Walk a mile in my Shoes

housing for younger people

Sometimes change can seem daunting, but doing nothing is even worse. Here are some positive and uplifting testimonials of young people who live or have lived at our Foyers, and gone on to bigger and greater successes.

The Foyer a new Home - Maximinah’s story...

I applied to The Manchester Foyer as I was turning 18 and could no longer stay in foster care. I was so nervous when I moved in! I had never had to live on my own before and cook, clean and pay bills on my own, but the staff soon helped me to settle in and supported me with my fears and worries.

During my time at The Manchester Foyer I achieved loads, I learnt how to cook properly and made lots of friends, I even went to a football club with my new friends and had a fantastic trip to Alton Towers! I feel very proud of what I achieved whilst at The Foyer, especially in regards to my education. I completed my GCSE’s and I am now studying combined sciences. My support worker was brilliant at getting me to focus on college and really encouraged me to keep going when it was hard.

I am so much more confident and grown up and I have taken what I learnt from The Manchester Foyer and used this in my everyday life.

I am hoping to go to university this year and have an interview next week for my chosen course. In the future I hope to have a professional career in Physiotherapy. Without the guidance, encouragement and knowledge of a safe home I’m not sure I would have achieved this much!

Learning New Skills at The Foyer - April’s story...

I applied to The Manchester Foyer in 2005 as I found myself in a bad situation where I did not have a secure room in a home and needed to find somewhere safe to live.

Whilst living at The Manchester Foyer I managed to finish college and get a national diploma in Music, with top grades. I also continued with my hobby of playing a percussion instrument. The Manchester Foyer supported me and gave me a great secure home when I needed it most. I had the space I needed to study so I could finish my time at college.

It helped me to become independent and be able to look after myself. I attended cooking classes and I learned to balance a healthy diet, before the Foyer I could not cook a thing! I built up my confidence and met lots of new people. I went on a trip to Barcelona, which was a chance I thought I would never have. It was amazing! All the staff at The Manchester Foyer were so friendly and I could turn to them when I needed help in my situation.

I finished college and I am now studying at Salford University, I hope to achieve a BA(Hons) in Music and hope to go on to a career in teaching.

Life after The Foyer - Ian’s story...

My Foyer experience came out of necessity due to a parental divorce that had a fairly bad effect on me. I had started to “not be at home” from about 14 and by about 16 I was staying at friends or sleeping rough.

I came away from school with fairly good grades and did a year at catering college before I dropped out (turns out I can’t cook!) and 6 months of audio engineering before I dropped out of that (turns out that I was at the time too lazy). Before heading into the centre of Manchester to indulge in the Rock club scene. And then a fairly standard story happened - meet girl - got into drugs - moved in with girl - took more drugs - got kicked out by girl - got sober but was sober and homeless.

A good friend of mine got me a place on his Dad’s couch short-term while I sorted myself out. He was waiting to move into The Manchester Foyer and told me about it. I went to an interview (10 years on I have little in the way of memory of) and moved in. During this time I met a woman who I had a hard time explaining why I had to book her in and out of the building.

I started on the first floor and from the first day my target was to get one of the 3rd floor “penthouse” flats. So with that as my aim I immersed myself in the options that the Foyer was giving me. I did computer courses, I did interview technique courses (which I still use to this day) and a multitude of others and then I found the thing that made the biggest difference in my life - European Voluntary Service. I was approached by a support worker at The Foyer and started to look at it as a real option. Things moved fairly quickly and all of a sudden I was getting on a plane to Treviso airport just outside of Venice en-route to Centro Anfas in Pordenone where I would spend the next couple on months working with disabled adults and living with several people in a very small flat (3 grown men sharing a room is never a good idea!). While there I met some of the greatest people I have ever known!

I returned to England and that opened another door. The Foyer Council was a great boost to my self esteem. I was able to get some changes put in place to make life better for the residents and also I got to help promote EVS and the Foyer movement in Manchester and in London.

I left The Manchester Foyer 18 months after I had moved in and it was without a shadow of a doubt the most important stage in my life to get me to where I am now.

And where is that? Well, I’m a happily married. Father of a 1 year old baby girl with another baby on the way. I’m a Project Engineer for Network Rail in a high profile department (I’m also one of the youngest ever to hold my role).

My life has worked out wonderfully and I owe a large debt to The Manchester Foyer for putting me back on a road where I could work (very hard) for success. I can only say thank you to every person that worked (and works) in any of the Foyers in this country - I would just like to say that on behalf of all former residents, we do appreciate the work you all put in (even if we don’t show it at the time). Happy 10th Birthday The Manchester Foyer - I hope this is the first of many anniversaries for you!