“I LOST MY JOB AND MY HOME”

Rochelle,* 27, worked in hospitality before the pandemic struck

I thought that 2020 was going to be my year.

My son was at nursery and I was working as a bar supervisor at one of the biggest stadiums in London. I was looking forward to working hard, making more money, and then… boom! Lockdown.

I was put on furlough and everything was so uncertain – my return-to-work date just kept getting pushed back. But I knew they weren’t going to let huge crowds of people back into the stadium. I started to apply for more jobs, but I was up against thousands of others. I just tried to keep myself in the right mindset and trust that a job would come along – even if it wasn’t the sort of role I’d have done before. But then I’d get emails saying I was overqualified! It helped knowing there were so many others like me – it wasn’t that we didn’t want to work, we just couldn’t. There were no jobs. I concentrated on keeping myself sane and those around me healthy – my mum was recovering from breast cancer and my dad has a heart condition. We also lost my grandma in August. Having to grieve and support my dad when we couldn’t see each other was really tough.

Then, in September, I had to move out of my mum’s as my ex showed up – I had a non-molestation order out against him – so it wasn’t safe for me to be there any more. It meant I had to be placed in temporary accommodation, making me homeless.

I did lose myself for a while. I’d been trying to be so positive but it was a lot to take on. Slowly, I’m getting my happy back. I had to keep smiling for my son.