Name Michael Gibney
Age 28
Pitch Williamson Square, Liverpool city centre
I started selling The Big Issue in the North about a year and a half ago. I’m on the streets at the moment. I’m currently trying to get in a hostel but there’s just no beds. So I’m still walking the streets.
I sleep anywhere I can. Any doorway, anywhere. It’s a bit rough.
Because there’s other people I know who are also on the streets, that makes it a bit easier. But it is hard. I feel alone.
I am a qualified artist. I do portraits, paintings, all kinds really. But I’d like to get my life sorted
I came out of prison and started taking drugs. Selling The Big Issue in the North has helped me a lot. The people behind the counter are very helpful. I have kept out of jail by doing this.
The public are nice. You get your regular customers. That’s what motivates me – talking to the people who I sell to. That’s the best thing about it – getting a relationship with the customers.
I’ve spent about nine years in jail throughout my life, from the age of 18. I was in prison for robbing shops, to support my habit. I did go to school but I got expelled going into fourth year. So that was that then – I never went back. I am a qualified artist though. I do portraits, paintings, all kinds really. But I’d like to get my life sorted before I go down that route.
I’m shortly going into a rehab, a detox – it should be any time now. I should be off the streets then, and off the drugs. Then I’ll look to get a flat. I know for a fact I will do it.
There are different attitudes towards homelessness. You’ve got some people who think you’re lowlife scum, and then there’s some people who feel sorry for you. It’s the younger generation who give us the abuse. But apart from that, it’s OK.
Interview and photo: Helen Clifton
