Imagine yourself snuggling up to go to bed yet you still are shivering from the freezing negative temperatures, you feel wind powerfully blowing across your face and wonder if you'll ever get a good night's sleep. Then the rain and snow may creep in and through all these disturbances you just lie there open-eyed all night, fearing your future, losing hope at the sight of ever finding true happiness in life and missing those who love you dearly, wondering why it had to be this way and blaming yourself for failing yourself. Except this isn't just imagination, this is reality for approximately 100 million people-just in the UK alone. Ordinary people deprived of love and necessities-we can't keep walking past homeless individuals like this. Since I've started buying food whenever I can to bless homeless people wherever they may be , I want to reach out more to those vulnerable individuals who are human beings just like the rest of us. The pain I share with them as we blindly try to walk past them in the street has gotten too great to be just ignored. Yet the sheer joy in the smile of a homeless individual when they receive this gift of nourishment is too precious to not want to see it more often- no matter if their life may be a disaster spiraling out of control yet it makes their day when they get some food and water for strength to carry on, maybe just one more day. Hopefully by fundraising, it means I can reach out to buy even more food, water (all will be from Marks and Spencer or Waitrose because they truly deserve all this and another chance in life) and essentials including warm layers/blankets/toiletry items etc. all prepared in a bag with some positive words of encouragement to remind those receiving the bag that they are still loved, accepted and unforgotten. I'm hoping this will make them feel valued in a society that has seemed to lower their status and produce bad stereotypes. The sad thing is that this can happen to anyone, those homeless now would never have dreamed to find themselves where they are now yet feel hopeless and have lost faith.  Diamond DofE has allowed me to formally set this challenge and has given me a deadline of the end of 2017 by which I need to raise £60 for the DofE charity which transforms young people's lives and builds skills, confidence and resilience by giving so many opportunities regardless of who the individual is however I'd like to aim higher as the extra money beyond £60 will be the funding for these bags of blessings so I will just put an aim of £300 and help as many people as the budget allows me. I will be going out to various locations as often as I can and be documenting all I do throughout as a project for myself on top of a levels and the joys of sixth form! After my deadline I can get my pin and award however I wont stop reaching out and will be on the lookout for other things I can get involved with to help make a difference. I'd like to know people care about me enough they would help me with what I lack for survival should I ever find myself in a situation like this which is why I'm determined to give what I can to those.

As well as the physical difficulties homeless people find themselves having, mental health definitely breaks out also and is all too common. Of course, there are numerous factors which can cause people to become homeless, many of which are beyond individual control, such as lack of affordable housing, disability and poverty. But what really needs to be highlighted is the two-way relationship between homelessness and mental health.

Homelessness and mental health often go hand in hand, and can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Having a mental health problem can create the circumstances which can cause a person to become homeless in the first place. Yet poor housing or homelessness can also increase the chances of developing a mental health problem. In turn, this can make it even harder for that person to recover – to develop good mental health, to secure stable housing, to find and maintain a job, to stay physically healthy and to maintain relationships.

It is a fundamental fact that single homeless people are much more likely to have mental health problems compared to the general population. In 2015, 32% of single homeless people reported a mental health problem, and depression rates, for example, are over 10 times higher in the homeless population. Unfortunately, other psychological issues such as complex trauma, substance misuse and social exclusion are also common.

I find myself very intrigued and passionate in all of this and in decades of years time, would you want to be hearing the same issues only progressively getting worse on the news when YOU had a chance to play your part? Of course not which is why I want to make the difference I can no matter how small.

Thank you so so much for taking time to read this, it means a lot and if you are able to contribute even a pound I would be so so so grateful, or if you are able to share this in any way I would love that! Thank you

Theodora X