Ion Turturica, Co-op, North St, Bedminster
Ion really enjoys being a vendor. That's why he is always smiling
Image: Frankie Stone
How long I spend on my pitch depends on how busy I am and sometimes I can stay until seven or eight o’clock in the evening. For the moment, everything is all right on my pitch. Christmas was a bit different because a lot more people were buying magazines and it was a lot busier. But things are going OK and that’s the reason why I keep coming back every week to buy magazines from Big Issue to sell.
I have been selling Big Issue in Bedminster for the last year and a half roughly. I started selling the magazine because I needed something to help me to survive, to be able to live. I have some regular customers who are buying all the time, not just at Christmas but in the summer and the spring they are buying off me each week. They are helping me with food and clothes. I’m managing to keep up with bills too.
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Big Issue helped me with the bank to set up a bank account and a card reader. They helped me set up the app on my phone so my customers can pay cashless. I have seen more customers want to buy the magazine without cash. A lot of them are happy to pay by card because they are telling me: “I don’t have cash,” more and more these days.
I like being a vendor. It is something wonderful. I like to sell things and everybody is used to having me here, they are good to me. I’m smiling when I am here. I am laughing. I look happy and the people that are passing by are coming to ask me if I have magazines for them. I think that’s probably because I have a smiley face! I want to say to my customers that this magazine is very nice and I have a look inside to read it. They can trust me if they want to buy it.
I’ve been in Bedminster these last 18 months and I do like it here. The centre is quite nice and there are plenty of shops. The people who live here are really nice too. I’ve been in the UK for four years and I am originally from Romania. I prefer the UK to Romania because the lifestyle and the opportunities are different here. It is not like Romania and that is better for me.
Usually I don’t spend a lot of time at home because I am working selling magazines and that doesn’t leave me a lot of spare time. I can’t afford to stay home. But when I have a day off I do like to spend time at home with my family. I don’t have big plans for 2025, but I wish to have a good year. A happy one and a healthy one.
To be honest, if I didn’t have the Big Issue, I don’t think I could afford to survive here.
Interview: Liam Geraghty
The Co-operative Food, North Street, Bedminster, Bristol, UK