Uncomfortable truths about sofa-surfing

Tag : sofa

When 13-year-old Sophie Cuffe left home, all she took was hermobile phone. It was late evening, so when a friend of a friendsaid she could crash on his sofa, she didn't think twice aboutaccepting. In the months that followed, Sophie slept on numerousfriends' sofas. But many nights were spent on park benches, inalleyways or under a stairwell in the bus station. Eventually, afamily friend stepped in to help and took her to the local council.
After a spell in a residential assessment centre for the homeless,she was moved to a hostel, then a bed and breakfast. Since she hadbeen evicted from the hostel, the council deemed her "intentionallyhomeless" and withdrew their support. She is now 17 and has justreached the top of a list for council accommodation. For now, shewill have to continue "sofa surfing".
Sophie is one of 15 volunteers recruited by the housing andhomelessness charity Shelter to tell her story to students andyoung people. Over the past 18 months, she has visited schools,pupil referral units (PRUs), youth clubs and colleges around thecounty to deliver workshops about homelessness. Funded by the BigLottery Fund, the Charles Dunstone Charitable Trust and the RankFoundation, the project aims to reduce the number of young peoplewho become homeless.
According to government statistics, around 25,000 16- to24-year-olds in England were identified as homeless last year. Thisdoesn't include the many "hidden homeless" staying with friends oron the streets. Common triggers for young people leaving home arefamily conflict, violence, sexual abuse, or simply poverty and thelack of space or privacy. Young people who leave home do so at anearly age and often lack the skills and resources to set up a home.
The biggest challenge for Shelter peer educators is challengingmisconceptions about homelessness. "Most teenagers don't understandthat if they've had a row with their family and are staying withfriends, they are actually homeless," says Hannah Bermingham, peereducator and support worker for Shelter Gloucestershire.
Sofa surfing is far from the trendy picture often painted in themedia, of a way to save cash, meet new people or travel the worldon a shoestring. The reality is a world in which people sleep onfloors for months, or even years, as an alternative to sleepingrough. They are not accounted for in official homeless statistics.
"A lot of young people think they can just turn up at the localcouncil, saying their parents have chucked them out and they'll getemergency accommodation, but it's not like that," says Bermingham."Often the parents have to sign a form to say they've asked them toleave before they can be given accommodation. Even then, there maynot be anything in the local area. It's not unheard of for homelessyoung people to be housed an hour and a half away from their home."
But the project is not simply about discouraging young people fromleaving home."There are some circumstances where a young personneeds to leave home, because they are not safe, perhaps because ofdomestic violence or abuse," says Bermingham. "The message we wantto get across is that, if they do need to leave home, it should bea planned move. If young people are armed with the rightinformation, they should not end up homeless."
Early intervention could have prevented Cat Dickson, who is now aShelter peer educator, from becoming homeless. After constant rowsat home, which sometimes became violent, she took refuge at afriend's house. She was 15.
When it became apparent that her friend's mother couldn't afford tokeep her, she was asked to leave. With the help of a charity calledNight Stop, which provides emergency accommodation for 16- to25-year-olds, she stayed off the streets and was later placed in ahostel. Like Cuffe, she was later evicted. "Hostels have verystrict rules," she explains. "You're supposed to spend four nightsout of seven there, but I'd been staying with my boyfriend inBirmingham. I came back one night and my key didn't fit the lock onmy door. They bagged up my belongings and I was asked to leave."
'Often harrowing'
When Cuffe talks of the long nights spent under the stairwell inthe bus shelter with her friend, taking turns to sleep so theywouldn't be robbed, those attending the workshops are often visiblymoved.
"The stories are often harrowing," says Fran Rodway, who teachesPSHE and citizenship at the school at Whitminster PRU in Stroud,which hosts visits from Shelter Gloucestershire every year. "Thepeer educators are often only a couple of years older than them.The close proximity in age makes it much more real."
Now 17, Dickson is sharing a house with friends, has a full-timejob and is positive about the future. But had she been betterinformed, she knows the past few years could have been different."A lot of young people are really cocky about it, saying 'myparents love me, it won't happen to me'. My parents loved me and Iended up homeless. Life doesn't always work out as you think.That's why it's so important to get information."