Living in Poverty in Contemporary Britain

The engaging smile of a street vendor may hide more than it reveals. Following her husband’s death from drug abuse and her own heroin addiction, which she overcame some 12 years ago, 36 year-old Lisa now sells the ‘Big Issue’, scratching a living below the minimum wage.

Life for Lisa is bleak, but somehow her courage, determination and spirit keep her going. She realises there is little hope of her climbing out of the Underclass, but far from sinking into self-pity, she tries to make the best of life as she finds it. Her main companions are her dog ‘Dolly’ and a stray that lives on the site. Her luxury is a packet of roll-your-own tobacco. Her dream is, one day, to own her own flat.