This is a love story like no other.
A homeless man met his future wife on the street when he gave her 50 pence to keep her electricity running over Christmas.
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Jack Richardson, 37, met Toni Osborne, 47, two and a half years ago when he asked her for spare change. She didn’t have any and after explaining her uncertain situation, he actually gave HER money for electricity.
Over the next year they became friends, and soon fell in love. When the squat Richardson was living in was boarded up, Osborne offered him a place to stay with her.
Richardson, now a Big Issue seller (a company who offers homeless people to sell the magazine and earn some of its profits) proposed to her on the exact spot he’d given her the spare change.
The loved-up pair married in Bristol, England, with the help of donations from friends and well-wishers. The wedding rings, clothes, wine and cake were offered to them as gifts from the generosity of others.
Richardson told The Guardian: “I’m the proudest man on the planet. I wanted to give my beloved the wedding she deserved and I just wasn’t able to. Because of the kindness of everybody it’s made it real.”
Osborne said: “We’ve had people say: ‘I never thought I’d fall in love but I heard your story and now it gives me hope for the future.’”
Guests also donated money to the newlyweds so Richardson could take time off from selling the Big Issue so they can go on a honeymoon.
“Every day used to be a struggle. I had considered ending my own life. I couldn’t see any way out of the situation and it just seemed to keep getting harder,” Richardson said.
“I couldn’t see any future. But now I have someone stable who I love and who loves me. I’m able to look to the future.”
As a result of health issues, Osborne is unable to work. She was overwhelmed when Richardson offered her money when he needed it himself.
“Jack has always said that I saw through the homeless person and saw the person underneath. I have had people ask me for money before, and when I couldn’t afford to give them any I would get upset,” she said.
“But Jack went into his pocket and gave me what I needed. Someone without a roof over his head had enough money to help me.”
She continued: “He has changed my outlook on everything completely. It has been one mad love story.”
Their wedding was to take place a register office ceremony until Richardson met a vicar at a soup kitchen who offered to do it for free.
Richardson hopes to get off the streets when he graduates from an Open University degree in psychology and sociology.
Watch the wedding below
