Alice’s story

Alice has experienced homelessness on and off since she was 16. Years of family trauma had made trusting people difficult and left her increasingly isolated. After support Alice from the streets into a hostel and eventually her own flat, we connected her with our Sports team. Eighteen months later, she feels better in both mind and body, has built friendships and found a community she calls family.

“I don’t want to die anymore. I feel like I’ve got a future. I feel like I’ve got a lot to live for.”

These words may not sound like much, but they show the transformation Alice has gone through over the last couple of years. But it wasn’t always like this.

After a traumatic childhood, including sexual abuse and years spent in the care system, Alice struggled with the transition to independence as a teenager.

“When you’re in foster care, no one tells you about budgeting, how to pay bills or how to do laundry. You get everything done for you.”

At 16, overwhelmed by the thought of managing the responsibilities of everyday life on her own, Alice chose to sleep on the streets for the first time.

At times, Alice found some stability including having children – but homelessness would go on to become a recurring part of her life.

“The streets were like my second home. You can escape on the streets. You can be who you want to be. No one’s going to judge you. You’ve got to care about yourself, and that’s how I brought myself up.”

When support was initially offered, Alice said no.

“I refused help a few times because I didn’t trust anyone. I thought, ‘What’s the point of trusting you? I trusted the last person and they still hurt me.’”

But people kept coming back.

“It got to a stage where I don’t think I had a choice. It was either trust people or go back on the streets and wither away.”

Eventually, Alice accepted support, moving from the streets into one of our hostels in Finsbury Park. It was an important step, but Alice soon knew she was ready for something more independent. After finding hostel life difficult, she worked towards moving on and eventually got the keys to her own flat.

Sport as a turning point

Despite a roof over her head, Alice struggled to find purpose, with little motivation to do anything.

“I’d got to the stage where I was eating my feelings away. I’d go food shopping and get junk instead of proper food. I just didn’t care.”

She’d also become increasingly isolated, deliberately keeping people at a distance.

“I had no support. No family, no friends. I think I preferred it that way because, with no friends or family, there’s no one who can hurt you.”

Alice’s support worker, Louise, introduced her to our Achieving Potential programme, where she started attending art and IT sessions before being connected with our Sports team.

Today, describing Alice as a sports enthusiast would be an understatement. Her week can include tennis, football, badminton and table tennis. She’s also joined cycling trips and is planning to join the Women’s Walking Group alongside one of the new friends she’s made.

Find somewhere to belong

Sport has also given Alice routine and purpose. But perhaps most importantly, she’s started letting people back into her life.

“I feel like I’m part of something. I feel wanted. I’ve never felt like that with my family or friends before.”

Alice has built friendships with other participants and close relationships with the Sports team. Their encouragement helped her keep going, even on days when she didn’t feel like turning up.

“They never gave up. They’d text me saying, ‘It’d be great to see you there.’ It was lovely hearing someone say that to me.”

“Jordan, Nick and Will from the team are much more than just workers to me. They’ve become family, like older annoying brothers.”

For Alice, those relationships have also helped her learn to trust again.

“I bonded with them really quickly. I just felt like, ‘These guys aren’t going to hurt me. I’m going to stick with these guys.’”

“People say family doesn’t end with blood, and it really doesn’t. You could be blood family and hate each other or not be related and love each other. That’s certainly true for the Sports team.”

Giving something back

Building these relationships has inspired Alice to become a peer mentor, using her own experiences of homelessness, addiction and recovery to support others who have been through similar experiences.

“I don’t judge because I understand what people have been through. They didn’t just wake up one day and go, ‘I’m going to start injecting myself, I’m going to start drinking.’ It gradually builds up until you can’t take any more and you just want to stop the pain.”

For Alice, becoming a peer mentor would also be another opportunity to prove to herself what she’s capable of.

“No one has ever given me a chance before when it comes to jobs or volunteering.”

“I feel like I could achieve that. I’m looking forward to helping people and helping myself by helping them.”

Leaving the past behind

Sport hasn’t fully erased Alice’s past. Of everything she has experienced, she says having her children taken into care was by far the hardest.

But she’s trying to focus on how far she has come and what she can achieve next.

“I used to have nothing. I’d go to sleep and not want to wake up. Now, I’m telling my story, sitting in the park, sober, with people who care about me. If someone had told me that 15 years ago, I’d have told them to go shove it.”

There are still times when the past catches up with her.

“If I stop, even just for a minute, I start to overthink stuff. I don’t want to be that person again. But I’m trying my best to leave that part of me behind and focus on my achievements and my success.”

“I want to lock the old me away and never let her come out again. This new me is ready for challenges, ready for obstacles.”

From someone who once felt safer keeping people at a distance, Alice now has friendships, ambitions and a community around her.

“I have the Sports team to thank for everything. If it wasn’t for them, I would be alone, and I don’t want that again.”

“Single Homeless Project is family, and it’s just growing and growing. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

We’re so happy to have you as part of our community Alice.