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A relationship based on honesty and trust

A young man grew up with his mother and brother and never knew his father.

He became involved with the “wrong” crowd and started to smoke cannabis on a daily basis when he was 17, this made him feel good. His new friends soon got him on to heroin. 

He was offered accommodation through a local housing association and found work with a removal company. Life seemed ok.

He would visit our centre each day to keep safe, warm and dry. He was able to enjoy hot meals, tea and coffee, wash his clothes and use our shower facilities, but when we closed he would have to find somewhere to spend the night.

Common places were stairwells in flats, under the arches in Windsor and in empty sheds, all of which made him a very vulnerable individual, but he was not a priority for local council accommodation.

At SHOC we worked closely with him and formed a relationship based on honesty and trust. We helped him sort out his benefits and eventually got him a room in a shared house.

Since then he has been determined to turn his life around and is currently taking part in an IT course two days a week at our Springboard Learning Centre. Now 27, he is taking part in the Horticulture Course at our allotment leading to a level 1 OCR Certificate. He is also attending a course to get his construction industry card.