In 1989, Lee was 16 years old. He lived at home with his mum but they both found it difficult. She was a single parent and they constantly had arguments. She felt that things had got so bad that they were no longer able to live under the same roof.
Not wanting Lee to sleep rough, she wrote letters to Sheffield City Council stating they just couldn’t live together any more. She already knew about Roundabout as Lee’s older brother had used their services before, so she helped him to access Roundabout’s hostel.
At that time, Roundabout’s Hostel was very different to the Hostel we have today. It consisted of bedrooms downstairs with flats upstairs and the young people living there had to be out of the building during the day. Lee started off in one of the downstairs bedrooms but was quickly given the opportunity to move into one of the flats upstairs, which gave him more privacy and independence. The staff at the hostel had seen how well he was progressing and he also took part in a Youth Training Scheme, which was a government funded scheme that gave young people training and employability skills.
After about 18 months, Roundabout helped Lee to move into his first flat where he stayed for over ten years! When the council needed the flat back, they helped him to find a two bed maisonette where he stayed for a further ten years. He laughs, “I don’t move around much!”
Now…
Aged 44, Lee has been working for Corporation Night Club for over 20 years. He is responsible for general maintenance and stage management for the live events held in the buildings. When a third party fundraiser held and event for Roundabout at the venue, Lee helped to set up the event and got in touch with us!
He has been happily married to his wife for almost ten years and looks back on his time at Roundabout with fond memories.
“Without Roundabout I wouldn’t be where I am today. You get lots of support there to prepare you for the future.
“They were good times!”