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

Much-loved Big Issue vendor Paul Kelly remembered in Scottish parliament

Tributes have poured in for the 50-year-old since he was found dead on June 15, including from MSP Monica Lennon

Paul Kelly

Popular Big Issue vendor Paul Kelly has been remembered in Scottish parliament following his tragic death.

The 50-year-old was found dead outside his home in the Knightswood area of Glasgow on Saturday June 15 following violent attack.

Since the tragic news broke, The Big Issue has been inundated with tributes from his regular customers and everyone he touched with his ‘Don’t be shy, give it a try. I don’t buy’ catchphrase on his pitch outside Sainsbury’s on Buchanan Street in Glasgow.

The Big Issue has put Paul on the cover of this week’s Scottish edition of The Big Issue in tribute with editor Paul McNamee writing in memory of the veteran vendor that: “It just feels odd and it feels sad and a little darker that Paul Kelly isn’t in this world”.

And Paul’s reach has even been felt in the Scottish parliament too, where MSP Monica Lennon tabled a motion for politicians to remember him on June 19.

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

She put forward: “That Parliament pays tribute to Paul Kelly, who was well known and loved in Glasgow and East Kilbride as a friendly and valued member of The Big Issue team… welcomes the fond tributes pouring in from members of the public who knew Paul from his Buchanan Street Sainsbury’s pitch and Marks & Spencer and St Leonards Square in East Kilbride, remembering him as kind, polite, friendly, and for his good banter.”

Lennon also noted that a book of condolence was opened at St Leonards Square on June 23.

A memorial vigil will be held for Paul on his pitch outside Sainsbury’s on Buchanan Street in Glasgow at noon today.

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
What is the two-child benefit limit and how does it impact families?
three children/ two-child benefit cap
Benefits

What is the two-child benefit limit and how does it impact families?

From translators to masseuses: Meet the workers most and least at risk of being replaced by AI
ChatGPT
Artificial intelligence

From translators to masseuses: Meet the workers most and least at risk of being replaced by AI

Should stamp duty be scrapped?
Kemi Badenoch
Stamp duty

Should stamp duty be scrapped?

Yo-yo Homes 'indefensible' and highlight broken system, MPs say after Big Issue's Right to Buy exposé
housing secretary Steve Reed with a red line over his face next to a block of flats
Right to Buy

Yo-yo Homes 'indefensible' and highlight broken system, MPs say after Big Issue's Right to Buy exposé