Mick’s story 

I’m an East London boy, always have been. My journey to Your Place took a long time of sleeping rough in East London before coming somewhere I could feel safe. I was in and around the same spot on the streets for fifteen years. I was in active addiction at the time and found it really hard to get clean while I was on the streets, so I was in and out of prison for years, because it was a roof over my head, three meals a day, and I knew I had no choice but to get clean in there. It wasn’t the way I would have wanted to do it, but it felt like there was no other way when I had no stability.

Things started changing when the first lockdown was happening in London. ‘Everyone In’ meant that everyone on the streets was being brought in to hotels to keep them safe. I was the last person in Stratford left outside. I didn’t trust anyone, and I didn’t think I’d be able to do it.

When I first arrived at Your Place in 2022, I found the new environment difficult at first, but Natalie [my key worker] built up my trust, and things started fitting into place. That was when I started detoxing and took my health seriously for the first time in years. I’ve been engaged with my recovery and moving on with my life the whole time I’ve been here, which feels really significant to me, and I’ve been supported really well by Natalie and the rest of the community here.

Once I’d built up my confidence and started thinking about the future, I started spending my time volunteering, especially with food banks and events here at Your Place, and I’ve been helping people who are still on the streets with sleeping bags, hot drinks, and showing my face with the community out there. It can be really lonely, and I don’t want people to feel isolated, in the way that I did. It feels good to give back.

I’ve found that there’s everything here to move on with your life if that’s what you want. For me, that mostly looked like support with getting clean, and Natalie helped me make the connections to move forward. There are so many opportunities to get things done and go in the direction you want in life. Jobs, training, volunteering, there’s a lot of support when you need building up.

I’m moving out to my own place this week, and I can really say that I feel ready now. I haven’t had my own property for twenty years, and when I did have one, so many things were getting in my way. I’ve had time to focus on myself and get to where I want to be in life, and I can say that being here has been a real blessing.