Geoff’s* mum died of cancer when he was five. He has a very vivid memory of sitting by her bed in the living room with his wooden train. He sometimes wonders if life would have been different if his mum hadn’t died when he was so young.

Daniel* is from a small family from a nice part of Reading. He has just one brother, and both his mum and dad were single children so he had no cousins, aunts or uncles. Daniel says he was always very detached from his mum and his dad was always distant from him, which has led to problems in later life.

Janice’s* benefits were stopped when she didn’t go to the Job Centre on the day of her brother’s funeral. She literally had no money to buy food.

Sarah* says she had a ‘normal’ upbringing (quickly adding ‘whatever normal is!’). She and her sister lived in a three bedroom house in Reading with her parents. She went to school and went on lovely family holidays.

Sophie* is in her early 20s. She and her two young children, age five and seven, moved in with her mum to care for her when she was dying of cancer.

Our vital work with people in need continues in lockdown. Craig is an army veteran with PTSD who found himself homeless in the middle of the pandemic.

Adam’s* brush with homelessness inspired him to run the Reading Half Marathon for Launchpad.

After holding down three jobs while struggling with his mental health and caring for a close friend withdrawing from a drug addiction, 47-year-old Dean suffered a breakdown. He found himself unemployed and on the brink of homelessness, struggling to make ends meet.