Remember Steve Canham: a real friend of the big problem

Twenty years, we met Steve Canham. He was married to Siobhan, who was a teacher, and had two daughters, Amelia and Ellie. He was at the start of the fifty and had worked in the industry. A graduate of Oxford and Harvard, he had managed companies around the world, from Canada to Australia. But now, after doing his song, he wanted to bring his commercial skills to focus on social good. He joined a group of business people who, after decades in the commercial field, wanted to work in the third sector. Called “Prime Timers”, they were not ready to retire but to do good with their commercial skills. Steve had managed companies involving hundreds of staff members and has achieved growth wherever he worked. He started in finance and continued to direct the whole show in a number of companies.

Nigel Kershaw, our big president of the show, met Steve and it was quickly obvious that this impressive and physically large and clever guy was only the guy we were looking for to bring us to the next level.

Steve fell in love with the big problem. He had the right way to achieve change and growth. He would constantly go around the various offices and went out with the staff working directly with homeless. He got to know the whole organization and never spoke of his skills in the creation of a business. To consolidate and make us more in the road as a social company.

When he did his activities, often in the early early hours of the morning, he said, “I check the tires”. Verification of details and the overall management of the company.

In fact, quite early, he knew more about what we were and where we were only anyone. He increased our game, helped us overcome the whims of financial markets and changes in purchasing habits, so that we can better help homeless people, ex-internal and vulnerably accommodated to earn their own money.

Steve could understand that we are trying to give our sellers a chance to grow. We were all about a kind of rite of passage for the homeless who had seen the poverty interrupting their difficulties to become themselves. Often, poverty and mental landscape of their birth and their family life precocious their attempts to go beyond needs. Steve understood it immediately. His professional skills equipped with our ambition to create a change in the life of the poor. Finally, Steve retired to a very active and socially committed retirement in the West Country. He continued to support the Shekinah homeless project in Plymouth and Torquay. In 2021, Steve and Siobhan became the delightful grandparents.

Alas, three weeks ago, 67 years old, Steve succumbed to a heart attack. He left us at his peak. Family, friends and big problem will be so much lacking. I leave the last word to our Nigel Kershaw chair, who recruited Steve to the big problem. I don't think it could be better said:

“It is not only the indisputable talent and experience that Steve brought us that played such an important role in our history. It is his commitment to the big problem, sellers and staff. And that, with his integrity and his kindness, made him so special. ”

John Bird is the founder and editor -in -chief of the Big Issue. Learn more about his words here.

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