Okay, my name’s David.

I’ll just give you my brief experience of being homeless and what led up to it.

I think primarily my addiction had a lot to do with it. Addicted to alcohol and prescription painkillers, and benzodiazepines. And it was as a direct result of that that my world gradually collapsed. Imploded.

To a point where I lost my job. Eventually lost my housing. Almost lost my family.

So I found myself homeless. 

I’ll talk to you about the feelings I had. I was scared. Because up until that point it had been very stressful. I had been evicted as a result of a section 21, from private housing. And I was scared. I was scared.

I didn’t know what to do. But also, feelings of immense guilt and shame to be honest. You know, I’d let my life slip away. But I had been a professional man. I’d been a professional nurse for 27 years. I’d travelled the world and I did own my own house at one stage. But the relationship broke down.

So I found myself on the streets in the middle of November. Just me and a bag.

I remember thinking, how the f- did I end up here.

Even talking about it now, it produces feelings of sadness actually. But luckily, I was only on the streets for about a week.

My local vicar gave me a hand. He put me up for a bit. And fortunately I was about to start my recovery process. I was about to start an in-house program for treatment. So I wasn’t on the streets for long.

And I was lucky I suppose, very, very lucky. But very, very sad times.

My family didn’t know, because I felt the guilt. And they’d only worry.

And again, you know, I was just thinking, what do I do?

I was offered a hostel place, 30 miles away from where I was. But I had to get there, and I didn’t have the money. So I was in a catch-22.

So yeah, like I say, I was lucky. And now I live in social housing in Stockport, after receiving a lot of help over the years. So I found myself very, very lucky. But I have to be vigilant because if I don’t remain sober, I’ll just find myself in exactly the same position.