Advertisement
Share your view on the Big Issue and you could win £100 of John Lewis vouchers
Have Your Say
News

Customers raise thousands of pounds to pay for funeral of much-loved Big Issue seller

There has been an outpouring of emotion ever since popular Oxford seller Lionel Hegarty died on June 7 at the age of 78.

Big Issue vendor Lionel Hegarty

Big Issue vendor Lionel Hegarty, pictured in September 2021, was much-loved in Botley where he sold the magazine. Image: Michelle Scotland

The customers of much-loved Big Issue vendor Lionel Hegarty have raised thousands of pounds to pay for his funeral after he died earlier this month.

The 78 year old, who sold the magazine outside the Co-op in Botley, Oxford, died on the morning of June 7 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. He had spent the last three weeks of his life in Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital after suffering a stroke.

The popular seller had become a beloved member of the local community after years on the same patch. But with no family, Hegarty was facing the prospect of a pauper’s funeral until his customers raised almost £4,500 to give him a fitting send-off.

Hegarty’s funeral will be held on July 4 at Botley Baptist Church from 11am.

One of his customers, Megan Antell started the fundraiser. She said: “Many people had been to visit him in hospital over the past few weeks so he knew how loved was and was in high spirits to the very end. 

“Unfortunately as it stands he has no next of kin and. therefore, no one to help pay for his funeral. The last thing any of us want is for him to have a pauper’s funeral.”

Advertisement
Advertisement

Simon Smith, a sales development worker for The Big Issue in Oxford, said Lionel was always active in Big Issue events and became well-known in Botley.

“Lionel was a well loved and respected Big Issue vendor in Oxford, known for his warmth and kindness to the public, regulars, other vendors, and staff alike,” said Smith.

“He was a keen supporter of The Big Issue and the plight of the homeless. His endeavours have included his completion of sponsored Night Walks across London, an after-show talk at a local theatre and, in his seventies, he played his goal-saving part in a football tournament, representing Big Issue vendors.”

Layla Moran, the MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, also paid tribute to the late vendor. She said: “I was really sad to hear that long time Botley Big Issue seller Lionel Hegarty passed away. He was often outside the Coop. I used to buy him a coke and custard creams as he loved them.”

Hegarty started selling The Big Issue around 2009 and was one of the country’s oldest vendors when he died. He told The Big Issue in a 2018 interview that he had been sleeping rough for four years when he started selling the magazine.

Hegarty went on to live in homeless accommodation Matilda House while continuing to sell the magazine.

Advertisement
Article continues below

Current vacancies...

Search jobs

Hegarty last appeared in the magazine last September as part of a special edition of the magazine written completely by Big Issue vendors.

He submitted a poem as part of the magazine. It read: 

I am a happy Big Issue man

I love going to work when I smile to all of the public

That makes me happy

I love what I am doing so much

Advertisement

I am a cheerful man at all times

I’m glad to be a Big Issue seller

My Pitch is Botley Westway

This is me on my pitch

Happy days are here again

Here to stay

Advertisement
Advertisement

Never miss an issue

Take advantage of our special New Year subscription offer. Subscribe from just £9.99 and never miss an issue.

Recommended for you

View all
Awaab's Law is finally coming into force in October – but some hazards won't be covered until 2027
Rochdale toddler Awaab Ishak died due to damp and mould in his social housing flat
Awaab's Law

Awaab's Law is finally coming into force in October – but some hazards won't be covered until 2027

It's been a decade since UK inflation fell to 0%. Here's why that's 'actually quite a bad thing'
Images of George Osborne and Rachel Reeves holding the budget box. Images: Flickr/ HM Treasury
Inflation

It's been a decade since UK inflation fell to 0%. Here's why that's 'actually quite a bad thing'

Labour says new energy efficiency rules for landlords will save renters £240 a year on bills
Environment secretary Ed Miliband
Energy bills

Labour says new energy efficiency rules for landlords will save renters £240 a year on bills

Social housing waiting lists to soar to two million people in 10 years, report finds
Row of terraced houses with cars on the road in front
Social housing

Social housing waiting lists to soar to two million people in 10 years, report finds

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 payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help 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