From Safe Space to New Beginnings

We met with Steph, a young woman who came to us six months ago and became one of the very first tenants at the Castle, taking on Flat 2.

When Steph first came to us, she was fleeing a domestic abuse relationship and had found herself living in a caravan on a site with a difficult landlord. She had reached a point where she had resigned herself to believing that this was simply her life and that nobody was going to help her.

Fast forward six months, and Steph is a vibrant, positive woman who knows her worth and, most importantly, has realised that she is ready to move on to the next chapter of her life.

During her time at the Castle, Steph has worked with Pandora Project and with The Purfleet Trust around healthy relationships, self-belief, confidence and her own image. Over the past six months, she has really invested in herself and the changes have been incredible to see.

She proudly told us that she has lost weight and, for the first time in a long time, genuinely loves herself. She has also rekindled her relationship with her family and has made the decision to move closer to them as she takes this next step.

Even more importantly, she has secured her own new tenancy.

We spoke with the landlord of the property, and he told us that there were around 60 people who had viewed the property and that he could have chosen somebody else. However, he said that Steph’s positivity, presentation and the way she conducted herself convinced him that she was the person he wanted as his tenant.

We asked Steph what the Castle had given her. Her answer was simple but incredibly powerful:

a safe space, support, confidence and, above all, hope.

She told us that she believes in herself again and that she feels this is because she was given the opportunity to live at the Castle. She wanted to thank everyone at Purfleet for giving her that opportunity and for helping to restore her faith that there are good people in the world.

Six months ago, Steph arrived believing that nobody would help her. Today, she is moving on believing in herself.

Steph’s story reminded us exactly why we do what we do.

We don’t just provide someone with a tenancy. We provide a safe place where someone can breathe, rebuild, find themselves again and start to believe that their future can be different.

Steph is our first move-on from the Castle, and we are so proud of what she has achieved. You can read more about the Castle Housing Initiative here.