Andy Sanguy, Tesco, Queens Road, Brighton

Image: Juliette Pedram

Originally, I started on Big Issue probably about 10 years ago. I moved over from Jersey with my ex-partner. When we came down to Brighton, Big Issue was there to help us earn money without having to sit on the floor and beg. So we were able to keep our work ethic going and feel a little bit useful.

I’ve managed to get a couple of part-time jobs here and there. Not all of them have panned out. My last one was a kitchen assistant at a pub in Brighton for six years. I started off as a kitchen porter and then I used my skills. I was doing a lot of prep work and, unfortunately, we got a new manager and me and his second-in-command didn’t get on too well. It was better to walk away. 

I’m a sufferer of ADHD and I’m very high on routine. So for six years, I managed to get into a routine: get up, go to work, sort this out, do that. And then to go from having a routine to having absolutely nothing, that hits you a lot emotionally.

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Standing here, I do find a lot of people generally do care. I’ve always said to people, if I’m having a bad day, it’s great that you buy a magazine.

But what helps me out more is when you walk past and you actually acknowledge my existence. Acknowledge that I’m making an effort. Because if you’re standing here trying to make the effort, people seem to think that you’re a lot better off because you’re standing. Well no, it’s because we don’t want to sit on the floor, we don’t want to lose our work ethic. When I lost my job I felt like a general failure. I don’t know if that’s my ADHD, but I just can’t sit around and do nothing. 

With Big Issue, I buy and sell the magazines, so we keep our pride. I would rather stand here wearing a tabard, making an effort and trying than sitting down and giving up. From day one, the Big Issue office and the team have been a great support. When I started, my dog broke my phone so I had to borrow a friend’s phone. I spoke to Becky in the office about it and I literally wasn’t expecting anything. She said that Big Issue could actually help me by getting me a phone. That’s one less stressful thing for me to worry about. 

I live in a bedsit. I’m working with St Mungo’s as we’ve been trying to move because the place is very damp, mouldy, and they’ve only just recently started looking into it because of the new law [Renters’ Rights Act] starting to come in. I’ve been coughing as I’ve got a severe chest infection which the doctor says is due to dampness on the lungs. I was a lot healthier when I was living in my tent!

What keeps me going on a rough day? I’ve had my dog Lucky Charm (left) about a year now. She belonged to a friend who ended up moving to America so I took her on. And I’d be lost without her. She absolutely completes me.

When I’m having a bad day, Charm seems to know. And she is one of the best cuddle dogs you’ll ever meet. If I’m having a bad day, I always look at her and I just think to myself if I don’t earn money, you don’t eat. Her happiness makes me happy.

Interview: Juliette Pedram

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Tesco Express, Queens Road, Brighton and Hove, Brighton, UK