Ken Swain’s Story
Ken started vending in Birmingham in February 2015. He is a returning vendor. In October 2016 he was featured in the My Pitch column in The Big Issue:
“At the moment I’m living on a derelict boat in Bedworth that I’m doing up. I’ve got a sleeping bag on there, and a kettle. Each day selling the magazine I have to make £10.30 – to cover my train fare and the £20 a week it costs for mooring. I’m hoping to make enough money to get a little log burner. That should make it just about warm enough to keep the condensation out and make it viable as my permanent home.
I was born here in England but my family moved to Canada when I was young. I was there for about 30 years, before I moved to London in the mid-’90s.
My name is Paul, I’ve been a Big Issue vendor for about two years now. My usual pitch is in Bristol, at Wine Street and Corn Street. It’s a busy area with loads of passers-by because of the market down Corn Street. It’s a farmers’ market on a Wednesday and a flea market on a Friday and Saturday and it brings a lot more people down the street. The people have been friendly, I consider myself a good people’s person who makes friends easily and a good salesman. I’ve got a lot of regular customers.
I have been selling The Big Issue in Muswell Hill for about seven years. There are a lot of nice people around here and it has a nice villagey feeling. I get all the gossip and I am a bit of a social worker too.
I’ve been selling the magazine here for three years. It’s gone really well – it’s a nice part of the world. My regular customers have helped me get back on my feet.
My name is Marc. I started selling The Big Issue fifteen years ago.
My name is Jane Fullerton, I’m 59 and I’ve been a Big Issue vendor since November 2011. I first heard about The Big Issue when John Bird was talking about it on the radio. My husband had passed away a year earlier, I was living on my own, I was unemployed, and I thought: do I or don’t I? I decided to go for it, and I haven’t looked back since.
I’ve been selling the magazine in the Clifton area for the past few years now. It’s a really nice part of the city – lots of big houses. Before than I sold the mag in Plymouth and Cardiff – I moved around quite a lot during my time sleeping rough on the streets.
I’ve been selling the magazine in Inverness for the past few years. I’ve worked really hard to build up the pitch and a loyal clientele. It’s all about communicating with people and building a rapport, and I really have to thank my customers for supporting me. I’ve had some mental health problems to try to overcome, and selling The Big Issue has been a big stabilizing influence on my life.
Richard sells the Big Issue in Birchington-On-Sea and has decided to fundraise for The Big Issue Foundation by growing a beard for the charity. Richard decided to do this activity to give something back to The Big Issue Foundation.