How a Big Issue vendor overcame homelessness to play hockey for England: ‘It means everything’

When Dan Bleach represented England at the World Masters Hockey World Cup this summer, it was a profound honour. But, for the former Big Issue vendor, it was also a triumph over addiction and homelessness. Bleach, from Oxford, thought his hockey career was over after losing his twenties to drug addiction. He sold the Big Issue magazine for around a year while staying in abandoned buildings, hostels, parks and doorways. 

But he managed to turn his life around, culminating in representing England’s over-45s Masters hockey side at this summer’s tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands. 

Bleach’s team finished second, but being on the pitch represented an incredible feat of character and resilience for the 47-year-old. 

“When I started drinking heavily and then taking drugs, I thought my hockey career was over,” Bleach tells Big Issue. 

“There’s always a bit of regret because I wonder what I could have achieved if I hadn’t lost my twenties, but representing England now means everything. It makes me feel like maybe I didn’t waste my life after all.” 

Hockey had always been part of Bleach’s life. Both his mother and stepfather played, and he says sport was “everything to him” before addiction ripped it from his grasp. “It all started with recreational drug use,” says Bleach. “I was drinking, taking cocaine with people I spent time with, and I just didn’t have an off switch. It gradually led to harder drugs.  

“Eventually I couldn’t hold down a job or pay my bills and I ended up homeless. I met other homeless people in Oxford who sold Big Issue. It became a way for us to make money while we were on the streets.” 

Bleach sold the magazine on Broad Street in Oxford, splitting magazines with another vendor called Carl; each of them taking one end of the street. “Life was simply about getting through each day and finding enough money to buy the drugs we thought we needed to survive,” he recalls. 

Bleach admits that he wants to “make amends” with Big Issue after sometimes asking customers not to take the magazine and instead just donate cash. Big Issue urges all customers to always take the magazine: it’s the difference between begging and enabling vendors to earn a legitimate income. 

Read more:

• Big Issue sellers celebrated in the House of Lords for National Vendor Week
• ‘A life changing moment’: Inside England’s Homeless World Cup training session ahead of the tournament of a lifetime
• Swimmer Michael Gunning: ‘Sport can be toxic – but everybody deserves to feel safe taking part’

But Bleach found his time as a vendor changed how people treated him even while in the throes of addiction. 

“People genuinely looked after you if you were selling the Big Issue and it also meant the police generally left us alone because we were selling the magazine rather than begging,” he says. 

“When you’re an addict, people avoid you; they cross the road or pretend you aren’t there, but if you’re holding the Big Issue, it gives people a reason to stop and speak to you. It opened the door to conversations. 

“We weren’t well dressed, we had scars and looked rough because of addiction, but the magazine gave people confidence to engage with us. They trusted you because you were selling something legitimate rather than simply asking for money.” 

Bleach eventually moved on from the magazine, and it was an intervention from his mother to enrol in a treatment centre that set him on a path of redemption. 

“I’ve been to prison. I’ve lived on the streets. I’ve lost years of my life, but recovery gave me opportunities I never thought I’d have,” he says. “My mum had reached the point where she couldn’t have me in her life in the normal way any more. She couldn’t let me stay at her house because I couldn’t be trusted, but despite all that, she never gave up on me.” 

Recovery proved gruelling but the treatment centre transformed Bleach’s life. Even hockey had a role to play.  Experts at the centre allowed him to travel back to Oxford on Thursday evenings for training sessions and to play matches on Saturdays because his hockey team-mates were “healthy influences”. 

Bleach even met his wife at the treatment centre, adopting her two children from a previous relationship in 2011 before going on to have two more children and marrying in 2014. 

It was a platform that allowed Bleach to achieve his dream of becoming a teacher: he went back to university and completed a geography degree, followed by PGCE qualifications at the University of Bristol. 

“When you’ve lost so many years because of the choices you’ve made, you start asking yourself how you can put the pieces back together,” says Bleach, who has since changed career to become a builder. 

“For me, finishing my degree and becoming a teacher was about completing something I’d walked away from. It meant I no longer felt like I was running away from my past.” 

Hockey has remained a constant in Bleach’s post-addiction life.  He was first selected as a reserve for the last Masters World Cup in New Zealand two years ago before representing England B at the European Championships in Valencia last year. 

This year, Bleach played his part for the England B squad in July and August in Rotterdam, where the England side got to the final before losing 2-0 to Australia. 

“At first I felt like an imposter. There are some fantastic players at this level, and I wasn’t sure I belonged,” says Bleach. “Back then [when I was homeless] I just dreamed of playing good hockey again.  

“Now I’m still playing for Oxford’s men’s first team – I’m 47 this year, and most of my teammates are in their early twenties, so I’m still playing at a level I never imagined I’d reach again.” 

Bleach’s remarkable story is a shining example of perseverance, and a reminder that we should never give up on our dreams. 

As Big Issue turns 35, Bleach has some advice for any fellow Big Issue vendors who may wish to follow in his footsteps. 

“I’d tell them to keep putting the pieces back together, one at a time,” he says.  

“There were so many people who genuinely wanted to help me when I was selling the Big Issue, but I wasn’t ready to listen because all I cared about was getting enough money to feed my addiction. If I’d accepted that help earlier, I probably would have started my recovery much sooner.” 

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