Cheryl’s Story

In August 2019, after 25 years living and working in Brighton/Hove, privately renting for many years and always paying the rent on time, I found myself abruptly and unfairly evicted. My rent had tripled overnight, so suddenly I was unable to continue my tenancy.

“In the blink of an eye my life had completely unravelled – I was homeless.”

A friend at the time invited me to stay in her home as she had a spare room. Within the first week I realised it had been a mistake to move there but I didn’t know just how hard it would become and how our friendship would deteriorate. My friend’s mother also lived there, and she made me feel particularly unwelcome – she even locked me out of the house once. The house was always ridiculously cold; it was hard to sleep at night it was that cold. There was condensation and black mould which ruined the few belongings I did have, and there was no hot water. It wasn’t at all a healthy environment. It eventually reached the point where I was unable to stay any longer – after 18 months I had to leave for my own sanity – it was a hellish place to live and because of the way my friend and her mother treated me I just felt paranoid and anxious all the time.

Fearful of what my future held, I went to Brighton & Hove Council for support. While they looked into my case, I firstly sofa-surfed between friends’ houses for a while, often sleeping on floors, sometimes in homes which already had six or seven people living there. I never wanted to stay too long; I felt like I was a burden. Also, because things had broken down so awfully with staying at my friend’s house, I felt like I could not trust anyone. During this time, it was also a challenge keeping my stuff together. Many of my possessions were still at my friend’s house but I had been locked out and couldn’t retrieve much, only what I could grab at the time of departing. The uncertainty each day brought – really took its toll. I must say it is times like this when you find out who your real friends are.

I was then placed into emergency accommodation which I stayed in for around 5 months. Although I was grateful to have a roof over my head, I never slept much there as I feared what was happening outside my door. Sadly because I had made myself ‘intentionally homeless’ there wasn’t much that could be done. I just felt so distraught. I had no choice at the time but to leave. I felt like I had no options – I couldn’t believe it.

Once again I had nowhere to stay. I felt like a failure, and I was dealing with the shock of essentially being unable to access much support because I had made myself homeless. It was too much to deal with and then I received the news that my dad had passed away from oesophageal cancer. At that point I just wanted everything to stop – I overdosed and ended up in hospital.

After being discharged I visited Worthing Council, and was again placed in emergency accommodation. I will forever be grateful to the young man working that day who immediately organised a place to stay. He showed kindness – people forget what a difference that can make to a person.

Shortly afterwards, the Council referred me to Turning Tides, and it is here my story gains stability. After an initial few weeks at Lyndhurst, I moved into the charity’s longer term accommodation. This is where I currently live and it is here, with the help of Turning Tides, that my life has got back on track. They have supported me in setting up universal credit and I have received counselling to help me come to terms with what has happened. I now can see a future for myself. I have a key worker who has really taken the time to get to know me and help me develop. I attend workshops run by Turning Tides such as the cookery group. Most importantly, they have given me the security of a roof over my head. My cat Ebony lives with me – my only companion who has been through it all with me.

“Turning Tides saved my life and I wouldn’t be here without them. l can finally feel relaxed where I live;
for so many years, as I moved from one place to another, I just felt unsafe and on edge. Now I feel hopeful about the future.”

My next step is to move into my own home. It won’t be easy, but I feel more able to work towards my forever home. I have various health issues to contend with – an injured rotator cuff and curvature of the spine (Scoliosis) both of which leave me in considerable amounts of pain. But I no longer feel so alone, I know the staff at Turning Tides are here to support me every step of the way. I really want to go back to work and get motivated to do more with my life.

I started to take up running again – I have always loved it and I am so happy to have continued this hobby whilst living in Turning Tides’ projects. It has really helped me in so many ways – physically and mentally. The sense of achievement from completing a marathon is like nothing else. I feel the limitations my body imposes can be overcome in the moment of running. I at last have the sense of freedom I crave. I have bags of medals that I hope to put on display when I move into my forever home.

After the pandemic I decided I would really live life to the fullest. I have decided this year I am going to commit to more running events than I have ever done before. It means a lot of training and at times I am worried that I won’t be fit enough. I attend Park Run and enjoy running alongside others and it has helped to meet new people in the community.

If I ever have a wobble about whether I can do a running event – I just remember what I have been through and how far I have come. I am also doing it to raise money to support the incredible work Turning Tides do every day for people like myself – that is enough incentive.  I’ll next be taking on an ‘Ultra 50k’ – a big challenge for me but one I can’t wait to tackle!

“I hope to keep running for good causes for as long as I can because I know how truly valuable and life saving their work can be.”