Victor Grancea, Euston Square station, Central London: ‘Big Issue changes your life’

Big Issue vendor Victor Grancea sold the special 10Foot edition of the magazine – including limited-edition signed copies – outside the Museum of Homelessness in June. 

The museum in Finsbury Park, London, has launched an exhibition tracing 400 years of homelessness criminalisation. It features 10Foot’s first-ever sculpture: a skip made from steel. 

Victor took two days away from his usual pitch at Euston Square on 18 and 19 June to sell the magazine outside the museum to exhibition-goers. 

“It was very nice. Good business. Lovely people. They asked me if I needed food or drink. There was coffee, tea, but I only had the cold drinks because it was very hot. They were very kind with me,” Victor says. 

Victor says his usual customer base is commuters.  “With my pitch, a lot of people are always running. They don’t have time to stop. They’re going to work,” Victor explains. 

But at the Museum of Homelessness, “everyone had time to chat, to stop”. 

Victor sells Big Issue every day, except for Sundays. “I’m very busy,” he says. “It’s a long day, but I have patience. A lot of people stop. They ask questions, so it’s fine.” 

Victor says that he is grateful for Big Issue. “For me, Big Issue is love. It is family. I like people, having a chat with people. And I make money as well. 

“It’s very nice because a lot of people sometimes stay with me, not to buy magazines, but they ask me about my life. 

“Some people who know me, if they have any problems, they come to share with me, or when they are happy, they share that with me as well. 

“Before the pandemic, everyone gave a hug in the morning! It’s changed because of Covid and people changing jobs.” 

Victor has been selling Big Issue for almost a decade. 

“When I started selling, my English was very bad. I tried to talk to people. I was learning. 

“I like to be kind to people, to listen to everyone. In the street, you can’t find any bad people,”
he adds. 

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“I try to smile. I try to be happy, to give my positive energy to people.” 

Beyond selling the magazine, Victor says he has “too many hobbies” to mention. But Big Issue has his heart. 

“Big Issue changes the lives of people. Big Issue is health… If you start selling Big Issue, you change your life,” he says. 

“Some people aren’t very friendly before they start selling the magazine. But if they start selling, they make money, people stop to talk with them, they change. But they need time. They need time and patience.”

Interview: Isabella McRae. Main photo: Frankie Stone

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Euston Square Station, London, UK