Homelessness can happen to any one of us. It has no boundaries and lives & circumstances can change very quickly. No one wakes up & decides to be homeless, there are many reasons & life changing moments that can lead to sleeping rough on the street or sofa surfing night after night. We help people to change lives through a breadth of vital services. We provide homeless outreach, rough sleeper provision, emergency bed space, accommodation, family mediation, counselling, community foodbank, lunch club, support & engagement, complex needs support and have a number of furniture stores providing low cost quality furniture and new white goods. Thanks for supporting us & helping to raise much needed income. Lives have changed, demand for our services has increased and our income has been significantly affected. We could not continue to do what we do without the help of others. Your help is never more needed than now - Thank you

Conor's Story:

Due to a family breakdown and difficulties in the home, at the age of just 17 I found myself homeless and sofa surfing around friends houses across Burton on Trent. Uncertainty loomed over me day by day as to whether I would have somewhere to stay that night. Trying to plan ahead with friends where and when I could stay... but the time came when I had nowhere to go. I found myself wandering the streets all night, avoiding sleep at all costs.

Thankfully I was fully aware of the YMCA's brilliant work in the town as they had supported a friend with whom I'd been staying with. Just 1 day later, I was sat with an amazing support worker discussing my situation and getting the support I needed within a matter of hours. Being under 18, I was put up at a local hotel for 2 weeks before the YMCA found me supported accommodation within their housing projects where I lived and rebuilt my life for the next 18 months. I started back at college, then into part time employment, quickly followed by an opportunity for full time employment. Just 2 months later, I moved out of my supported accommodation and into a house share with work friends. I was back on my feet and in the best place mentally than I'd been for some time.

NOT EVERYONE GETS AS LUCKY AS I DID. PEOPLE GO UNDER THE RADAR AND GO UNNOTICED; ALONE FOR SOME TIME BEFORE DISCOVERING HELP IS OUT THERE.

Please help me support this incredible charity whom I owe my life to. Without their support, I could have gone down a much darker path.

Thank you all :)