After losing two loved ones, his job and his home within months, Guy* turned to 'the wrong people' for help. More than two years and a heart attack later, he had ulcers on his legs having been living in his car all that time, and was 'in a really bad way'.
He told the Manchester Evening News : "People seem to think that when it's homelessness, it's always drugs and alcohol, but it's not. I made a couple of wrong decisions and I had a bit of a perfect storm.
"My sister and my mum died. I lost my job and my house in the space of two months. People made me promises and then reneged on them.
"I ended up in my car - just for a week, until I found somewhere to live. But one week became two weeks, two weeks became two months."
Two months ended up becoming two-and-a-half years and Guy's health had worryingly deteriorated. He was parked up at Sainsbury's, where staff and shoppers had noticed something unusual about the vehicle which was constantly in the car park.
It was at that point Guy was first introduced to the team at The Town House, who had been told about the man living in his car outside Sainsbury's. Kim Dean, a key worker at The Town House, banged on the side of Guy's car to get his attention.
"I had problems that I'd had for a long time," said Guy. He had suffered a heart attack, was dealing with ulcers and needed urgent attention from medics.
Guy was taken to hospital for treatment and eventually discharged - but still with no home to go to. He said: "You have to admit that you need help, but I was not ready to accept that help."
He returned to his car and his health began to worsen again. "All the good work that had been done in hospital was being undone," Guy said.
"To be perfectly honest I was at my lowest ebb, like I couldn't carry on, when I got the call from Kim." The Town House had not forgotten about Guy - and Kim had found him somewhere to live.
'Second chance'
People who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless in Tameside can be referred to The Town House. As well as a shelter for rough sleepers, the site is home to a dedicated team of staff who support people with a range of needs, before using their links with accommodation providers to secure them a home of their own.
Guy is one of the ever growing number of people The Town House has helped into accommodation. He broke down before admitting: "I can't say enough about this place - without them I would not be here.
"To be given that second chance is amazing. I was ready to leave. I had a dog and I had made plans for her to be taken away, I was going to jump off a bridge, it was that bad.
"They bent over backwards to get the place for me - when I moved in the paint was still wet. They helped me with everything, the benefits I was entitled to, healthcare that I hadn't had for three years and just generally being there knowing that somebody cared for me."
Midway through the M.E.N. 's visit to The Town House, in Ashton-under-Lyne, there was elation as the team learned they had just helped their 125th person into long-term accommodation since the start of 2022. There was a rush to set the service up when Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham announced A Bed Every Night, offering places for rough sleepers to stay.
In 2018, Tameside's shelter was set up in the old library at Ryecroft Hall, Audenshaw. Having been set up to help get people off the streets of Tameside, The Town House team are now able to make sure those at risk of homelessness can avoid rough sleeping altogether.
'Lockdown destroyed my life'
More than 40 people were rough sleeping across the borough when the scheme first started, but after coronavirus arrived in 2020 over 90 people needed support. At the same time, Ryecroft Hall had already been deemed unsuitable and the service was in the process of relocating to The Town House.
A record number of referrals were being made to the service in 2020. Cassie Brincat, a co-ordinator at The Town House, said: "Maybe a relationship had broken down, or pre-Covid someone was sleeping on another person's sofa, but during Covid they were pushed out and found themselves homeless."
Cassie says it was a 'logistical challenge' to provide everyone with the support they needed. Only eight people could stay in The Town House when it first opened in summer 2020, with the facility usually having a capacity of 40, while others who were homeless were able to stay in separate properties.
Tony Andrews was one of the many people who hit hardship due to coronavirus. The 35-year-old was a casual worker in the events security industry - but with no work in lockdown, he was unable to make ends meet.
He said: "I had gone from earning about £1,500 a month to not having any work at all, furlough wasn't offered to people in casual employment. It destroyed my life.
"Because I was under 35, my benefits did not cover rent and bills, so I couldn't keep the property. A friend of mine got in contact with The Town House team and to be honest, if it was not for them I would be screwed."
Tony is now in supported housing and volunteers six days a week at The Station Hotel, where Pauline Town has been providing food for those in need for seven years. Pauline was recently awarded an MBE for her efforts - and was the inspiration for The Town House's name.
Even in the most challenging times of the Covid pandemic, Tameside's homelessness team was seeing success. A rough sleeper count in July 2020 - the national standard used to measure rough sleeping - revealed there were zero across Tameside at the time, and those who are rough sleeping now are known to The Town House.
The Town House provides support to those who are not eligible for statutory emergency provision. The strict criteria for eligibility means The Town House is a safety net for many people who previously would have fallen through the cracks.
Each person through the door is assigned a key worker and has an assessment of their needs - from checking whether they have benefits in place and a GP assigned, to issues such as relationship problems, childhood trauma or addiction. Cassie said: "At the point people come in they won't necessarily disclose everything to us. We've got to earn their trust."
'It spiralled out of control'
Key workers are crucial to building up trust between the team at The Town House and those who use the service. They include staff with plenty of experience in social work, as well as workers who can draw on their own experiences to help others.
Kevin Murphy struggled with alcohol for 30 years and at one time he 'lived in a bin'. He has now been sober for seven years, and after volunteering for the previous service which supported his efforts to get clean, he became a key worker at The Town House.
"I enjoyed drinking but it spiralled out of control," Kevin said. "I lost my house, my partner, I couldn't carry on with it any more. It was recovery or jumping off a bridge.
"I've been there and I can tell others my experience. It puts a good bond between you with trust and hope - they don't believe it when they see me now."
Once a relationship has been built up, the team at The Town House are able to see what barriers could get in the way of someone making a successful fresh start at their new home. It's a process the team now have honed to a fine art - meaning they are able to support more people, more efficiently.
While The Town House is home to Tameside's shelter for A Bed Every Night, it's far more than just somewhere to sleep. Nurses hold drop-in 'MOT' clinics for service users, while The Town House works with voluntary groups under the Stronger Together Tameside banner.
Crucially, key workers stay in touch with those they have helped, and people who have moved into accommodation can get in touch for extra support - whether that's for dealing with bills or their mental health, or just for a catch-up. Kim says it is vital to build up that trust as a key worker - and rewarding to 'see the impact' the team have.
"They learn about you, they put their trust in you," she said. "In a lot of services there is a high staff turnover - if someone was on probation for 12 months, they could have three different officers, they don't get to develop that relationship."
The building itself has dormitories with 40 beds in total, plus toilets and showers, and secure lockers for people staying over to use. A large kitchen downstairs provides meals cooked by the Veterans Food Company, which supports armed forces veterans struggling with their mental health by providing training and opportunities.
There is a security check for people entering The Town House, with service users signing a behavioural agreement. Drugs and alcohol are not permitted, while the bathrooms are lit in blue to make sure people cannot inject their veins.
The dormitories are only open from 7pm to 9am, with the idea being that those who stay at The Town House will be encouraged to get the support they need to move on to permanent accommodation rather than remain at the building. "The hostel is only about 20% of what we do," said John Gregory, head of community safety and homelessness at Tameside Council.
"It's the start of the process, but it's only the start." John recalls the beginning of the project, when the service rushed to help people with an urgent need to be brought off the streets.
He said: "There are one or two people I can think of that would have died within one or two months. They have now got a quality of life and are enjoying life."
'Without these guys we would be lost'
The Town House receives funding in a grant from central government, and John believes that if that cash was halted, Tameside would be back to around 50 rough sleepers 'within six months'. Just as the pandemic led to a busy period, staff expect another spike in demand due to the cost of living crisis.
There are around 15 people who are currently using The Town House. In the time he has been involved with Tameside's homelessness service, John has been shocked to see just how many people have needed help who are in work.
He added: "It was a shock to me how many people on the face of it have everything they need. But if they have not got a support network - no family or friends close by, or if a relationship breaks down - it's very easy for them to end up sleeping in their car or sleeping rough while holding a full time job."
As someone whose life turned upside down when the last global crisis hit Britain two years ago, Tony is worried about the impact the cost of living situation could have. Having been helped by The Town House, he believes other areas could learn from Tameside as they look to tackle homelessness in the months and years ahead.
Tony added: "With electricity and gas prices rocketing, with lockdown and everything people have gone through, this provision needs to reach out to all areas. It's great for Tameside but other places need to take a leaf out of these guys' book and put these services in other towns and cities across the country.
"Without these guys we would be lost. Homelessness doesn't just affect people with drug and alcohol issues - you are only one pay check away from being homeless."
* Guy's name has been changed to protect his identity
