Ten years ago, Paul Gwilym was sleeping in a makeshift bedroom in the corner of the industrial unit where he ran his events business. Inside it was a desk, duvets, pillows, a microwave, a kettle and a bucket to wash in. “I slept on the floor,” he remembers. “Sleeping on your own in an industrial unit is quite scary. The noises you hear as well.”
Paul, 43, from Cardiff said he has always been a “hospitality person”, but he fell homeless in 2013 after his rented home was sold and he could not afford the upfront payment for a flat because he owned a dog. He slept at a friend’s house for a couple of nights before having the idea to stay in the industrial unit where he ran his business.
“I was a proud man. I didn’t want nobody to know. I got a business and I haven’t even got anywhere to live? Most nights, I’d just sit in town speaking to rough sleepers and when the sun came up, I came into work.”
