Anthony, an ex-investment banker, found himself unexpectedly homeless after leaving a job abroad and returning home to the UK.

With few belongings and no idea where to turn, he was soon sleeping on the streets in London.

For the first few days Anthony struggled with basic survival, not knowing where to find food or anything else he needed. Then friends told him about The Connection. Anthony says “I’ve had some good support here. They do a lot around arts and music which I like. The staff are great and if feels like a community.”

Anthony boxed a lot when he was younger and still keeps himself physically fit. Even so, he finds the physical and mental toll of homelessness makes it harder to think beyond basic survival.

“I challenge anyone to go and sleep on the streets for two weeks and see how they feel. See if they feel like doing anything other than the very basics – getting up, finding something to eat.

Doing much more than that becomes a struggle. So much your day is taken up with the basics of staying alive, it doesn’t leave an awful lot of mental capacity or energy to do much else.”

For people who aren’t in good health, it’s even more challenging.

“It’s a really tough gig. My feet hurt all the time. I’m exhausted all the time. Lots of people are older or not in good health. How on Earth do they manage crisscrossing London backwards and forwards in all sorts of weather to make sure they’re fed, their phone’s charged and they can make their appointments? You can see why people give up.”

Despite his hardships, Anthony is determined to leave homelessness behind. We are working to help him get into accommodation and his goal is to get back into work and ultimately move abroad again to a warmer climate.

Anthony says about The Connection “The services are great. We all know homelessness is increasing and charities are so important, and we can’t lose them.”