Advertisement
News

I was a Big Issue vendor and now I’m a Harley Street therapist

Mark Dempster struggled with drug addiction when he was younger, and turned to the Big Issue back in the 1990s. He has completely transformed his life since, and is now a fully trained counsellor with his own practice in Harley Street.

A former drug addict and dealer, Mark Dempster sold The Big Issue in the 1990s before he trained as a counsellor and launched his successful Harley Street practice.

He has also co-hosted a radio show with Russell Brand.

“I have led two lives – one before recovery from addiction and one after,” he says.

“The experience and support The Big Issue gave me during my early addiction recovery helped me regain control and become a successful therapist and addiction expert.”

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Buy a Big Issue Vendor Support Kit

This Christmas, give a Big Issue vendor the tools to keep themselves warm, dry, fed, earning and progressing.

Recommended for you

Read All
Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart: 'If the world had succeeded this year, Trump would be in jail'
My Big Year

Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart: 'If the world had succeeded this year, Trump would be in jail'

This is what Christmas is like for thousands of asylum seekers in hotels: 'It's more like a prison'
A silhouette of a man in front of the shape of a Christmas tree
Asylum hotels

This is what Christmas is like for thousands of asylum seekers in hotels: 'It's more like a prison'

How has Christmas changed since the year man landed on the moon?
christmas
Christmas

How has Christmas changed since the year man landed on the moon?

‘It’s an absolute crisis’: Someone falls into homelessness in London every seven and a half minutes
homeless tents on Oxford Street in London
Homelessness

‘It’s an absolute crisis’: Someone falls into homelessness in London every seven and a half minutes

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue