It’s not all about getting money, it’s about feeling you’re a valued human being

I’ve been selling Big Issue for 11 years. I have been providing food for my family and paying for rent thanks to the money I make. I lived in Romania before coming to England. It was hard living there

I was a chef up until 2006 when I got run over. I got knocked off my bike and for 18 months I was injured. I had stopped and a jeep pulled up behind me and hit me, but my bag saved my head from hittin

Big Issue changed my life. I was sat begging after I’d just become homeless. One of the Big Issue workers came past me on their bike and stopped and talked to me. I went into the office the next morni

I’ve been in the UK for almost two years now. I left in 1988 and started a family in France. I worked internationally in many, many different places. I was in the oil industry so I had a good job, sta

Now I am very famous here in Alnwick because everyone knows me — I’ve sold magazines for 17 years in this pitch. It’s a little easier for me now. I’m from Romania originally, but I emigrated when I wa

Fighting talk I saw the article about Greta Thunberg and others [on bigissue.com] who are willing to speak publicly about their beliefs and causes. I have been a campaigner within disability for over