David Sinclair, Tesco Extra, South Road, Dundee
David is hoping to get a car this year so that he can take his mum shopping and visit his kids
I really want to get my story out there. I actually started selling Big Issue quite a number of years ago. But I lost interest in it. I’m a recovering drug addict and I’ve been off drugs for nearly two years now. I was just sitting about in the house all the time and so I was just wanting to do something with my time rather than sitting about.
I came back to Big Issue about eight or nine weeks ago, just before Christmas. I’ve now got my spot at Tesco on South Road in Dundee and I absolutely love it. I just like meeting new people all the time and it keeps me from thinking about going down the bad route. I don’t say “Big Issue!” or anything like that. I just try to engage people in conversation. Like: “Hi, ma’am” or “Hi, sir.”
Then there’s all the staff in Tesco. They’re all friendly and so are all the customers as well.So lovely and welcoming. They buy me food all the time and there are a couple of staff members who have bought Big Issue too. I think it’s the perfect spot. I’m just at the bottom of the travelator and I stand near the door leading to the car park. So I’m actually quite warm in there.
I really just want to say thank you to all my customers for all their welcoming and all their very good comments.When I speak to them, they’re always friendly. Every single one of them.
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The reason I got back into drugs was because I came out of a 22-year relationship after my partner cheated on me while I was working.As soon as I came back to Dundee I just went right downhill. All that I knew was going back to that.
It really is so, so hard to get off drugs. But I have been away from drugs for two years and the reason for me was because I was baptised. I go to church so it’s really God that’s brought me away from it. I’ve managed to do it in the community and I’ve been given loads of praise for it. You need to change everything. You need to change who you’re going about with, where you’re going, who you’re speaking to, who you see. And then you get success.
I love going to church and meeting the minister and people there and I also love communicating with God too. There’s also a recovery group there, it’s called Road to Recovery and run by the Bethany Christian Trust. I volunteer at the community cafe at the church on a Wednesday. It’s free for people that have got addictions and they come in and get a coffee and we can feed them. I also volunteer for Ace Community Events. It’s a community- based thing that does events at Christmas, Easter and in the summer.
My goal for 2026 is just to keep going the way I’m going, obviously, but come the end of the year, I want to try and see if I can get my own car. I’ve already got a licence but because of my drug use I had to give it up. I’m just trying to get off my prescription now in August, that’s my goal. Then I can get my licence. I wasn’t banned. They just revoked it and told me I need to be stable for a period of 12 months.
A car would mean my life could be so much better. It would mean I could take my mum shopping and see my kids because they live in a different town. It really would mean a lot to me.
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Tesco Extra, South Road, Dundee, UK