AN EXCLUSIVE edition of The Big Issue is available on the streets of Southampton this week – and it includes a unique insight into the world of Ralph Hasenhuttl.

The publication has teamed up with the Saints Foundation and GO! Southampton, giving a dozen local students the chance to work in the editorial industry.

Each of them, aged between 13 and 15, were selected by Saints Foundation’s Community Champion programme, which runs full-time in six of Southampton’s secondary schools, helping pupils who struggle in mainstream education get on a path for success.

The chosen 12 were tasked with writing about what you can get up to in the city, and even spent a day giving Saints manager, Ralph Hasenhuttl, a tour.

Greg Baker, head of Saints Foundation and community partnerships at Southampton Football Club, said: "We are so excited to be working with The Big Issue once again in this unique way in order to support marginalised young people.

"Those involved were selected on the basis that they had a creative spark that being involved in the project might help to develop further.

"We hope that they have enjoyed their experiences over the course of the last few months, and, especially given what they have been able to produce, perhaps a career in the creative industries might now beckon for some of them."

The one-off edition is being distributed free with this week’s The Big Issue by local vendors, and will also be given with the official matchday programme at Saints' last game of the season against Huddersfield on May 12.

Big Issue Editor, Paul McNamee, said: “I am delighted that we are collaborating once again with the mighty Saints Foundation and this time with such an inspiring bunch of young people.

"There is such a positive force coming from Saints and also, I’ve discovered, from the rest of Southampton.

"They genuinely want to help people be the best that can be. We support that at The Big Issue.

He added: "If my regular team had editorial meetings buzzing with as many ideas as this young team have, I’d be over the moon!"

Copies will also be distributed throughout all participating schools, which includes Woodlands Community College, St George Catholic College, Cantell School, Oasis Academy Mayfield, Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill and Redbridge School.

"We are grateful to Saints Foundation for bringing us together with the team at The Big Issue," said Giles Semper, CEO at GO! Southampton.

"We are firm believers in The Big Issue’s ‘a hand-up, not a handout’ philosophy.

"We are thrilled that Southampton’s young people are getting the chance to do proper journalism with some of the best practitioners in the country."

He added: "We are intensely committed to improving the skills of our young people so that Southampton can become the economic powerhouse it deserves to be.”

This is the second special edition The Big Issue and Saints Foundation have collaborated on.

As part of the original initiative, vendors were provided with the opportunity to enrol in an eight-week employability programme, run by Saints Foundation.

It looked to equip them with job-ready skills and offer work placements across the club.

Three Big Issue vendors now work at St Mary’s stadium as a result of this employability programme.

Big Issue managing director, Russell Blackman, said: ''We are so pleased to be joining forces with Saints Foundation again.

"The Foundation does invaluable work supporting adults and young people across the community, tackling social exclusion and raising aspirations."