Roundabout Roses, can help other people understand what homelessness is like

Two years ago this month, I was 22, and sleeping on my nan’s sofa with nowhere else to go.

It was just after the Covid-19 pandemic and all of the lockdowns. For young people like me, there had been no support networks to turn to for such a long time.

Then family life broke down and so for months I had to sofa surf at my nan’s house.

It was an awful experience, which really affected me mentally. I was used to having my own space, but now there was none. There was no privacy, I was living out of a bag. You really have nothing in that situation - and no control.

The worst part about it was that I didn’t know how long this was going to go on for, and what I was going to do. Would I be sleeping on a sofa forever?

Because it was Christmas, it also felt like there was so much pressure around having a good time and being happy with your family.

When you aren’t enjoying yourself, that time of year feels so bleak and depressing.

After four months of sleeping on the sofa I managed to get a flat and also a referral to youth homelessness charity Roundabout just afterwards.

It was really difficult to suddenly have to start managing bills, and I had got into a bit of debt.

Roundabout helped me set up a payment plan, set up everything I needed for the flat, and provided employment support too. This was so important because it helped me figure out what I wanted to do in life.

Before that I’d been a young carer, picking up the pieces and looking after my siblings.

I thought I would always be a carer, so that was a big turning point.

Previously I’d found a place on a Department of Work and Pensions Scheme to be a retail assistant at a charity shop. Now I could think about choosing a career path.

Together with Roundabout, we applied for me to go to university and I started studying in September.

A few years ago I would never have dreamed that I would go to university. I thought I was going to be a lifelong carer. Now I’m doing a course which I hope will help me change other people’s lives through social work.

I’ve come a really long way. Although I’ve still got that caring mindset, now I want to use it in a really positive way which has an impact on other people too. I’m loving university and I am so excited to start working on placements, to make a difference.

Homelessness can affect anybody. We’ve still got a long way to go in understanding how people become homeless and you can’t tell by looking at someone what they have been through.

One way you can see the true scale of youth homelessness that exists in South Yorkshire right now, this Christmas, is through the Roundabout Roses campaign.

All of the 1,800 steel roses in it represent a young person we have supported since the cost of living crisis.

When I first heard about the idea, I thought it was incredible.

I’d never seen anything like it before and it was amazing to have my story represented in a rose.

I hope my story, and all the stories in Roundabout Roses, can help other people understand what homelessness is like.

It’s a very different experience from person to person. I’m now a peer educator for Roundabout and I’ve worked with people who have been through so much at a really young age.

The Roundabout Roses are an incredible gift for someone because they can literally change a life. When we buy gifts, we should think more about the impact they make.

And the roses will make a huge impact on all the young people who turn to Roundabout when they have nowhere else to go.

Each of the ornamental Roundabout Roses represents a young person supported by the charity since the cost-of-living crisis. Mild steel roses (£25) or stainless steel roses (£40) can be ordered at roundaboutroses.co.uk.

They will also be available to purchase at upcoming Christmas markets this month, including festive events in Matlock and Nether Edge.

Supporters can also buy a Christmas gift for a young person or Roundabout’s Christmas cards, which are designed by Sheffield artists, at roundabouthomeless.org/christmas-giving/

Written by Charlotte Davies, aged 25.