Dale’s story: No one should have to sleep on the streets
17 November 2025
This Christmas, your support can help someone like Dale find safety and a place to call home.
After years of sleeping rough, struggling with addiction, and spending time in prison, Dale finally has a home of his own — and a sense of safety he once thought he’d never have again.
Life on the streets was brutal. Every night meant uncertainty, cold, and fear.
“When I was sleeping rough, a big problem was having my things stolen,” Dale remembers. “I’d come back and want to go to sleep, and someone would have taken all my bedding. Once, I ended up sleeping on a rug I pulled out of a bin. I just rolled myself up in it and went to sleep. Or sometimes just in boxes, or on the ground.”
There was rarely a moment to rest.
“Sometimes I didn’t feel safe,” he says. “I’d try to sleep where other people could see me, so I wasn’t completely isolated.”
For people sleeping rough, every day is about survival — and every night, about finding a place that feels even slightly safe.
A new start with Thames Reach
That began to change when Thames Reach’s outreach team found Dale in Shepherd’s Bush.
“They didn’t expect me to change everything at once,” he says. “They bought me a phone, gave me credit, took me to the hostel, to the job centre. Things just started to happen — little steps.”
With ongoing support, Dale was able to address his health and substance use, access benefits, and rebuild his life. After three and a half years in a Thames Reach hostel, he finally moved into his own home in Notting Hill — a place he’s now been in for nearly six years.
“Moving from the hostel to my own home felt unbelievable,” Dale says. “It’s hard to explain. Having your own place turns everything upside down. One minute you’re outside, the next you can shut your door, turn the key, and no one can come in unless you let them. It feels good.”
Dale still meets regularly with his Thames Reach support worker, Gabrielle.
“She helps with anything I need — job interviews, paperwork, GP appointments,” he says. “The help I get from Thames Reach makes a big difference.”
Looking back, Dale knows how vital that support has been.
“Good things can happen to you,” he says. “Help is out there. I’m taking things day by day now.”
Help someone like Dale find safety this Christmas
This Christmas, thousands of people in London are still sleeping rough — exposed to the cold, to violence, and to uncertainty about what tomorrow will bring.
Your support can change that.
By donating today, you can help someone like Dale take their first step off the streets and find the safety of a home.
Give the gift of safety and support this Christmas — and all year round.
Donate today
Your support can help people sleeping rough to escape the streets for good.