A man has moved into his first flat after being homeless for 30 years. Stephen Agnew spoke about his experience, saying it 'feels weird to have a bed'.
Manchester Evening News reports that Stephen had a troubled childhood that saw him estranged from his family. He was just 10 years old when he moved into a tent on the streets of Manchester.
Stephen said: "It was scary to be on the streets, you don't know what is what or how big the world really is. You have to battle the wind, rain, the weather and you have to battle with other people too."
Despite being just a child, Stephen says he didn't feel alone during this difficult period. He added: "I didn't feel lonely or unloved because I had other homeless people around me. Some were teens and some were in their twenties and it felt like a community."
Stephen says he was eventually picked up by police and referred to social services. However, he admitted if he was placed in care he would simply run away again.
Stephen added: "Nobody could keep me anywhere. I was nicknamed the 'Wild Wolf'."
Aged 15, Stephen was ordered by the courts to attend a secure unit for vulnerable children in Northumberland. He found it comforting to be with others in the same boat.
However, after a year, Stephen says he was brought back to Manchester to live with his family but in no time at all he was back on the streets. That is where he remained for the entirety of his adult life up until 2022.
Initiatives to help the homeless in Manchester eventually changed his life. He learned about them through word of mouth on the street, before going along to find out what they were all about.
Stephen said: "They helped me loads, they changed my life. If it wasn't for them I would not be a tour guide today, I would be in a coffin."
Following help from Greater Manchester Housing First, Stephen got the news that he was eligible for a studio flat in Blackley. For the first time in three decades he moved off the streets of Manchester and into his own home.
After living rough for so long, Stephen says it has still taken a lot of getting used to. He said: "It can feel quite lonely and it can be eerie at times.
"You are so used to being on rough surfaces. To have [a bed with] springs - well, it just feel so soft."
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