It’s national Supported Housing Week – a campaign to highlight the importance of a supported home in helping people at the most difficult time in their lives.
The lifeline they provide people in desperate need is all too real.
Bernicia has helped lift couple Martin and Kelly out of homelessness and back onto the housing ladder.
Living in a tent behind Matalan in Gateshead town centre became home for couple Martin and Kelly after a series of personal tragedies and financial difficulties forced them onto the streets.
The couple spent four months homeless together before being referred for temporary accommodation to a flat in Bernicia’s St Bede’s House in Gateshead.
St Bede’s provides 16 furnished flats offering safe and secure temporary accommodation while Gateshead Council assesses their housing circumstances and statutory homelessness duties.
Bernicia provides intensive housing management at the scheme, helping residents sustain their temporary accommodation and access services while working in partnership with Gateshead Council.
The security of their own flat has given the couple shelter and safety – and time to plan ahead for a more secure future together. And now they are celebrating the news that they have been allocated a council flat in Gateshead, and are moving in next week.
Sleeping on the streets
Former electrician Martin, 41, and retail worker Kelly, 39, have been together for ten years.
Their lives were turned upside down by family loss and financial difficulties which led to them becoming homeless in November last year.
A spell sofa surfing at a friend’s home ended with them having nowhere to go, spending several nights sleeping outside on benches near Gateshead Civic Centre when their tent was set alight by vandals.
“We ended up having to live in a tent behind Matalan – thank God it was in the summer time in the warmer weather,” said Martin.
“It’s horrible being on the streets, but luckily we had each other,” said Kelly.
“We’ve been together for a long time and been through a lot with each other.”
“We ended up staying with a pal and sleeping on his couch for a few months, but then he got moved into temporary accommodation and we couldn’t stay with him,” said Martin.
Life goes up in flames
“So we ended up living in a tent,” added Kelly. “We went to the garage for ten minutes one night and when we came back someone had burned our tent down.
“We came back into Gateshead with no tent, no clothes, no nothing.
“It was Joe’s Kitchen that does a free meal every Wednesday morning, they gave us a tent and free sleeping bags and that set us up really and the People’s Kitchen in Newcastle, they helped us with clothes and things.
“Martin was carrying everything we had in a big backpack everywhere we went.”
Avoiding drink and drugs
The couple didn’t succumb to the regular offer of drink and drugs on the streets, staying safe by keeping their distance from people who struggled to cope with the long days and nights with no structure to their lives.
The couple would walk around Gateshead and over to Newcastle visiting support services including Oasis Community Housing crisis services and Citizens Advice to constructively fill in their days, before pitching their tent for the night.
Gateshead Council’s homeless team referred Martin and Kelly to St Bede’s House. They have been in their flat for two months.
“Our flat is lovely,” said Kelly. “This place is a godsend. We feel safe here, there’s CCTV here and the neighbours here are kind, everyone seems to get along.
“It makes you appreciate things more, you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. Just simple things like having your own toilet.
“It’s lovely to be able to wash your own clothes without having to queue, cooking your own food without having to walk two miles to get a hot meal.”
St Bede’s support
Martin said: “I never thought I’d be homeless, especially for that long. The staff at St Bede’s House have been brilliant, they are there when we need them, not too intrusive, but helpful.
“Watching our first night of tele in the flat was great, I didn’t realise there were so many Freeview channels to watch.
“I slept for the first day, I was that tired, slept like a baby,” said Martin.
“It was lovely, we felt like royalty didn’t we?!,” said Kelly. “Nice shower, fresh clothes, straight into bed, no better feeling.
“We’ve got our foot back on the ladder now and we are trying to do everything right. We’d like our own home and to work again. We definitely don’t want to go back on the streets, you’ve got to look over your shoulder 24/7.
“We can put our own stamp on our next place, decorating it and buying things for our home.”
Power of partnership
Bernicia’s Lucy Sexton, Assistant Director of Supported and Specialist Housing, said: “Everyone deserves somewhere safe and secure to call home and Martin and Kelly’s story is a powerful reminder of just how much difference that can make.
“At St Bede’s House we provide good quality furnished temporary accommodation. Our experienced team delivers intensive housing management to help residents settle into their accommodation, manage their tenancies and address housing-related issues during what can be an incredibly difficult and uncertain time.
“Working in partnership with Gateshead Council, we provide a safe and welcoming environment while the council assesses its statutory homelessness duties and considers residents’ longer term housing options.
“Supported Housing Week is an opportunity to recognise the important role that specialist housing provision plays in people’s lives. It’s wonderful to hear the positive difference St Bede’s has made to Martin and Kelly and to recognise the dedication of our team in helping people feel safe, secure and settled.”
The St Bede’s Team working to Lucy are Dionne Thompson, Operations Manager, and Intensive Housing Management Workers Claire Doherty and Kay Green.
Kay (right) is pictured with Kelly and Martin outside St Bede’s.
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