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

Support the Big Issue

For over 30 years, the Big Issue has been committed to ending poverty in the UK. In 2024, our work is needed more than ever. Find out how you can support the Big Issue today.
Vendor martin Hawes

Recommended for you

View all
Sunak's call to end 'sick note culture' and reform benefits is 'demonising' disabled and sick people
Rishi Sunak during his speech on the UK's 'sick note culture'
Benefits

Sunak's call to end 'sick note culture' and reform benefits is 'demonising' disabled and sick people

Back to Black actor Eddie Marsan: 'There aren't any no-go areas in Tower Hamlets'
London

Back to Black actor Eddie Marsan: 'There aren't any no-go areas in Tower Hamlets'

Mark Menzies scandal: How Tory sleaze may shape next UK general election as Sunak's party plummets
Mark Menzies
Politics

Mark Menzies scandal: How Tory sleaze may shape next UK general election as Sunak's party plummets

'It's a choice between dinner and devices': Millions of children held back by digital poverty
digital inequality/ child with device
Exclusive

'It's a choice between dinner and devices': Millions of children held back by digital poverty

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