Resettlement PROGRAMME
Service User Perspective
DJ
I was staying at the night shelter for a while, applying for hostels where I could stay for a bit longer
and gain support with finding my own flat. I have been finding it difficult to find work as I hadn’t had a
fixed address and want to get back into the hospitality trade where I have had previous experience.
I was really glad to get a place at Ty Gobaith and get the support I needed and just have a comfortable place to stay. The staff and facilities are great I have only actually stayed at the centre for 4x weeks when I got the chance to move on into a supported House. I am so happy with this and my keyworker has been a great help to me with everything. Some of the other staff helped me on the day of my move and nothing was too much trouble for them. I am really excited about the move and this will definitely help me with finding work in the future.
I filled out a satisfaction survey the night before I left the centre and all I could say was that I thought everything was very good. Lots of staff where wishing me well and looked happy for me. I wrote on the page “All members of staff not only give 100% but go out of their way to help everyone as much as they can above and beyond what is asked of them”
My Mates Respect Me
D.A
Coming to the Salvation Army from the Huggard was a big step for me cos I knew everybody there. But I soon settled
in and got to know the people. The staff made me feel welcome. You see, I’m not just a homeless lad who wandered into
Cardiff in 2006. I made one of the best steps of my life. You see I lived in a town called Worksop, up North as some
of you would say. I had a job, a good job at that, £400 a week wage packet to take home, a couple of friends plus a
rich family. But I left home at 16 years old cos I didn’t want to be a part of the rich side of my family anymore.
Since leaving I have slept in my mates greenhouse for a couple of days. Tell you what I missed my warm bed. It was
that cold I had to put on all the clothes I had and put my head and body in my suitcase with my legs sticking out.
If one of my mates had taken a video of me I would have won £200 on “You’ve been framed”. Thank God nobody saw me,
Then I got to know where the homeless places were, so moved out of my nice cold greenhouse into a nice warm and dry
house for people like me. I had to share a bedroom with three other lads around about the same age as me. That’s when
I met my first mate, his name was Chris. he was a year older than me and it was the first time I went into a shop to
steal something. I failed at that so I decided to teach myself how to break into shops at night and get a lot of money
from doing this. Chris stopped shoplifting and he would come with me every time I went out at night. That’s when I
started taking speed to keep me awake while we were robbing the shops. But this all changed in 1995. I was sent to
HMP Lincoln prison where there were lifers and street gangs. I only did half my 9 months –I never went back!!!! I kept
losing my bottle when we went out at night and my family warned me to stay out of prison so I gave up my life of crime.
I got a working job in a pub, glass washing and I worked my way up to manager, but that when my old mate Chris walked in one day. then I was back on speed, taking money from the safe to buy my speed. I lost my job cos of it and lost my dad at the same time. I got a job working with some of my family. I was working from 8am to 8pm for £400. Out of this money I was paying my mate £100 for letting me rent a room he had, £200 would go on speed and the last £100 on drink. That was my new life.. So one day after work I decided to go for a walk and just kept walking never to go back to my home town of Worksop again. I had my wages in my pocket and the cloths I was wearing and that’s it. I slept under bushes and bus stops, I’d walk from morning until it got dark. I came to a small village and there was a pub and six houses and yes a bus stop, my bed for the night. That’s where I met Jayne and her dog. She asked me if I was lost I said no, ‘I am walking around Britain, don’t know why but I am doing it.’ She had to take her dog back to hers as it was cold, tell me about it. She came back with some food, fags, pop and a blanket for me. That was my first new friend. She gave me a pen and a notepad and said, ‘you can write down what you’re doing.’ So that’s what I did and I met thousands of people just like Jayne – giving me food and money and a bed for the night.
To cut a long story short I have written a book about the walk and I have a map of England and Wales. So I got everyone that I met to sign it. It’s full with over 8,000 people’s names on it. When I came to Cardiff and everyone got to know what I’d done they all respected me for doing it. Now in 2008 I still got a lot of friends that respect me and that’s all I ever wanted was respect coz I never got it back home. My map of names won a first prize in the Millenium centre I also write short stories about the homeless such as the Big Issue for self harm telling people the signs and how to cope with it coz I do self harm and I’ve been doing it since I was 14 years old and I’m now 39 years old. I control my self harm when I need to cut I put pen to paper and I write my stories for the newsletters in the Salvation Army, Forum and the Huggard day centre. My map hangs on the wall for all to see and people ask me all the time about my walk. I’m in the middle of getting my book sorted out as well and it’s called, ‘The walk of respect.’ I’ve had the people from the ‘War Cry,’ magazine come from London to do a piece on me. I was also filmed from a TV crew about my walk and other things I do here at the Salvation Army I’ve been told it’s on after Christmas and it’s on ITV and it’s called Beat three life on the streets.
Anyway, let’s get back to living at the Salvation Army it’s like having one big family. They treat you like a person and don’t judge you by your past. Everybody has a key worker it’s like having a mum look after you that’s what I call mine anyway. People say will you go home one day and I say no way Cardiff is my home now. All the people in the Salvation Army are my new family.
Signed a homeless person that cares about you.
GA
Since I’ve been here at T? Gobaith I feel like the Staff and in particular my Keyworker have really helped me to gain more
confidence in getting ready to move out on my own. My keyworker and I have gone over different properties and what I can do
to change anything for the better.
When I came to T? Gobaith I was Homeless and had no ties at all. I could not get into any other hostel at the time but Ty Gobaith accepted me. I had a roof over my head and placed in great care. One day just by chance I went to the canteen in the centre and signed up for the Get Skilled Program.
The Resettlement Team and my keyworker especially, have been really helped me in finding my own accommodation, If anything I think that T? Gobaith is above the rest. I thank the whole of T? Gobaith Staff for everything they have done for me.
A.S
Since arriving at T? Gobaith around 19th September 2008 I,ve found the Staff to be very helpful. If I have had any problems
I have always asked the staff for advice. My support worker has given me a lot of his time with various issues that have
arisen and I feel I have settled in very well abiding by the House Rules and getting on with everybody. I would also like
to thank one member of staff in particular and that is the catering manager who helped me out with a new mattress for my
bed as I could not rest on the original one in my room because it was made of plastic.
CA
Since I have been at the Salvation Army Hostel I have got clean from drugs and have started to deal with my Problems
instead of burying my head. I have had a lot of help from my keyworker and a lot of his time to help me get back on
track. All the other Staff have been brilliant while my mother has just died and even got my suit for me which I could
have not done without them. I cannot begin to thank my Keyworker and Staff enough for the help they have given me and
hope they know what a good job they are doing.
If I was to complain about one matter it would be the queuing system for people getting flats as I have noticed queue jumping. I think it might be though that people like myself might not be ready to leave, so maybe that’s the reason.
I believe that if I hadn’t have moved in here then I may still be doing Drugs and shoplifting everyday and by now be in Prison. So again I would like to thank the Staff and my keyworker for their support.
Just also to mention the hostel is clean and tidy and the rooms are twice the size of any other hostel I’ve been to before, which I have been to most Hostels. The food is normally very good and there is always lots to do if you are willing to participate.
BJ
I came to T? Gobaith in Cardiff quite awhile ago. Initially I was on the Bridge Project, i.e. concentrating on my
substance misuse drugs and Alcohol. I latter came off the program not because of lack of support but because of
my continuation off my habit which has been alcohol.
The Staff and the centre as a whole still support me and always show me much respect in what I want to do and respond to what I say. I have been given a roof with warmth hot water to wash myself, meals etc. Not everything is hunky dory, as is anything in life but this place has helped me very much and kept me stable where as I could have very much gone down.
Through the Get Skilled program I have been encouraged to volunteer and help teach English at the Friary in Cardiff city centre. This will give me the opportunity to help people who have difficulties with English but also help me to get my mind set back on track, concentrating on work and getting my life back on track.
In a way I have made this place my home, regrettably to much because soon I will have to leave and respond the world outside and move on which in a way is both scary and exiting!
