Craig’s story

Craig went through multiple traumas from early childhood and turned to drugs as a coping mechanism. His substance use and depression following his grandfather’s death culminated in him becoming homeless in 2023.

A chaotic background

People don’t understand my past, how I got out of control or why I took drugs, because I had so much trauma on me.

I lived with my nan and granddad, they brought me up from birth. When I was four, I lost one of my best mates in the Acres Way car crash. All those kids got killed, as well as my mate and his sister. Every morning he used to play football with me before we went to school. And one morning he didn't knock on my door to play football. I knew something was wrong. Even when he was ill he would knock, and one morning he didn't.

I got run over by a drunk driver when I was seven. I could see my bone clean. I have two life fractures of both hips and the back of my pelvis. I was told I'll never ever walk again.

I had to witness domestic violence when I was living with my granddad. My mum lived next door with my sister’s dad, and if she came to see me my stepdad beat her up for it.

Then, when I was 15, I went to school one day and I came back and my brothers and sisters was in foster care. They split my brothers and sisters up. I got the blame, because I was the one that stayed at home and all the others got put into care. But I was too old to go in care.

A baby died on me as well. Feeding the baby a bottle, the baby just died on me of natural causes.

I went through a breakup. So much.

I've got ADHD. I'm supposed to take depression tablets, but I stopped taking them because they were making it worse. I was doing counselling, but when covid came in it got squashed.

Then my nan died. She had a heart attack in front of me and at the hospital she fell out of bed, banged her head on the open cabinet and died two days after.

I was looking after my granddad because he had Alzheimer's and I did everything for him. It was hard. I was doing casual work doing roofing, but I had to give it up to become my grandad’s carer. I was doing care work, but I didn’t get paid for it. He and I stayed at his bungalow, he was paying the bills.

He got put in a care home, then he passed away and I was left to pay the bills. The council tried to evict me two days after he passed away because I couldn’t pay the council tax. I said, I'm not moving until you've looked for somewhere for me to live. I isolated myself, I slept all day, I was doing different drugs to cope with things..

Having a safe place to live and consistent support gave Craig a sanctuary from the outside world where he could start to piece his life back together.

My mate told me about Threshold, she knew someone who worked there and they sorted me a place. Without Threshold I could have been on the street. I would have been in prison.

It was a bit weird at first. I didn't know what to say, who to talk to, nothing. But my keyworkers helped me with everything, everything, literally. I find it hard to talk to people, but they listened and respected me. I settled in pretty well. I just kept myself to myself, watching films on my PlayStation 5 or Xbox One. I mostly got on alright with people in the house. I try not to react, because when I go off on one I can't calm down. I get anxious, I have panic attacks, so I've got to be careful. I'll just go outside for a bit of fresh air, deep breaths, and just have a smoke. It calms me down.

I met my girlfriend last year when I wasn’t in a good way with depression and drugs. But when I met Michelle I just stopped using. I had the shakes at first, but I got through it. I got my determination from my granddad, who was stubborn.

Michelle describes the difference she has seen in Craig.

Craig was in a bad way when I met him. He was in a dark place he didn't want to get out of and he was upset. He only weighed about nine stone, and he was in extra small clothes.

His life was different from my life, but I’ve been homeless too. I get depression because of my past. I had to give up my house and go to a refuge because my ex was using drugs and hitting me. I had to leaving my son behind, so he became homeless as well. My ex was homeless too, I used to see him sleeping in the car parks. Craig helped him out when he was robbed. Even when he was doing drugs, he did his best to help people.

I pulled Craig out of that dark place. I took him into the hairdressers, and then they just went to town on him. His nose, his ears, they gave him a massage and a hot towel shave. I picked up some clothes for him from Vinted. He started eating loads and put on three stone. It was like two different people.

I don't smoke, or any of that, so when he comes to me, he doesn't have the temptation of drugs.

He wants kids, but I'm too old to have more kids, mine are growing up now.I told him you can help me with my daughter. I think it's made him grow up a little bit because he's got that responsibility. And she ain't got a dad because of drugs and homelessness and everything, so she needs that support and she looks up to him. So that's my little family, and obviously he's in that family now.

Building a family has given Craig hope and motivation for the future.

I've always wanted a family. My younger brother has a seven-year-old in foster care, they go to the beach on Sundays and do the donkey rides, and Michelle has a granddaughter of the same name and age. I just got one of my sisters back last year, she got adopted and she found me, she's bothered with me. She just found out she's pregnant. And I have another little brother who I made a bracelet for out of my granddad’s ashes.

I do get tempted with the drugs now and again, but I don't want it. I don't like coming to town because I’m worried the drug users will see me. Some people relapse if they get bad news or anything like that, it ain't their fault. But I also know people that are ten years clean.

I’ve been at Threshold for three years and I'm a different person. I'm paying back the council tax on my granddad’s bungalow and once I get it down to below £500 I can register to bid for my own home. I want to learn to drive, and to go back to the work that I used to do before my granddad got ill.

I do sometimes feel angry about my past, but it's a case of having to deal with it. You can never go back, but you can always look forward.