David, 42, Whiteladies Road, Bristol

She’s a lovely lady – beautiful, good morals – with a wonderful family. I went [to the Philippines to meet her] last year and we hit it off immediately. It took courage to travel 6,500 miles, but I knew in my heart it would work and now we’re engaged. I last saw her on February 23. It’s been hard, but selling The Big Issue has really helped.

I’m hoping to get The Big Issue started up in the Philippines. There’s so much poverty there, and nothing in the middle – you’re either rich or poor, people try to earn a dollar a day to feed their families. I’ve found people who are rich walk around with a sad face; people in poverty are smiling. I suppose they respect the fact that if they’ve food on their plate, that’s enough.

I was born in Luton and grew up on quite a rough estate in Fulham. I was in the paper at seven because I opened the front door and got a brick in my head. I don’t want to talk about the bad things because they’re past, and there’s always someone having it harder.

I’ve got a lovely dad called Fred, a lovely sister Katie in Wales, and two lovely kids in Italy. The marriage didn’t work out, unfortunately, but that’s part of life.

I have a place to live in Bristol, but I hit financial hard times. I suffered with depression. Anti-depressants made me worse, so I came to the office and got badged up. Also, since I found faith in God in 2005, my life has changed. I’m so grateful to my customers.

They’re a lovely bunch. I’m quiet, not in your face – if you want to buy one, speak to me. My pitch is outside the Co-op near the top of Whiteladies Road. They say I’m part of the team and have given me a couple of job offers.

I found out before my nan died that my great-grandfather had written a book of poetry. I’d started writing but self-doubt kicked in. Then I read his and it inspired me. I’ve now written around 500 poems. Probably 450 have gone to the Philippines. It’s all about love for me.

I’m gonna dress up as the devil in a minute. Some days I feel invisible, but I found a Spider-Man mask in the street, put it on and everyone was stopping. Time to dress!

David was talking to Julian Owen