Tributes pour in for popular Doncaster Big Issue seller following death

Will Connor, 40, was found dead at his home on Ashburton Close in Adwick le Street on August 23 after concerned neighbours alerted emergency services when they became concerned for his welfare.

While the cause of death is not yet known, it is not being treated as suspicious. Will, who was father to a 12-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl, worked as a Big Issue vendor and had a pitch outside M&S on Baxter Gate.

Andy Lynch, a charity volunteer from Doncaster, was taking photos of a deserted town centre in June when he met Will – and the pair immediately struck up a friendship.

He said: “Will was very kind and giving, he gave his spare mask to some girl who couldn’t get on the bus. Another person was feeling ill in town so he gave them a pack of mints.

”He was very poetic and incredibly lyrical. He was a very smart kid who studied philosophy at university.”

When Andy met Will he had just been beaten up by four teenagers who saw him removing cigarette butts from a waste bin. The attack left him with two broken ribs. Will had recently lost his job owing to Covid-19 and, after previously battling alcohol addiction, once again found himself “at a low point”, Andy said.

Andy posted a picture of Will on Facebook, prompting donations to help him, which Andy used to purchase food, clothes and thermals. He also helped Will return to selling The Big Issue to support himself. When Will was hospitalised later in June due to an infection, Andy visited him daily to provide company and gave him a DVD player for entertainment.

Andy was saved in Will’s phone as ‘God sent’.

He wrote of his experience with Andy in The Big Issue North: “He appeared – like a guardian angel. Someone cared, actually cared, with no ulterior motive. I have never had that care, especially not for myself.”

Andy said: “I got to know Will quite well. We had an affinity with music taste and I could appreciate his story. He was big into bands like The Stone Roses, Ian Brown and The Charlatans. He even named his daughter after The Charlatans.”

“He wanted to escape it [addiction] but never quite found his way out of it. It’s difficult for street people, it really is a tough life for them. Will used to say if you weren’t addicted to something when you went on the streets you soon would be in order to numb the pain of it. Drink for him was something to anaesthetize the suffering that came with it all.”

Tributes have also been paid to Will on social media.

Margarat Bennett wrote: “So sad. When I went to town I always had a word with him, he was a lovely guy and always polite and pleasant”. Helen Lighton wrote: “Saddened to hear this. He was such a lovely chap.”

Ryan Brooks added: “Really shocked, he always went out his way to help others. RIP Will.”