The Big Issue Winter Appeal
Our vendors had an incredibly tough 2021 and January is always a difficult time, but with continued restrictions in place, vendor street sales are plummeting. We and our vendors urgently need your support. Please buy from your local vendor and if you can’t please buy a subscription or donate today, your money will go to supporting our work with vendors.
Choose how you'll support us and our vendors
John’s story
“When the pandemic hit I thought it was only going to be for a short amount of time, but then it carried on and carried on and I had some depression with that as well. It was hard from previously getting up, going out and having a laugh with people. I know that one of my regular customers has died because of the virus so I felt sad about that. There’s the loneliness too. The Big Issue helped me through it and gave me a laptop. They also contacted me to make sure I was OK. And I called them a couple of times when I was struggling, just because I wanted to hear a friendly voice.”
– John, Swansea
How your support helps
Mary’s Story
“I spent about 15 years on the streets, just travelling around Brighton, Bournemouth, Poole, Cambridge… To be honest I was in a bad way with drink and drugs. I used to work as a carer untilI got sacked because of my problems. But I’ve been clean now for four years.
The Big Issue has helped me to live because I really wasn’t getting anything else. So I started doing it again, because I need an income for one thing, and for another I’m a hermit so I was just deteriorating. It forces me to go out and speak to people. It saved my life.”
– Mary, Weston-super-Mare