My name is Tony, I’m 62 years old. I’ve been here at Emmaus since 2016. I’m from the North East but moved to Manchester in the 1980s.
Life before Emmaus
I’d been married for quite a few years and I’ve got kids who are all grown up now. I was working for a supermarket and then I started going through depression. Like a typical bloke I didn’t admit it to myself until it was too late, by this point it had ruined my marriage. I became homeless after my marriage had broken down and I was sleeping in my car until it died on me. I got to the stage where I found myself sitting at the edge of a cliff. A dog walker found me and managed to talk me out of it.
I was homeless on and off for about 20 years, sleeping on people’s sofas, in hostels, and even on the street. I stayed in a couple of bedsits but nothing was ever permanent, I was always moving from place to place.
Emmaus
A friend told me about Emmaus one day so I thought I’d give it a try. At the time Emmaus Bolton was my closest one so I applied and moved in around 2016. I remember being nervous before I moved in because I didn’t know what to expect but when I got to know people there, I really enjoyed it. At Bolton, I was driving the van and I was happy because it gave me something to do.
I decided to move up to Emmaus North East around a year and a half ago because my dad lived up here and I wanted to be close to him. Here I’ve done a couple of NVQs in manual handling, and after a few months of living here I applied to the companion support fund so I could buy some decent running things. Running is a big hobby of mine. It gets me out of the house and gives me time to think about life.
Volunteering
Recently I started volunteering at the children’s park run, it’s a bit like the adult one but its 2km and open to kids aged 4 to 14. It’s free and gives kids the opportunity to get fit and enjoy running. I do a bit of everything, from photography to marshalling and timekeeping, there’s not much I haven’t done! I’ve been doing this since January 2023 and I really enjoy it. It’s great seeing the kids having such a good time out in the fresh air. It’s really good for my own well-being, you know, seeing the kids still smiling even when it’s lashing it down.
Health
Last year wasn’t a good year for my health, I ended up fracturing my ankle which meant I couldn’t run for a while. Then in December, I had to do a bowel cancer test kit, because of my age. Anyway, it came back that I had bowel cancer. In April they did keyhole surgery and managed to remove the cancer. As far as I know, they have got it out but I have to keep going back for tests over the next five years to check if everything is okay. It was a scary time. I’ve been through depression before and I wanted to end my life but then when I found out I had cancer I thought ‘No I don’t want to die’.
I got lots of support from everyone here, Emmaus staff were amazing. I let everyone in the community know and they were so supportive, flinging their arms around me.
Homelessness and Emmaus
Everyone thinks when a person is homeless they’re either a drug addict or an alcoholic, but it’s not the case. For me, it was a marriage breakdown and that can happen to anyone.
If someone was thinking about joining Emmaus I’d say just go for it. There are loads of opportunities for people to learn things and get training in whatever they want. I’m really happy here, it’s a peaceful life. If I want alone time I can have it, if I want to socialise with the others I can.