My story of homelessness shows just how easily it can happen to someone. I was in a fairly secure accommodation, and I had help to pay the rent from Universal Credit. Then in 2020 I went to Africa and while I was there, I lost my documents. I ended up stranded there for 6 months, during which time, my rent wasn't paid and I fell into arrears. When I got back, I worked hard to pay them off, but I kept getting harassed about the debt I owed and eventually I felt I couldn't stay there any longer. I ended up on the streets before being picked up and referred to an emergency support service. I've just moved into a place of my own, which is a huge relief!
My goal now is to get back into work. For a year, I worked as a traffic marshall, and I have a qualification which allowed me to work on some construction sites. However, I'm finding it really hard to get back into this line of work without the next level of this qualification. My Beam campaign will help me pay for the training and exam to gain this qualification and help me get back into reliable, full-time work which will allow me to build my life back and live independently!
