Sophie now sleeps at Centrepoint
Thanks to the Centrepoint sponsor a room scheme, after three years of sleeping rough on London’s streets, 22 year-old Sophie was given a room at a Centrepoint service in South London. She’s now been at Centrepoint for eight months.
A safe room to sleep in
Sophie’s relief at being off the streets is obvious. After seeing many female friends get attacked she said she felt in constant danger and always feared something bad would happen to her. She took to sleeping in the day because she was too scared to sleep at night. Now Sophie sleeps in a room with a bright blue door that she can lock every night when she goes to bed. She shares a kitchen and bathroom with another girl and they enjoy making meals together.
Time to rebuild her life
Like so many of the young people who come to Centrepoint, Sophie was failed by her parents and suffered years of abuse before becoming homeless. With the help of her counsellor at Centrepoint, she’s now starting to tackle her problems and feel better about herself.
Education, training and a career
Sophie has also taken advantage of the onsite training and recruitment service at Centrepoint and has started going to college. She’s taking adult literacy and numeracy classes and would like to work with disabled people when she’s finished her courses.
The chance to live independently
In addition to her studies, Sophie is learning basic life skills that nobody has ever taught her before; things many of us take for granted like budgeting, paying bills, cooking and managing a household. The Centrepoint room sponsorship scheme will keep on helping Sophie until she’s ready to live independently.
74% of young people who live at Centrepoint find a new home and go into education or employment.
