Our support involves working with our residents to unpick the challenges that they are facing. Often it is more than one situation or circumstance that has led to them facing homelessness.
This World Book Day, we want to highlight the inspirational journey of one of our residents. Whilst staying with us, one of our former residents confided in our staff that he couldn’t read. For years he had found ways to hide this, even managing to successfully hold down a job that required an amount of reading.
He felt ashamed and alone in this daily challenge. We were able connect him with a fantastic charity called Read Easy. They have worked with him to give him the one-to-one support to enable him to read. He is no longer a resident, now living in his own home but he continues this regular reading support.
Often he passes by The Winchester Beacon on his way to or from work for a quick chat to let us know how he is doing. On a recent visit he shared that this Christmas his son had gifted him a book.
Struggling to read was not the cause of this resident’s homelessness. However, it was part of the patchwork of his life that made things harder for him every day. He is now able to pick up a book and escape its pages whilst also being able to more confidently navigate daily life.
