Fifty years ago some remarkable people got together and decided they wanted to stand up against homelessness. They wanted to stand up and say that it is totally unacceptable that people are living and dying on our streets. It was 1967. Cathy Come Home had recently been aired by the BBC. The atmosphere and appetite for social change was rife. And so, Crisis was born.

We publish our annual Impact Report just as we're midway through our 50^th anniversary year. However, this is not a moment for celebration. Yes, our achievements have been extraordinary, and we have helped countless numbers of people end their homelessness. But now we are looking to a future where we no longer have to exist.

This year we provided help for over 11,000 people through our Crisis Skylight centres and teams in England, Scotland and Wales. More than 4,000 people attended Crisis at Christmas, which remains an extraordinary logistical and volunteering effort with almost 11,000 members of the public giving up their time to support homeless people. Building on the evidence of what works most effectively in tackling homelessness, this year 3,200 more people had access to specialist one-to-one coaching than in the previous year, and we plan to increase this again in the coming year.

Sadly, all of this is needed because in today’s Britain, homelessness is very much still with us. We are one of the richest nations on earth, yet tonight nearly 160,000 households will bed down on our streets, sleep in hostels, night-shelters or B&Bs, or make do in sheds, garages, on sofas or kitchen floors. The time to act is now. We're using this anniversary year to set out what really needs to be done to end homelessness for good.

We're encouraged by recent radical reforms in Scotland and Wales, and now the Homelessness Reduction Act in England. After rallying support from thousands of campaigners, including hundreds of our own members, the Homelessness Reduction Bill became law on 27 April 2017. The Act will give councils a legal duty to give people meaningful support to resolve their homelessness and will introduce measures to prevent people becoming homeless in the first place.

Looking further afield we see cities and countries in Europe and North America that have ended different forms of homelessness. There is much success to draw inspiration from. We're realistic too. We know it's not within our gift to prevent some of the circumstances that trigger homelessness, like relationships breaking down or people losing jobs. But what we do know with absolute certainty is that there is not a single homeless person whose situation cannot be resolved with the right support.

This year, by presenting our achievements through the perspectives of people directly impacted by homelessness and helping to end it, we hope to show what's possible. We know we will end homelessness for good and we know we can't do it alone.

This year we've had a chance to reflect on the achievements of our past and to hear from people who are fighting every day for an end to homelessness. Now we look ahead towards completing and implementing our plan to end it for good. We start 2017/18 focused on how we can have the biggest impact on ending homelessness.

Learning from our new and established Crisis Skylight teams we will end homelessness faster and for more people. And we won’t just rely on tried and tested solutions; our expert staff will come up with new and innovative solutions and test them thoroughly so we improve still further.

Last year we worked with partners from across the homelessness sector and politicians from across the political spectrum to change the law in England to focus on prevention of homelessness. This followed similar advances in Scotland and Wales in recent years, and this year we'll maximise the opportunities the Homelessness Reduction Act will bring through a clear strategy of advising, supporting and challenging its implementation by local authorities and public bodies.

At the same time we'll continue building public support for the plan through our Everybody In campaign, and by the end of our anniversary year in Spring 2018 we will present an authoritative plan for ending homelessness.

And crucially, we will continue to work with everyone who can help us end homelessness. We'll reach out to new volunteers, campaigners, donors and fundraisers while striving to make sure our existing supporters receive the very best experience they deserve. We'll look internally as well, investing in our own people and systems to ensure we're making the most of the resources we have. This is vital to the success of our plans.

During the second half of our 50^th anniversary year, we will continue collaboratively developing a plan to end homelessness. We’ll complete a major consultation which brings together people with lived experience of homelessness and other experts; we’ll review and publish the best evidence about what has worked to end homelessness at home and abroad; and we’ll publish our own research to fill any gaps.

At the same time we'll continue building public support for the plan through our Everybody In campaign, and by the end of our anniversary year in Spring 2018 we will present an authoritative plan for ending homelessness.

We face the reality of homelessness together, and only by collaboration will we end it. For Crisis there is simply no place for cynicism or doubt. It is our firm belief that together, we will end homelessness.

I think it's really important that people with experience of homelessness can have a say, and campaign for change. I think having first-hand knowledge means you understand people, their situations and circumstances.

I used to work in a special needs school, but my job role changed and the working environment changed. Combined with mental health issues and a relationship breakdown, I couldn’t keep my job. I was living in various different situations - sharing, living above pubs, sofa surfing. Eventually, I had nowhere left to go.

I approached the local council and explained that I was going to be made homeless within a fortnight. But they just told me to come back when I was actually homeless. It was upsetting. I ended up in a hostel, which is where I got introduced to Crisis.

As well as working on my own situation with Crisis, skills, education and things like that, I started to get interested in campaigning. One day an MP came to talk to us. They came so that people could discuss any issues that they had and their views on what the government could be doing. It all built from there.

Crisis was pushing the Back the Bill campaign which would mean councils wouldn’t be able to turn others away like happened to me.

We went down to Westminster for a mass lobby – there were hundreds of Crisis staff and clients there. I was a bit nervy really. Sitting down with an MP you've never met before, in their environment. But it was really rewarding to meet my MP, put my opinions across and actually have someone listen. He took stuff on board. And then, afterwards, he stood up in parliament and backed the Homelessness Reduction Bill.

So, when the Bill became an Act and passed into law, it was really rewarding. I felt like I'd actually done something. Put some effort in. Now we’ve changed the law, hopefully people won't find themselves in the same position as myself. I hope it makes a difference. I'd like to think it will.

I enjoy campaigning for such a worthy cause. It's nice to feel like you're doing something and anything I can change for the better for people in future is great.

As Progression Manager in the Coventry team, I get to break down the barriers that are preventing people from moving forward with their lives. I’m lucky, because I get to see what’s possible with people – what can be achieved with time and intent. We have a lot of wins every day.

When the team works with someone, the first thing we do is see what areas need work. So we make a progression plan, which provides a focus. It’s really important for everyone to know where we’re headed.

We work to our model of change which basically says that if you can help someone with some key areas in their life, you can help them leave homelessness behind for good. Those key areas are a person’s health and wellbeing, their housing stability, their financial stability, and their social networks.

So, someone might say they never get out, or feel like they’re lacking friends, so we might plan some actions around coming to a Crisis class or joining a community group. Or it could be around getting a volunteering post to start to build confidence and skills for work. We set aims, and clear actions against those aims.

We record people’s progress every eight to 12 weeks. But you also just see it - behavioural changes, attitude changes. And things that seem small can be huge. Like, I worked with a guy who had been homeless for ten years. When we got him his birth certificate he wrote us a thank you letter. He met us in the doctors to get registered – he would never go to the doctors before. And we’ve now got him on Employment and Support Allowance. It’s all progress.

Of course, some days are really hard. But I think we’ve got an amazing job. And, on days when things work and you can see how and why things work, then everything makes sense.

People who are homeless have been falling through society’s cracks. That needs to stop. In this job, we are ending homelessness every day, person by person. It’s a privilege because you see the power of what you do on a daily basis. And I think seeing homelessness and knowing the causes and consequences means I can see it’s fixable. I can see that homelessness can be ended. I think it will take a lot – we need a massive policy change. But there’s nothing that isn’t fixable.

I first became involved with Crisis after experiencing a relationship breakdown. I was homeless, visited the job centre and they referred me to a Crisis learning coach. After I described my previous work as a carer and mental health support worker, the coach told me about the trainee progression coach role. It was designed for people with experience of homelessness.

I applied and felt so fortunate to be offered this role within just a week of visiting the job centre. Initially my role involved quite intensive training, meeting new staff and getting used to working in an office for the first time. Now I have appointments with Crisis clients, one-to-one supervision, I shadow experienced Crisis staff and attend different events. The more training I do, the more knowledgeable I become.

My experience with Crisis, between when I first became involved to now, has been a progressive journey. I’ve found out lots more about homelessness. And I’ve become more self-reflective, which isn’t something I’ve ever brought into a job or my personal life. Combining your work with your own experiences from your personal life changes your attitude.

I can say that working with Crisis has improved my confidence a lot and I feel I can achieve more. I’ve learnt a lot from working on the scheme including how to expect the unexpected.

Around my six-month probation review I finally thought: ‘Wait a second, I’ve got this!’ Everyone else had believed in me, yet I didn’t fully drop my guard until then and believe in myself. As soon as I got over that hurdle, I just ran with it.

I’ve always felt really supported working in this role. If we’ve got a spare five minutes in the office, we’ll have a quick chat and help each other out. If I’m struggling with something, or need some advice, I’ll approach somebody in the team who has valuable knowledge or skills to pass on.

I’m just about to go away for a few months to volunteer in Tanzania. Before coming to Crisis, something like this would have been just a pipe dream. Even though some of my friends had done similar things it would have felt out of my reach. I now think: ‘What’s stopping me doing that?’

My home life is more stable; I’m in a healthy relationship and I’ve earned money. Everything will still be here when I come back.

I got into the 12-week shop traineeship through my coaches at Crisis. At first, when they were suggesting I try retail, I was thinking: ‘No, I won’t like it, it’s too many hours. You are always on your feet.’ But I tried it and now here I am looking for a retail job. My dream is to work for John Lewis.

When I started I didn’t really feel nervous because I had done other volunteering work. And I had also done drama and acting work through Crisis which helped me speak better and be more confident.

The training programme is definitely an eye-opener. I didn’t have much knowledge about what retail entailed. So watching the staff and how they interacted with customers taught me how to do it and increased my confidence. I learnt a lot from them.

I got on well with the other shop trainee too. We built up our confidence together. We are both kind of shy so we gave each other feedback, worked off and bounced off each other. I’ve got a good friend in her.

During the training I did the till, learnt how to do transactions, put together some displays, tagged, steamed, tidied the shop up, dealt with customers. It helped me communicate, read different people and understand them better. I even did some social media work – how to attract people to the business.

At the shop I had one main person I worked with. She was very supportive, very motivating. She helped me work through the modules and gave me feedback on the workbook we had to do. She also gave me very regular reviews of my work – at least every session.

And back at Crisis Skylight I had regular sessions too. We worked on CV writing, interview practice, cover letter writing. Crisis has helped me a lot. It’s a wonderful facility. It gives you skills, support, help with housing, encourages you to help yourself and if you just want to meet people, that’s there as well.

I’ve just finished the course – my certificate was presented by Jeremy Corbyn! I’m getting help from Crisis and my coach to apply for part-time jobs in either retail or a coffee bar. The holiday period is coming up, so it’s a good time to be looking for this kind of work.

I first started volunteering with Crisis in 1979. I was 18 and all around me I could see a lot of deprivation and rough sleeping. I didn’t have a lot of money to give but I did have time, and that’s what drew me in. It seemed a natural thing to do. If you’re lucky, you should share the luck. It’ll be 39 years this year. I’ve made great friends, both homeless people and other volunteers. I met my wife, who was also a volunteer, through Crisis 25 years ago.

I think the underlying loneliness and vulnerability of being homeless is just the same as it was 40 years ago. That’s where Crisis comes in. When I walk to work, I’ll see five or six homeless people on the way – I won’t always have time to stop. Crisis creates an environment where you can sit down with a homeless person as equals.

Crisis’ volunteers are unbelievable – they go far beyond what they’re asked to do. I did night shifts for many years at Crisis at Christmas and guests sleep safe because they know there’s someone looking after them. They walk out a week later feeling ready to take on the world again. We see how that can be their first step out of homelessness – lots of guests come back as volunteers or they’ll become a Crisis Skylight member and come back as mentors.

We have 11,000 volunteers, many of whom may be meeting homeless people for the first time. If they all tell ten friends afterwards about what homelessness is really like, that helps gradually end the stereotypes about homeless people.

It’s sad that 50 years on since it started there’s still the same need for Crisis. I hope we’re not around in 50 years’ time. I hope we’re not around in 20 years’ time. Government and the services did a lot to reduce ex-army rough sleeping in the 90s and brought the numbers down. We have to try to tackle the specific issues people experience and how to resource things properly. Make sure there’s enough housing and enough support when you get into that housing. My local MP, who used to be the housing minister, told me you need everyone to come together to solve it because not one agency can do it on their own. It’s got to be a combined effort.

This year, Mike was awarded the British Empire Medal for his outstanding contributions to charities like Crisis.

When you work on the front line with people, you see first hand how homelessness is not a product of individual circumstance. Yes, there are triggers – a relationship breakdown, mental ill health, a hike in your rent. But, over the years, I’ve met people who come up against the same stumbling blocks time and time again, obstacles that allow a personal crisis to snowball into homelessness. You see the patterns, big structural drivers. Cracks that people seem to fall through over and over.

Seeing the issues and understanding them is the key to ending homelessness. You need to know a problem to solve it. That’s why, when the Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor extended me an invitation to join his team of advisers earlier this year, I was delighted to accept and forge a new partnership to work together and find new local solutions.

Soon afterwards, following a study commissioned by Crisis and conducted here in Liverpool City Region, the Mayor joined with Crisis to call on national and local policy makers to consider a radical approach to solving homelessness, called Housing First. The idea, which has been used successfully in Finland, USA, Denmark, France and Canada, is quite simple. It gives someone sleeping rough a stable, secure home of their own as soon as possible and builds personalised support around them in that home. It sounds almost too obvious, but that stability, a front door to close behind you, can be a life-changer and a step out of homelessness for good.

The study also showed how the current system is challenging for the most vulnerable homeless people. People can struggle with rules and conditions, stress, and lack of security in hostels. Some need higher levels of support as a result of poor mental health, substance misuse, physical or learning disabilities or a history of offending. In some cases, rough sleepers had had as many as ten hostel placements in the past four years. After seven years at Crisis, and working with homeless people for around 13 years, these challenges are all too familiar.

Any solution that shows such promise is worth investigating - something that this government has already committed to do. And, of course, the Housing First model is no silver bullet; it is just part of a number of systemic changes that could make a real difference.

But this study really does highlight how stability, security and rapid rehousing can be a life changing first step towards recovery.

We’d been working with the council for some time to help deal with housing issues – there’s a particular pressure point in Oxford and the consequence is not just people who are homeless but, also those on low pay can’t afford to rent within the city because it’s just unaffordable.

We were looking to make properties more accessible and identified that Crisis could help find people to move into the housing. Before we’d really been focusing further up the chain, I suppose, and this was an opportunity to really focus on people who are excluded from the market.

At the moment we’ve got two properties with Crisis and it’s something that hopefully we’ll grow. We’re trying to create homes. The tenants we’ve got have been fantastic – reliable in every way – and of course, they’ve got that ongoing connection with Crisis for help if they need it. When people move from a stressful experience like living in a single room to getting their own property you see the feeling of gain they have and the improvement in their lives, which really makes them focus on being good tenants. Chris, a housing coach at Crisis Skylight Oxford, is very reliable, very flexible. The advantage of working with Crisis to find tenants is that they really know the individuals they’re working with so can identify people who would most suit it and provide help as they go along. It’s a very easy thing to do.

It shows that private landlords with a bit of imagination and courage can go in and do this kind of thing, not just as charity, but as a model that pays. It’s not just that there’s huge need there – you can take private property and reap the reward without huge risk. If you look at Oxford and you go back to the 1980s, there was a very big rough sleeping issue and first it vanished, but now it’s come back. Why is that? You need to think about what you can do – alongside government, there’s also a moral responsibility on those of us that can. I think landlords with commitment can help make a real dent in the numbers. 

I’ve always felt that no one should have to face homelessness in modern-day society and I respect Crisis’ determination to end homelessness. I’ve been a Crisis supporter for about 20 years now. I’ve been a regular donor and volunteered at Christmas. And nowadays I’m also volunteering on the reception at Crisis Skylight Croydon once a week.

I would encourage anyone to support Crisis however they can. Homelessness is not going to end if nothing is done, and obviously supporters donating is one key way to help Crisis make progress. Crisis really appreciate where their funding comes from, and they only use donated financial resources in any way that a supporter would want. Their ‘Supporter in the Room’ ethos was commended when they recently won ‘Fundraising Team of the Year’ at the Institute of Fundraising awards. Their philosophy means the team acts and behaves always as though a supporter is right in the room with them. Crisis’ transparent attitude can only be positive, and hopefully lead to more donations to further the cause.

I have worked with Adam from the Philanthropy team for the best part of a decade and met with many of the Crisis team through volunteering and at fundraising events. I have always been very impressed by their vocational attitude towards their job and the passion and enthusiasm that they have to end homelessness. The organisation exudes the belief that homelessness can be ended. Ending homelessness is a huge challenge, but one in which the organisation has its full energy behind. I believe it’s possible, but it won’t be easy. This has been very much evident over the last 50 years during which the charity has existed. I do believe that we will eventually live in a new age when problems such as these do not exist.

The Welsh Government is determined to end homelessness and rough sleeping, and I'm proud that we've introduced the most radical reform of homelessness legislation in Wales for over 30 years, which has helped to prevent homelessness for over 11,500 households since April 2015.

In addition to protecting our Supporting People programme, we are investing an extra £20 million over the next two years to reduce rough sleeping, tackle youth homelessness and improve access to homes in the private rented sector.

I welcome the opportunity to work with Crisis to improve the quality and availability of housing for homeless people and to help get rough sleepers into safe, stable accommodation. Together we will do all we can to change people's lives for the better and work towards our goal of ending homelessness for good.

Everyone in our country should have a roof over their head and no one should ever have to sleep rough, but too many people face that harsh reality daily.

The compassion and support of Crisis staff and volunteers over the past five decades has helped change the lives of thousands of people and it is a privilege to honour their tireless work in Downing Street and to hear the powerful stories of Crisis members who have been through the devastation of homelessness.

We know tackling this longstanding injustice requires a collective approach. Government is stepping up by investing £550 million to tackle homelessness, and also pledging to halve rough sleeping in the next five years, and eliminate it altogether within the decade.

Tackling all forms of homelessness must be a priority for any government. Here in Scotland we've made real progress in preventing homelessness and we now have some of the strongest rights for homeless people anywhere in the world. But we know there's still a lot more to do.

That's why over the next few years the Scottish government is investing £3 billion in 50,000 affordable homes. And it's why we're determined to tackle the more complex causes of homelessness: relationship breakdown, substance dependency and mental health issues.

Of course none of this can be achieved by government alone. We work closely with local government and our health service. And we rely on the dedication and expertise of charities like Crisis.

The Scottish government has worked closely with Crisis in the 18 years since devolution. Together we've made a huge amount of progress. My pledge is that we'll continue to work closely with Crisis in the years ahead.

I had a very good career in digital communications for ten years but towards the end my mental health deteriorated and I couldn’t hold a job down. I would keep retracting from society. I would drink heavily, and I just couldn’t be social. Eventually I got put in prison. That’s one of the things which could have been prevented if I had been given the right support at the time.

The system is just back to front at the moment. When I came out of prison, I wasn’t on probation, I wasn’t monitored, so when they kick you out, you’re homeless. I went to my local authority who said 'we’ve got no obligation or responsibility to house you, sorry, bye’. So I ended up sleeping rough for a couple of weeks until I was picked up by an outreach team and eventually got a place in a hostel. But if I’d been given the right support earlier, and avoided prison, it could have been prevented.

Through Crisis I applied to be on the Experts by Experience panel. At the first meeting we talked about what we’d been through and what could have prevented us becoming homeless. What we identified early on is that if certain services or support were in place prior to us being homeless it could have been prevented. And we actually get listened to. We’re currently contributing to Crisis’ work to produce a plan to end homelessness. Crisis is making use of our experience as people who have been homeless as they bring a long-term strategy together. For someone who’s been through it, that’s a powerful message.

Going back a few years, there was this public perception that homeless people didn’t have anything to offer to society. And I think Crisis and other organisations have helped to change that public awareness. If you look at Housing First in America, that’s an attempt to change the model. You give someone a home, you let them get on with it and then at some point afterwards you get them engaged rather than telling them as soon as you get into a hostel, you’ve got to go by these rules and you’ve got to engage in services. It’s difficult, but I think these new approaches can help to end long-term homelessness.

I first became involved with Crisis when I was living in supported accommodation. At the time, my depression and anxiety were really bad. Before I became homeless, before I became ill, I was the last person that anybody would think would become homeless. But my relationship broke down, followed by my mental health.

I started coming to Crisis' pottery classes – I became quite the ceramicist! Through helping other members in the classes, it got much better and my confidence started to build. Alongside this, I started taking more courses at Crisis, including IT, peer mentoring, and a level three teaching qualification.

Things started to change. I became passionate about ending homelessness. And passionate about Crisis because of what they’ve done for me, and how I know they've helped other people. When my coach said I’d make a good Crisis ambassador, the passion I had for Crisis was oozing out of me.

Being an ambassador is basically about spreading the word. For every person like me, there are thousands more who need Crisis’ help. I was determined to help the charity reach more people. I think it’s really important that Crisis members go out and talk to homeless people, because they’re talking from experience. It hits people. We know what they’re going through.

As well as encouraging people to use Crisis’ services, I’ve got involved in building support and campaigning for change. I’ve spoken in front of 150 people in Leeds; at a conference centre in Manchester; and I recently attended an event at 10 Downing Street.

After my first speech, a woman in the audience came to me in tears. She said: "You’ve just completely changed my outlook on homelessness."

Through working with a Crisis Progression Coach, I’ve now found that the line of work I want to follow is working with the homelessness sector or people with mental health and learning disabilities. I started a qualification to learn about giving advice and guidance to people, and volunteered at a probation service, mentoring defendants.

I have a future. Before I had no purpose, and didn’t know who I was. Now I do. I have a goal.

Before we were homeless, we were in the same shared house with other people. The landlady was a con-artist.

She said you’ve got five days to get out.

When it happened we had a bit of a nervous breakdown. Sort of wondered, "where can we actually go for now? What’s going to happen? Who can we contact? Where can we go with what little bit of luggage we actually could take with us?

We went to the park. We were sleeping under tarpaulin on the ground. It’s not the same as having your own front door where you can go in and have that safety. You’re so vulnerable to anything.

We actually went to the council and they said they couldn’t help. It doesn’t matter who you are. If you’re homeless, you’re vulnerable.

Crisis at Christmas has been very entertaining. Lots of lovely people to talk to. Lots of advice. The Crisis people are brilliant at what they do. They really are.

Our hope for next year is to get a roof over our head. We’ve been finding out where we can go after. There’s a lady working downstairs. She’s now taken our case on. So hopefully we’ll find somewhere where we can go until we can permanently have a roof over our heads.

Crisis at Christmas has opened doors which were closed.

*Claire and Sam’s story is real, but their names have been changed to protect their identity.

When you haven’t been in your own home for years, it’s hard to even know where to start when renting again. It’s daunting.

I had a flat from 1992 to 2003. I ended up in an accident. I cut my hand on glass in the block of flats where I was. It was wet on the floor. I fell over and there was glass there. I tried to sue the housing. That ended that tenancy. I went to my mum’s in 2003. But my mum passed away in 2007.

Since then, I’ve been in many hostels. Loads. I’ve also lived in sheds and garages. I did all the things that people wouldn’t do. I shaved in cold water, washed in cold water. Terrible. I didn’t really think I was getting anywhere.

Sacha from Crisis helped. I had a meeting. She talked to the people about things. She explained that I was homeless. They sit with you one-to-one, and you do it together. To find a house that works for you.

Sacha ended up telling me, “you’ve got a place, Michael.” I was really happy. Overwhelmed. I’m living now in a place near Coventry. I’m just pleased that I was able to move in. Shut the door and just be in my own little space.

If I need to, I still talk to Crisis about my bills and that and everything else.

Crisis thinks no one should be homeless. They helped me after years and years to make a place where I feel safe. They taught me how to pay my bills, live on my own. Together with them, I didn’t just get a roof over my head, I moved on. No more homelessness. Full stop.

I’m a firm believer in that there’s nobody that I work with who can’t get a job, provided they’re able and fit to work. But there are loads and loads of obstacles and sometimes the people we are working with can feel hopeless. That’s why it’s really important for me to stay hopeful. I think it’s absolutely possible to end homelessness and I think the key in it is just to hold onto that fact.

I support people with the work and learning aspects of their journey of homelessness. That means more than just getting people jobs. It’s about a stepped approach, and giving people the opportunity to look beyond their immediate situation.

Everyone’s journey is different. Some of our clients might start off with a progression coach. They might work a little bit on stabilising their situation, sorting out benefits and getting a bit of morale and motivation back. And when they’re ready to start thinking about work and learning, they’ll come to me. We might look at their aspirations, helping them to look just a little bit further ahead.

Other times it’s short term, very intense work. Getting someone ready to very quickly find what we call ‘survival jobs’. So perhaps someone is in a particularly dire situation and needs income quickly. Or I might work this way with an EU migrant who doesn’t have access to public funds and absolutely needs to start working before they can do anything about housing.

And then, alongside that immediate solution, we can look at more training to help reach the aspirations of that person.

Getting someone into a job is probably the easy bit. It’s still a massive victory, but there are so many little steps before they even get to a job. What’s amazing is maybe a week or so after they start their new job, I’ll give them a wee call, check in, see how things are going and people sound different. They’re absolutely buzzing.

There’s moral support in knowing that someone - at least one person in the world – has got their backs.

For many of the homeless people who come to Crisis, the first step can be about finding the motivation to overcome the particular challenges they’re facing.

As Arts Coordinator at Crisis in South Wales, my job is all about helping people to take those steps on their journey out of homelessness.

Some of the people who use our classes have led chaotic lives. Coming to art classes can be very meaningful for them. It can provide a connection which normal conversation would fail to reveal. A sense of achievement and seeing their skills recognised can be a real starting point for further change in people’s lives. We see many people have a go and surprise themselves at what they produce, which can have a really positive impact on their mood, and help increase their overall self-belief.

Our art classes can offer our members the opportunity to build up trust and get to know other Crisis staff and services. Someone might get involved in the arts initially, then find out about how they could attend classes to develop their employability skills or education.

For people who are perhaps further along in their journey, art classes can provide regularity and continuity. They offer a chance to build skills, as well as make friendship groups and support networks within their community. Clients have told me that the classes have increased motivation and timekeeping skills, and given them something to fill their days.

This year we’ve done loads of activities, including our big Art in Crisis event. These kinds of initiatives can provide extra motivation to attend regularly and produce work for an exhibition. The people who get involved feel proud of their achievements. It really makes a difference. The experience can be a catalyst for change - something that can motivate them to maintain a tenancy, progress onto education or training, and develop positive relationships.

I was doing care work. I loved every minute of it. I had my independence and I was helping others to live independently. At the time, I was living in a mobile home site and felt really happy. But then I had a bad accident at work, which shattered part of my back. I had surgery and was in plaster for eight months. When I lost my job, I had nothing to fall back on.

Around the same time, the owners of the mobile home site went bankrupt and it was taken over. I was kicked out with no notice.

I ended up living in my car. The actual experience itself was unsafe. I had no privacy. The only privacy I could get was by putting towels or blankets up at the window. I had people trying to speak up for me, but the council wouldn’t do anything.

I was scared, but also determined to keep going. While I was staying in my car, I started a book keeping course.

Three months later, I got into a hostel and started coming to Crisis. I joined Crisis’ classes. Gradually, through trying different things, I felt my confidence build.

Then I was keen to build upon the bookkeeping skills I’d learnt. My Crisis coach helped me apply for funding to get on to the next level accountancy course. It was a massive step for me, and I couldn’t have done it without Crisis’ support.

Fortunately, now I’ve got somewhere safe to live. And Crisis continue to be by my side every step of the way. They helped me gain work experience in a finance admin role and soon, hopefully, I’ll have the qualifications to move on in life.

No one should be homeless and I know that Crisis wants to end homelessness for everyone. I’ve come so far. I feel like so much is possible now.