Just two weeks ago Fred* was working part time whilst he studied, he was just months away from finishing a two year course in beauty therapy. He had been living in his flat for years and was excited to start a new career once he finished his studies.

Back in November he received a letter in the post saying that he was in arrears with his rent for a few hundred pounds. Fred wasn’t sure how this happened but didn’t have the money to pay it off. He spoke to the council who helped him get together evidence that showed that he had made all the required payments.

Unfortunately, when Fred didn’t hear back from his landlord he naively didn’t act hoping the problem would go away. It didn’t, just last week Fred was evicted by his landlord and several bailiffs and evicted in what we believe was an illegal eviction.

Fred got together his essentials and had nowhere to turn. Fred had never been homeless before but he spent a night terrified on the streets and turned up to work the next day.

He was a wreck, sleep deprived and wracked with anxiety and fear, he was panicked and terrified of losing his job or not finishing his course. He spent another night on the streets before attending his college course. He spoke to the college and they weren’t able to help with his housing and were concerned that whilst street homeless he would not be able to complete his studies.

Fred was so close to graduating but two years of hard work was at risk if he wasn’t able to get somewhere to stay. After a third night on the streets Fred heard about Barnabus and came to us. We helped him with a shower, a fresh outfit and breakfast before he sat down for a meeting with our team.

He spent the afternoon with one of our case workers who tried to find him a bed for the weekend, unfortunately as a student in work there is much less accommodation that he is eligible for and there were no beds that night.

He was devastated to hear that we could not find him a bed for the weekend and that he had more nights on the streets ahead of him. Unfortunately there are not enough beds available to people who need them and we had to ask him to come back after the weekend when we hoped we would have found him somewhere to stay.

Fred’s future was in jeopardy, he was also told that day that he would not be able to pass his course whilst rough sleeping, he had nowhere to wash and was turning up to lessons completely exhausted. His college felt that they could not pass him whilst he continued to turn up like that. His work as a cleaner was also at risk, he was told that he would lose his job if he wasn’t able to turn up washed and in clean clothes (an impossible ask when someone is sleeping rough).

We could see how quickly his life could collapse if he wasn’t housed immediately but we were running out of options. Our housing team stepped up and spoke with a landlord that we have a close relationship with. They explained to the landlord all about Fred’s situation and how he had ended up in this situation. The landlord kindly offered Fred a tenancy in a flat immediately without an upfront deposit.

This was brilliant news and meant that Fred has been able to keep his job and remain on his course. Fred was thrilled to hear this and couldn’t wait to get the keys. We helped his move in by setting him up with toiletries, food, clothing and furniture for his new home.

We are privileged to have been able to support Fred through the scariest period of his life and we are glad that we were able to make it as short as possible for him.

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*Name changed to protect our friends identity

Due to the sensitive nature of the events depicted an AI image has been used.