“I just don’t know where I’m going to sleep tonight”

On a visit to one of our Basics Banks in the city, I came across a young man standing outside the main entrance who was clearly distraught. I introduced myself and he proceeded to convey his story which had only just taken shape. He was 30 years old with a partner and 3 young children under 10 years old, and until that day was working on a building site.

He explained to me that the reason he was coming to ask for food from SCM was that his life has simply fallen apart in the previous 48 hours. Following a major argument his partner had told him to leave their flat and never come back, she took charge of the children and he feared that he might never see them again. As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears. To add to his worries, his building job was working alongside his partner’s father, who owned the company. That morning he lost his job.

He turned to me and said “I just don’t know where I am going to sleep tonight”.

Sadly, this was just one of many situations that we face every day in Southampton as we try to support people in desperate need; so why was this different for me?

Well, here was an articulate young man, well dressed and very polite. As I stood and listened to his story, the one thought that rushed into my mind was ‘this could be me tomorrow’.

Steve