Bethany House in Edinburgh provides accommodation and personalised support for people who are homeless.
David Biddulph, Director of Crisis Intervention, sat down with Fraser to talk about his experience of homelessness and how Bethany helped him to transform his life.
“I was drinking all the time to escape reality, to get away from the things in my head and to mask the pain from my early trauma. This went on for 28 years.”
To the outside world looking in, my home life growing up might have looked fine, but I felt isolated. School life was chaotic, I couldn’t concentrate, I felt different from others, and I would lash out and get in trouble.
In my teenage years, I started smoking cannabis and drinking at the weekends. I got involved in the rave scene which introduced me to harder drugs. By the time I was 23, alcohol began to take over and became a way of life. I was drinking all the time to escape reality, to get away from the things in my head and to mask the pain from my early trauma. This went on for 28 years. In that time, I got married, but my drinking and smoking was constant, and the marriage ended.
I ended up homeless in Edinburgh and went to the council. The Housing Officer said there was nowhere for me to stay… I was devastated. I stood there and prayed and, as I did, the Officer came back – he had just received an email about a place at Bethany House, and I could go there that evening. I was so grateful.
After some time at Bethany House, I was given a room at Bethany Christian Centre. As soon as I arrived, it was like a home.
At the Centre, I engaged with the group and one-to-one work. I realised that I had been self-medicating to be able to function and cope with my anxiety.
“I found forgiveness and learned to forgive others who had hurt me.”
As I built up trust with the team and the other residents, I began to look at the underlying problems to this anxiety. I saw that I had to stop blaming others and take responsibility for where I was and what I’d done. I found forgiveness and learned to forgive others who had hurt me. It was like I was able to scatter all the pieces of a huge jigsaw on the table and start to put it back together.
I stayed at Bethany Christian Centre for ten months, then moved into a Bethany Homes flat and continued to get support.
I have now been sober for nearly a year and I’m getting ready to move into a permanent flat. I’m doing a college course in mentoring and I look forward to getting back to work. I want to give something back and help people. I know I’m not the finished article, but I am convinced that this path is the right one.