A man who was sleeping in a hammock outdoors in freezing conditions says he is overwhelmed after being given a house for Christmas.
Up until last week, Aaron was sleeping rough in the make-shift bed after being made homeless due to a family breakdown.
The 30-year-old was found in the street by Vulnerable Citizen Support (VCS) who described him as being very ill as a result of living of the streets.
However, Aaron has been given a place to stay this Christmas and described it as ‘amazing’ feeling to be in a house over the festive period.
After some help to get him back on his feet, Aaron is now off the streets and into a house - and he’s keen to give back.
Haydn Jessop, the director of Vulnerable Citizen Support (VCS), told Leeds Live : “Aaron is a hard-worker who fell on hard times due to a family breakdown.
“Particularly with his chest being so bad, just being inside was an incredible help, he said it felt so much better. He’s sent so many thank you messages.
“He’s been overwhelmed by the kindness of people and said it feels amazing to be in a house for Christmas. It’s a fantastic thing to expect to spend a Christmas outdoors alone and for that to turn out not to be the case.
“He’s been really moved by everything.”
Aaron, originally from Leeds, had spent a day and a half walking all the way up from Barnsley to be near his family.
He’d had some trouble finding somewhere to stay and he ended up setting up a hammock in the woods at Killingbeck Fields to sleep in.
Early last week, Haydn and the team at VCS got a call from their previous outreach worker Ethan Mills, who informed them that Aaron was sleeping outside.
VCS sent an outreach worker down as soon as they could to find Haydn.
“It took our worker about an hour and a half to find Aaron in the woods,” said Haydn.
“When they found him what immediately came across was that he was coughing his chest up - he had a really bad chest infection and his health problems were deteriorating quickly.”
VCS realised Aaron needed to be out of the cold as quickly as possible, and managed to secure a hotel room for him to stay in.
From there, they helped him out with new, clean clothes from people’s donations and other essentials.
“Over the course of literally just the last few days, he’s gotten in to see a doctor, started a course of antibiotics. His chest has gotten a lot better,” Aaron said.
“He believes that that member of our team actually saved his life - he said he wouldn’t have made it through the Christmas period otherwise.”
Haydn said Aaron doesn’t have either alcohol or drug dependencies, and has even given up smoking since being taken in.
Grateful for the VCS team’s help, Aaron sent a heart-warming card to the workers to thank them for what they did.
It read: “Thank you for everything that you have done for me. You really have changed my world for the better, and I feel the love everyday.
“Such amazing people with real hearts and I love you all, thank you so much.”
Another text from Aaron to Haydn read: “Thanks mate I appreciate all that you have done for me and can’t wait to repay you back one day - you truly are an amazing guy.”
After the initial help and support from VCS to get him back on his feet, Haydn said Aaron was quick to book himself in at the doctor’s, with housing services, and head down to the job centre without any prompting.
Eventually, VCS’s partners The Saviour Trust were able to find keys for a tenancy in a house for Aaron - meaning he now has a roof over his head for Christmas.
Now he’s settled, Haydn said Aaron is already looking for ways to give back - asking if he can help give out food parcels with the VCS team and more.
“As soon as he got into the house, he was just sat there with the biggest smile on his face,” said Haydn.
“The first thing he said was ‘at least I can have a bath now’ - that’s all he wanted to do, just go upstairs and have a bath.”
Haydn started VCS after being homeless himself, and has been campaigning on homelessness and housing rights for five years.
VCS support families and individuals across the city - including former spice addict Josh, who turned his life around with VCS’s help.
Currently VCS are supporting Aaron and a family of six they found sleeping in their car.
You can donate to aid the work VCS do at their Go Fund Me page here.
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