Life looking up for young Sheffield man after two years living on city streets

A 22-year-old homeless man from Sheffield has spoken movingly about how he ended up living on the streets - and his renewed hope for the future.
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Llewelyn Simmonds is originally from Worksop but has lived in Wales, Scotland and now in Sheffield in the nine years since he first left home at the age of 13.

He has been sleeping rough and begging for the last two years after his relationship with his girlfriend and the mother of his three children broke down.

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But now - after getting help from Sheffield youth homelessness charity Roundabout - he has found a place to stay and has a belief that things might finally be on the up.

Llewelyn Simmonds.Llewelyn Simmonds.
Llewelyn Simmonds.

The Star spoke to Llewelyn outside Kommune on Angel Street on Monday, where he opened up about how he became homeless in the first place.

He said: “I messed things up with my family many years ago and I haven’t seen them since I was very young. So when I split up from my girlfriend I had nowhere to go.

“There were years that I hated it and then it just goes past that point and you have to accept it. I started going from town to town and city to city looking for whatever I could find. I knew I would get help here because it is easier being on the streets in the city.

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“When I came to Sheffield I was in the Poundland doorway for five months. They looked after my stuff there and got me a cup of tea in the morning because I was good with them. I don’t leave a mess and I was just trying to get by.”

Following Llewelyn like his shadow is Roxy, a five and a half-year-old Staffy he has had since she was just a puppy.

He said the pair have forged a special bond after almost six years together, and insists that if she didn’t want to be with him, he wouldn’t make her.

“If she was suffering I wouldn’t force her to be with me just to have a dog because it’s not fair,” he said.

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“She is attached to me the same way I am attached to her. I have been without but I’d never let her go without.”

When Llewelyn and Roxy came to Sheffield last year, he started working with Debbie Marsh from homelessness charity Roundabout.

And he says it is this relationship, more than anything else, which has allowed him to look to the future with renewed hope.

He said: “When I first started sleeping rough when I was 13, I found it really difficult to look after myself because I didn’t have the skills that I needed.

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“But I’ve now got the help I needed from them at Roundabout and I’m very thankful for that. Without them, I would still be waking up outside Poundland. I can speak to Debbie and she looks after me.”

Debbie and Roundabout have not only helped Llewelyn with housing, they have also helped him access help for the drug and alcohol problems he suffers from.

And after Debbie got Llewelyn some new trainers from Sports Direct, she was taking him and Roxy down to a pharmacy on the Wicker to pick up his prescription.

“Addiction often goes hand in hand with homelessness,” said Llewelyn.

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“Drugs and alcohol helped me cope a lot but they’re not nice and it’s not where I want to be anymore.

“I would have loved to see my three boys over Christmas but I couldn’t because of the lifestyle I lead.

“But things are getting better.”