Activism

Vendor Mark Richards is ready for your subscriptions

You can still support vendors even if you can't get to them on their pitches. Mark processes the physical magazine subscriptions as well as selling the magazine. We also have digital alternatives available. For more information head to bigissue.com/subscribe

Measures to suppress the coronavirus are going to have a huge impact on Big Issue vendors.

That’s why Big Issue editor Paul McNamee put out a rallying cry in this week’s Big Issue for readers to “stay with us in these tough times” and outlined ways you can get a copy of the magazine even if you can’t get to your regular vendor.

Cardiff seller Mark Richards plays a leading role in making that possible. As well as selling the magazine on his Park Place pitch, the 44-year-old works in our sales and distribution office in the Welsh capital on a Monday sorting out all the subscriptions for across the UK and beyond.

Mark spends six hours putting the brand-new magazines in envelopes and personally signing each one before sending them out to readers.

It’s a job he has valued for five years, he told The Big Issue, and Mark is ready to react to increased demand if customers need to switch to a subscription to support vendors in the weeks ahead.

“Every Monday I come into the office from 8:30 until 2:30 and I open up the magazines and see where they need to go, whether it’s Wales, England or Scotland,” said Mark. “I enjoy doing the subscriptions. It gives me something to do rather than sitting around being bored and it is an income for me. I’d prefer to be busy rather than sitting around doing nothing.

“I’m definitely ready to manage more subscriptions – I already do 650.”

Mark has already noticed the impact that the coronavirus has had on footfall in Cardiff.

Vendors like Mark rely on the support of committed readers buying the magazine on the streets but with people staying away while the coronavirus continues to spread, sellers face a battle to maintain their income.

“Saturday was dead in Cardiff because everything had been cancelled due to what has been going on,” said Mark. “But you can have good days and bad days – it is hard work but I do put the effort in. I’m always the first one in and the last one going home in all sorts of weather.

“With this virus going around at the moment, people come past me and I say “good morning, would you like to buy a Big Issue” and I get told that “I don’t carry cash” so I’ve gone over to contactless. It’s a lot easier because not a lot of people carry cash nowadays.”

What can you do to support vendors?

The Big Issue is working on a number of solutions to support vendors during these trying times. As well as the physical magazine subscriptions handled by Mark, there are also several digital alternatives while the magazine is also available from The Big Issue Shop.

As Paul McNamee puts it in his column: “You will no doubt ask how these purchases will help vendors, particularly in the short term as they struggle with severely diminished income.

“We are committed to supporting our vendors throughout this time. That may involve direct financial support from a central pot. It will certainly involve referrals to partner organisations able to help. This, like much around coronavirus, is developing.”

To subscribe to The Big Issue magazine, head to bigissue.com/subscribe.

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
This man let 12 strangers give £100,000 of his money away. Governments should follow suit
Philanthropy

This man let 12 strangers give £100,000 of his money away. Governments should follow suit

Housing estate plagued by mould, damp and dire conditions. Now, residents are fighting back
tower hamlets
Housing

Housing estate plagued by mould, damp and dire conditions. Now, residents are fighting back

'He's like a caged animal in the flat': Meet the parents fighting for an adult social care revolution
Parents and children take part in a sensory parachute exercise at Linden Farm
Social care

'He's like a caged animal in the flat': Meet the parents fighting for an adult social care revolution

Big Issue founder John Bird celebrates vendors at House of Lords – and vows to help end destitution
National Vendor Week

Big Issue founder John Bird celebrates vendors at House of Lords – and vows to help end destitution

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

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Here's when UK households to start receiving last cost of living payments

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