{"id":210911,"date":"2026-04-27T08:25:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T08:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/210911\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T08:25:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T08:25:34","slug":"andy-sanguy-tesco-queens-road-brighton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/210911\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Sanguy, Tesco, Queens Road, Brighton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Image: Juliette Pedram<\/p>\n

Originally, I started on Big Issue probably about 10 years ago. I moved over from Jersey with my ex-partner. When we came down to Brighton, Big Issue was there to help us earn money without having to sit on the floor and beg. So we were able to keep our work ethic going and feel a little bit useful.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve managed to get a couple of part-time jobs here and there. Not all of them have panned out. My last one was a kitchen assistant at a pub in Brighton for six years. I started off as a kitchen porter and then I used my skills. I was doing a lot of prep work and, unfortunately, we got a new manager and me and his second-in-command didn\u2019t get on too well. It was better to walk away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a sufferer of ADHD and I\u2019m very high on routine. So for six years, I managed to get into a routine: get up, go to work, sort this out, do that. And then to go from having a routine to having absolutely nothing, that hits you a lot emotionally.<\/p>\n

Your support changes lives. Find out how you can help us help more people by signing up for a subscription<\/a><\/p>\n

Standing here, I do find a lot of people generally do care. I\u2019ve always said to people, if I\u2019m having a bad day, it\u2019s great that you buy a magazine.<\/p>\n

But what helps me out more is when you walk past and you actually acknowledge my existence. Acknowledge that I\u2019m making an effort. Because if you\u2019re standing here trying to make the effort, people seem to think that you\u2019re a lot better off because you\u2019re standing. Well no, it\u2019s because we don\u2019t want to sit on the floor, we don\u2019t want to lose our work ethic. When I lost my job I felt like a general failure. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s my ADHD, but I just can\u2019t sit around and do nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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With Big Issue, I buy and sell the magazines<\/a>, so we keep our pride. I would rather stand here wearing a tabard, making an effort and trying than sitting down and giving up. From day one, the Big Issue office and the team have been a great support. When I started, my dog broke my phone so I had to borrow a friend\u2019s phone. I spoke to Becky in the office about it and I literally wasn\u2019t expecting anything. She said that Big Issue could actually help me by getting me a phone. That\u2019s one less stressful thing for me to worry about.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Image: Juliette Pedram<\/p>\n

I live in a bedsit. I\u2019m working with St Mungo\u2019s as we\u2019ve been trying to move because the place is very damp, mouldy, and they\u2019ve only just recently started looking into it because of the new law [Renters\u2019 Rights Act] starting to come in. I\u2019ve been coughing as I\u2019ve got a severe chest infection which the doctor says is due to dampness on the lungs. I was a lot healthier when I was living in my tent!<\/p>\n

What keeps me going on a rough day? I\u2019ve had my dog Lucky Charm (left) about a year now. She belonged to a friend who ended up moving to America so I took her on. And I\u2019d be lost without her. She absolutely completes me.<\/p>\n

When I\u2019m having a bad day, Charm seems to know. And she is one of the best cuddle dogs you\u2019ll ever meet. If I\u2019m having a bad day, I always look at her and I just think to myself if I don\u2019t earn money, you don\u2019t eat. Her happiness makes me happy.<\/p>\n

Interview: Juliette Pedram<\/p>\n

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this?\u00a0Get in touch and tell us more<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Change a vendor\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week \u2013 and always take the magazine. It\u2019s how vendors earn with dignity and move forward.<\/p>\n

You can also support online:
Subscribe to the magazine<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0support our work with a monthly gift<\/a>. Your support helps vendors earn, learn and thrive while strengthening our frontline services.<\/p>\n

Thank you for standing with Big Issue vendors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image: Juliette Pedram Originally, I started on Big Issue probably about 10 years ago. I moved over from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-210911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}