The reason that I became homeless was that I had a private let at the time and the council was paying for it, but my landlord went bankrupt. This was nearly 10 years ago, and I did not know anything about being homeless. I did not know about the Hamish Allan Centre or Shelter. Personally, I think that it should start with the DWP, because I dare say that 95 per cent of homeless people are on benefits, and there should be some sort of information for them.
I went to the buroo, and the next minute I was sleeping under a bridge with a jacket. I did not know about the street team, where you can go to get a sleeping bag. I did not know anything about Shelter or my rights. I was in every hostel in Glasgow, four or five times each. I was put out of the hostels for silly reasons—it was not for violence or anything like that. The curfew was at 12 o’clock at night, and I was turning up at 20 past 12 and being put back on the street. That is a joke.
I was in my son’s life until he was 10, but I never saw him for about six and a half years, until he was 17. I was the same as Rhys Campbell. During all that hostel time, I ended up with an addiction to drugs and alcohol—both of them. I ended up in a rehab centre; that was the institution that I was talking about.
When I was put in a flat, I got in about a lot of violence, so I went to rehab to escape it. I told my care manager, my housing officer and the casework team, and they all just said to me, “Too bad—you caused it. You’re going back home there.” I went to Bill Kidd, the MSP for Knightswood, which was where I was. He sent a letter to David Williams, the head of health and social care, who sent a letter back to the casework team. After leaving rehab, I was put in a hostel where everybody was using. I had just spent six months cleaning up my act, and there I was stepping over people curled up on the floor of the hostel. I had to spend three weeks there. I would have spent longer in there if it was not for Bill Kidd sending a letter to David Williams, who sent a letter back to the casework team.
I went to see the casework team. They were supposed to do an investigation because I was fleeing violence, but they never did it. I went to Shelter, where they told me my rights. I contacted the casework team through Shelter, and they said that they would sit down with me, but then they got the letter from David Williams. It was through Shelter and David Williams that I was put in abstinence-based supported accommodation, which is where I am now.
I really think that there should be more information out there. I was in a flat, and suddenly I had the High Court officers at the door with a writ, and I had to be out in seven days. That was me out on the street, and I knew nothing. My mother stays in London and my brother stays in Ireland—those are my family connections. I was not going to phone them and say, “I’m on the street,” so I ended up sleeping under bridges and this and that.
I went to the Legal Services Agency in Glasgow because I was getting nowhere—after a while, I was not even getting into the hostels. At the Hamish Allan Centre, I was getting two bus tokens and a “See you later”. That was it for years. I went to the Legal Services Agency—