'I nearly died on the streets - then found a new family'

""I thought I was going to die in the street on this day." Moses describes the moment his health deteriorated to the point where he collapsed outside Victoria Station, having lived on the streets for several months. "I was there for maybe one hour on my knees with my suitcase, and crying in a lot of pain. I was broken." Moses now says he has found a "new family" at the Salvation Army church in Chalk Farm but is still trying to find a permanent home."

""I was in the street with a suitcase and my teenage son, I remember the shame in the eyes of my son," Moses says, adding: "It's difficult to talk about this if you don't live this experience." His son was given a place to sleep at a church by a charity providing emergency accommodation for young people. "It was the first time in my life I was separated from my son... I was very scared.""

Moses left France two decades ago with his young son to work in central London and once had stable employment and housing. He later lost his job because of health problems, including kidney issues, fell behind on rent, and became unfamiliar with the benefits and jobcentre systems. He and his son were evicted and slept rough for months, during which he collapsed with a hernia and required an operation. The son received emergency church accommodation, while Moses was granted temporary housing and a wheelchair by Southwark Council and began attending a Salvation Army drop-in for showers, meals and clothes.

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