Advertisement
Press Release

“The subscriptions have been a game-changer. If they hadn’t come in I don’t know what would have happened.” Norwich Big Issue vendor talks about the importance of supporting network of 1,500 vendors via subscriptions this Christmas

Big Issue vendor, Jim Hannah, 63, who sells the magazine on Dove Street in Norwich, has urged people to help vendors this during the cost-of-living crisis this Christmas, by buying a subscription.

For Jim Hannah, the option for his customers to subscribe to the magazine online has been a game-changer by protecting him from falling footfall: “I get quite a few online subscriptions and I’ve found it quite helpful to have them because my sales have gone down at the moment and they are keeping [my income] up.”

He continued: “My customers who used to go to work have started buying online and my street sales have dipped. My pitch is completely empty in the mornings so I’m doing late morning and into the afternoon. Those online subscriptions are bringing me back up to somewhere where I was before the pandemic.”

The Big Issue vendor added: “The subscriptions have been a game-changer. If they hadn’t come in I don’t know what would have happened. Hopefully things will pick up at Christmas. It normally does when people are out shopping.”

On why he started selling the magazine, Jim explained: “Things started going pear-shaped when my wife passed away 14 years ago just three months after my dad died. I used to just drink every day of the week after that while sat in the graveyard. Then I landed in hospital one morning.”

Jim continued: “I didn’t know how I got there. I’d collapsed outside my home and the surgeon told me if it wasn’t for the lad across the road who spotted me then I wouldn’t have been here. Through all the drink I’d given myself an ulcer and I didn’t realise I had it. I gave myself one hell of a fright. That was enough to make me give up the drink.

Advertisement
Advertisement

He added: “Selling The Big Issue saved my life. If I didn’t start this 10 years ago I don’t think I’d have stopped drinking. It was actually one of the other vendors who said, why don’t I try it? It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Jim, who has lived in Norwich for 40 years now, concluded: “I’d like to thank everyone that supported all the vendors with a subscription while we were off our pitches during lockdown. Getting that money through the subscription really helped financially. And thanks to customers who buy a mag off every vendor in Norwich every week.”

Chris Falchi-Stead, Director of Sales & Operations at the Big Issue, said: “It’s incredibly tough out there for our vendors at the moment. The rising costs of food and energy and quieter high streets along with the colder climes are meaning a usually busy time for magazine vendors look increasingly bleak.

“Which is why we are urging people to give our vendors a fighting chance this Christmas and buy a magazine or a  subscription from them. Every copy bought is £2 earned. Give our vendors a fighting chance this Christmas. Every copy counts.”

If you would like to support Big Issue vendors this Christmas, you can buy a copy from your local vendor or subscribe online or support us at big issue.com/christmas. If you buy a subscription and allocate it to a vendor via our vendor map, the vendor receives 50% of the net profits. Every copy counts!

Advertisement

    Change a vendor's life this Christmas

    This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

    Recommended for you

    Read All
    Big Issue vendors set to earn close to half a million additional earnings by 2027 via giffgaff partnership
    Hammersmith Big Issue vendor Dave Martin uses his giffgaff phone to take a contactless payment. Credit Andy Parsons
    Press Release

    Big Issue vendors set to earn close to half a million additional earnings by 2027 via giffgaff partnership

    Big Issue’s social investment arm reaching 1.8 million Brits through investees
    The Power Up London 2024 Cohort of Big Issue Investees.
    Big Issue Invest

    Big Issue’s social investment arm reaching 1.8 million Brits through investees

    New research shows over half of Brits feel more at risk of homelessness than last year
    Press Release

    New research shows over half of Brits feel more at risk of homelessness than last year

    Wrap up in style or put up on display: Artists including Opake and Harry Hill feature in Big Issue designer wrapping paper collection
    Press Release

    Wrap up in style or put up on display: Artists including Opake and Harry Hill feature in Big Issue designer wrapping paper collection

    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