TWO formerly homeless people now living in High Wycombe tell the Bucks Free Press about the circumstances which led to them sleeping rough before they found the Wycombe Homeless Connection.

TRACEY Atkinson ended up on the streets of London after fleeing his life in Yorkshire after his girlfriend took her own life at their home.

He packed a bag and hitch-hiked to the capital, where he moved between run-down shelters and derelict houses - and even travelled as far afield as France and Israel - before he landed a job at a London firm.

He was made redundant but landed on his feet in Amersham, where he lived as a live-in caretaker at a block of flats.

Until the building’s owner changed the locks and left him on the streets.

He said: “One day I finished work early and decided to go into town.

“I came back, put the key in the door and it didn’t turn. The landlord had changed the locks, got rid of all my tools and moved someone else in - no money, nothing.

“I was sleeping outside the building on a bench waiting for the landlord to come back - for a week.

“The church vicar bought me out a drink and food, then after a few days she said ‘there’s no point in you hanging around, he’s not coming back’. She gave me the money to get over here to Wycombe and told me about the shelter.”

Mr Atkinson - who has an estranged daughter - hailed the volunteers at the shelter for helping him in his hour of need.

He said: “I’ve stayed at night shelters in London; it’s nothing to what you get here in Wycombe. When I first came here eight years ago, I never had so much help in all the ones I’ve ever stayed in.

“They helped me on the last night of it being open - they got me into a property. I’m now back on my feet, I can’t go all the way due to my health problems and my age but they gave me the boost to get me back on my feet.”

But while he was full of praise for the shelter’s work, he believes a lot more can be done to support the homeless in south Bucks.

He said: “It’s a really good atmosphere here and it shows me there are plenty of people in Wycombe who really care for the homeless. But there are plenty of people out there who have no idea that there are homeless people.

“People have walked past me on the street when I’m having a seizure because they thought I was drunk - not realising I’m doing myself a lot more damage.

“There could be a lot more done to help the shelter, they do a lot of great work but could do a great deal more with support.”

WHEN Robert Rhodes was eight, he was taken by his father to a Dr Barnardo’s boarding school with his brother - but never saw him again.

Mr Rhodes stayed at the Twickenham school until he was 16 when he first became homeless.

He was taken in by a family who discovered him sleeping on a market stall.

He said: “I was trying to find my mother after boarding school only to find she met with a new man and they’d moved to Dagenham. I had no-where to go so I slept on stalls in Croydon market.

“They caught me sleeping on his stall with artificial grass covering me, he took me home to his place.

“He had two sons, his wife said ‘don’t put him back out - we’ll take him in as part of the family’ and that’s what they did for thirty years.”

The family got Mr Rhodes back on his feet and in to work but, following a bust-up with one of the sons, he was forced to move out.

He relocated to Penn but, after being unable to pin down a job, Mr Rhodes got into debt, could not afford the rent and was homeless once again.

He considered suicide until he was referred to the Wycombe Homeless Connection - and he hasn’t looked back since.

He now lives in a house in High Wycombe with a pension and is now a mentor at the shelter.

He said: “I can’t praise the shelter enough. They caught me when I was at my lowest. I was suicidal, I had no friends, no family, I was at the lowest level.

“If I hadn’t been introduced to the shelter, I wouldn’t be here today. They took me in, helped me, since then they’ve set me up with a mentor.

“When I first came here, I was very withdrawn, I got them to speak on the phone and sort out paper work for me. But now, I can do it myself, they’ve given me my life back.”

He urged Wycombe District Council to help the shelter find a permanent base.