The world’s first museum dedicated to homelessness finally has a home. And it’s probably the world’s first museum to have a black bin bag as a headline exhibit too. The Museum of Homelessness (MOH) has existed for a decade but the search for a home has been a long one which has ironically mirrored the community it represents.

Co-founders Jess and Matt Turtle have set up alongside friends from The Outside Project at the Clerkenwell Fire Station or at Streets Kitchen’s Solidarity Hub in London over the years. At one point they even set up an exhibition on the street, displaying objects in the aptly named Street Museum. But last week they finally opened the doors of their own space at the Manor House Lodge on the edge of London’s Finsbury Park.

The museum, which is free to visit, uniquely offers a collection of objects and artefacts that tell us more about the realities of homelessness and the people who experience it. It is also a base for MOH’s community activism: to shine a light on the injustice of homelessness and challenge its existence. And the message from the Turtles is already a clear one: it’s good to be home.

“We really appreciate the generosity of other organisations but to have our own space means so much. It feels really good,” Jess tells Big Issue. “Everyone involved in this organisation: most of us don’t have more than one room. Suddenly we’ve got a building. I remember when we first moved in back in October, we were just running up and down the stairs all the time, going in the different rooms like, wow, really overwhelmed with all this space.

“There’s still a dream to have a residential Museum of Homelessness. So baby steps. But even though we can’t have people actually living here, it is providing an emotional home already. That really means something, I think, in the middle of a housing crisis.”

Big Issue was among the first punters to visit the MOH’s immersive experience How to Survive the Apocalypse at the former park rangers’ house before it opened to the public last week. It’s an exhibition of the kind you won’t see at one of London’s traditional museum heavyweights.

Read more in this week’s Big Issue!

Big Issue is demanding an end to poverty this general election. Will you sign our open letter to party leaders?

What else is in this week’s Big Issue?

Water mess: controlling the most important resource of this century

Dr Liam Fox’s The Coming Storm tells the story of water, from how it arrived on Earth eons ago to how it influenced evolution. It also points out potential pressure points regarding scarcity, global security and its importance in healthcare and climate change. It contains simply staggering facts that put precipitation in perspective. Of all the water in the world, only 3% is fresh water. Only 0.3-0.5% is available for our use. What does that mean for our drinking supply?

Benedict Cumberbatch, homelessness and the monsters that lurk

“History judges us on how we treat those who are most vulnerable.”

New Netflix drama Eric tackles big issues with a little help from an enormous blue monster puppet. Benedict Cumberbatch, Gaby Hoffmann, McKinley Belcher III and writer Abi Morgan tell us how.

As the election comes, Big Issue will speak for those who need it most

“At Big Issue, we’re ready to speak for those who have their voice quietened or feel left behind. It will be an election of change. And we will work to make it positive,” says Big Issue editor Paul McNamee. He reflects on the upcoming general election and what it will mean for the most vulnerable in society.

Big Issue readers react to articles on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)’s universal credit reforms, the myth of hard work, the war in Gaza and Rishi Sunak’s footwear.

As an autistic person, the DWP makes me scared for the future 

LCWRA (lmited capability for work-related activity) in universal credit is set to be reformed. Instead of financial support, hundreds of thousands of people currently considered too ill to work will be offered “personalised support to help them move closer towards work”. And if those people continue to be too ill /as far away from work as they currently are, what then? Then society further crumbles. I wonder which services will then be expected to shovel up the rubble. Or maybe there’ll just be unshovelled rubble. 

The government simultaneously has targets to remove limited capability for work benefits from 100,000s (including many autistic people) and to reduce autistic mental health inpatients. Where does it suppose that autistic people who find themselves without the means to pay for housing and with no place to hide their distress are likely to end up? Having meltdowns in public because they have nowhere to hide them, and sectioned. 

Unless they’re “lucky” enough to be taken in by someone, which may or may not be lucky – because being an adult taken in by someone with more resources is a power imbalance that can leave already vulnerable people more vulnerable to domestic violence, because someone previously able to live independently now can’t. 

I have been worrying about this for months. And probably will for months more, until it either does or doesn’t happen. “But if you truly were too autistic/anxious/whatever to work, you’d be on a higher tier of disability benefits and this wouldn’t apply to you!,” I imagine readers thinking. Unfortunately, no. Autism is notoriously underestimated in assessments, and many autistic people (myself included) are either not able to fully communicate their needs, or considered to be too high-functioning for being able to communicate their needs (or, frustratingly, some mixture of the two). Assessments are very blunt instruments and often don’t reflect someone’s day-to-day realities nearly accurately enough to lead to an appropriate level of support. And when support is offered it is often inappropriate. 

Some autistic people can work. These people are held up as success stories to the majority of us who are unwaged. “Just try harder,” people seem to say. It’s deeply patronising and implies we don’t know our own capabilities and what is best for us and how that all too evidently mismatches with society’s demands. 

I can imagine the sort of life that would be best for me. This would be being able to live with my brilliantly supportive boyfriend, who I currently can’t afford to live with because I’d lose my benefits and be put in a situation of financial dependency. It can be hard enough for autistic people to form good relationships and when we do, too many of us find ourselves in this position. Wouldn’t the taxpayer like to save my rent and let me live more happily with better support for less money, rather than being so all-or-nothing about it? And I’m the one who’s supposed to have black-and-white thinking! 

So, no, my current position isn’t ideal either. But neither is having no money of my own at all. I am genuinely scared, both for myself and for other people. 

An anonymous autistic person 

Stop the war 

The evocative photograph of an airdrop of aid into Gaza in a recent issue is a striking reminder of the urgency that this war must cease. While it is right that Israel should be held to account for their actions, the same must be required of Hamas.

First of all, to release all the hostages, those living and those who have died. Second, to either unconditionally surrender or leave Gaza. Unless these two conditions are met it’s impossible to imagine when the war will end. 

Jeremy Thompson, Suffolk 

Serfs up

I read with interest Sam Delaney’s piece regarding work ethic as “a ruse designed by the crafty bosses of yesteryear who gaslit peasants into helping them get rich”.   

It is still very much the case, especially with the flurry of takeovers by private equity companies strangling otherwise worthwhile brands. There is an alternative: employee ownership of companies, which avoids the conventional shelling out of profits to external shareholders – so-called ‘shareholder value’ – and delivers those profits to the people that generated them in the first place; the workforce. 

David Sproxton, Bristol 

Super Simon

I am a regular subscriber to the Big Issue and buy the magazine from Simon who sells on Gentleman’s Walk in Norwich. I read in the letters page of your recent magazine about Simon from one of your readers and his kindness. 

I entirely agree because he always makes time to discuss with people their own lives. I wish him and his family all the best for the future and all Big Issue vendors. 

Keith Patey, Norwich

They’ve made our beds 

I’ve just come out of a hospital (NHS) ward with 10 beds, only three of us patients in. Excellent staff and treatment. I asked why only three beds were occupied when I’d waited a year for the operation and there are record numbers waiting. I was informed, by a senior member of the ward staff that they had to accommodate NHS work around the consultant surgeon’s private work. Private health is not reducing waiting times, in fact, it’s the opposite. 

@vanmorisman, Instagram 

Samba, hey 

Hello Paul, I’m always happy to read the Big Issue – but Samba trainers? They sound grotty, much like Sunak’s policies. As well as The Big Issue I subscribe to Ethical Consumer. Why not treat your feet to a pair of Ethletics, say?  Mods and everyone else should be envious, and not just because you’ve avoided Sunak’s sartorial bad. (Interesting aside about your Irish farmer heritage: my background is the same and flat feet are a feature in my family too.) 

The Big Issue challenges and cheers me. Thanks! 

Mary Robertson 

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about any of these topics? We want to hear from you. Get in touch and tell us more.

Big Issue readers react to articles on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Yungblud, homelessness and why Rishi Sunak would be better off moving to the US.

DWP makes it hard to care

The DWP system in place for carers is discriminatory. My own circumstances show how terrible it is. My carer’s allowance (CA) is deducted in full from my universal credit (UC). So I basically don’t receive one. I work 10 hours per week in the evening cleaning on minimum wage. It kills me and I’m exhausted, but I do it to stay in the workforce, as I won’t always be a carer for my parents. 

UC deducts 55p from every pound I earn from my job. I also received a small amount of inheritance and the DWP deducted £80 per month of my UC because the inheritance was over £6,000 and I’m legally only allowed this amount in the bank. So I work at least 60 hours plus per week with my caring and part-time job, yet I’m not allowed to have savings and I’m continuously penalised financially. 

Why would any government penalise the people who need the help most? I can’t wait to be working full-time so I don’t have to deal with CA and UC. It appears the DWP wants to make it as hard as possible for people looking after disabled elderly relatives. I suffer from pure exhaustion. Recently my sister took a week off work to look after my parents and I took a week off my cleaning job. I spent the whole week in bed. 

Jacqui Davey, Hornchurch 

Get gone, Sunak

If Sunak loves the worst of US politics so much: gerrymandering, vote rigging, no NHS, rampant capitalism at the expense of the majority, unworkable border controls, criminalising homelessness (which his own policies have caused in the first place) pharma totalitarians etc… Why doesn’t he do us all a favour and get gone over there asap? Yesterday or last year would not be soon enough. 

@Joozyboozy

Rough justice

Looking back at the homelessness article and BBC footage of treatment of rough sleepers, it seems to me that if any person, rough sleeper or not, were to behave in this way to the police they would be arrested and most likely end up in the (in)justice system awaiting an unfair trial. 

I often do collage from found pictures/words in magazines and do simple and sometimes complex pictures. Reading this and thinking about the disparity of the share of the world’s resources I thought I would do a simple collage with this page to process these thoughts and pass it along to you.

Having MS-related pain issues I find art/collage helps me to be in the moment and take my mind away from what my body is physically feeling. Best thing is it is practically free as I always have old magazines lying around and an active imagination;  you can even pick up old magazines cheap in the charity shops. So, even if I’m feeling too low to leave the house, my mind is free to travel.

Also, big hello to my lovely Big Issue seller, Serena, who sells outside my local Sainsburys in Lampeter. No matter what the weather in this rainy corner of Wales, she has a welcoming smile for everyone.

Andi

Simon is a star

I started buying The Big Issue from one of your vendors, Simon, last June and have been stopping for a chat every week since. Simon’s kindness to every person that walks by stopped me in a moment in life when I felt awful. I always say you need to find a moment of brightness in life. And for me, one day in June when I was at the lowest point I’ve ever been, there was Simon saying, “Would anyone like a Big Issue, cash or card?” 

Now it’s become a weekly pleasure to stop, have a chat, and buy a copy. I wish him nothing but happiness in his life and hope he knows how much of an impact his positive attitude has on people. 

Thank you to all at Big Issue. 

Leanne, Norwich 

Mind your language

Looking at your item regarding Yungblud – Dominic to his mum – he seems to address various personal issues. Why then, does he use the word ‘mental’ in such a pejorative fashion? Given that mental illness is a concern for many people, the use of this word is insulting. He himself has claimed ADHD. It really should not be encouraged among youth like this. 

Thomas Collins

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about the DWP, Sunak or any of the topics raised? We want to hear from you. Get in touch and tell us more.

An acclaimed artist has paid tribute to Big Issue vendors who brave “freezing weather” to sell the magazine.

British artist Patrick Murphy is perhaps best known for his grand, surreal projects – like scattering rainbow pigeon sculptures around Soho or installing 200 resin seagulls throughout the French city of Le Havre.

But the Yorkshireman’s latest project is closer to home: he wants to capture normal people as they “travel from A to B in our towns and cities.”

“These ordinary moments often go unnoticed in our everyday lives, but one day I thought I would try and sketch pedestrians,” Murphy explained. “I enjoyed the process, it’s a piece of daily mindfulness for me as an artist.”

The artist’s latest subject is a Big Issue vendor, spotted through the window of the Tate Modern cafe.

“It was a bright but chilly February Saturday and I saw your vendor walking past braving the cold,” Murphy said.

“It made me think how cold it must be to stand outside trying to sell Big Issue magazines. So I thought I would try and draw him. We always support sellers by buying an issue when we pass.”

The work will feature in Murphy’s project ‘EVERYDAY PEOPLE’, a series of portraits capturing “unguarded, unposed situations” in the UK’s urban spaces. The overall series will feature 365 portraits set to be collected in an upcoming art book.

“I’m fascinated by how pedestrians use urban spaces and get around travelling from A to B; the clothes they wear, the bags they carry from plain carrier bags to designer ones, it all builds a narrative of a stranger,” Murphy said.

“Each day presents an opportunity to capture a story, focusing solely on the individual devoid of background distractions.”

Many artists have taken Big Issue vendors as their subjects. In January, Folkestone artist Shane Record’s painting of local seller Raheem Ahmed went viral, attracting acclaim on social media and in the Kent Town.

Since striding into Old Trafford, collar up, in December 1992, electrifying Manchester United, igniting Sir Alex Ferguson’s unassailable legacy and revolutionising football in Britain, the idea of Eric Cantona as being something other, elevated, an untouchable, has persisted, and grown.

This is not just because of football. Unquestionably he was an incredible player – physically imposing, a goal-scorer of key goals in key moments, fearless and fearsome, yet possessing rare skill.

Those with only a passing regard for the game know his name. While he has made around 30 films since retirement and moved through art and poetry, always agitating for issues he believes in, particularly for people who are homeless, it is the idea of a life lived intentionally on his own terms that continues to draw focus and sets Eric Cantona apart.

And now Cantona brings that Cantonaness to his newest endeavour, a live album, of songs written by Cantona and recorded in a tour last winter.

Cantona Sings Eric, with titles like “I’ll Make My Own Heaven”, where he insists ‘I’m only judged by myself’ (as if there were any doubt), “We Believe in Ourselves” and “I Love You So Much”, a love note to United fans (seagulls and trawlers are referenced), will appear ahead of a new tour in April.

He talks about his life and legacy, enduring fondness for Manchester United (and chances of him becoming manager) plus plenty more in an exclusive interview in this week’s Big Issue.

What else is in this week’s Big Issue?

“My time on the Bibby Stockholm” – we speak to a resident on the notorious barge for asylum seekers

In an interview with the Big Issue, a former resident of the Bibby Stockholm has described life on board the barge, from medical problems to internet being cut in the wake of a death by suicide.

“They cut the network for two days – we couldn’t share or use anything,” said the former resident, speaking to the Big Issue through an interpreter.

“They didn’t say it’s because of the incident, they said it’s a technical issue and we are trying to fix it.”

Meet the new mums who rely on baby banks as a vital lifeline

Baby banks are doing incredible work to help families, but it is tragic that they are so desperately needed in the cost of living crisis. They need donations to keep up with soaring demand.

“It makes me extremely angry that we live in the sixth richest country in the world and families are in this position,” one baby bank provider said. “It doesn’t need to be that way. We need some anger in society and some recognition that we won’t stand for this.”

Playing backgammon on the Great Wall of China with Rick Edwards

If he could, acclaimed journalist and TV presenter Rick Edwards would relive two moments. 

“The first would be the first time me and Emer [Kenny, his wife] kissed… The other one would be when I was about 32 and me and my best friend camped on the Great Wall of China,” he told the Big Issue. “I’m still not entirely sure you’re allowed to do it, but we went with a guide. We had to clamber over a barrier and he kept saying, “This is completely fi ne”, and we were like “OK!” 

Read his full letter to his younger self in this week’s issue.

Big Issue founder Lord John Bird pledged to “slit the throat of poverty” as vendors and staff gathered at the House of Lords to celebrate National Vendor Week 2024.

Vendors, staff and Big Issue ambassador Sophie Winkelman met in Westminster, London, to pay tribute to the 3,700 people who sell the Big Issue magazine – and to reaffirm the Big Issue’s commitment to eradicating destitution.

In a rousing speech, Lord Bird congratulated the vendors who work hard to make a better life for themselves.

“Homelessness should not be encouraged to be a lifelong condition. It should be a transitional place,” he said. “We [should] work in society to break people from homelessness, to get them out, to give them not just a voice but to give them an exit.”

Lord Bird celebrated the “incredible” work of the Big Issue group, which – through its recruitment and investment arms – has “reconfigured itself into the world of preventing homelessness.”

“We have even more people who are just as desperate as our vendors… but they’re often living in homes, and only just about hanging on,” he said.

“[The Big Issue] is going to have to stretch our arms wide to include all those people so that we don’t leave anybody behind.”

• Tories and Labour need to stop slinging mud and urgently commit to a new Ministry of Poverty
• Council tax will soar for millions in April. Here’s how we got into this mess

Amidst the celebration, the Big Issue founder didn’t hesitate to put the government on notice for its “scattergun” approach to poverty, reiterating his call for a dedicated Ministry of Poverty.

Royal, actress and Big Issue ambassador Sophie Winkleman paid tribute to the “brave and strong” vendors who face “relentless hardship” to sell the magazine every day.

“I firmly believe that helping hands should be available to anyone and everyone who finds themselves in the horrific reality of being homeless or vulnerably housed,” she said.

“What are we as a society if we don’t help our brothers and sisters who fall along the way?”

Winkleman is a self-professed “big fan” of the magazine – when she worked in LA for six years, her mother posted her the magazine every single week. But the actor and Peep Show star urged the public to acknowledge sellers even if they can’t buy a copy themselves.

“Random eye contact a smile, a few words are free… we’re all human,” she said. “We’re all exactly the same, separated only by some bad luck, either in childhood or along the way, and social interaction is crucial during tough times.”

The event was attended by current and former vendors, many of whom shared their inspiring stories.

Bournemouth vendor Karl Burns entered care at age three and said he spent time in “every type of institution and prison this country has to offer.”

Three years ago, he was hospitalised by a brutal attack. But the Big Issue helped him piece his life back together and to regain contact with his children.

“I see my children every single day now,” he said. “I now have a flat on the other end of the road to my children. I love [selling the Big Issue], and there isn’t anything else I would do.”

Bristol vendor and aspiring author Jack Osbourne-Richardson said he was “humbled’ by the generosity of his customers, who raised money to buy him a laptop.

“99.9% of people would rather give you a hand up than a kick in the face,” he said.

Over the past 12 months, the Big Issue group has given 4,000 people the opportunity to change their lives through enterprise, including by selling the magazine or being helped into work through Big Issue Recruit (BIR).

That work has resulted in the delivery of £5.3m of social value to the UK economy – including £4m generated through sales of The Big Issue magazine and £1.3m through BIR’s work to help marginalised individuals move into the full-time workplace.

Big Issue Recruit job coach Shak Dean paid tribute to the marginalised people who he helps into the workplace.

“Everyone has potential. We are not the sum of the worst parts of our lives,” he said.

National Vendor Week 2024 is the second annual celebration of Big Issue vendors. It was launched alongside a report from the Big Issue Group about a significant 8% year-on-year increase in the number of people that the Big Issue has helped.

Big Issue CEO Paul Cheal celebrated the hard work of these vendors.

“As varied as the Big Issue’s work now is, it all starts with our vendors, and that original principal established 33 years ago to provide impoverished people with the opportunity to generate an income for themselves.”

A former Big Issue vendor has shared the story of how they became an award-winning activist hoping to bring “systemic change to the world.”

Adam Khan was just a teenager who had been sleeping rough on the streets of Birmingham when they started selling the magazine in 2011.

To get involved with Big Issue’s National Vendor Week, click here.

Khan told the Big Issue selling the magazine was the first formative step on their journey into activism following a difficult childhood spent in care and a spell rough sleeping when they split from their biological family over their sexual orientation.

“At the time I was really naive. I didn’t really understand what systems are in place to help people that are in that situation so I ended up spending a good few weeks on the streets,” said Khan, who moved into temporary accommodation during their time selling the magazine.

“It was very, very isolating. It felt like society had failed me. The period of time when I was rough sleeping most mornings there was a light frost so it wasn’t exactly pleasant. 

“I was looking to earn a little bit of income and get back a little bit of independence. The Big Issue was just an avenue where I could earn a little bit of money. Essentially it’s like being self-employed and that was a big thing for me to help me regain my independence.

“It definitely made me feel that I was putting myself out there doing something good.”

Following their spell selling the Big Issue, Khan studied while living in hostels and temporary accommodation and secured a place to study history and politics at Coventry University, even spending a year abroad in Luxembourg. 

• Find your local Big Issue vendor on our interactive map
• Read more about our vendors
• Want to earn some extra cash on your terms? Find out how to become a Big Issue vendor
• How do Big Issue sellers make money?

“Education was the one constant in my life growing up so that was kind of the goal that I set myself,” they added.

That laid the groundwork for an international career in activism, which has seen Khan set up community groups, charities and organisations to create safe spaces for marginalised communities.

Khan founded Trans Pride Birmingham and ran for councillor during the 2022 elections in the Kingstanding ward at Birmingham City Council.

Khan has also provided support for refugees in Calais, they said, and assisted in the organising of different pride events across the UK and Ireland last year.

Further afield, they founded LGBTQ+ groups in Luxembourg and worked on a transitional justice in post-conflict societies programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The work has been acknowledged with several gongs. Khan won the Young Activist of the Year award at last year’s Inspirational Youth Awards having won the Young Upstander Award at 2022’s No2h8Crime Awards. They were also named among the Royal Voluntary Service’s Coronation Champions last year.

“For the last two years I’ve been focused on social activism and founding various campaigns and charities and organisations to lead to systemic change in multiple countries,” said Khan.

“It wasn’t long after my experience on the street that I felt a flame ignited within me because of the life experiences that I’ve had and what I’ve been through. I’ve felt a massive sense of injustice in the world and I know very much a lot of what I do is because I’m not the only one who feels that way. 

“There are so many people across the country and the world who are facing injustice. So I thought I could utilise my experiences to make the world a better place in whatever way that I can. It just kind of manifested inside me, slowly burning away. I want to continue creating systemic change but all over the world.”

Now Khan is studying for a master’s degree in international relations in London with plans to do a phd in the future.

It’s a far cry from selling the Big Issue but Khan’s spell as a vendor still played an important role in their ascent.

“Historically, growing up, I was a bit more introverted than extroverted,” said Khan.

“That’s completely changed now but being able to put myself out there while still in a relatively vulnerable state helped me to see the world and see that people do care. Even if one in 100 people acknowledge you, that’s still something.

“I would say that The Big Issue helped in a very formative step for me reevaluating myself and my self worth. I felt that a lot of the earlier steps I took, especially immediately following homelessness, essentially set up the rest and everything that’s gone from there.”

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? We want to hear from you. Get in touch and tell us more.

A former Big Issue vendor took the skills she learned while selling the magazine and turned it into a career helping others experiencing homelessness.

Sharon Clint sold the Big Issue magazine in Leeds and London for six years when she turned to vending in 1997 after running away from home at the age of 18.

Now, the 49 year old has utilised her experiences living on the streets and in hostels into working as learning and development manager for homelessness and health charity Groundswell.

To get involved with Big Issue’s National Vendor Week, click here.

The role draws on her life experience and her communication skills picked up as a vendor to work with councils, hostels, GP surgeries and more to advocate for people experiencing homelessness to get access to healthcare.

It’s a far cry from where she was at the turn of the millennium.

“I thought I was going to be dead by 30. I really thought I was destined to be a James Dean character,” she told the Big Issue.

“It’s really weird, because when I look back on it [being homeless], I don’t remember having a great deal of fear around it. I know I should have. And I don’t know whether I was naive. Or I just had too much energy or what was going on. I think I was just so glad to be away from home.

“There were an awful lot of us very young at that point as well. I don’t quite know how that was. But we’d all kind of bunched together and looked out for each other and went clubbing. It feels like it’s cliche, but it felt like community and it was something I wasn’t used to.”

• Find your local Big Issue vendor on our interactive map
• Read more about our vendors
• Want to earn some extra cash on your terms? Find out how to become a Big Issue vendor
• How do Big Issue sellers make money?

As she spent seven years rough sleeping and staying in hostels, Sharon sold the Big Issue to earn cash and keep her dignity without resorting to begging.

It was an experience she enjoyed. She even kept her Big Issue badge to this day – a “laminated piece of cardboard with a ratty old string through the holes”.

“I absolutely loved it. I actually think I probably did quite well as I’m quite a salesperson when I put my mind to it. Quite theatrical,” said Sharon.

“I came up with loads of jingles and stuff to shout at people and where I used to sell it just near the train station just down the road from the train station in Leeds.

“I just really enjoyed the interaction that it gave me and like the opportunity to be doing something else. I always saw myself as a fairly good beggar. But I didn’t appreciate myself very much as a beggar, I didn’t really like having to sit down and ask for money. I really appreciated the opportunity to feel like I was more making it as a businesswoman, rather than as somebody who’s just asking. It was giving me a bit of dignity.”

Following an adverse experience on the street, Sharon finally moved into temporary accommodation and went on to work for homelessness theatre group Cardboard Citizens.

She eventually ended up working for Groundswell and has now worked for the charity for 10 years.

Sharon, however, still uses the same skills to build relationships and share knowledge as she did when she was selling the Big Issue to customers.

“I would say I absolutely still use those skills. It’s no different trying to grab somebody’s attention when everybody that’s walking past you is doing their best to avoid eye contact with you,” said Sharon.

“It’s no different than when people first walk into a training room and they go, ‘I really don’t want to be in training’.

“My experience of homelessness is huge. I mean, literally, I don’t think I could deliver most of my training without it.

“I’m never not on the move, never not doing something very exciting. I really love my job, I love the work that Groundswell does so I found myself in a very sweet position.”

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? We want to hear from you. Get in touch and tell us more.

A much-loved Big Issue vendor who is mourning the loss of his long-time pet dog has described the popular pooch as the “love of his life.”

Nick Cuthbert lost canine companion Bryony on 21 February after the chocolate labrador-mix was put to sleep at the age of 14.

“It’s the end of my world,” said Truro seller Cuthbert. “It’s been coming for a while but I had to take her to the vet to have her put down.

“It’s been put on Facebook and there were hundreds of comments. Loads of kids have grown up with her and she was great with them. She was the love of my life.”

• Find your local Big Issue vendor on our interactive map
• Read more about our vendors
• Want to earn some extra cash on your terms? Find out how to become a Big Issue vendor
• How do Big Issue sellers make money?

Cuthbert first met Bryony when the puppy was just seven weeks old and the pair have been inseparable ever since.

Animal lover Cuthbert previously told the Big Issue how two of his customers paid two/thirds of the cost of getting Bryony with him covering the remaining third. Customers even chipped in when Bryony needed expensive x-rays and an operation to fix elbow dysplasia as a puppy.

To get involved with Big Issue’s National Vendor Week, click here.

“She keeps me going every day now,” he said in 2019. “I know that I have to keep it together, that I need to work and keep a roof over our heads.”

The pair have become a popular sight outside M&S at Lemon Quay in Truro, Cornwall, and Cuthbert even bonded with TV star Dermot O’Leary back in 2018 over a shared love of dogs.

“He knelt down with the dog and stayed with me for about 10 minutes, mostly talking about dogs and the dogs we’ve lost over the years and how much that hurt,” said Cuthbert.

“I told him how much dogs mean to Big Issue vendors like me – dogs are our life.”

The Big Issue vendor, who has been selling the magazine for more than 20 years, has now installed a sign on his pitch in tribute to Bryony and customers have joined him in paying their respects. 

The news comes as the Big Issue is marking National Vendor Week, celebrating and highlighting the hard work of sellers across the UK.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? We want to hear from you. Get in touch and tell us more.

New figures show how Big Issue Group (BIG) has tackled the cost of living crisis head on by
supporting thousands of people affected by poverty to earn and find employment in the last year.

Almost 4,000 people were given the opportunity to change their lives through enterprise in the previous 12 months across the group’s services, including by selling the magazine or being helped into work through Big Issue Recruit (BIR).

To get involved with Big Issue’s National Vendor Week, click here.

The figures, released as BIG puts the spotlight on vendors for National Vendor Week, show that the number of people the group has helped grew by 8% year-on-year as the cost of living crisis continued to bite.

That work has resulted in the delivery of £5.3 million of social value to the UK economy – including £4m generated through sales of The Big Issue magazine and £1.3m through BIR’s work to help marginalised individuals move into the full-time workplace.

• Big Issue Group’s specialist recruitment service reports more than £755,000 of social value in first year
• Big Issue sellers celebrated in the House of Lords for National Vendor Week

BIG CEO Paul Cheal said the statistics show that Big Issue’s model could demonstrate how to help people affected by poverty into sustainable employment.

“We believe that the government’s Back to Work scheme requires further consideration and enhancement to truly serve the needs of marginalised people,” he said.

“There is a huge opportunity to get more people into work and generate an enormous amount of social value in the UK.”

Overall, BIG supported 3,716 vendors to earn an income, delivered 1,400 hours of employability and skills training to marginalised individuals, and enabled 85 individuals to access new forms of employment through its BIR service.

That comes at a time when inflation and rising prices have hit households hard and pushed more into poverty, while stagnation has pushed the UK economy into a recession.

There has been a 148% increase in the number of people experiencing destitution since 2017, while 3.8 million are living in the deepest levels of poverty and struggling to afford essentials.

As of July 2023, 520,000 people were facing unemployment across the UK for six months or more – making up 35% of all individuals who are without work.

However, with nearly one million job vacancies in the UK and 531,200 skill-shortage vacancies in 2022, BIG’s success shows the potential of helping more people into sustainable work, Cheal added.

“If those 520,000 individuals could all be supported into employment opportunities through services like BIR, it could generate a potential total social value of more than £12 billion for individuals, communities, and the UK economy,” said Cheal.

“At a time when the country is facing an incredibly challenging economic recession, this is an approach we believe the government should take.”

This week BIG invites people across the UK to join us in celebrating individuals affected by poverty who are earning a living and working their way out. Together, we can forge a future where everyone has the opportunity to thrive in work, regardless of their background or circumstances.

To get involved with Big Issue’s National Vendor Week, click here.