Meet Ian, our Balham Big Issue Seller

I had the pleasure of running into Ian, Balham's Big Issue Vendor who works a couple of spots either outside As Nature Intended or Barclays Bank.

Today he's experimenting with the new red tabbards which give the sellers a sense of being 'official' but also makes them stand out during busy times. To be honest, it was the tabbard that got my attention in the first place, so I think it'll be a good purchase for him.  Ian felt it was a shame though that the only sponsors the Big Issue could find for these tabbards were a brand of wine.  Ian explained that the sellers are often stereotyped as having issues with drink and this 'branding' surely doesn't help.

Ian story is a great one.  Following the demise of a relationship in the late 80's, he spent many years alternating between living in hostels or sleeping rough.  For a while he lived at the infamous Bull Ring in Waterloo and was one of the last 16 to be booted out by an army of about 300 cops. And yet since then his determined attitude has seen him living securely in a hostel in West Norwood for the past 5 years, with his much loved dog, Pennie.  He's saved up, despite not being able to get a bank account yet, and bought a refurbished  computer and regularly updates us all with his rye tweets.  Some of you locals who are on Twitter, may know him already as @vendazero.  Ian has  been nominated by the Hostel to be one of four people who've got a chance to be rehoused in a Lambeth flat, if he's selected.  That would be a fantastic chance for Ian to continue to rebuild his life and get him the bank account he needs to get utilities and services at the same price the rest of us do, rather than having to use expensive 'keys' for gas and electricity or set up direct debits.

Ian buys all the Big Issues from their Vauxhall HQ for 85p and resells them for £1.70.  He's making a whopping 95p per copy.  If you've got a spare minute, stop by and have a chat and even buy a copy of the Big Issue off him.  He's working as hard as the rest of us.