Day 1 - The beginning

After the application process, assessments, interview, waiting for references to come through, then finally, the wait is over.

I started my traineeship at The Centre and however much I'd read up about homelessness it still took me three attempts to walk through the huddle of men sitting on the steps leading up to the main door. I finally walked up to the men to ask them if the centre was open and they showed me which buzzer I should ring. Just then I was met with the kind, smiling face of Francine, one of the project workers, who took me into the Centre with her.

From there, it was pretty much a rush to get the Centre ready before the service users came in. I was really excited to do the walkie-talkie training before anything else. I have now realised why it was important to have it on me all the time, but that’s a story for another day. After being shown the building, I helped a volunteer called Jane to set up the tea bar. I spent most of the day shadowing Francine and think I may well have walked a few miles by the end of the day! Click here for the next journal entry.