‘I was homeless for about 2 years. I had a bad breakup with my ex-wife. She was seeing someone else and then one day she just decided to tell me. I just walked out. I had nowhere to go and had no family.

‘While I was married, I had a job as a storeman in a chicken factory in Blacktown. When I walked out of the marriage, I just left everything – my job, everything. I just couldn’t handle it.

‘The hardest thing about living on the streets was finding shelter and food. I ended up stealing and stuff like that and got caught and decided this is not good for me.

‘I was unemployed and homeless and I wasn’t getting any money. One day I was at Matthew Talbot Hostel and one of the ladies from the office came in and explained The Big Issue to everyone so I decided I’d give it a go.

‘I’ve been selling The Big Issue for about a year and a half now. It was a bit hard at the start but once I got in to it, it got a bit easier. Selling The Big Issue has completely turned things around for me. They helped me a lot and I’m a lot happier now. I love getting to meet people every day.’