Post by Louise Findlay-Wilson

🔮🔮What did you want to be when you grew up? Tim Wraith from the wonderful charity 😇Homeless Oxfordshire recently said to me “no one thinks, when I grow up I want to be homeless.” He was saying this to counter the perception among some people that homelessness is a ‘lifestyle choice’. That homeless people, with their drink or drug habits or chaotic lives, ‘bring it all on themselves.’ Whereas in reality behind almost every homeless person there’s a story of disadvantage – an abusive relationship, a damaged childhood, mental health problems. Or a combination of circumstances, beyond their control, which sent them very rapidly down a very slippery slope. So please let’s all have some compassion for those who, like us, no doubt wanted to do all sorts of things when they grew up. But have instead found themselves with a very different life than the one they envisaged. BTW ...The photo features a very young me (front left, terrible haircut, v itchy dress), with my 5 siblings. Back then, I wanted to be a shoe cleaner. Don’t ask! #homelessness #charity