Plymouth's favourite Big Issue seller opens up

Big Issue vendor Paul Squires talkdl about his ‘pitch’ and what The Big Issue means to him.

Paul always tries to do one good thing every day, be that listening to his customer’s problems or helping the elderly across the road with their shopping.

Find out this and more in this week’s Big Issue My Pitch interview.

Paul sells outside Drake Circus Shopping Centre from about 9am every single day and this week was his turn to tell people a little bit about his life and wish Plymouth’s Sales and Outreach worker, Susan Owen, back to health. 

“If it wasn’t for The Big Issue, I’d still live in a tent” explains Paul.

The Big Issue has helped him learn how  to manage his money and also lets him treat his children when he takes them out. He’s currently trying to save up enough money for a flat so he can keep his dog Eric with him, rather than leaving him at a friend’s house.

The Big Issue is a weekly news and entertainment magazine, sold across Britain by the homeless and  vulnerably housed.

Also featured in this week’s magazine is Rick Clement. While serving in Afghanistan Rick was cut in half by an IED. He lost everything below the waist and died twice as doctors fought to save him.

Last year the magazine featured his portrait (in a photo taken by rock legend Bryan Adams) as the cover for their Remembrance Sunday edition. In May that cover was named PPA British magazine cover of the year.

The Big Issue has followed Rick since last year as he, against all odds, has worked to walk again. The prosthetics built for him are astounding. He’s aiming to use them to walk during Remembrance Sunday commemorations to remember his fallen comrades.

Find out more about the Big Issue here: www.bigissue.com