‘I ended up on the streets for about 16 months. I wasn’t bedding down, I was taking buses at night’

Big Issue vendor Simon Denis was sleeping rough before he started selling the magazine and revealed how he would sleep on night buses to get out of the rain while on the streets in a new interview.

Denis, 61, who sells the magazine outside Pret a Manger in Cheapside in the City of London, started selling the Big Issue after his 18-month apprenticeship with the government ended in 2010. The Conservatives had taken over and the scheme ended and he was “left in limbo”.

“I was struggling for money and I sold my furniture on eBay. I thought, I’m going to have to pick up Big Issue and see what that’s like,” he told Big Issue in the My Pitch interview in this week’s magazine.

“It gave me a purpose. I was sleeping rough and I ended up on the streets for about 16 months. I wasn’t bedding down, I was taking buses at night. If it was pouring with rain and you could­n’t find any shelter, you’d get on the bus.”

Since he started selling the Big Issue, Denis has been able to get himself off the streets and into accommodation.

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Now he’s up early selling the magazine to London commuters and credits the Big Issue in helping him to get his life on track.

“I would never have dreamed that Big Issue could be as profound as it was.It got me up in the morning, getting me into the thinking category that a lot of people go to work,” said Denis.

“I’m thinking, I know what to do when I’m interacting with services, day centres or the estates who provide housing. I could actually achieve something because they’ve got confidence in me. I’m not going to go wobbly.”

You can find Simon on his pitch outside the Pret A Manger, Cheapside, London from 7am to 3pm Monday to Friday.

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