Andrew’s Story

Andrew is a Service Manager in Bristol. He draws on his own experience of 13 years sleeping rough to help others. This is his story.

“In my twenties life was good. At 28 I was a home owner, I’d been engaged for years, working in sales, company car – the lot. I didn’t realise at the time but slowly my drinking took off. In quite a short space of time I ended up losing my job, my fiancé left me, the company car went back and the flat was sold. I found myself with lots of money from the sale of the flat, and no responsibilities. So I just partied.

By the time I was 29 I was skint and living in a dingy bedsit. I fell in with the wrong crowd and started using drugs. I ended up homeless. London is a really hard place to be homeless when you’re new. You feel like just another homeless person – a statistic.

Vince took me to a rehabilitation centre. Part of me thinks that if Vince hadn’t taken me on that train, there’s a chance I might not have got there.

When I came into contact with St Mungo’s Vincent Adams was my support worker. He was always there. Every time I messed up he never judged me. His favourite saying was “when there’s life there’s hope”.

Vince took me to a rehabilitation centre. Part of me thinks that if Vince hadn’t taken me on that train, there’s a chance I might not have got there.

A few years later I went back to the hostels to say hello to everyone there. They couldn’t believe it was me. I wasn’t the angry, desperate man that I once was. I started an apprenticeship with St Mungo’s and was able to build on the skills I learnt and my experience sleeping rough to become a manager. Now I am helping others who have fallen on hard times, thanks to the support from people like you.”

St Mungo’s operates the only apprenticeship scheme that is only open to those with lived experience of homelessness. Over the past decade, the scheme has supported over 200 people to gain the confidence, work experience and qualifications to support them into employment.

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Andrew is a Service Manager in Bristol. He draws on his own experience of 13 years sleeping rough to help others. This is his story.

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Andrew is a Service Manager in Bristol. He draws on his own experience of 13 years sleeping rough to help others. This is his story.

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