In 2006 I found myself back on the streets of central London again, my third time in this situation since 2001. There had been an eighteen-month spell in prison and several weeks in intensive care for illnesses caused by my rough sleeping and addiction to crack cocaine. I had also been using heroin within this time.

I was rough sleeping just off the Strand, and selling the Big Issue in Fleet Street. I kept bumping into the same guy when I was picking up the Big Issue¹ magazines in Covent Garden. Same conversation every time - he would ask me what I was up to. I would tell him, “Nothing, just wandering around, happy in my little bubble.” He would always tell me to go and see this guy at a place called Two Step² at the Angel³. One Monday I gave in, got the address and went up there, just to shut him up.

So anyway I went up to see this guy Tommy at Two Step. I thought I’d maybe get a cup of tea and a biscuit, waste a bit of time to split the day up and then get the other guy off my back. However, during the assessment I was asked if I’d thought about treatment. All the times my addiction had taken me to hospital or prison, I had not felt listened to this way, or been offered treatment for my addiction. I went upstairs to the ODAAT⁴ office out of curiosity as much as anything, but still didn’t think anything would come of it.

Tommy then introduced me to Michael Ishmael of the ODAAT programme. He told me he could show me a life without drink or drugs. I thought this did not exist, but believed in what he said. It felt like somebody understood how I felt for the first time.

As I was a rough sleeper, I was set up with a Stopover⁵ for a week. I stayed at the homes of church volunteers, which I thought was “weird” – no-one takes strangers into their home! Before this, I had felt discriminated against every time I tried to talk about my addiction and my homelessness, yet here were people taking me in on trust as a human being rather than as an addict or a homeless person. On the bus on my way to the house, I cried because I realised how I smelled – I was so ashamed, I got off the bus.

After meeting Toby Dodson, I entered the ODAAT programme. I was still skeptical at this point, expecting to “go through the motions,” come out having had somewhere to stay for a while, and then go back to my old life.

After six months, I completed the programme. Though it was tough at times and I had a couple of moments when I didn’t think I’d finish it, the support from the staff, the volunteers and the guys who had been through the programme before really helped. After a few months of completing ODAAT, I came back to see Tommy and started volunteering on the Two Step programme. I knew I needed to do something, but wasn’t sure what. I expected to answer the phones, I didn’t think I’d be able to do much more, but at least I’d be around positive people, and I felt safe here. This gave me direction after I left the treatment house. During this time, I studied for an NVQ⁶ level 3 in Health and Social Care, funded by the ODAAT programme. I am now employed full-time in Two Step.

What the guys at HOPE worldwide have shown me is a new way of life. Yes, I put the work in and wanted it, but without the support of the churches and individuals that basically paid for my treatment (as I was not funded by my local authority), and also the people who put me on Stopover, I would not have this new life. I’m doing something I never, ever thought I could do. I have total peace of mind. I feel normal.

Since writing this Gavin has cycled the 1000 mile journey from Land’s End (the southern most tip of England to John o’Groats (the northern most tip of Scotland) with a team of three and raised over £7,000 for HOPE worldwide.

Read more about what HOPE worldwide is doing in the United Kingdom for the homeless
Go to www.HOPEww.org/unitedkingdom