‘Little miracles do happen’: Former rough sleeper shares story of getting clean and becoming support worker

By Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter

A former rough sleeper is using his story of getting clean and off the streets to inspire others struggling with addiction and homelessness.

Mark, 42, said he is no longer ashamed of his journey since getting clean more than three years ago.

Born in Ireland, Mark, who didn’t want to share his last name, moved to west London with his parents when he was six. He began drinking when he was 14 years old and was kicked out of the family home by 16.

He spent the next two decades in and out of hospitals and prisons or sleeping rough on the streets of Shepherd’s Bush. 

Mark said his addiction started with cider but soon ballooned into strong spirits and he found himself downing bottles of vodka.

Before long, he began smoking weed, which spiralled into taking the “stronger stuff”.

He said: “There was ecstasy, cocaine, then right through to crack, heroin and finally, crystal meth. I tried to stay away but that’s the thing, I tried to chase staying high.”

Mark said he experienced trauma as a child and took drugs to stop feeling his emotions but is quick to point out that not all addiction is trauma-related. 

He remembers his first night sleeping rough.

He said: “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. I felt like things were out of my control.”

As Mark got older, he camped along High Street, Kensington, and occasionally ended up in homeless hostels, which he said were almost always riddled with users. 

Mark said he found himself in a “vicious” cycle of completing homeless application forms with the council, being placed in temporary accommodation and then being kicked out because he got into fights. 

Mark said he decided to turn his life around when the pandemic hit. He said: “I had had enough of it. I just had enough of it and got help.” 

He started attending group therapy sessions several times a week hosted by Kensington and Chelsea council’s homelessness service and cleaned up.

He was placed in a hostel until the council provided him with a one-bedroom flat. Soon after, he was asked to join the service as a peer support worker.

He said: “It was quite miraculous that day, looking at the place I had slept rough.

“It was quite emotional, in a positive way, that little miracles do happen.” 

Mark now spends two days a week working for the council’s Rough Sleeper Dual Diagnosis Service (RSDDS). He also goes to college one day a week and is training to become a chef whilst working at a restaurant.

Mark said: “I am living in a different life that I didn’t see was possible. Hope started to come back.”

Mark said his family began speaking to him again soon after getting clean. He said he now notices birds singing and is grateful to have a roof over his head he can call home.

Mark said becoming a peer support worker “made sense”. 

He said: “I thought it was something to be ashamed of, but my experience might be able to help someone else who is struggling.

“It gives my life purpose, that’s what was missing when I was using.” 

According to Stephanie Ratcliffe from St Mungo’s, there has been a 20 per cent rise in new rough sleepers in the last year.

Ms Ratcliffe believes this is likely being driven by the cost of living crisis and a shortage of suitable housing in the capital.

She said at least half of rough sleepers the charity surveyed earlier this year reported a mental health need while 70 per cent said theirs was impacting their recovery.

Kensington and Chelsea council said the RSDDS has helped 30 rough sleepers so far through various stages of recovery. This includes 27 who entered rehab and 23 who became abstinent from substances.

A further 15 clients – including Mark – have moved off the streets and into their own permanent homes, which is the service’s ultimate aim. 

Mark is now part of the three-person team running the peer-led programme, which the council said is the first of its kind in the country.

Service manager Gavin, who created the programme two years ago, said clients can contact the RSDDS five days a week between 9am and 5pm and won’t have to be reassessed if they miss more than three appointments.

He said the service engages rough sleepers where they are and works to get them into rehab. Once out of rehab, the service finds them a halfway home and gets them into therapy. 

Pictured top: Mark, who did not want to share his last name, said he has been clean for more than three years (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)