Mike Preston

Getting There!

Alright,
My name is Mike and I come from Birkenhead. I've lived there all my life – I've never been off the Wirral except for a few odd times. I was privileged to go on the YMCA boat once too!

So what can I tell you about me?

Well the first thing I should say is that I am just about to start entering employment again after a long period and I'm really excited at the prospects and opportunities this now offers me. For the first time in a long time I can look forward to the chance to do something worthwhile and begin to really move on in my life.

I had an average childhood until my mum and dad split up – then things started going downhill. I was upset even though I knew it was probably going to happen anyway.

Then my dad had a stroke and was left half paralysed – it was a gut wrenching experience to see your dad in such a state and whilst I was torn apart with upset I also found myself the victim of bullying over it too as youngsters thought his plight was funny. This had a massive effect on me and hurt terribly.

From that moment onwards it seemed to me that it was me against the world and I lived like that for quite a few years. When I was about 16 my mum met a new partner and both me and him did not get on – so before I got kicked out I left. I now had to fend for myself and found myself squatting in derelict buildings and managed to get a job as a roofer lodging with the boss for a while.

After a year or two of that everything seemed to go wrong again and I found myself homeless sleeping on the streets. Life on the streets was scary and it's not a nice place to be aimlessly walking around with no-where to go. While I was homeless I managed to get a job working in a pub- things were so bad I was getting washed in a pond and then it came one day when I walked into work and I just collapsed with all the pressure and chaos my life was in.

While I was homeless and in total desperation I started harming myself to try and take the pain of the mess I was in away – it was truly a living hell – the worst time in my life.

But things were about to get a lot worse because the manager where I worked sent me home sick one day and of course I had no home to go to – just my place hidden in the bushes in one of the local parks. To add insult to injury he found me sleeping rough whilst he was out walking his dogs – when I explained my predicament I felt terrible and had no option but to leave my job.

I suppose I could say that things started to get better for me when I went to the Birkenhead YMCA and for the first time in a long time I had a roof over my head and hot meals to eat. At first it felt weird – I didn't even realise hostels existed and it took a little while to settle in.

I soon got involved in activities and training and this set me some goals and targets for me to aim for – I really enjoyed these and learned a lot and in all honesty I think they helped me get to where I am now.

If I was asked what would I do differently it would be to talk and not bottle everything up. I would also say to people never think you cannot achieve anything – you can it's all about the amount of effort you put in – it's about having help and support yes, but the most important thing is you yourself taking advantage of help that's offered and grasping it with both hands to make something for your future.

And my future? Well I have met a wonderful partner, got a fabulous little daughter who I think the world of and I've got my own flat and now I've even got a job – for me my world is complete and at long last I'm happy. Future ambitions? To do everything in my power to make sure my daughter never has to go through what I have gone through and to keep our little family together forever!