Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
SPECIAL PRICE: Just £9.99 for your next 8 magazines
Subscribe today
Housing

Big Issue man raises cash for rough sleepers in need of clothes

Popular vendor in Exeter raises money to help people struggling with homelessness on the streets

Popular Big Issue vendor Andrew McGarry has donated £100-worth of socks and underwear to help people sleeping on the streets of Exeter.

Andrew, who sells the magazine near Cathedral Green in the Devon city, recently found accommodation.

But he did spend around six months sleeping rough, and wanted to donate his earnings to the St Petrock’s centre, a charity for homeless people, to provide vital clothing for those without a roof over the heads.

“Once you’ve been homeless yourself you know that it’s important to have support and a lifeline you can lean on,” said the 50-year-old. “I thought it was about time I gave a little back to people who also may be in need.”

The big-hearted vendor has undertaken fundraising and charitable drives in the city before.

In 2015 Andrew used trolleys borrowed from the Co-op to collect lots of tents, sleeping bags and warm clothes, before donating the gear to a church in Towcester where homeless people could collect the items.

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

The same year he organised a jumble sale, barn dance and concert, raising over £800 for local charities.

Gill Luckings of the St Petrock’s centre in Exeter said: “Andrew is a great ambassador for the way the homeless people can turn their life around.

“The local community send in lots of different donations which we are extremely grateful for but we also need cash.

“It’s the local community who offer the opportunity for us to be able to meet our fundraising needs.”

Big Issue vendors are back!

It’s not just the shops that are opening again. From Monday 12th April onwards,  Big Issue vendors are back in business, with a big smile and a stack of magazines. Buy from your local vendor today!

Find out more
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
Homelessness facts and statistics: The numbers you need to know in 2025
Homelessness

Homelessness facts and statistics: The numbers you need to know in 2025

Rents in UK are at record highs. Will they keep going up?
rents uk
Renting

Rents in UK are at record highs. Will they keep going up?

Giving homeless people stable housing could save taxpayer £200m a year – if Labour wants to
a homeless person sleeping rough in a doorway
ROUGH SLEEPING

Giving homeless people stable housing could save taxpayer £200m a year – if Labour wants to

Homelessness system in Scotland 'at breaking point' as rough sleeping surges
a person experiencing homelessness on the street
Homelessness

Homelessness system in Scotland 'at breaking point' as rough sleeping surges

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

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue

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

Every day, Big Issue digs deeper – speaking up for those society overlooks. Will you help us keep doing this work?