Cristian, Waitrose, Morningside, Edinburgh

Image: Exposure Photo Agency

I’m doing alright at the moment. I’ve been on my pitch here for seven years. Waitrose forever ha ha! I have been selling the magazine for more than 11 years: I started in Edinburgh city centre, did four years in Livingston and seven years outside Waitrose.

Sometimes it’s OK selling the magazine on my pitch but sometimes it’s a nightmare because of the beggars here. I had one person there for a couple of weeks and he was pushing me off my pitch saying that it was his place to beg. I said that he was wrong to push me because it’s not his place, it’s free for everybody. I do think that begging has got worse over time and the people begging here are not doing anything to build good relations. Big Issue helps me when there is a problem with the beggars. 

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If you respect people, they respect you as well so there’s no drama. I have many regular customers because it is a very popular area here and people are very nice, very kind and very helpful. The staff at Waitrose, the manager and everybody, treat me well because I am a good person and don’t do anything bad over there. Sometimes when I have finished selling the magazine I do my shopping there. Everybody knows me. I just want to say thank you to everybody who has supported me. They take care of me and I respect them very much.

I am looking forward to Christmas. I love it because it is very busy! People are more generous when it gets to the cold weather. I always try to keep warm and last week I went to buy some clothes for cold weather. I got everything: jacket, gloves, hat, a Thermos.

I enjoy selling the magazine. You make friends, you talk with people, you get some information, you explore everything in the world speaking on your pitch. Like I said, it’s all about respect and if you have the right temperament.

I use a wheelchair and I get to my pitch on the bus. Half an hour to and from my home is alright. I am in a wheelchair because, when I was born, the nurse dropped me on the floor and broke my spine. I can’t walk – half of my body doesn’t allow me to walk. I use a catheter and sometimes I take pills for spasms in my muscles. But it’s alright, I am still alive!

If I didn’t have Big Issue in my life I would be struggling because I am a person who likes to make more friends and have a chat. I am not a person to stay locked inside. I like to have conversations: it helps me with my mental health. Big Issue gives me the tool to speak to people. 

I’d like to stay where I am now because I don’t know what will happen in the future. My health condition will get worse as I get older. I will see in the future what happens. I try to live each day the best I can. 

I’ve been to London twice with Big Issue, visiting the House of Lords as a guest of Lord Bird. I enjoyed it. I would like, in the future, to do an experiment where I sell Big Issue in London but it is very hard because accommodation is really expensive. I would like to see how it works there. 

Waitrose & Partners, Morningside Road, Edinburgh, UK