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

I was a Big Issue vendor and now I'm a Gogglebox star

Sandra Martin believes she was able to turn her life around thanks to The Big Issue. She has since found fame on Gogglebox.

Only four years before Sandra Martin found fame on Gogglebox, she was selling The Big Issue. She lost her home after a stint in jail and struggled with alcohol abuse.

“One day, I saw someone with a copy of The Big Issue in the hostel,” she says. “I wanted an opportunity to get out there and do something positive instead of drinking, drinking, drinking.

“That was the start of my luck turning around. Suddenly lots of good things started happening. I think The Big Issue brought me good luck. Because of The Big Issue I was able to change my life around. It really feels like that.”

@sandragogglebox

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Do you know how Big Issue 'really' works?

Watch this simple explanation.

Recommended for you

View all
Revealed: One in every 21 people sentenced over 2024 riots was experiencing homelessness
Anti-immigration protesters confront riot police in Manchester in 2024 riots
Homelessness

Revealed: One in every 21 people sentenced over 2024 riots was experiencing homelessness

How social media is changing politics: 'I slid into his DMs and told him not to balls this up'
Andy Burnham, Nigel Farage and Keir Starmer
Politics

How social media is changing politics: 'I slid into his DMs and told him not to balls this up'

In the occupied West Bank, a child is killed every week. When did that become acceptable?
UNICEF UK CEO Dr Philip Goodwin visited the community of Um El Kheir Village south of the WB with UNICEF State of Palestine, meeting children and hearing about the challenges they face
Dr Philip Goodwin

In the occupied West Bank, a child is killed every week. When did that become acceptable?

If food prices had risen like rents since 1988, a block of cheese would cost £20
A grocery shop
food

If food prices had risen like rents since 1988, a block of cheese would cost £20