AM case study

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It was a bit of ‘entering the unknown’ to me as I hadn’t really had any contact or relationships with people that find themselves homeless at all.

My preconceptions were that most homeless people had drug or alcohol misuse issues and a dog with a handkerchief around their neck! It soon became apparent that this is untrue. I learnt that the reality of the situation is that homelessness can happen to anyone at anytime – it does not discriminate. Issues such as relationship breakdown, unemployment and no family support network were just a few reasons why people find themselves in this situation.

The Nomad Trust is the only emergency night shelter available in the county, so people can come from far and wide to access the accommodation. As a result people can often find themselves with no friends and so begin to make a new circle of friends at the church (St Mary le Wigford)/shelter – and this is sometimes how their drug/alcohol problems begin. They become involved in drinking to fit into the group and the problem can worsen from there.

During my five days placement with Peter Richardson – Service Support Worker – I began to understand what a nightmare being homeless can be. I will take my experiences from this placement into my role as a police officer. I now know what partner agencies are available within the region eg. YMCA, Framework, Addaction etc. As a result, when I come into contact with service users, I will be in a better position to understand their issues and be able to offer advice and signpost people to the church/accommodation that I wasn’t aware existed before my placement.

All in all, I believe the Nomad Trust is a fantastic organization that offers a great service to the people of Lincolnshire. Numerous times I have witnessed staff and volunteers go above and beyond the call of duty to help and support people in their hours of need at their lowest point. It has been a valuable five days experience and I am certain I will become a better, more effective police officer because of it.

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The post Kate appeared first on The Nomad Trust - Lincoln Charity.

I was a pretty successful model once in my life, with a brain as well, as I was also working in the financial industry but I have always been insecure. The only time I was confident was in front of a camera. It made me feel so good but when the camera stopped flashing the   confidence also stopped. I was a completely different person and I would withdraw into myself.

I found alcohol; the more I drank the more confident I would become and at first it made me feel invincible.  I enjoyed the feeling of confidence that the drink would give me. As time went by I would have to drink more to get the sense of being more confident.

As time went on I became more and more aggressive and vulnerable and basically I did not care about anything or anyone except where my next drink would come from.

My family and friends supported me so much and gave me so many chances but I used to take advantage of this, so in the end it was time for them to cut the apron strings and for me to learn the hard way.  This made me realise that I had to change my life.

I have stopped drinking now for over three weeks and I feel so good with myself. I found the Nomad Trust who without them I would be on the streets and probably would have been drinking more and more so they have helped me on the first part of my recovery

I am so grateful to the staff and volunteers for their kindness and    support and the wonderful meals that they have given me.  By the time you read this I will be in …rehab for the second part of my recovery.

I am looking forward to a bright and sober future. Thank you for giving me my confidence back and making me feel human again.

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Basically I had a normal childhood apart from occasionally when my dad would get drunk and beat my mum up. I never saw this but would always be able to hear it.

When I was 11 years old I took the eleven plus exam and I passed and was accepted into a grammar school. Unfortunately as I was the only person in my family to do this there was a lot expected of me, but I couldn’t live up to those expectations.

At the age of 15, I unfortunately found out I had the ability to get served alcohol in off licences and quickly fell in with the wrong crowd. Drink got rid of my inhibitions which enabled me to commit commercial burglaries, which at the age of 18 ended me up in prison for the first of numerous spells inside. After my last sentence when I was released, I met my soul mate who I stayed with for twenty years and had two beautiful children with. Even though I stayed on the straight and narrow my drinking gradually got worse until December 2007 when my partner couldn’t cope with my drinking any longer, so I had to leave the family home and ended up sleeping on the street. This caused my drinking to increase due to self pity and boredom. I stayed at the Nomad Trust a few times in this period but wouldn’t   accept their help as I felt I was a lost cause.

To cut a long story short I ended up rough sleeping in Skegness and on the evening of 30^th July 2009 I started vomiting blood and had swelling and severe pain down my right leg. I went to A & E and was told I had a blood clot in my leg and scarring in my stomach. They kept me in hospital for 3 ½ weeks and during this time a close friend of mine died due to excessive drinking. He was only 42 yrs old. This was the wake-up call I needed to sort myself out.

I am still off the booze and am currently staying at the Nomad Trust where they are doing all they can to help me which is gratefully accepted.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully my experiences will stop someone else going off the rails.

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