My name is ...

My name is Gareth Jones... By the time you are reading this I will have been to Milan to play football with the Wales Street Soccer team. This isn’t exactly what was on my mind when I came to live here but it’s a good result!

My life was quite ordinary – I lived happily at home until I was 18 when I moved out to live with my girlfriend. We had a baby but then split up. For complicated reasons, my girlfriend couldn’t keep our son so I applied for custody. When the judge ruled that he should live with my mum not me, I wasn’t happy, but over time I have come to see that was the right decision. I wasn’t ready to take responsibility for all the things that come with having a son – I wasn’t mature enough. I carried on working and partying hard over the next few years – I even worked in Spain as a comic for a while – but I didn’t settle anywhere. I was sofa surfing and even street homeless for a while but didn’t want to come to a hostel as I thought they were for crack heads and drunks. Someone told me about the YMCA and eventually I put my name on the list for a room. I had to ring every day to check if there was a vacancy but then I did something stupid and ended up going to prison for 2 months. I had never done anything like this before and won’t again. I was told that part of my sentence had to be spent inside to give me a shock and they were right - it did – I was scared of the place and don’t intend going back. My Mum was great – (and still is-thanks Mum) she phoned the hostel every day for me and the staff agreed to have a room ready for me on the day I came out. That was about 7 months ago.

When I came here I stood back and watched what was going on at first, I kept myself to myself - I chose who I needed to know. I often hang around with older people because I like to be guided and some older residents gave me tips. I got to know the staff and after a little incident in the first month haven’t given them any reason to give me warnings. I also saw what was on offer and it surprised me – I thought it was just a room but there is everything around you to help just hanging in your face and all you have to do is grab it. I do. I’ve always worked as a Carpet Fitter or Glazier and since prison this is the longest time I’ve been unemployed. I am on the Work Incentive Scheme though and volunteering at Oxfam for 16 hours a week. I will get all I can out of being here so when I do get my own place I will do it properly. Looking around me at people living here, some of them remind me of myself a few years ago – more interested in partying than paying the rent and keeping the rules. If I’d come here when I was 19 I’d probably not have lasted 2 months! Now I know that you can’t take everything for granted – you have to make sure the bills are paid and to keep the roof over your head first before anything else. Much as I think this is a great hostel I don’t have my son come here – I visit him at my Mum’s and we have some great times together but I can’t wait to get my own place so we can be together more often.