Big Issue vendor Alfie Brew bounces back after being hit by a car

A Big Issue vendor who suffered serious injuries after being knocked off his bike is back selling the magazine on his pitch in Exeter.

Resilient Alfie Brew, 30, has returned to selling the Big Issue outside the Co-op in St Thomas, Exeter after a three-month-long recovery.

“A car knocked me off my bike and I had to have three months off Big Issue,” he tells this week’s edition of the magazine, which is out now. “My recovery has been up and down.

“I have bipolar so I’m trying to keep my head and focus on one thing at the minute, and go forward from there. I can walk now, thankfully.

“My customers thought I’d quit. I came back last week and I’m slowly getting my name back around to say that I’m back again. Everyone’s missed me, they haven’t seen me. I’m really trying to get myself out there now.”

The Big Issue helped Brew stay afloat after he found himself unable to sell the magazine, which is his main source of income.

“I had help from Sue in the Big Issue office in Plymouth who sorted me out with food vouchers,” Brew says. “The vouchers helped me a lot. If it wasn’t for Big Issue I’d be stuck.

“But I lost a lot of income, you know? That’s why I’m doing early mornings, six days a week, to try and get it all back up again.”

Brew used to beg on the streets of Exeter, but now earns an income by selling the Big Issue magazine. Like all vendors, he buys magazines for £2 and sells them for £4, keeping the profit. 

“I used to beg on the streets here and Big Issue came along and said: do you want to have a chance at that?” Brew shares. “I snatched at that opportunity as well and I’ve been on Big Issue ever since.

“I’ve been selling the magazine for about four years now. I love it because it helps me with my bipolar and it gets me out there. It stops things messing up.

“I’ve got myself a flat now, I first went indoors a couple of Christmases ago. I’ve now been in my permanent flat for just under a year.”

Alfie Brew sells the Big Issue outside Co-op Food on Cowick Street in the St Thomas area of Exeter. He’s on pitch from Monday to Saturday from 7am to 12.30pm.