Big Issue seller returns purse to Christmas shopper

A woman who lost her purse during a last-minute Christmas Eve shopping trip said she was "speechless" when it was returned to her thanks to a Big Issue seller.

Yukiko Hosomi, 46, mislaid her wallet while shopping in Bristol and assumed she would never see it again.

But it was found by Ioan Covaci, who sells the Big Issue in south Bristol.

Ms Hosomi had a festive surprise when Mr Covaci's son turned up on her doorstep with the missing purse.

She said: "Someone knocked on my door about five o'clock and I said, 'Who comes to my house on Christmas Day?' And then there was the guy with my purse, which I thought I'd never see again.

Yukiko Hosomi said: "It was like a miracle happened."

"I'm Japanese and my mum in Japan told me whenever she loses her purse it just comes back but I was sure that in the UK there would be no way it would come back.

"It was like a miracle happened."

Mr Covaci has been a Big Issue vendor on the same spot on North Street in Southville for 10 years.

He spotted the purse on the ground on Christmas Eve and saw lots of people walking past but nobody claimed it, so he held on to it and found it belonged to Ms Hosomi.

He asked his son to return it to her, and said: "It came very naturally, very natural for (us) to do a kind gesture on Christmas Day. It doesn't matter if it's someone we know or we don't know."

Director of sales and operations at The Big Issue, Chris Falchi-Stead, said: "It doesn't surprise me at all that our vendors express these beautiful acts of kindness."

Ms Hosomi was so touched by the gesture that she has started sewing face masks and purses to raise money for The Big Issue Foundation, the charitable arm of the organization.

She said: "I received such a kindness, a deep kindness, so I thought I want to pass something back. That's why I started fundraising for The Big Issue."

Ms Hosomi recently returned to the spot where Mr Covaci sells his magazines and handed him a hand-made purse and a £30 donation as a thank you.