Siobhan* - St Martin-in-the-Fields

Siobhan* and Dave* had bought their first house in 2001 and in 2024 were just a few years from paying off their mortgage. Dave worked hard as a builder, Siobhan raised their five children, and they were settled in their small community. Then, Covid hit, building sites were shut down and Dave couldn’t work.

As a result, Dave’s mental health deteriorated and with no money coming in, the couple took a mortgage break, thinking this would help keep them steady until they were back on their feet.

Siobhan battled to keep on top of everything, sometimes going without a meal so her children could eat and often gathering the whole family in her bedroom to watch TV because she could only afford to heat one room in the house. Siobhan thought that the mortgage break would give them breathing room and they could just add that additional debt to their term, but the payments spiralled to unmanageable levels, way beyond their means and eventually, after four years of struggling to keep afloat, the bank repossessed their family home and Siobhan has no idea how she would prevent the family from becoming homeless.

Siobhan found a private let but had no idea how she was going to find the deposit money and feared her family were going to be homeless. She found First Housing who were able to apply to St Martin in the Fields Charity for emergency fund support, an emergency grant of up to £650 to help people access accommodation. Thanks to that Vicar’s grant Siobhan was able to rent a house and provide a roof and stability for her family.

*Siobhan’s and Dave’s names have been changed to protect their identities, and the photographs used are of actors, but their story is real.

"If someone had said to me six years ago that I was going to lose my house I would have laughed, I'd never have dreamed in a million years this would happen to us. I'm living proof homelessness can happen to anyone."