.
It was horrifying, though, to hear from some of the sellers about some of the abuse vendors have experienced during their time selling and on the street. Very sobering to hear, and made me realise the importance to them of the Big Issue North outreach team.
As I have only worked in digital production it was fantastic to be able to experience and learn new skills in film production.
We learnt skills in shooting a film, storyboarding and got to be part of the editing process which was really interesting to see and great to see everything come together!
I feel so lucky to have worked with such amazing people on this project, from BBC Outreach, Big Issue North, the vendors as well as the other Outreach volunteers from the BBC on the project.
It was a brilliant experience and hope that I can do something similar again soon.
