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Merry Christmas!

’Twas the lead-up to Christmas, and all through The Big Issue, we’re celebrating the season with warmth and Big Wish Yous. Melbourne vendor Con is our cover Claus, helping to spread the joy of The Big Wish You: an annual compilation of vendors’ messages of gratitude, reflections on the year that was, and their hopes for 2025. Across an extra eight pages, it’s an edition packed with stories capturing every facet of the most wonderful time of the year – Scrooge himself couldn’t resist.

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Behind the Campaign: Meet Vendor Linda

Over the next few weeks we’ll be introducing you to the vendors who are part of our 25 Years Big campaign. We’ll find out a bit about them, what selling The Big Issue is like, and what they thought of their cartoon.

Linda sells in Ballarat, Victoria, and is known around town for her incredible dress sense, musical talents and positivity!

“I’ve sold in Ballarat, and also sold in Sydney in Gosford. In Gosford I had to get a train to get my magazines and then get a train back to sell. It was a bit of a difference. In Ballarat I get the magazines from the post office and then sell sell sell! I love selling The Big Issue and it’s good to get them from the post office. I work near Myer at Stuart Street, on the corner right up to where the cafes are. Sometimes I sell near Coles, Aldi and Pleasant Park where the IGA is.

“I really love selling, I’m my own boss and I work my own hours. I can work as long as I do all my COVID-safe stuff, which I do. A lot of people have a lot of interest in what I do, and I was given three postcards at the start of the year (as part of our vendor week celebrations). I was very excited about that, they were nice postcards and they said how I did a great job, one of them had a star too.

Dressed in country attire and with a guitar, Linda’s cartoon is a perfect representation of her and her interests.

“It looks great, doesn’t it! It looks fantastic. I love it. I love singing karaoke, I go out for singing and karaoke and dancing. I sing Stevie Nicks and Rogue Traders, and I’m going to be in a band and sing some Stevie Nicks for them. And I love glitter and sparkles and gold and diamonds. Sometimes I wear sparkle to work or a bit of glitter and customers say ‘I love that skirt.’

“The customers I usually get love what I do and tell me ‘you’re doing a good job, keep it up’. It’s a good way to be working, you get appreciation and people like what you’re doing. It makes me feel rewarded. They’re just amazed I’m out here and they love what I’m doing.

“I just love The Big Issue so much, I think it’s a great thing they do to help with the homelessness. It’s up and up for me now.”

Victorian regional vendors are in Ballarat, Geelong, Wangaratta but due to current restrictions are currently not selling. Make sure to pick up a magazine when they’re back, or take out a subscription and have a magazine delivered straight to your door.

Cartoon illustration of vendor Linda. Linda is wearing a white cowboy hat, pink and white polka dot blouse, blue jeans and a red lanyard. She is holding a copy of The Big Issue and is standing against a purple background with our 25 Years Big logo and slogan 'Celebrate Big. Buy The Big Issue'. Linda is standing in a corridor wearing a black feather coat and black dress.