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This Big Issue love story begins at a wheelchair touch football game and continues on through joy, devastation and more love – an abundance of it. The Big Issue Australia’s editor Amy Hetherington speaks to newlywed vendors Kelly and Greg.

Castrenze has been hit hard by Italy’s financial crisis, more than once in his life. But now settled in a home as a Scarp vendor, things are looking up.

Making a documentary film is an intricate and lengthy process. Here, Hans-Albrecht Lusznat describes his role as cameraman during the production of BISS’s documentary about the lives of four of its vendors. Filmed over a period of three years in Munich, Germany, the film follows four vendors and documents the trials and triumphs that they experience while working for BISS.

Street Roots vendor Gail talks about her upbringing in New York, moving to Portland with her daughter and using selling the street paper to combat social isolation.

37-year-old Mélanie Noël sells L’Itinéraire from her pitch at the Verdun metro station in Montreal, Quebec. Here, she looks back on a childhood spent moving from home to home and her troubled relationship with her sister, while affirming how positive her time as a L’Itinéraire vendor has been. She loves her work and has found strength through relationships forged with friends and mentors.

Randolph B. has found security through his work selling The Contributor. He knows that he will always be able to sell the magazine, regardless of his work situation, and that he has the support of customers with whom he was forged lasting friendships. Despite having recently taken on paid work with Rock City Mechanical, Randolph still sells The Contributor in the evenings and at the weekend. Here, he speaks of his love for his customers and for his adopted hometown, Nashville.

This week, the 2018 INSP Global Street Paper Summit has been held in Glasgow, giving street paper staff from countries throughout the network the opportunity to discuss the issues affecting their vendors in our modern world. According to recent news reports in the US state of Portland, 52 per cent of all arrests last year in the Portland area were made against people on the streets, and 86 per cent of those were for non-violent violations. The city’s street paper, Street Roots, surveyed its vendor about their first-hand experience with law enforcement.

With the INSP Global Street Paper Summit in Glasgow this week, it’s a great opportunity to hear from one of the city’s vendors. Daniel is a familiar face in the west end of Glasgow, and you might even recognise him from past stories featured in the INSP website and News Service. He even went viral not that long ago. Here, he tells us how he came to be a Big Issue vendor, getting back into education and his love of graphic novels.

Petra, 55, sells Hinz&Kunzt in front of the Edeka supermarket in the Winterhude quarter of Hamburg, often in the company of her dog, Luna. Here, Petra talks about the friendly relationships that she has with many of her customers and talks about what life has been like since she became homeless three years ago. One day, she hopes to have a place of her own that she can call home.

Erasmo Navarrete has found hope and direction since becoming a Mi Valedor vendor. Despite his earlier struggles with alcoholism, he never lost his enthusiasm for work or his honest approach to life. Here, he looks back on his life and talks about the positive changes that have taken place since he became a Mi Valdor vendor, thanks to the support that he has received from others.

Rhonda, a vendor for Oklahoma City street paper The Curbside Chronicle, speaks candidly here about her childhood, upbringing, experiences of abuse, marriage and fighting her way back to housing.

Chen has been selling The Big Issue Taiwan at Xihu Station since the start of this year. Business is up and down, but he is determined to succeed: he chose his pitch at Xihu Station after realising there weren’t any vendors already working there and he has made the spot his own. Here, he looks back on his life and expresses his gratitude to those who have helped him through difficult times.

Real Change vendor Jen Tibbits rebuts one of the most common criticisms of street paper sellers across our network: “Why don’t you get a real job?”

Andrea, Selene and Vicky are all Hecho en Bs As vendors and each one has her own story to tell. All three have something in common: their involvement with HBA has been a turning point in their lives. Andrea would not change HBA for anything and now wants to finish high school; Selene is a successful vendor who dreams of traveling and being a writer; and Vicky believes that there is more to selling HBA than making sales and finds strength in her faith.

Lonnie Baker is a Groundcover News vendor in Ann Arbor who is feeling positive about the future. Here, he talks about his journey from homelessness to self-sufficiency and the lessons that he has learned along the way.

Andy used to sell Big Issue North in Liverpool. This interview took place at the Marie Curie Hospice in the city in October 2017. Andy asked that it was published after his death. He passed away in March and his funeral was held in Liverpool.