Insight/Case study - beneficiaries

Calvin Driver

I’m originally from Worksop in Nottingham and, like many other people who have the misfortune of becoming homeless, I went through the pain of the break up of my marriage some five years ago. The fact that I’ve also got kids made the pain of the break up all the more acute. It really affected me badly.

I ended up in London sleeping rough and occasionally selling The Big Issue but soon moved to Manchester. My situation didn’t improve just because I’d moved from one big city to another and I again found myself sleeping rough and occasionally selling The Big Issue in the North. A brief respite from the cold and dangers of sleeping on the streets came in the form of a friend’s place in Bristol but I soon found myself alternating between the streets and night shelters in Plymouth.

I moved again. This time to Birmingham and I actually got myself a job working in a hostel. I’d found a job and I was on the up. It didn’t last long as I was violently assaulted whilst working and my life was once more turned on his head when the benefits agency decided that my reason for leaving the job at the shelter was not sufficient to warrant the payment of benefits.

Again and as a last resort in some respects, I turned to The Big Issue and this time, within months, I had become a Vendor Coordinator. With help from The Big Issue Foundation my immediate housing needs had been addressed with hostel accommodation. I now have permanent secure accommodation at Clays Lane Housing Cooperative and I want to develop my work as a co-ordinator and put something back in and to help to provide more security for my fellow vendors – many of whom are suffering like I did in the early days.

With permission.

Read more inspiring case studies of people who have benefited from working with social enterprises working to prevent or tackle homelessness.