Ben* phoned our support Office just as the last member of our team was getting ready to leave. They decided to stay at their desk late to hear Ben’s story and see how they might be able to help him.

Ben’s story tragically started when he developed chronic sciatica through two slipped discs in his back, this ongoing injury meant he couldn’t work and he eventually lost his job as an assistant retail manager in the city centre. Ben became homeless as he could not afford his rent and he moved into his car, sleeping there for over 3 months.

The Council initially housed Ben in some temporary accommodation which he was delighted about and a flat bed gave him a lot of relief from his back pain. This temporary accommodation is completely free for its residents but as a result it is only for people who are out of work with no income. Ben was extremely eager to get back on his feet and immediately began looking for work which tragically meant he was not allowed to stay at his accommodation and he was evicted, something that Ben did not realise would happen.

In a week he was back sleeping in his car, lost and not sure where he could go to next, it was now that he came to Barnabus.

Ben not only impressed our team with how polite and calm he was but the member of our team he spoke to was also recovering from a back injury and could not believe that Ben was sleeping in a car whilst suffering from chronic back pain. Sadly there was nothing we could do for him that evening but we assured him that if he came to us the following morning our team would be there ready to support him.

Our team was not happy to let Ben stay in his car one night longer and immediately began working to get him into different accommodation options.

After a week Ben was housed and in a more appropriate accommodation, more than this as Ben now had a bed for the foreseeable future he was able to book in his back surgery with the NHS. Whilst he slept in his car this wasn’t possible as the surgeons required him to have a bed available to recover in after the operation. Once he is recovered his new accommodation will help to move him into permanent accommodation that will allow Ben to finally return to work.

Ben is excited to have his surgery, recover, find work and leave homelessness behind for good. We are ready to support him through these next steps in his journey and we are sure he will succeed at them.

If you would like to support Ben and people like him on their journey off the streets please set up a monthly donation or one off gift to ensure that we can continue to support people.

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