“My journey was one of the loneliest times of my life, and I didn’t want anyone else to experience it alone, that’s why I wanted to work with people that find themselves homeless.”

These are the words of one of two men – Scott and David – who have gone from sleeping rough to working at Grimsby’s Swan House – the council-leased accommodation that, in partnership with Humbercare, provides intensive rough sleeper support services.

Looking back on his time living rough, David said getting access to accommodation was the first stepping stone to getting his life back on track.

“Once I knew I was safe at night, I could focus on getting everything else sorted. Getting accommodation wasn’t the solution to all my problems, but it let me start working towards one,” he said.

Now, having come to the other side of their journey, the pair have found inspiration to help others living at Swan House, which is based in the West Marsh and provides a safe place whilst offering support.

This includes activities such as visiting the supermarket or contacting a GP, and more complex issues including mental health problems and working on finances.

Scott told us: “As soon as someone moves in, we sit down with them to do an assessment to look into the support that they will need. This includes how clients feel about their lives and identify any areas of concern such as finances, tenancy, addiction, social relationships, and physical or mental health. We can then create an action plan and completely tailor support to each individual, meeting their personal needs.”

David added: “It’s the little wins that mean the most, we can be working with someone for months on what can seem like the simplest thing to do, but when you’ve been sleeping rough for years it feels like the biggest task.

“Then one day, a client will come to us and ask for a bin liner off their own back, and we know that all those months of hard work have been worth it because it means they’re taking responsibility and cleaning their flat. I’m smiling just thinking about that moment again,” he added.

With their experience of sleeping on the streets themselves, they explained how it can make their job harder.

“It always feels like we’re putting ourselves in their shoes, we know how they’re feeling in every situation, we can remember being there and understand how hard it can be to find the strength to move forward,” said Scott.

“But on the other hand, we feel the wins too,” added David. “We know how they’re feeling in the hard times, but we also know just how good it feels when something is achieved. This is why we always make sure to tell our clients how proud of them we are, or how they’ve done a good job. It can be difficult to see how far you’ve come yourself, so we try to make sure they hear it coming from us.”

They both told us how their homeless journey was one of the loneliest times of their lives. Scott said: “I’ve never felt so alone, which is why we both now believe that true strength is shown not how we rise alone, but how we lift the vulnerable beside us. We like to remember that every day when we come to work.”

Scott, David and the rest of the Swan House team work alongside other agencies to give their clients the right support. There are regular drop-ins from local agencies such as Navigo, With You, Harbour Place, NHS, and many others.

Scott explained that they like to take a different approach to how they work with the people living at Swan House.

“Sometimes the people we work with have lived on the streets for decades, it can be difficult to trust anyone, and we understand that more than anyone, so we try to make things as easy as possible. We like to do things with an informal tone, often just having a cup of tea and a biscuit and chatting. We also try to do activities such as cooking, so our hands our busy and the barriers can come down.”

David added: “We’ve just been given access to one of the council allotments. This is brilliant as we can keep busy while chatting and we’re hoping we’ll soon be able to cook and eat some of the things we’ve grown. It’s giving our residents a real sense of purpose and we’re so excited to really start working with it.”

Cllr Stewart Swinburn, Portfolio holder for Housing, Infrastructure and Transport said: “Scott and David do a brilliant job supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our community.

“Swan House is an excellent service and having people there who have lived experience of homelessness and who truly understand how it feels to be in that position is amazing.”

If you are struggling with your housing situation it is essential to ring NELC’s home options team as soon as possible on 01472 326296.  If you see someone sleeping rough, the best way to help them is to make an alert on Streetlink. Simply give a brief description of the person, and where they can be found and the local outreach teams will aim to find and support them as soon as possible.