While most of us are getting into the Christmas spirit at this time of year, it’s a sobering thought to be reminded of the many people who are sleeping rough through the festive period and, indeed, any time of year. Here, Brittany Jackson, aged 25, tell us her own story of homelessness, how she found refuge through a Sheffield charity, and how businesses in the region can help…
When your business supports a charity at Christmas – it may feel like just ticking a box.
But for the rising number of young people relying on the services of South Yorkshire charity Roundabout, it is a life truly changed.
It’s fair to say that Roundabout saved my life. I would not be here today without their support. When I was 16, I was thrown out of my family home in Sheffield.
While this wasn’t the first time it had happened – I’d sofa-surfed and lived out of bags since the age of 11 – it was Christmas. That was the only time of year when I could sit down with my family and we’d have fun, I felt like I’d ruined that.
The New Year was sad. I was staying on the sofa in my uncle’s one-bedroom flat, there was no gas for hot water or cooking.
Every day I wished I wasn’t here; I was really depressed and I didn’t know what I was going to do, or how I was going to cope.
One day just after Christmas I googled ‘homeless teenagers’, and Roundabout came up.
I called them and a man answered straight away – he really raised my spirits, within a few hours, they had found me a hostel place and even went down there with me.
The great thing about moving into the hostel was that Roundabout immediately started working on rebuilding my connection with my mum. without that help, I don’t think I’d have spoken to her again.
That wasn’t the only time I needed Roundabout’s help. In time I moved to a different hostel and got into an abusive relationship, which ended with us being kicked out. We spent six months sleeping rough behind Sheffield Railway Station.
The reality of sleeping rough is you can become an addict very easily because it’s so cold. It’s so bleak and you are emotionless. The only feeling you do have is despair. The one way to stop that is to numb it all away.
In 2018, I’d left the relationship, got back into a hostel and then found a council property. That’s when Roundabout stepped back in.
They gave me a tenancy support worker who helped me stay clean, find the mental health support I needed and later when I found out I was pregnant, she came to all of my appointments.
Roundabout stuck by me through all those difficult times and I knew they were always there.
It took me eight or nine months to even accept that I was worthy of anything, that anyone can become homeless.
When my daughter turned two, I started volunteering in peer education, going into schools and talking about homelessness to tackle the stigma around it.
After we talk, you can see the shock in people’s faces. It shows that anybody can become homeless for many reasons. It might be because of addiction, family tensions or even moving countries.
You can see the true scale of youth homelessness that exists in South Yorkshire right now, this Christmas, through their Roundabout Roses campaign.
Each of the 1,800 steel roses the charity has created represents a young person they have supported since the cost-of-living crisis began. The roses were on display in Sheffield Cathedral this autumn, and people’s jaws dropped when they realised how many young people need help.
We still need to shock people, because there is not enough understanding about youth homelessness. It can still be quite a taboo subject despite the demand for services doubling.
When I became homeless, I thought ‘this is my life now’ but that wasn’t the case.
I wish I’d had the tools to understand homelessness, that people had come into my school and spoken about it. School wasn’t the first thing on my mind then, because I was trying to survive.
I hope that if a young person who I’ve spoken to does become homeless, they will know that help is there.
I missed a lot of school, so going to university was never in my plan, never mind working for one, but thanks to Roundabout’s support I was able to secure a job working on a university study project for a year. I was so proud of myself.
We have three other young peer educators who have gone to university, and they are thriving. As am I, and my daughter.
So, supporting Roundabout is more than a charity donation. It’s creating a chance for a young person who doesn’t think they have a chance.
We’ve been lucky to have several Sheffield businesses and individuals support the Roundabout Roses campaign – including Gripple, Evenort and Henry Boot.
More than half of the roses, which all represent a young person we have supported, have been sold. Orders have been coming in from as far away as Ohio!
The remaining mild steel roses (£25) and stainless-steel roses (£40) can be ordered at roundaboutroses.co.uk or bought from Christmas events around Sheffield.
We try to buy Christmas gifts for the young people staying in our accommodation over Christmas.
This makes sure they get something to open at Christmas time, although it can be a struggle to get all the gifts we need, especially for young men.
We also provide a Christmas dinner for young people using nine different services, which costs around £2,000 to provide, and businesses can always sponsor that.
All of our services continue running over Christmas – in fact December and January are our busiest periods.
Often families will hold relationships together over the holidays, but January is when things break down.
So, we also need funding to cover those services and long term, we are always hoping to be picked as a business’ charity of the year.
Companies can then get involved in our events, volunteering, training and sponsorship.
They can fully experience how their support has a really valuable impact.
Visit roundabouthomeless.org for more details.
