Robin Price, Co-op, Pembrokeshire: ‘It’s the longest job I’ve ever had. Without it, I’d be dead’

I’ve been selling the magazine in Pembrokeshire now for about two years. I was just travelling and settled down here really. It’s not too bad: people are friendly, I’ve got a nice rapport with the customers. 

I’ve got a few people where I post the magazine through their letterboxes because they prefer it that way. So they get special treatment of getting it delivered at home instead of coming out to see me and then when I see them out on the street through the week they just give me the money for it. It’s very nice and quiet down here. I can actually speak to people instead of just being rushed off my feet all the time.  

Before I was in Pembrokeshire, I was in Weston-super-Mare for about 11 years. There were lovely people at the Big Issue office in Bristol. They helped me out tremendously. I went through training to help other vendors, so that was pretty cool. I got made a franchisee.  

I am still into trains. I still go out to see them. I pop up to Cardiff, I’ll go over to Bristol. It’s freedom for me. It’s escapism. My old man used to work on the railway so I’ve always been brought up with it. If I ever get mental health issues, being at the railway actually snaps me out of it. It brings me back. It’s one of my safest places to go to. I always say wherever I see a railway line, my dad’s still alive somewhere. He passed away two years ago now, but he’s still alive wherever I see the railway. 

It’s been terrible managing in the heat. But I’ve just come back from a canal boat holiday. We went along the Kennet and Avon Canal from Bradford-on-Avon into Bristol and then back to Devizes and then back to Bradford-on-Avon again. When you got away from the river and it was just the canal, my phone said it was touching like 35°C. So yeah, it was pretty hot. I would like to live on a canal boat but, for me personally, not knowing anything about mechanical engineering or if the engine goes down or if that boat sinks you haven’t just lost a boat, you’ve lost your home. But it was absolutely beautiful, especially at night. There’s no light pollution so you can see the stars, you can see the moon. I’d even go as far as to say it’s magical. 

It’s very, very important to have that interaction with customers. I like to speak to people. At the end of the day, some of us are not just Big Issue sellers, sometimes we’re actually listeners for other people. Sometimes it’s easier to speak to a stranger than one of your friends or one of your family. I don’t mind it. I don’t ever repeat what people say to me. I just try and give them the best advice that I can give them from my experience. And we’ll see how we go from there, basically. If they come back next week happy and get a magazine, I know I’ve done something right. 

Big Issue saved my life and I feel like I’m giving something back to them now. I’ve done quite a lot of work for Big Issue. It’s been tremendous to me over the years. Without them, I would be dead by now. 

I started doing this in 1997. It’s the longest job I’ve ever had. I just love doing it. Even in the pissing-down rain or in the snow, it gets me out of the house. It gets me interacting with people and it gets me doing something. And if you make a couple of quid along the way, it’s a bonus, isn’t it? 

Interview: Liam Geraghty

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