'Places like this pick people up from the ground'

The small charity making a big difference for homeless people as Sainsbury's pledges £500k to our appeal

- DAVID COHEN, CAMPAIGNS EDITOR

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

• £10 COULD PROVIDE A YOUNG PERSON TRAVEL TO MEET A WELLBEING MENTOR AND TO HAVE A HOT MEAL

• £50 COULD PROVIDE TRAVEL TO WORK OR SCHOOL FOR A MONTH FOR AN AT-RISK YOUTH

• £150 COULD REFURBISH A BIKE FOR AN ADULT REFUGEE, GIVING THEM FREEDOM TO TRAVEL INDEPENDENTLY

• £500 COULD TRAIN 10 PEOPLE WITH EXPERIENCE OF HOMELESSNESS TO BECOME HOMELESS HEALTH ADVOCATES

• £1,000 COULD ENABLE ONE OF OUR PARTNERS TO FULLY SUPPORT A YOUNG PERSON THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

When Ivan became homeless for the first time in his life in June, he tried to “take it as an adventure”. “It was summer and I thought maybe I can be like that guy in the movie Into the Wild,” he said. “I am not scared of the dark and I thought I could camp out in my sleeping bag in parks around London. How bad could it be?”

But after a few months, Ivan, 34, a tradesman in construction who had lost his job and fallen on hard times, started to struggle. “I experienced real hunger,” he said. “I would eat people’s unfinished pizza discarded on park benches. One day I found some little garden allotments where people were growing onions and I ate them raw from the ground. I learned that having no money for food and the hunger that gnaws at you day and night is no joke.”

Ivan also started to feel a deep need for privacy. “Everyone needs a place to lay their head at night to feel safe and be left alone, but you have no privacy in a park,” he said. “I was trying not to get depressed but my mental health was low and it no longer felt like an adventure. I did not know where to turn — when you are homeless, it is hard to ask for help because you feel ashamed, so you try to hide it.”