About Me

I was born into poverty, brought up in care, and have lived through a lot. My life’s journey has included spells as a thief, prison inmate, artist and poet.

I launched The Big Issue  back in 1991 with the help of  Gordon Roddick in response to the growing number of rough sleepers on the streets of London. Together we believed that the key to solving the problem of homelessness lay in helping people to help themselves, and were therefore determined to offer a legitimate alternative to begging. Now in 2011 we are celebrating 20 years of The Big Issue, 20 years of giving thousands of homeless people the tools to help themselves.

More to come….