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

GIVE A GIFT THAT CHANGES A VENDOR'S LIFE THIS WINTER 🎁

For £36.99, help a vendor stay warm, earn an extra £520, and build a better future.
Grant, vendor

Recommended for you

View all
Grok is flooding X with sexualised images. But can the UK fight AI-generated abuse?
Artificial intelligence

Grok is flooding X with sexualised images. But can the UK fight AI-generated abuse?

Meet the people volunteering in Ukraine amid a life of war and air strikes: 'All of society is mobilised'
Ukraine

Meet the people volunteering in Ukraine amid a life of war and air strikes: 'All of society is mobilised'

The world may be giving up on solving conflicts, warns Doctors Without Borders boss
Humanitarian aid

The world may be giving up on solving conflicts, warns Doctors Without Borders boss

Homelessness facts and statistics: The numbers you need to know in 2026
Homelessness

Homelessness facts and statistics: The numbers you need to know in 2026