![\"Big](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1730-My_Pitch_Drop_in.jpg\")
Big Issue vendor Jane Burns selling the magazine to a customer in Wimbledon. Image: Steve Gent \/ Naboo Photography<\/p>\nRead more:<\/p>\n
Burns, alongside her dog Caz, was popular with her customers on her London pitch and was a fine ambassador for Big Issue. Selling the magazine \u201cgave her a purpose in life\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m privileged to be working in that environment. To be in the situation that I am in, to enjoy your job, there aren\u2019t many people who can say that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following her death, Big Issue spoke to one of her customers, Steve Gent. A photo\u00adgrapher, Gent met Burns back in 2020 and since then had been taking her portrait.<\/p>\n
\u201cI usually take one or two photos most times I see her at Wimbledon,\u201d Gent told Big Issue. \u201cI take pictures all the time, that\u2019s just something I do as a hobby, and she was an interesting subject.\u201d<\/p>\n
Big Issue vendor Jane Burns selling the magazine to a customer in Wimbledon. Image: Steve Gent \/ Naboo Photography<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cJane was always good for a chat before her voice went and many of her customers were very generous.<\/p>\n
Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n
\u201cI will miss her. She was quite a personality. It was amazing \u2013 people saw her and I don\u2019t think it registered that she was selling with one arm and one leg in a wheelchair. She was so resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sam, a Big Issue vendor at Covent Garden, also paid tribute to Burns. She said: \u201cI knew Jane for quite a few years and it\u2019s really sad. She was really nice and always happy. Her customers will really miss her, she was always smiling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2020, when Big Issue vendors were forced off their pitches during the Covid pandemic, Burns spoke to The Times to tell her harrowing story and call for the public to back fellow sellers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s happened to me I wouldn\u2019t change at all,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s made me the person I am. I\u2019m actually glad it happened in a way. I\u2019m a happy person and I appreciate my life more.\u201d<\/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 Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/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: Thank you for standing with Big Issue vendors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Read more: Burns, alongside her dog Caz, was popular with her customers on her London pitch and was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1270,18686,18687,285],"class_list":["post-49939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wimbledon","tag-from-the-magazine","tag-our-vendors","tag-tribute","tag-wimbledon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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