Joel Hodgson

Joel was born in Belize and endured much hardship early in life. He lived with his siblings under a house until he was adopted and moved to Scotland. After a series of horrifying incidents, Joel became homeless and began selling the Big Issue. He worked as a Big Issue vendor at Freshfields, made friends, spoke to everyone and helped the Freshfields football team start winning their matches again. Joel went on to get a permanent role in London's busy Billing department. Joel continues to work with the Big Issue, attending events and fundraisers speaking about his experiences and encouraging those in similar situations to find their way out of homelessness and he mentors our new vendors to help them settle in to the firm. Joel has turned his life around in a truly remarkable way, it is such a massive achievement.