Sam Oates, Co-op, Mill Street, Bideford, Devon

Image: Exposure Photo Agency

I’ve been sober for a year and a half now and my life is so different. I’ve got a nice flat, I’m doing a lot of art, I go to the gym, I’m eating healthy food, I’m getting an allotment. But there’s still a long way to go. 

I need work on my teeth,which will be flipping expensive, and I’m trying to get my driving licence back. There are still hurdles, but I’m moving in the right direction. 

I wasn’t in a good place when I started selling Big Issue five years ago.I was addicted to drugs and drink. I had been since I was a child, really. I didn’t have a good childhood – I started drinking heavily and was an alcoholic by the time I was 16. I got into parties – and drink and drugs come with the territory. Back then, I was drinking 30 cans of beer a day. 

I was homeless for seven years before I started selling Big Issue. Then my life changed. I started earning some money and realised I didn’t want to be giving it all to drug dealers. I wanted to do something more positive with money I earned. 

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It all collided at once. I got really ill and nearly died, and I had the chance to get clean.I got so much support from Big Issue. It’s done wonders for me. And I’ve been getting stronger ever since. 

I have rebuilt my life. My friends helped me get a caravan a couple of years ago and the same people helped me get a flat last September. I’ve got a really nice place, with an art studio where I do lots of work. It was something I did before I became homeless. I loved it. But then I lost everything. 

Now I’m making vibrant street art. I’m influenced by Jean-Michel Basquiat. A friend took me to London for the first time, recently. When I was into drink and drugs, I never used to go anywhere.

At Moco gallery, they had brilliant people like Basquiat, Banksy, Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst. I started crying when I finally saw my favourite artist’s work in real life. 

I’ve set up a Facebook page for my work. I call myself samo – which is what Basquiat wrote on everything before he became a huge artist – because my name is Sam Oates. It’s a nice little wink to him. 

Big Issue has been great to me.I wouldn’t be in the position I am now without everyone there. I was so unmanageable. My life was ruled by addiction. I don’t think I’d be alive if it wasn’t for Big Issue. Sue from the Plymouth office has been with me the whole way. She gave me so much support when I was in hospital. 

I’ve lived near my pitch in Bideford my whole life.Hopefully seeing me go from so hopeless to full of life has been good for people. I was in such a bad way before I got sober. I adore this place. And I’m in the centre of it. I feel so lucky. 

Now I do Olympic platform weightlifting at the gym.I’ve got a cooker so I can make healthy food. I put flower beds in the shared garden at my flat, so it’ll be blooming soon. The allotment I’m getting with my friends has a shed, kettle, three water butts – in the old days, I’d have moved in! My dog, Demi, who’s a legend around here, will come down there too, probably with her best friend, Mavis. I can’t wait to get started.

I’d love to carry on working with Big Issue.I don’t know about long-term aspirations, but I love what I do and I love this community. I want to keep doing my art.

I’ve got clean, I’ve got healthy, I’ve got a place to live and good things happening.I’ve sorted my whole life out. None of it would have happened without Big Issue.

Interview: Adrian Lobb

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Co-op Food - Bideford - Mill Street, Mill Street, Bideford, UK