IT isn't every day you have the chance to buy the Big Issue from a big, yellow, mono-browed, spiky-headed character.

But on Sauchiehall Street yesterday, Kingsley, Partick Thistle’s mascot, was among the guest vendors taking part in the annual International Network of Street Papers #VendorWeek.

All eyes were on Kingsley – one of the world’s most famous mascots - as he took up his post and began his hour-long stint selling The Big Issue.

Nearby, Magnus Llewellin, Editor-in-Chief at the Herald & Times, was doing his best to attract custom from passers-by. Other guest vendors throughout the day included Stuart Murdoch, of Belle and Sebastian.

From deep inside the Kingsley costume Jay McGhee, of Partick Thistle’s media team, said: “It’s for a good cause but people don’t seem to want to approach an angry-looking sun."

By way of consolation, he attracted much interest from newspaper photographers and passers-by wielding cameraphones.

For his part, Mr Llewellin said: “It’s a nice if cold day and it makes you realise that on a day when the weather is really bad, it must be a hellish experience, selling the magazine. I wouldn’t like to be doing this in the snow and the rain. But taking part in this today is to do something for a very good cause.”

Mr Murdoch said: “It was a privilege to be asked and I thought I’d give it a go.” Vendor Robert Brownridge, who had been advising the guest vendors, had asked him if he had ever done any sales before. “I said I had, when I was younger, and he said, ‘Forget it. This is nothing like that’.”

Asked if he had devised any sales tactics to attract passersby, he said: “I don’t have anything yet. I used to do a lot of hitchhiking back in the day so maybe I’ll employ the same technique as I used to do back then. Mind you,” he added, “you used to do better, hitchhiking, if you had a pretty girl with you.”

Allie Barr, sales and marketing manager at the Hard Rock Café Glasgow, said she and her colleagues were taking part because “philanthropy is a massive part of what we do within Hard Rock Café across the world and it’s something we’re passionate about here in Glasgow. It’s about putting ourselves in the shoes of the people who do this day after day.”

Halfway through her stint, Maree Aldam, INSP Chief Executive, said: “What I’m really surprised by is that it’s really repetitive. Obviously you have to attract the attention of everyone who is passing by, and saying the same thing – ‘Big Issue, madam?, ‘Big Issue, sir?’. It can actually be quite tiring.

“Most people have been making eye-contact, though, which is nice. We’ve had tips from Robert and he said the best thing to do is just smile.

“But the constant rejection is hard, people just walking by. We’re doing it for an hour each, so it’s a little taste of what the vendors have to do every day. It’s a long, long day for them.”

One other consolation for Kingsley: it might have been cold but as Mr McGhee said: "It's nice and warm in here."