The Big Issue - UK (2021-03-01)

THE BIG ISSUE MANIFESTO

A hand up...

Our sellers BUY

the magazine for

£1.50 and sell it on

for £3, keeping the

di�ference.

Not a handout...

Vendors earn a legitimate income,

and gain valuable social and

employability skills. With your

support now, we can continue to

help them now and in the future.

The right to citizenship...

The Big Issue Foundation,

our charitable arm,

helps sellers to tackle

social and fi nancial

exclusion.

Prevention...

Big Issue Invest o�fers backing

and investments to social

enterprises, charities and

businesses which deliver social

value to communities.

I split from my husband recently a�ter 12 years

and I’ve been staying with a friend temporarily

until the council sorts me out. Otherwise I’ll

be back on the streets and I don’t want that –

especially with this lockdown. About three years

ago I was homeless a�ter my DLA was stopped.

I was living in a tent for eight and a half months

and that’s when I got into selling The Big Issue. I

don’t want to go back to that because I’ve built a

new life for myself.

It’s causing me a bit of stress and anxiety,

especially as I don’t have my work to keep me

motivated at the moment. It doesn’t help all the

damage that was done to my body when I was

on the streets. I’d only been selling the magazine

once a week because of my disability but it gets

me out and it gets me speaking to people. It

gave me ‘me’ time and some confi dence. My

mobility’s terrible, I can hardly walk but when

I’m on my pitch I can just sit down on my stool

when I need to. So it’s great for me, I like it. I’ve

been advertising Big Issue subscriptions on about

40 di�ferent websites, asking people to keep

supporting me through this time.

I’ve had three or four subscriptions and it’s

really nice because you don’t expect the money

then all of a sudden it appears in your account. I

know two of them are my local regulars because

they said they were going to subscribe and

they did it straight away. I was chu�fed, it was

really nice of them and it gave me a li�t.

Basically everyone’s having to do what they

can for themselves at the moment. There’s

nothing else I can do but get the word out

about the subscriptions.

I’ve been unwell too. I had pneumonia and a

really bad infection so I was in hospital for a while.

At fi rst they thought I had Covid because I had

�luid on the lungs. I was glad to get out though

because eventually they put me in a ward with

other people and I snore really bad so I felt a bit

bad about that. I’m slowly getting my strength

back now though. I’ve just popped out today

VENDOR’S

VIEW.

CELEBRAT

IN

G

S

OC

IA

LK

INDNESS

to go for a walk because it’s nice and sunny and I

needed that as a pick-me-up for my mental health.

The weather’s been so miserable and it makes you

miserable too. If I can’t go out for a walk to clear my

head it drives me insane. But getting out today has

given me a boost.

I need to get a place now, that’s my main thing.

Then I’ll feel a bit more settled. I’m hoping to get

something in Rhondda Cynon Taf, close to my kids.

I’ve said to my husband that maybe we can build on

our friendship because we’ve started speaking again

now. Stuck in the �lat together we were just getting

into a bit of a rut. Sometimes that happens in life

though, it’s not the end of the world.

If I move, I’d like to keep selling The Big Issue even

though I’d be starting from scratch. I feel a bit scared

but the sta�f have been doing so much for me during

lockdown. I really want to thank them for the support,

the food vouchers and the chats. They’re always

there. And I want to get it out there to the public that

any subscriptions they take out will help us. It would

mean so much. This is such a hard time, chatting with

my regulars and seeing their smiley faces is what

cheers me up and I’m worried about them too with all

this Covid. To all my customers I’d like to say hi, stay

safe and I promise you’ll see me again soon.

Interview: Sarah Reid

Starting over

Life’s changed for Amanda,

but she hopes to be seeing

her customers again soon

£1,062,000

Thanks to YOUR generous support

we’re still here for our vendors

Since the start of the fi rst lockdown

to the end of February, we have been

there for vendors with vouchers and

support worth more than £1 million

ACTION

DAYSOF

In February alone it was over

£150,000

Amanda can’t sell the

magazine just now

but subscriptions

taken out in her

name can give her

a boost! For more

details see our

interactive map at

bigissue.com/vendors

AMANDA

HILL, 43

USUAL PITCH: Taff s Well, Cardiff

46 | BIGISSUE.COM FROM 01 MARCH 2021