Shane’s story: There’s no one here that doesn’t care

Housing First referral

Before coming to Centrepoint, Shane, 25, had been supported by a local organisation to help him live independently after he had to leave his home when his grandmother sadly passed away. He moved in with a friend, before working with this organisation to get set up in his own independent home.

After living in this home for a while, he moved out of the area, which meant that he was no longer in the catchment area for this organisation. However, his support worker at the time let him know that he would still be eligible for support and made a referral to Centrepoint’s Housing First team.

“After my nan passed away, I was just staying with a friend and then I moved in somewhere else before I was in my new place and worked with Centrepoint. I was being supported by a different organisation.”

“And then from there, when I moved, my old support worker wasn’t going to be my support worker anymore because it’s a different area. So, they told me that I would be moving to Centrepoint and that someone would be in contact.” 

Housing First aims to support young people impacted by homelessness through intensive, person-centred and holistic advice and guidance to help them in their tenancies and beyond.

Key worker support

When he was first referred to Centrepoint, he was paired with a Housing First Officer, however, it was not long before they were leaving and so he was taken on by and started working with Nicole. 

When Shane first began working with the team, he shared with Nicole that he was struggling with his mental health during this time. She listened to his concerns and made a referrable to the dedicated mental health team so that he could access the support he needed. 

As he was still getting used to living in his own home and staying on top of his finances, he and Nicole were able to talk about what was worrying him and what kind of support he needed. From managing his benefits to staying on top of bills, whilst also looking after his wellbeing, together they wanted to find ways that would help him to feel comfortable with balancing his priorities.

“I was first working with someone called Emmanuel and then he was leaving, so I began working with Nicole. So, I was working with Nicole for a good while when I first moved into my property. She helped a lot with my depression and my mental health, helped with my house as well as my benefits and everything just making sure that I’m up to date on everything.”

A few months ago, Shane began working with another support worker within the Housing First team, Derron. Having Derron there to not only support him with finances and budgeting, something that he was finding it hard to stay on top of, but to also regularly check in with him around his mental wellbeing has been a huge support. The support that he’s had from both Nicole and Derron has meant that he’s now found that he’s beginning to save a little more each month and put money towards things he’s always wanted.

He's also been supported by Centrepoint’s Moneywise team, who offer dedicated advice and guidance around managing finances to help young people feel more financially confident – which Shane has said is starting to become a reality.

“Then I moved on to working with Derron, because he’ a guy there were certain things I felt more comfortable talking to him about. I’ve been working with him for around 2-3 months. And he’s helped a lot as well with my wellbeing and checking in with me mentally. He’s also helped a lot with finances as well, even when my finances were bad, I wouldn’t really budget properly. He’s really helped me budget more and now my money is more stable. I can actually save up and I can use my money for more things that I want and not just things that I need.”

Alongside supporting Shane with his mental and financial wellbeing, Derron has also been encouraging him to take part in boxing classes to help with his fitness and to regulate his moods. Although he’s not been doing the classes for that long, Shane has said he can already see the difference that it’s had not only for his mental health but can see the physical results already.

Derron and Shane have developed a close relationship, and they take a mixed approach to working together – being able to give the care and support when he needs it but also taking steps back so that Shane can develop the confidence and skills, he needs to hold himself accountable to make important life changes. 

“It was really hard but over the years, it has gotten a lot better. And I feel like once I met Derron, because he is all business, he’s also all about fitness as well it has been good. I needed a stricter support worker to toughen me up and to say you need to do this and that.”

“Him being my support worker and being that strict role model but also doing things to benefit me really helps – I owe him a lot. Because he does help me with everything.”

“Sometimes he does step back to see what I’m going to do. He might wait a week or two and see what happens.”

Getting back into work

Before the 2020 pandemic, Shane had been working at his football club’s stadium as a steward, really enjoying the opportunity to support local fans and be a part of something that was important to him. However, during the pandemic he was let go from the job and took some time to look after himself before going back into the world of work.

He recently begun his SIA training and is looking to take on different roles in security to see if he can get back into working at the football stadium one day. After attending a couple of interviews, he’s found out that he has been accepted to start a new role in this sector and is excited to get the opportunity to develop his skills and to start a new job. 

“I’m doing some training for security – I actually went there yesterday and did a small interview, and they were happy with everything. They said I would be starting on Monday, so that’s next month. It went well and I’m looking forward to going back to working.”

For Shane, his dream is to start working at Arsenal stadium again and, hopefully, one day to become manager of the club. Although he knows that will be a lot of work to get there, he’s driven on by his love of the club and of the game.

“That will be my dream working for Arsenal. It's always been my dream. And then when I finally got the opportunity, I was so happy but then I lost it again. But now I've got that second chance to then get back because of this card, it just opened everything going well.”

Finding his voice

Before being supported by the Housing First team at Centrepoint, Shane had been living with my grandmother. She was a singer, getting the opportunity to perform at a range of different events and activities. Shane didn’t know that he had inherited her talent for music, until one day a family friend heard him sing and helped him to recognise his potential.

“I think it was from my nan who could always sing, and she got invited to sing at weddings and funerals and that. Then one day one of my nan’s friends’ sons, who was like a cousin to me, he was passionate about music, and he discovered my voice from that young age. I didn’t know that I had a voice!”

After finding his voice and recognising what he could do, he began to share his music with others online and developed a fan base who listen to his covers and wait for him to drop new music.

“I’ve been doing that from like a pretty young age and when I discussed my voice then I started to do covers of songs and I sort of got a fan base from that like on TikTok. So, most of my fans came from different platforms rather than discovering me on YouTube.”

For Shane, singing is something that brings him a sense of happiness – especially when he can surprise people with his voice!

“I would say singing brings me joy. A lot of people don’t know I can sing so when they do know they’re surprised, and I want people to know that I can do that.”

Reflecting on his journey

Shane has been through a lot over the last few years and knowing that he has had the support of different organisations around him as given him the confidence and strength to live independently. As he has been struggling with his mental health, knowing that the whole of the team dedicated to the area he lives, and not just his support worker, are people he can talk to if he needs to has been a huge help when things have been feeling challenging.

“I’m just a work in progress at the moment with Derron but the team at Centrepoint I feel like the majority of them if not all of them care about my mental health and wellbeing. Even when I’m talking about it, if I can’t talk to Derron, I can always talk to someone in the office about how I’m feeling. And there always there and always willing to listen to how I’m feeling and like there is no one here that doesn’t care they literally all care.”

Thinking back on working with the team and what he has learnt, he would say to anyone in a similar position to him to always be honest with those who are there to help you. He had experienced some challenging times whilst in his home and had wished that he had told his support team earlier, so they were able to give him the help he needed to work through these difficult parts. 

Once he was able to open up to the team and share more of what has happening in his life and the areas he needed support, he realised the positive impact this could have for him and in building a strong relationship with them.

“I would say always be honest to your support workers and don't leave anything out about what you're going through or if you need help with something. I would say always be honest with them and tell them what’s actually going on because the support and the help they will give you can really help. If you come to them saying you’re feeling low, like how I feel, they always there to help or they can give you numbers or refer you to a team to get therapy. They are there to help with those parts.”

We are so proud to see the progress that Shane has made, and we can’t wait to see him managing the Arsenal team one day!