Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Turning house music into homes: The James Hype special edition is out!
BUY magazine
News

There's snow stopping 'em! Vendors brave the Beast from the East

Snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures have battered Britain but our sellers remain on the streets working to lift themselves out of poverty

Jim Norwich snow

The Beast from the East may have brought Britain to a standstill – but it hasn’t stopped our Big Issue vendors.

Sellers across the country were faced with freezing temperatures and snowy conditions on pitches all week as they sold the magazine to work themselves out of poverty.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Despite the wintry blast, intrepid vendors remained on pitches throughout, spurred on by crucial support from regulars in these difficult conditions. The extreme weather was a harsh reminder that it is the most vulnerable who are hit hardest at difficult times.

Rough sleeping alerts app StreetLink demonstrated the harsh reality of life on the streets with record numbers of referrals as 3,600 people got in touch to report people sleeping on the streets – 2,032 in London – as the weather worsened between February 26 and 27.

While hundreds of schools and offices were closed, vendors do not have the luxury of working from home. Their job is tough at the best of times but their enterprising spirit was appreciated by people who shared messages across social media.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

The snow has also brought a flurry of goodwill with football clubs donating leftover food after cancelled matches while everywhere from churches and mosques to cafes and community centres across the country have opened their doors to offer rough sleepers crucial shelter from the cold.
If you can’t reach your local vendor then you can buy the magazine from the Big Issue Shop here.
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

READER-SUPPORTED SINCE 1991

Reader-supported journalism that doesn’t just report problems, it helps solve them.

Recommended for you

View all
Home Office halves time for new refugees to find a home in move 'guaranteed to increase homelessness'
a tent on the street
Homelessness

Home Office halves time for new refugees to find a home in move 'guaranteed to increase homelessness'

Labour's next round of benefit cuts risks hitting 600,000 disabled people
Prime minister Keir Starmer
Welfare

Labour's next round of benefit cuts risks hitting 600,000 disabled people

Nigel Farage's mass deportation plan would make life worse for every single Brit
Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage's mass deportation plan would make life worse for every single Brit

This charity converts shipping containers into homes for homeless people
Homelessness

This charity converts shipping containers into homes for homeless people

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payments: Where to get help in 2025 now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know