'Vital help saw me avoid homelessness - and I'm thriving'

A woman who faced homelessness at the age of 16 has said a charity proved to be her lifeline to a brighter future.

Aimee Holly, now 20, said during the Covid pandemic pressures at home increased to the extent that she needed to leave. She said she was unable to get a place of her own, and moved to a hostel run by Sheffield charity Roundabout.

Holly said the move was a big turning point in her life, adding: "After university I want to help others, and I want to do that via Roundabout."

She spoke as Roundabout appealed for other former users to share their stories, ahead of its 50th anniversary next year.

Holly said of her time in the hostel: "They helped me to learn how to budget and cook, and I now have a place of my own.

"I'm at university in Sheffield and want to be a mental health nurse. I help out at Roundabout when I can."

The charity was founded in 1977, with its first base in the Brook Hill area of Sheffield.

Back then it could accommodate five people aged between 16 and 20 who were single and homeless.

Nowadays, with an annual spend of about £10m, the charity said it supported 380 young people up to the age of 25 each day, and helped people in Rotherham as well as Sheffield.

In its early days young people had to pay an overnight charge of £1.20 which covered their bed and food, but the charity said it never turned anyone away who could not pay.

Ben Keegan, Roundabout's chief executive, said its focus was now on preventing homelessness.

"We help young people see a new route - a route that can be scary, unpredictable and challenging," he said.

Keegan said Roundabout's work helping young people realise their potential had received funding from the Royal Foundation's Homewards project.

He said: "We go into schools and try to spot potential problems in the family home faced by young people aged 13 and 14, and we support them through that delicate time in their lives, to try to prevent them leaving their home at the age of 16 or 17."

Holly said she had benefited a great deal from counselling offered by the charity.

"I was young and had a lot of problems with hormones and stuff," she said.

"Through counselling I understood my emotions, I ended up getting a neuro-divergent diagnosis, and that explained some of my past outbursts in behaviour."

She said she wanted to help Roundabout develop its services for other young people.

She said: "Everyone has got a story, and you can't see it just by the way the look.

"Living in a hostel is just a stepping stone. I'm not embarrassed about it.

"You get out of it what you put in."

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