Garry’s Land’s End to John O’Groats Trek 2018
Last year, Garry trekked 190 miles to fundraise for The Big Issue Foundation and raised an incredible £495- you can read more about this below. This year, he is taking on an even bigger challenge and is trekking an incredible 1,150 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats, hoping to raise £2,000 for The Big Issue Foundation. You can sponsor Garry here, and help us continue working with more vendors like him.
Garry’s trek will begin on Tuesday 31st July and he hopes to arrive by Tuesday 9th October.
He says “It’s about letting people know that there’s a big problem with social exclusion and poverty and, even though I’m homeless myself, I just want to make a small difference. I know that £2,000 isn’t a huge amount of money but the money I can raise for the Big Issue Foundation helps give people the chance to try and better their lives.”
Please dig deep and sponsor Garry and help us help more vendors like him to access vital services and move away from poverty and exclusion.
WEDNESDAY, 3RD JANUARY 2018
Garry’s Fundraising Hike
Back in June last year (below) we wrote about Garry, a vendor in Bristol and the face of our summer appeal.
After losing his job as a foreman of construction sites in Aberdeenshire, Garry found himself sleeping rough and in need of an income- so he turned to the Big Issue. Alongside selling the Big Issue, the Big Issue Foundation worked with Garry to help him get a copy of his birth certificate in order to reactivate his bank account. With a safe place to store his income, Garry continued his hard work, becoming a qualified first aider and starting to make contacts in the construction industry again. His attitude and progress with sales even earnt him the opportunity to sell at Glastonbury!
In 2016, Garry decided to walk the West Highland Way and the Great Glen way to raise money for Help for Heroes, and loved the chance to get away on a long walk. Now he’s returned to the challenge, from Milngavie, just outside of Glasgow, all the way up to Inverness, this time raising money for The Big Issue Foundation! Armed with a pair of walking boots donated by Mountain Warehouse, Garry has raised an incredible £495 and says he wanted to “give something back for all the support they have given to me”. Now he’s back in Bristol, he’s planning his next adventure- possibly a sponsored walk from Dover to Lands End! You can check out his photos from his trek below.
We’re so appreciative of Garry’s fundraising efforts which will go towards helping more vendors like himself get the support they need.
If Garry inspires you to take on a challenge this year, head over to our events and see what you can do to raise money for The Big Issue Foundation this year!
MONDAY 26TH JUNE 2017
Photography: Rebecca Bernstein
My name is Garry Buchan and because of you I’ve begun rebuilding my life.
I started selling the magazine in Bristol last October. Things were not going great for me, but The Big Issue gave me a way of earning money and working towards something better. I sell in a nice part of town and I work hard – I’m smashing all my own selling targets.
I’m from the north-east of Scotland and I had been working for a few years as a foreman on construction sites in Aberdeenshire. I was working for one of the big private builders, so we’d build new homes and also do a small proportion of lower-cost homes for the housing association.
Sadly I lost the job and fell into a downwards spiral. The decline of the oil industry has affected everything in the North East, including the amount of housing getting built. But Aberdeen is still really expensive to rent and live, so I found it difficult to survive. I thought I’d come down south where at least there might be a better chance of work – which I’d done before. I thought Bristol would be a good place to try.
Unfortunately I lost my CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) card – a license necessary to get construction work – and I fell into a cycle of sleeping rough. I was in hostels for a couple of weeks but they’re not places for someone like me who wants a clean-living lifestyle.
I’m rough sleeping at the moment. I don’t have a local connection in Bristol which means I’m not eligible for council accommodation so I’m trying to rent privately. Through The Big Issue Foundation’s rough sleeper drop-in I’ve managed to access the St Mungo’s Rough Sleeper Team. Once I find permanent work I should get matched with a landlord through the Rough Sleeper Team and hopefully have a roof over my head. One day I’d love to get a house boat – that is the dream.
I call Bristol the sleepy city because it really only wakes up gradually, from about 10am. But it’s very nice and relaxed – very friendly people. In February I was offered some work with the Bristol Post handing out free newspapers as part of a trial they are running. I was guaranteed work for four weeks, four hours a day at over £8 per hour. But I had lost all my documents including any ID so was unable to access my bank account.
Martha, a Big Issue Foundation Service Broker in Bristol, helped me sort it out. She helped me get a copy of my birth certificate so that I had some identity. We went into our local bank branch with my new birth certificate and managed to reactivate my account. This meant I could get my wages paid in. The job was good work experience as well as providing a steady income during a quiet month.
In April, I attended a first aid training course with The British Red Cross and got a certificate – I am now a qualified first aider. This I believe will make me more employable. I’m hoping that with the contacts I’ve made here while looking for security and construction work that something will come through.
I am an outdoors type and I love walking – especially hill walking. I love to get away on a long walk, no radio, no TV, no distractions. It helps me clear my mind. Last year I walked the West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way and raised money for Help for Heroes. The route takes you all the way from Milngavie, just outside of Glasgow, way up to Inverness. The views are fabulous but you need to be fit. I did a sort of power walk – 20 miles a day. It took me about eight-and-a-half days in all.
This year, I’m doing it all over again but this time raising money for The Big Issue Foundation. I’d like to give something back for all the support they have given to me. I would like to thank Mountain Warehouse for kindly gifting me with walking boots for this challenge – this will make such a big difference! They are also donating 120 survival bags for the participants at The Big Sleep Out in November.
This June, due to my good sales and good behaviour I’ve been selected to sell at Glastonbury. Paul who sold there last year said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so I am very excited. The weather looks set to take a turn for the worse though. Hopefully I’ll make a lot of sales. I’m hoping the magazine will help me get back on my feet. It won’t be for the lack of trying, anyway.
To you and everyone who supports The Big Issue Foundation, I thank you. Your donations have really made a big difference to my life.
