Frank McGucken, Tiffany & Co, Sloane St, London: ‘Nowhere is safe in Ukraine. We worry a lot’

I’ve been selling the magazine nearly the whole time the Issue has been going. I had the number two badge. My favourite part is meeting different people on the street, hearing different stories. People always turn around and tell you stories about their own life, their ups and downs.

My first pitch was Cambridge, many years ago. After that I started selling in Chelsea. It’s posh, but you meet the rich, the middle class, and the poor. They all come through. And some celebrities. The best one that sticks out in my mind was Jack Nicholson. He was a cool, calm and collected character, and very nice towards me. I used to [sell to] Princess Diana. I served her a few times. She used to come to me quite a lot, Lady Di. She was wonderful. Very passionate around homelessness. She had a big heart. She was one of the best people I’ve ever met. 

I came over from Belfast when I was young. I got the ferry to Liverpool, then the train to Euston. I thought I was in New York! Everything was so busy – a lot of activity going on. A lot of big buildings. I go back to Belfast now and again, I do miss it. But London is my home now. I live between Chelsea and Battersea with my wife. She’s a trauma nurse, and has worked in the trauma unit at the Royal London Hospital for nearly 30 years. Keeping people alive every day of the week. We met when I was in hospital, when I broke my neck some years ago. 

My wife is Ukrainian. I go out there quite a lot because her mother is there, in a city called Lutsk. Nowhere is safe in Ukraine, we worry a lot. Every time I go I see soldiers on the street with no arms, no legs, begging. I would like more money to go to the soldiers who went through the trauma side of war. I would like for them to be looked after a bit better. If you saw it, you’d think what is going on, what’s happening to these poor soldiers? It gets very, very cold in winter. 

A lot of people don’t realise people have to buy the magazine before they sell it. It’s a little business, it gives me a purpose to get up every morning. It gives you good foundations to build relationships up with members of the public. If I wasn’t doing Big Issue, I don’t know if I’d be alive or dead.

I’d like to mention Holy Trinity Primary School in Sloane Square – they do good work to support single mothers and underprivileged children every year at Christmas. I would like to thank the Big Issue for all the good opportunities I’ve had through selling the paper. I’d like to thank all my regular customers, all the public, for the support through the years, and all the great conversations we’ve had. And for the goodness in their hearts. 

Interview: Lottie Elton; Image: Louise Haywood-Schiefer

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Tiffany & Co., Sloane Street, London, UK