INSP is pleased to officially launch its new website, available in 5 languages - English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and French. The website has a wide range of news and information about INSP and its projects, as well as a range of information about fighting poverty and homelessness, including a library of useful resources. The website also offers users various ways to get involved, with information on setting up a street paper, campaigns, available internships and ways to get involved with street papers locally. The site also features a public forum, the latest Street News Service stories, an interactive map of INSP's member street papers and an updating selection of street paper covers. 
 
INSP members have a special login for the Member Area which allows members to share ideas and information and access various resources.
 
INSP would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Scottish Government International Division and The Business Gateway for their support. A huge thank you also goes to our volunteer translators and INSP interns for all their hard work in developing the site.

Zambia: INSP is facilitating 5 day training visit in Zambia in July. INSP board member Trudy Vlok (The Big Issue South Africa) will visit The Big Issue Zambia in July to assist with organisational strategy and development, editorial processes, distribution and sales, budgeting and finance.
 
Burundi: INSP is also in the process of organising 2-week training session for Journal Clin d'Oeil by a French-speaking development professional, to focus on board and staff management, editorial planning and concept, sales and distribution and financial management.

 

INSP's Executive Director Lisa Maclean attended the Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneur Awards in London on 25th June. This presented INSP with a great opportunity to connect with other like-minded projects including our own Big Issue.
 
INSP staff Lisa Maclean and Helen Harvey also attended this year's Queens Garden party at Buckingham Palace this month. INSP staff were invited as contributors to social service and international development from the UK and the event provided a unique opportunity to connect with various high profile individuals.

INSP's concept note to the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) was one of only 317 applications short-listed from a total number of 2143. The full application, to be submitted in July, will focus on the development an African street paper network, building the capacity of our youngest papers.

The INSP office welcomed 2 new interns this month: Hazel Ferguson and Neil Barclay, who will assist with fundraising and marketing. Hazel is a Politics and History graduate and Neil is a Graphic Design graduate.
 
We would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you interns who have left us this month. Barbara Flynn has worked with INSP for the last 7 months, working on marketing, research and the Street News Service project. Jean Lee has worked on developing INSP's Archive Project over the course of the last 5 months, from her home in the U.S.

A big thank you to Matt Stephenson, who is also leaving this month. Matt has worked with INSP as an office volunteer for nearly 2 years, while he was in Glasgow studying engineering.
 
INSP is also helping to facilitate internships / placements at INSP member papers. Ellen Page from the U.S is currently working with The Big Issue Zambia and will join the INSP team for 1 month this summer to work on member research. INSP is also looking into setting up another street paper placement for Emma Kernahan of The Big Issue South West.

INSP's 15th Anniversary Year celebrations continue with the planning of the Honorary President's reception in London on the 23rd November. Executive Director Lisa Maclean was in London this month to meet with Reuters staff and to start planning the event. David Schlesinger, our new Honorary President is very keen to help us establish new corporate and media connections and this event, which aims to bring some 100 individuals together, will do just that.

The most recent INSP board meeting took place on 24th June. The board discussed the marketing and fundraising plans, the development of INSP's corporate connections and the next steps for INSP's African projects. The board are now planning their next face-to-face meeting, which will happen later this year and will focus on mapping out INSP's next 3 years.

On June 12th, Vancouver's Megaphone celebrated its one-year anniversary with an art auction fundraiser. The event marked a successful year for Megaphone, which has seen the paper move into an office in the heart of the Downtown Eastside and also seen the number of vendors grow from eight to 25. The art auction, which featured street artists from the Downtown Eastside, helped raise thousands of dollars for Megaphone and the artists who generously donated their work.
 
"We're very fortunate to have such incredible support from the community," says Megaphone Editor-in-Chief Sean Condon. "Our one-year anniversary is a culmination of a large group of people from a wide cross-section of society coming together to help homeless and low-income people help themselves. Hopefully we can continue to grow in our second year."

The Jeepney (Philippines) received some good press in the Philippine Star this June.  This was a positive result of them winning 'Best Interview' at the 2009 International Street Paper Awards. Click here to read the article.

 

Arkady Tyurin (Put Domoi, Russia) and Per Kristian Lomsdalen (=Oslo, Norway) are currently working on the next stage of their joint film project, Takoe Kino - a film festival about homelessness. They invited their street paper colleagues to send short interviews with homeless people, asking 'What is the most important thing in life?' The interviews were conducted at the same time on the same day and Per Kristian and Arkady are now working on editing these clips.

INSP recently welcomed its newest member WSPAK, from Warsaw, Poland. Please visit their website here for more information. INSP now has 104 members in 37 countries in every continent of the world.

 

Street Roots is running a campaign to save hundreds of families from homelessness in Oregon following the funding shortfall of the Northwest Housing Authority. To sign the petition and support the campaign, visit their website.