Today's most viewed
Revealed: Desperate life of being homeless in Bolton
A FORMER soldier who was made homeless after his marriage broke down and he lost his job has told how he managed to rebuild his life.
Tom Hewlett slept on park benches and in Bolton Market after being evicted from his private rented home by his landlord.
He spoke about his experiences following the launch of a regional strategy to help the homeless in Bolton and the North-west.
Mr Hewlett, aged 56, of Victoria Court, Moses Gate, said: "I was on the streets for four weeks and it was horrendous.
"I slept in parks and at Bolton market. I'd never been on the streets before so couldn't sleep as I never knew who would turn up."
The former squaddie served in the logistics corp for 12 years before leaving the army in 1982.
He moved back to his home town of Wigan, but, because of personal problems, including the breakdown of his marriage, moved to Bolton in 1998.
Mr Hewlett had nowhere to live and was out of work so was put up by the Salvation Army for nine months.
He eventually got work with agencies and in 2004 met the woman who was to become his second wife.
Following the breakdown of that marriage he moved to private accommodation in Horwich and secured a job. But after two years Mr Hewlett was made redundant and he was evicted in early 2007.
He returned to the Salvation Army who found him a flat, through Homes for Bolton, the council's housing service.
Mr Hewlett said: "If it wasn't for them I don't know what would have happened.
"I've now turned my life around and am happy. I'm really grateful for the help I received."
He is now involved in the council's Community Experts Panel which gives feedback on council services, and the Core Strategy Group, which consults with senior council members.
The North West Regional Assembly (NWRA) launched the Regional Homeless Strategy at the Reebok Stadium last month.
It aims to build on work already being carried out in the town, to tackle the underlying causes of homelessness, provide more support for people and increase access to homes
In Bolton, efforts to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping have been hailed a success. The council launched its homelessness strategy in 2003 and has since introduced a number of schemes which, it says, are reducing the number of homeless.
The Time 2 Talk Project was introduced in 2004 and uses mediation between young people, aged 16 to 18, and their parents to stop the teenagers becoming homelessness. In 2007/8, 91 per cent of young people were helped, with them either deciding to continue living at home or moving in with relatives or friends.
The other nine per cent were found accommodation elsewhere.
Bolton Accredited Residential Landlord Organisation (BARLO Housing Ltd) has recently been established.
It is a formal partnership between private landlords and other housing providers.
Hundreds of landlords and agents have signed up to a code of standards and more than a thousand private rented properties have been registered with BARLO for accreditation.
There is also the Tenancy Sustainment Service, run by Bolton at Home, which supports under-25s who have moved into their own home for the first time.
8:10am Sunday 11th May 2008
Print 
Email this
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
