Milest0ne
I will only buy The Big Issue because the young man selling it outside at our local supermarket is polite and friendly and not pushy. I have not found much of interest in it but it does make good fire lighters. Win, win.
I no longer buy the Big Issue in my local town. For the last 30 years the pitch has been occupied by three different members of the same family.
I think they are Roumanian, but I am not sure. When we first moved here, the father worked the pitch and when after about 5 years he became ill, his son took over. For the last 10-15 years the son's wife has operated it.
I thought the idea of the Big Issue was to help people who had fallen into homelessness and difficulties to build their life again, and I am all for that including refugees, but this family seem to have made a family business of it, so when I can I avoid the current holder.
I do buy the Big Issue elsewhere, and yes, its content is pretty feeble.