While Tess Finch-Lees and her son were shopping in Shrewsbury town centre last weekend, they stopped to talk with their local vendor Samaria. Learning that Samaria is pregnant, Tess’ son offered to take over selling her magazines while she took a well-deserved break.
Big Issue pitches are carefully managed so we always know who is selling where – and children are, of course, not permitted to sell magazine – but in this case it is hard not to be moved by the boy’s heart-warming actions.
Tess picks up the story:
“It was the proudest moment of my life,” she explains. “My son said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll sell while you eat!’”
However pride gave way to dismay when some of the challenges that comes with selling on the streets became clear.
The tangible hostility we encountered was an everyday occurrence for her now
“I watched a succession of people push past my child, scowling and giving him daggered looks,” Tess says. “They weren’t skin heads with Union Jacks tattooed across their foreheads, they were dapperly dressed, silver haired pensioners whose opprobrium was palpable.
