Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I left home for the sake of my 3 kids
Charity ‘lifeline’ for Philip after he could take no more
YESTERDAY
would be so hurt and confused about their daddy not being there.
“I thought it would be better for them – and that was a sad thing for me to have to do.
“I packed a bag when no one was watching and left it in my son’s bedroom hidden under a blanket. I woke up the next morning and I left to get my bus to work. When I left the house that morning I knew I wouldn’t be able to go back.
“I lifted the bag and got on the bus to go to work.
“I remember the bus driver making a small joke to me, ‘Are you leaving us today? Are you not coming back?’ My mental state was very low and I was scared. I was feeling guilty because I had left my kids and I didn’t know where I was going to stay, but I couldn’t go home.
“That day was the hardest thing that I have ever done.”
Philip went to work with his bag of belongings knowing he could very well end up on the streets. He said: “I
The HOME team’s Ruth Kelly revealed there are thousands of people waiting for somewhere they can call home. She said: “Philip’s situation is something we would experience a lot.
“People assume if you are homeless you have some ownership of that – your bad choices got you in that situation.
“The difficulty with the system is if you have lots of problems you get lots of points, so it’s easier to get someone with problems housed.
“We also have all these facilities if a woman is abused or feels under duress to move out, but Philip didn’t really have anywhere to turn.
“We tried to take away the worry of his housing and he’s like a different person now.
“If you can give someone a home then they can deal with the issues.”
What they did for Philip seems to have saved him. Now he has his own house, sees his children twice a week and is closer to them than ever.
He said: “Without their very quick help I don’t know what would have happened to me. Did I do the right thing? 100%.”