“The minute you’re on the street, nobody wants to know you. You lose your identity, sense of self worth. Your life starts going down in a spiral – freefall, losing hope, scared, vulnerable…”  Those are the words of Andy, a very tall, friendly, articulate man in his early forties, whom I met for coffee in Nottingham while he was taking a break from his job as street fundraiser for Framework.

He explained: “I’m living proof of what Framework do. They made me a human being again, gave me an identity. Now I want to give something back.” It was a cold, January day, however, and he considered it ironic that, after living in the warm climate of Tenerife for twenty years, he should choose to be working outside in England.

Andy may be back on the streets of Nottingham but his life is now very different

In Tenerife he had worked as a DJ on the radio and in clubs; then also as a bar manager. He was very shaken when both his parents died within months of each other, but with the inheritance he bought his own bar – a decision that eventually led to the break-up of his marriage and young family.

Having lost everybody he became increasingly stressed, and turned to the readily available alcohol to help him cope. Eventually breakdown came and thoughts of suicide. In search of a fresh start he decided to take up the offer of a place in a Nottinghamshire Christian rehabilitation centre. Believing he had recovered adequately he checked himself out and was given his bus fare to Nottingham.

Finding himself in the centre of Nottingham he made a few phone calls to friends and contacts but nobody would help. “One day turned into two days, two days into three. Next thing, a week’s gone by.” Andy was walking around the streets with all his personal belongings in a big suitcase, a hold-all and a shoulder bag.

He started going into McDonald’s to eat food left on the tables, tried to keep clean by washing himself down in public lavatories, and slept by the canal. “I used to stay awake during the night. I didn’t want to fall asleep, being on my own: you’re always aware of people wanting to mug you, take your stuff. Strong as you are, the longer you’re in that position, the more vulnerable you end up feeling: you don’t trust anyone and become very paranoid.” He remembers also the fear he felt when he was jeered at by a group of young people who had been drinking.

The following week, when the weather became cold, he managed to stay overnight in Broadmarsh bus station, sitting on a metal bench trying to look like a tourist with his luggage. On the second night, a security guard recognised him from the previous evening, but allowed him to stay, since he wasn’t causing any trouble, if he put himself at the back. It was there, after a few days, that Framework’s street outreach team spotted him.

He remembered: “They came across to me. I was quite scared. I was getting really suspicious of people.” The first thing they said was, “don’t worry, we’re not the police”, and then they introduced themselves, explained what they were doing, and asked him about his situation. They gave him directions to the city’s Emmanuel House Centre homeless shelter. When he arrived, they were waiting for him. One of them gave him breakfast and took his details, telling him he would see what he could sort out. “I sat down, feeling suddenly warm and safe and just fell asleep.”

“The next thing I knew I was being woken up and told ‘this might surprise you but you’ve got a bed’.” Andy, who was then taken to the London Road Emergency Accommodation Centre, remembered: “I was gobsmacked. My head was spinning with joy and confusion. I was taken up to this room. It felt like walking into the Hilton to me. There was a clean bed there with a duvet on, fresh towels, soap, a razor, toothpaste, heating… it felt like heaven! I was no longer of no fixed abode: London Road was my home.”

His support worker helped him get back into the system, start looking for work, sort out his benefits and, three months later when he was ready, find his own place.

He saw advertised in the job centre the position of face-to-face fundraiser for Framework. It immediately appealed to him because he felt that Framework had helped him so much and he wanted to repay them. “They’ve given me the opportunity to live again.” He got the job and is glad to have the opportunity “to spread the word about Framework, how they do help, what they have done for people”.

His ambition is to become a support worker, to be able to help people as he was helped: “My life has been put back on track. Now, as I see it, I’m here to help people get their lives back on track.”