Behind the scenes

A week in the life of a service broker: Matthew Morley, London

I visited the House of Lords to attend a meeting with Vision Care for Homeless People, a charity that provides eye tests and glasses for people who can’t afford the costs.

A week in the life of a service broker: Matthew Morley, London

Monday

We are a relatively small vendor-facing team and I always enjoy working on the counter when we are short-staffed selling magazines to vendors and catching up with their news. While chatting with a vendor, a young man who had recently started with us came into the office and was quite upset. He explained he had been removed from a property by police and was homeless without any of his belongings. Also he was about to start some serious medical treatment. He had been subletting from someone who had no right to sublet. He had been turned away by the local authority because he could not prove his local connection with any paperwork. After an intervention with the local authority they agreed to place him in emergency accommodation while they assessed his situation.

Tuesday

I visited the House of Lords to attend a meeting with Vision Care for Homeless People, a charity that provides eye tests and glasses for people who can’t afford the costs. This could be a great service to engage our vendors with and complements a number of other partnerships we have developed.

Wednesday

For the purposes of accurate reporting I actually took today to catch up with an old friend who was on a flying visit to London. While having a coffee in Cavendish Square with my friend, a Big Issue vendor who I know quite well passed by. After exchanging a few pleasantries he moved on and this prompted a conversation with my friend about The Big Issue’s ethos of self-help, the fact that vendors buy their own magazines and the need for budgeting and routine. Five minutes later a notorious ‘rogue’ [fake] vendor turned up with a battered copy of The Big Issue that looked about a year old. He gave me a cursory nod and looked at my friend expectantly – the cheek!

Thursday

I met with our part-time service broker Lauren this morning who, along with her colleague Cynthia, deals with the induction of new vendors. Where possible we aim to make early interventions with vendors by referring them to local outreach teams, day centres of healthcare services etc. She was worried about a young man and we talked through some options. A short time later, the NHS mobile TB testing van arrived. The van has facilities to immediately test for a range of health problems faced by homeless people and staff gave us a tour of their brand new van. We look forward to engaging some vendors with this fantastic service.

Friday

Today I visited the franchisee distributors at Waterloo and Liverpool Street. The franchisees are former vendors who sell magazines to vendors at different locations around London. I asked for feedback about the support we are providing on an outreach basis. We have a rota of open surgeries based at the distribution points for vendors to engage with our service broker, Sikira. Things are going well and we look forward to increasing the level of support we provide.

Support the Big Issue

For over 30 years, the Big Issue has been committed to ending poverty in the UK. In 2024, our work is needed more than ever. Find out how you can support the Big Issue today.
Vendor martin Hawes

Recommended for you

View all
Inside the Big Issue: The glorious, chaotic, triumphant story of the Homeless World Cup
Inside the Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: The glorious, chaotic, triumphant story of the Homeless World Cup

Inside the Big Issue: Living legend Eric Cantona
Inside the Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: Living legend Eric Cantona

Growth Impact Fund backs Genius Within's mission to empower the UK’s Neurodivergent workforce
Press Release

Growth Impact Fund backs Genius Within's mission to empower the UK’s Neurodivergent workforce

Inside the Big Issue: Cate Blanchett and The New Boy
Inside the Big Issue

Inside the Big Issue: Cate Blanchett and The New Boy

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know