Big Issue vendor John White’s Funeral

It was with great sadness that at the beginning of this month we announced the passing of the much loved Edinburgh Big Issue vendor, John White. John had been a Big Issue vendor for 10 years spending 6 of those years selling at his leafy pitch in Meadows Walk, Edinburgh. John was known as a pillar of his community there and is greatly missed by his customers, friends and Big Issue staff alike.

John’s funeral will take place at Pentland Chapel, Mortonhall Crematorium on Monday 29th September at 10:30am and all are welcome to come and pay their respects. We are asking people to wear red in memory of his bright red Big Issue jacket.

John requested that no flowers be sent so we have set up a page where people can make a donation here and in his memory. Donations will be used to buy a plaque for his pitch which will stand as a lasting reminder of his impact on the community there.

‘John will be enormously missed,’ said Caitlin Rodgers, The Big Issue’s Team Leader in Scotland. ‘He was a brilliant character and the exemplary Big Issue vendor. He really believed in The Big Issue and took great pride in his work. One of my fondest memories of John was the trip we took to Glasgow with him after he’d been involved in The Big Issue’s Big Sell Off earlier this year. On the way through, a few of us were using the lights on our phones to do our make up in the van and the next day John appeared in the office with a vanity case and two torches, insisting these were to be kept in the van at all times in case we were ever in the same situation again.’

Here is John a few months ago on his 69th birthday when he received a new walking frame from The Big Issue Foundation’s Vendor Support Fund to help get him to his pitch every day.