Charles and his dog, Bruno, were companions for 16 years and they were there for one another through some incredibly tough times coming through modern day slavery and then living on the streets together, unfortunately due to limited routes out of homelessness Charles' refusal to ever leave his friend meant that at times he was unable to continue his recovery.

We had been supporting Charles for many years, when he first came to us he was living in a tent in a car park throughout the winter with Bruno. There is extremely limited accommodation for people experiencing homelessness with a pet, most accommodation will refuse to house them. Charles' dog was his life and he refused to put Bruno up for adoption and remained in his tent until they could both be housed, meaning many more months living on the streets.

Eventually a bed became available and their journey off the streets began, we supported him through this and his recovery went well, before long he was ready to be housed in his own home but Charles was unlikely to ever be able to work again due to his complex needs.

Housing problems and tragedy

It is hard to secure rental properties whilst on Universal Credit and even more difficult with a dog. Charles did however find somewhere but this was very run down property, but given prejudice against pets and tenants on Universal Credit he felt he couldn't wait as he was in a desperate situation and that there was nowhere better.

We helped Charles as much as possible with furniture and general clean up of the property as well as liaising with the landlord to get the repairs on the property completed.

Charles did well initially and we supported him as his health improved and recovery continued. Bruno was his constant companion, especially important during Charles' successful battle against lung cancer which he was diagnosed with last year.

It became apparent that Charles was beginning to be exploited by people in his local area and potentially cuckooed. He was being intimidated into giving away some of the very little money he had, he was frightened and his health was being affected, he was losing weight not taking care of himself and seemed to be losing hope.

Sadly Bruno got very poorly, his back legs had given up on him and Charles made the decision with help from the vets that it was the most humane thing to have the dog put down, Charles was understandably heartbroken and completely lost without his companion. The team rallied around Charles at this time and managed to get more information regarding the intimidation he was victim to.

A final gift

The Housing team managed to find him an over 55 's housing project in Manchester, this project can't be accessed by cold callers, has 24/7 CCTV,  staff on site regularly and community meals. Events are held in the communal areas with other people to talk to which is what Charles was really missing. Having few people to talk to he was struggling a lot with loneliness since Bruno had passed away. Charles said that he felt the opportunity to move into this new project was a final gift given to him from Bruno, that even though he was heartbroken to lose him it meant he could move to somewhere happier, safer and more comfortable.

“The Opportunity to move here feels like Bruno's last parting gift to me”

It was a big team effort to get him moved in with our chair of trustees driving the van as we moved him in with a lot of newly donated furniture that the team had been hard at trying to secure for him.

The same week that we moved Charles in, we heard back from the Social Workers after the Housing team had submitted safeguarding request due to his vulnerabilities and the issues he was enduring. They we were really pleased to see Charles had moved from the situation and came to visit him in his new property and have agreed to start a support plan with the complex Care Team who will help Charles daily to help him with his transition into his new home and build his resilience which is great.

If there was ever a case of every cloud having a silver lining, it is Charles' story, the love between him and his dog helped him through the darkest period of his life and helped him to rebuild a life for himself. It was also when his dog did sadly pass that it allowed him a new opportunity for further growth and also the opportunity to move into a home which will support Charles in his golden years.

*Name has been changed to protect our friend’s identity

If you would like to support Charles and people like him on their journey off the streets please support our A Place To Feel At Home appeal to help four people get a home this winter.

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