Big Issue vendors react to Andy Burnham’s rough sleeping pledge: ‘It would mean the world’

Andy Burnham has promised a route off the streets for every rough sleeper in England by Christmas. It has earned praise from across the housing and homelessness sectors – but there’s a dose of scepticism on the streets.

The £442 million plan pledges to bring thousands of people indoors in time for Christmas, offering accommodation and support as well as 1,000 settled homes for people to move on to.

Burnham’s first instruction as prime minister was to start work on ending rough sleeping and he told Big Issue last week that he considered it a “moral mission”.

Now there is a clearer indication of how he intends to do it, we asked Big Issue vendors whether the prime minister can deliver at a time when the government’s own snapshot count has found record-high numbers on the street.

Veteran Big Issue seller Bob Sheppard, 67, who sells the magazine outside Sainsbury’s on Whiteladies Road in Bristol, has been sleeping rough in the past and has spent the last two months on the street.

He told Big Issue that Burnham faces a challenge to achieve his goal.

“I didn’t think too much of it,” said Sheppard. “They managed to do it during Covid, so it’s possible, but it’s a very big ask.

“It’s ridiculous we have people on the streets, especially in such a rich country. I mean, it’s daft, plain daft.”

Sheppard was among the first Big Issue vendors to sell the magazine in Bristol back in 1994.

He has recently overcome prostate cancer and was given the all-clear last year.

The long-time Big Issue vendor said he would jump at the chance to get off the streets if he is offered a home before Christmas.

“When I’ve got off the street before it’s been down to support, lots of support,” said Sheppard.

“I’ll hopefully get offered a place. I would definitely take it. It would mean the world really because I’d hopefully be able to go and visit my son in Mansfield and things like that, which I have wanted to do for a while.”

Plymouth Big Issue vendor Clive Rowe has spent more than two decades sleeping rough in his life.

The Theatre Royal Plymouth vendor credits selling the Big Issue with changing his life and helping him off the streets.

Rowe and pet dog Geezer now live in a campervan after saving up their Big Issue earnings.

Rowe said he has “high hopes” but remains unconvinced Burnham can end rough sleeping.

“If it comes to fruition, I would be pretty pleased with his first tenancy as a prime minister,” said Rowe.

“We know from Covid that if somebody as powerful as him decides to make it work, he could do it. So I’ve got high hopes. With Covid it was literally life and death. They didn’t want homeless people dying on the streets through Covid as it would’ve looked really bad. So whether he’s got that impetus and importance to push it through to make it a reality, I’m a little bit sceptical.

“I’ve seen so many politicians say, ‘Oh, we’re going to help the homeless. We’re going to give them this half a billion pounds’ and all that, and then the money is squandered all over the place.”

It was two of Rowe’s Big Issue customers who finally saw him move indoors for good back in 2009.

They asked The Salvation Army to help Rowe and his dog. Like many rough sleepers, he took time to be convinced but it was ultimately the cold weather that saw him take a chance.

Rowe’s path out of rough sleeping underlines the need for support and building trust on the streets.

Rowe added: “He’s got to have outreach workers. He’s got to have professionals that go out and find the people where they are, like they used to do in the old days.

“It’s only the Big Issue that saved me. Nothing else would have been able to do it. You get your own micro-business where you can literally earn a living out of your tent and then slowly get your foot in. It’s just so important, Big Issue, I love it.”

Big Issue vendor Richie, who sells the magazine outside M&S in Lincoln, wasn’t aware of Burnham’s announcement as he “doesn’t watch or listen to the news because it’s too depressing”.

But, after being told of Burnham’s plans, Richie said he struggled to see the prime minister achieving his goal.

“I’d pay anybody to watch that happen,” said Richie, who slept rough for 21 years but now has a flat.

He added: “It’s good that he’s acknowledging it. But what is he getting out of it? He’s not gonna do it for nothing, is he? Is he expecting extra votes or brownie points or a pat on the back? He’s not doing it out of the goodness of his heart, so I’m a little bit wary.”

Ultimately, it was the connections that the popular vendor made through selling the Big Issue that saw him housed.

Read more:

• Andy Burnham to donate 15% of PM’s salary to homelessness fight: ‘I want to lead from the front’
• In pictures: What it’s like to sleep in your car while homeless in a heatwave
• What are Andy Burnham’s cost of living plans and what will they mean for you?

“It was the people in Lincoln and my friends through the magazine,” said Richie.

“They all come together and wrote emails, made phone calls and sent letters on my behalf to City of Lincoln Council because they knew I was signing the homelessness register every morning and getting nowhere.”

But Richie faced familiar hurdles that will also pose a challenge to others this winter.

He was unwilling to leave his dog to go indoors. It’s a matter Big Issue has been campaigning on recently, calling on the government to end no-pet policies in temporary accommodation.

“If I got rid of the dog, they’d house me tomorrow, whereas if I didn’t, then they couldn’t help me. It wasn’t right,” he said.

The other problem Richie faced was living with an unfurnished flat without the money to turn it into a home.

“I really struggled,” said Richie. “If you’ve got a roof over your head with a secure door, it’s not over because you’ve got to find the money from somewhere to get everything – bedding, a cooker, washer, fridge, freezer, kettle, knives, forks.

“If you haven’t got access to any of that, what’s the point in having a set of keys to a nice flat? I was really fortunate that you guys stepped in and helped me so much. I will always be grateful for that.”

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