“I’ve come this far and I’m not giving up now.”
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Tent of a rough sleeper in Liverpool

Disagreements with his dad led to Flynn [not his real name] leaving home as a teenager. Despair and homelessness followed but today, at 21, Flynn is on the way to a positive future. He tells us his story:

“I didn’t get on with my dad and walked out at 18. I became homeless. I’d only used weed at school but got onto the hard stuff on the streets. I thought drugs was a way to help my mental health and it did initially but then I got depressed and had suicidal thoughts. I became addicted.
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“I was on the streets rough sleeping for six months. I was too scared to go to anyone. When you’re homeless you think people will take you to the police.” 

Helped me turn my life around
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Flynn recalls, “The Whitechapel Centre found me living in a tent outside Primark and helped me turn my life around.”

He now lives in a hostel and uses the Whitechapel Centre’s Meaningful Engagement Pathway / New Beginnings drop in. “I’m mentally better, I’m starting to trust people, I’m open to opportunities. I am getting my confidence back. The drop in is like a little support system.”

Flynn has done an IT course, has gym sessions and employment coaching. He will soon be doing the King’s Trust Explore programme.
He adds, “I have been three months clean. I feel miles better and proud of myself. Sometimes I want to cry but that’s in the past and I can’t change that, I can only change the future. I’ve come this far and I’m not giving up now.”

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