Roundabout turns forty in January and since we were formed in 1977, we’ve supported over 10,000 young people! Now, we want to hear from those who have used our services.
“We have often heard snippets of people’s stories from their time with us over the years,” says our Chief Executive, Ben Keegan.
“We would now like to collect all those stories together to help us celebrate this milestone birthday. We want to hear from anyone who has accessed any of our services over the last forty years and are happy to update us on what happened after they left us”.
At the beginning of the year, we heard from Gemma who raised £644.68 to say thank you for the support she was given when she lived in Roundabout’s hostel over 10 years ago. When she was just 17, the bed and breakfast she was staying in evicted her for eating a take away in her room.
“I’d not eaten for three days and had just got enough money together to buy some food,” she explains.
“I found myself homeless and on the streets with nowhere else to turn. Roundabout gave me a safe place to stay and all the help and support I needed to get my life back on track”.
We also heard from ‘JL’ who stayed at Roundabout’s hostel over 22 years ago. Now living in Australia, JL admits he was a bit of a troublemaker in his younger years but is now a long way both physically and mentally from the young man he used to be.
“I am now myself quite heavily involved in working with disadvantaged young people and have often been reminded of Roundabout over the years” he recalls.
“I just wanted to write to say thank you. Thank you for how you helped me and thank you for still being here for the young people of Sheffield”.
If you or anyone you know would be happy to tell your story about your Roundabout experience, please call Ruth on 0114 253 6753 or email fundraising@roundaboutltd.org.