Former rough sleeper aiming to inspire others

A former rough sleeper of three years said he appreciated the patience of support workers who never gave up on helping him off the streets.

Dean Nicholls returned from Shropshire to his home town of Stafford in about 2021 after the trauma of losing his mum.

He sheltered in local parks and said he regularly took drugs to cope with mental health problems, admitting the lifestyle gave him a sense of freedom.

"Waking up in the morning and seeing a town park as your back garden, it's a nice feeling, you feel like a millionaire," he added.

"It's the freedom and you've got no rules. You don't have to abide by anything," he added, having found it hard to meet the requirements to move into supported accommodation.

When he was sleeping rough, Mr Nicholls would have free meals from Cafe 43, which is run by the charity House of Bread.

"When I first went there, I was too proud to even accept a free meal off them," he said.

"But charities like that, they've been amazing."

The House of Bread staff gave him positive referrals to stay in accommodation provided by a support organisation, Turning Point.

"It is hard," he said, "You feel agitated because you're not used to having that calm environment."

Another former rough sleeper also praised the House of Bread group for their help in getting him into a home.

Former Royal Engineer Danny Roper said he had a similar journey to Mr Nicholls, from spending four years on the streets to Turning Point accommodation.

"In the winter, it was horrible. No matter how much you tried to keep warm, you couldn't," he said of his experience.

"I try and just forget about it. It wasn't nice."

"[Cafe 43] keeps a lot of people straight and stop offending."

He added House of Bread had also given him referrals and he would have been "stuffed" without them.

His first opportunity broke down for Mr Nicholls when said he returned to the streets and taking drugs.

"Some of us lads have never had that support, so it's hard to accept it," he added.

"I messed it up. I thought my whole world was coming to an end."

Mr Nicholls has children and said he used them as motivation to keep going with Turning Point as he was desperate to see more of them.

He added he was grateful for his second opportunity and urged all support teams to take such a patient approach.

"It's all good having a second chance, I think a lot of people need a third or fourth chance," he said, adding he had stopped taking drugs.

Turning Point staff have nominated Mr Nicholls for their Inspired by Possibility awards in Birmingham at the end of the month.

He said having a support worker with the experience of being homeless had been important to his recovery so he now had aspirations to become a peer mentor himself.

"I'm trying to lead by example," he beamed. "I owe it to Turning Point and myself to prove to people that not all hope is lost."