"I never got seen. Like, as much as I say I didn't want people to see me, you're a part of an unseen society. It's just a cold world out there."
"I had times where I slept on the street, I had times where I've slept in cars, times where I had to sleep in overnight hostels, times where I spent with women, times where I just used so much [drugs] that sleep wasn't even an option."
"I didn't want people to find out. I didn't want to be looked at differently because of my addiction."
Darren Skeete, 48, struggled with drug addiction and homelessness from a young age. He first tried drugs at 12, leading to a life of addiction and crime. After experiencing homelessness multiple times, he was evicted from social housing in 2002 due to unpaid bills linked to his addiction. In 2023, he began working with Kensington and Chelsea Council's Rough Sleeper Dual Diagnosis Service, aiming to support others with mental health and substance misuse issues. Skeete plans to study integrative counselling to further assist those in need.
Read at www.bbc.com
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