0:02

The podcast from centre

0:02

by young people for old people

0:11

centre point is the UK is

0:11

leading youth homelessness

0:14

charity. At centre point, we

0:14

believe no young person's life

0:19

should be defined by

0:19

homelessness. We give young

0:22

people the support they need to

0:22

heal and grow no matter what.

0:26

for over 50 years, we've been

0:26

the centre point for change,

0:30

personal and political. Everyone

0:30

has their part to play with

0:35

young people leading the way.

0:35

This podcast has been created by

0:40

young people with lived

0:40

experience of homelessness will

0:45

be shining a spotlight on some

0:45

of the issues that affect us. We

0:49

hope to challenge and change

0:49

some of the stereotypes and

0:53

bring others with us as part of

0:53

a movement to end youth

0:57

homelessness for good. This

0:57

podcast was recorded on Zoom due

1:02

to the Coronavirus pandemic. Welcome to point made the new

1:07

Centerpoint podcast by young

1:11

people for all people. I'm your

1:11

host Jamie, a former resident at

1:15

Centerpoint. On this month's

1:15

episode of point made, I'll be

1:18

talking to two former residents

1:18

about Christmas, we shine a

1:23

light on how to embrace your own

1:23

version of Christmas through

1:27

difficult times. Why forcing

1:27

Christmas can be more damaging

1:31

and how to make this time of

1:31

year magical no matter what your

1:35

situation. So without further

1:35

ado, let's meet our two

1:40

panellists Zinnia and Dale. Hi,

1:40

everyone.

1:43

I'm Dr. Telogen oz. I am an

1:43

excellent point resident. I was

1:47

sofa surfing for few months and

1:47

I came I came several points

1:51

services years ago. Since then I

1:51

have considered lesser use less

1:56

and graduated first class degree

1:56

and recently won an award for

1:59

education. Amazing. Well Dr. Dale, thank

2:00

you so much. Yeah. And we also

2:06

have another young panellist

2:06

called Zinnia. Would you like to

2:10

introduce yourself? A Zinnia centerpoint. Volunteer,

2:11

I've been involved with

2:16

Centerpoint for about six coming

2:16

up seven years. I received float

2:22

and support from them for about

2:22

five years from being a

2:25

volunteer your sense. And I'm your host, Jamie. I'm

2:27

also Centerpointe ex resident

2:32

and I now run workshops to help

2:32

young people in services

2:37

currently to conquer their goals

2:37

and create healthy living. What

2:42

does Christmas mean to you guys?

2:46

For me, I think I'd say before

2:46

my experience of homelessness,

2:50

Christmas was a time for the

2:50

whole family to gather together

2:54

particularly around my grandma

2:54

which was like the matriarch of

2:56

our family. So to play the whole

2:56

family they can the extended

2:59

family would have around her

2:59

house, or a similar family

3:02

member, I've seen the stats and

3:02

we would get around them. Since

3:07

my expense of homeless and stuff

3:07

Christmas has been a very tricky

3:09

and difficult time of year for

3:09

me it's always quite a sensitive

3:12

time of year for me because my

3:12

experience of homelessness

3:16

started around the Christmas

3:16

period around the same week of

3:18

Christmas when I was made

3:18

homeless. So since then, it's

3:21

always been a challenging time

3:21

of year for me particularly in

3:25

the lead up to it when often I

3:25

remember the first few years

3:28

often getting the questions like

3:28

you took the you're always going

3:30

to be doing for Christmas are

3:30

you spending it with that was

3:33

always like a very challenging

3:33

question for me to like process

3:37

and not knowing I suppose what I

3:37

was going to be doing for

3:40

Christmas or where I was going

3:40

to be staying it was gonna be

3:42

spending it with what I would do

3:42

on the day I was able to get

3:45

gifts, all that sort of stuff

3:45

all the kind of typical stuff

3:49

expect around Christmas, for me

3:49

was suddenly a very triggering

3:52

question. So waste going so now

3:52

as I find it quite, although

3:57

it's not as raw the feelings

3:57

anymore, I feel quite I find it

4:00

quite difficult sometimes, you

4:00

know, in the lead up to

4:04

Christmas to so do you feel like around this

4:05

time of year you kind of think

4:11

about the memories of when you

4:11

first came into the space and

4:16

what you know what was going on

4:16

around that time? Do you think

4:18

that that resurfaces pretty much

4:18

every year?

4:22

I'm not sure I'd say it

4:22

resurfaces old memories but I

4:26

suppose it puts into my

4:26

forefront of our mind that I

4:31

suppose the lack of conventional

4:31

family lack of like the typical

4:35

parameters most people would

4:35

enjoy so having your parents and

4:39

your siblings to spend Christmas

4:39

we might not enjoy that kind of

4:42

Christmas anymore. So often this

4:42

time of year is like the

4:45

reminder that I don't have that

4:45

I'm not going to be in during

4:47

Christmas way. It's advertised

4:47

on TV, etc.

4:51

Yeah, I can obviously completely

4:51

understand. I can just really

4:54

remember the same feelings of

4:54

like, really yearning for that

4:58

connection and the Family love

4:58

and like, you know, remembering

5:02

old Christmases that I had in

5:02

the past that, you know, were

5:05

filled with excitement and joy

5:05

and gifts and food and all of

5:09

the things that this day this

5:09

holiday is meant to to kind of

5:12

represent. Its ner Do you have

5:12

anything else to add about that?

5:17

Christmas for me literally just

5:17

means people forcing other

5:22

people to be the same. Because I

5:22

hate Christmas. And I didn't

5:31

know what Christmas was until I

5:31

got put in foster care when I

5:34

was nine years old. And my

5:34

foster carers tried to force me

5:39

to do Christmas. It didn't feel

5:39

like they weren't my family. And

5:43

I've never done Christmas

5:43

before. So it just made me hate

5:47

Christmas. And every year,

5:47

they'll try and force me and

5:50

every year I'll hear even more.

5:50

And when I had my daughter, and

5:56

I wanted to spend Christmas with

5:56

her, for the first time ever, I

6:00

actually wanted to do a

6:00

Christmas. But my foster carers

6:04

ruin that and kept my daughter

6:04

downstairs and told me to stay

6:09

in my bedroom. And if I left

6:09

over in the police, so they

6:13

completely shattered my hopes of

6:13

ever having Christmas with my

6:19

daughter. Because after that,

6:19

she ended up getting adopted and

6:23

stuff. So when I left my foster

6:23

carers and stuff, I would just

6:28

stay in my house literally on my

6:28

own every Christmas, my friends,

6:34

and that would try and force me

6:34

to do Christmas. And I just

6:38

ended up having a go at them

6:38

because I was told them to stop

6:42

trying to force me to do

6:42

something I don't want to do,

6:45

just because you just do it

6:45

doesn't mean I have to do it.

6:49

And eventually now, I've chosen

6:49

who my family is, I've got my

6:56

best friend, my younger sister,

6:56

and my partner. And they're

7:00

literally the only ones I need

7:00

in Baba to do Christmas for

7:06

me sorry to head as in. And I

7:06

can relate to a lot of what

7:10

you're describing. In terms of

7:10

the pressures we experienced

7:13

around Christmas, I think that's

7:13

probably an expectation around

7:16

what Christmas should look like

7:16

for all of us and what we should

7:19

be doing. Often the way

7:19

Christmas is spoken about. If

7:22

you aren't doing it the I

7:22

suppose the box where everyone

7:25

is doing it for Christmas, or

7:25

sup you're almost doing it

7:27

wrong, or you're you're not as

7:27

worthy as everyone else has been

7:31

during the day or something like

7:31

that as if you make it makes for

7:34

less than often. And so I

7:34

completely understand, I often

7:37

feel the same in terms of not

7:37

enjoying Christmas to other

7:41

people. Because let me tell you,

7:41

or if I spend it with someone

7:45

that isn't my biological family,

7:45

I will sometimes have shame

7:50

around it. So similar to you,

7:50

I've started I've chosen to go

7:53

with my found family and people

7:53

that are close to some of my

7:56

closest friends or waste I had

7:56

to do a few years ago is a few

8:01

days before Christmas, or in the

8:01

lead up to me, I spend it with

8:03

my siblings, and siblings

8:03

Christmas, what we call it. We

8:07

do our gift exchanges then and

8:07

then on Christmas Day, I'll do

8:10

whatever I feel really sorry to

8:10

hear that. But I can completely

8:13

relate. Yeah, I just think it's

8:13

important to have these kinds of

8:16

conversations because I do feel

8:16

like in the media, and you know,

8:20

in society and things that are

8:20

represented in our world don't

8:24

really cover these kind of

8:24

stories of the reality of like,

8:29

what people are actually going

8:29

through, I feel like we see two

8:33

sides. It's a advertisement of

8:33

companies really like buy, buy,

8:38

buy, buy, buy this Christmas,

8:38

just like really shoving

8:42

Christmas in your face. And then

8:42

you have, you know, the other

8:45

side of it, where there's

8:45

charities and you know, where

8:48

there's other kind of money

8:48

making schemes that are like,

8:51

these poor people don't have any

8:51

one this Christmas, donate to

8:55

us. And you know what I mean?

8:55

You see, like the complete polar

8:58

opposites and there's never

8:58

like, Okay, well, you know, for

9:02

your average day, I feel like

9:02

people are kind of struggling to

9:05

put meals on the plates for their kids and they're struggling to like, get all of

9:06

these presents that no one needs

9:10

that no one's gonna use again in

9:10

three weeks. You know, How

9:14

amazing would it be that we

9:14

could give the gift of love this

9:19

Christmas without actually

9:19

buying anything for anyone? You

9:22

know, How amazing would it be to

9:22

say to your friend, you are like

9:27

just an amazing person. You're

9:27

killing it. I'm so grateful to

9:30

have you in my life. Like that's

9:30

a gift like when's the last time

9:33

you said that to someone you

9:33

know? Like, I feel like these

9:36

are the kinds of things that I

9:36

want to be be bringing to

9:39

Christmas. I think you make a really

9:41

important point at the beginning

9:44

of what you're saying around

9:44

when not the average pupil and

9:47

then what you were saying we

9:47

spend on that. I think we people

9:52

experience homelessness aren't

9:52

the average person but also the

9:55

way Christmas is advertised as

9:55

very few people experience

9:58

Christmas in that person.

9:58

nuclear family way. So most

10:01

people aren't going to have the

10:01

huge Christmas tree with a

10:04

tonnes of gifts, every single

10:04

person in the house, they're not

10:06

going to have the big Christmas

10:06

dinner because they can't afford

10:09

it, or they don't have access to

10:09

it. So beyond just us as people

10:12

who have experience home, so there's many, many people that don't get in break Christmas,

10:14

and advertise their typical way.

10:17

So not everyone is going to have

10:17

that great Christmas every year

10:21

with you in love to be around.

10:21

Some people got him his family,

10:24

but hate being around family, I think the whole meaning of

10:26

Christmas is gone. Because like,

10:31

the Christmas I've heard about

10:31

is where you're like you spend

10:34

it with people doesn't have to

10:34

be your family. But like people

10:38

who classes family, and just

10:38

like sit around with hot

10:41

chocolate, watching a movie

10:41

together, having a laugh, and

10:46

just spending time with the

10:46

people. It's not about the

10:49

presence and stuff. But now it's

10:49

all about presence, and who's

10:53

got the most expensive gift and

10:53

all that stuff. So I don't think

10:58

Christmas is true to what it

10:58

used to be. It's just all about

11:04

money and presence and don't

11:04

look forward to it every year,

11:09

like, I've got a thing where if

11:09

my sister, my friend want us to

11:13

do Christmas, then they have a

11:13

real, they pick one gift that

11:18

they really want. And I'll get

11:18

it for them. But they only get

11:22

that one gift. I'm not going to

11:22

go by in the multiple things

11:27

because it's not about the

11:27

presence, I'll go to there's

11:32

four day, I'll sit and have a

11:32

meal with them, I'll watch a

11:36

movie with them, I'll have a

11:36

laugh of them. I'll give them

11:39

their one present. And then

11:39

that's it.

11:42

I think that as a Christmas is

11:42

still although it's again, not

11:47

the advertisers save. That's how

11:47

you want to spend Christmas and

11:51

that's absolutely fine. That

11:51

should there should be no debt

11:53

one that sounds great Christmas

11:53

is going the way you want family

11:56

and that sort of thing. So I

11:56

wouldn't feel any shame or

12:00

anything attached to that it's a

12:00

great husband. And similar to

12:02

you, I do Christmas differently.

12:02

Ray Ray do something on the day

12:05

I do something I said I'd do

12:05

something with my siblings a few

12:08

days before after, or and then

12:08

on the Christmas Day, I might

12:12

spend it with a friend that I'm really, really close to where I know that I'm quite close to

12:13

their family as well enjoy

12:17

Christmas together in the

12:17

conventional way, and I don't

12:21

think many people do it that way to be honest. I always spend do, I'll see my

12:23

friend and my sister before

12:28

Christmas. But Christmas stays

12:28

just for me, I'll sit at home

12:32

with my cats. And watch a movie

12:32

like I turned my phone off for

12:36

the entire day. Because I just

12:36

want to be left in peace on

12:39

Christmas Day. Like I'll see

12:39

them beforehand and and

12:42

Christmas Day is my dear. It's

12:42

like my my relaxed my pamper day

12:48

where I'll just chill and be

12:48

like closed off from the world.

12:53

I really liked that vinyasa, I

12:53

feel like as well, that's

12:58

probably a really good an

12:58

important message for young

13:02

people that might be in a hostel

13:02

and experiencing Christmas alone

13:07

this year, or just not in their

13:07

ideal place that they would like

13:12

to be for Christmas this year.

13:12

If you know you just have a

13:16

pamper day to yourself, it is

13:16

just another day in the year

13:20

really and like not allowing the

13:20

pressure from society or anyone

13:25

else to land on you. Around this

13:25

time is probably the best way to

13:33

kind of look after yourself and

13:33

your mental health. So yeah, I

13:38

think that's a really, really

13:38

good point. equally to

13:41

the and youth, we don't want to

13:41

spring Christmas in the in the

13:44

traditional way, that was great.

13:44

But equally, if you do want to

13:48

don't like you have to sacrifice

13:48

that just because you don't have

13:51

the circle of family. As Zinnia

13:51

mentioned earlier, though, you

13:55

can enjoy Christmas with your

13:55

found families. So for me,

13:58

that's some really close friends

13:58

for a few years now that have

14:00

similar experiences to me, and

14:00

my siblings, I'd often spent

14:04

with them or do something

14:04

related to something around that

14:07

time with them. But there's also

14:07

a number of organisations out

14:10

there such as charities and like

14:10

grassroots that do, um,

14:14

Christmas celebrations for people who have experienced homelessness or extreme from

14:15

their families. So one of them

14:18

that I know of is called exists

14:18

loudly, which does Christmas for

14:22

black queer people and like

14:22

strengthen their families and

14:24

stuff. And there's a number of

14:24

organisations that do that

14:27

around the Christmas week. So

14:27

whether you want to spend

14:32

Christmas in the traditional way

14:32

or not enjoy it the way you want

14:35

and know that there are many options available. Thank you so much, Dale. That is

14:37

yeah, really, really amazing and

14:41

important advice on top of that as well. If you

14:42

are, I suppose going to be alone

14:48

during Christmas for me,

14:48

especially in the initial

14:52

Christmas years, it was very,

14:52

very hard for me to manage that

14:54

time of year. And what I would

14:54

do was make my some of my really

14:58

close friends aware of Like how

14:58

difficult would be for me

15:01

because they were new my

15:01

situation. So what they would

15:03

do, they would arrange phone

15:03

calls with me during that day or

15:06

video calls, or one of them

15:06

offered, I never went through

15:09

with it. But one even offered to

15:09

meet with me later in the

15:12

evening once it finishes

15:12

Christmas dealing with family

15:14

and stuff. So there are

15:14

definitely ways of navigating

15:17

that difficult time and just

15:17

know that you aren't alone.

15:19

Reach out to your chosen family

15:19

or chosen friends. Or if you are

15:22

still within central services or

15:22

any other youth homelessness

15:26

related service or similar any

15:26

sort of service like that, not

15:29

their support available out

15:29

there to you. If you are going

15:32

to be spending Christmas in the

15:32

hospital, I encourage you to

15:36

speak with your key work or when

15:36

you have a staff that you're

15:39

really close to. So for me, I

15:39

first got set aside which was my

15:44

key work as well as the

15:44

receptionist there. So I made

15:47

them quite aware that Christmas

15:47

is gonna be quite time for me.

15:53

So they opted to ring your

15:53

crystals, they just told me and

15:56

that really lifted my spirits

15:56

and they just know that no,

15:58

actually, although it was a

15:58

really challenging day for me, I

16:01

was gonna be spending I'm gonna

16:01

didn't want to spend it with

16:03

those other people out there that were looking out from your net worth caring about. And I

16:05

suppose in a very cliche way, I

16:10

still got to enjoy the Christmas

16:10

spirit or having that loving

16:13

warm family around you might not

16:13

be the stereotypical biological

16:16

family or typical friends. But I

16:16

at the moment I definitely

16:19

considered my key worker and the

16:19

hospital my chosen and found

16:23

families. The podcast from centre by young

16:26

people, for all people.

16:33

Do you want to tell your story

16:33

because I saw that in the chat

16:36

that you left a comment saying

16:36

you have a positive story.

16:39

Not really like a story. But on

16:39

Christmas day when I when I do

16:44

spend the day on my own. I also

16:44

know that did my daughter who

16:51

who's adopted she's nine now.

16:51

And she's having a fantastic

16:57

Christmas. And I get letters

16:57

every year telling me how she's

17:02

doing. So the tell me how she's

17:02

doing on how a birthday when and

17:06

every Christmas, she gets so

17:06

spoiled and she gets so excited

17:11

for son. And she loves often in

17:11

a presence and stuff like that.

17:16

And even though I hate

17:16

Christmas, it still fills me

17:19

with happiness, because I'm

17:19

knowing that my daughter is

17:23

getting the Christmas that she

17:23

deserves. And I'm glad that

17:27

she's getting to experience that

17:27

with her adoptive parents,

17:32

because it was something that I

17:32

never got. And I was glad I'm

17:37

glad that she's getting to

17:37

experience that.

17:40

Yeah, that's a really, really

17:40

beautiful thing to be able to

17:43

read letters and stuff like that

17:43

from from your daughter on

17:47

Christmas Day. And just to be

17:47

able to catch up and keep in

17:52

touch with what she's doing and

17:52

stuff was really, really

17:55

beautiful gift to receive, I

17:55

think for sharing that. Yeah,

17:59

thank you so much. Thank you. I

17:59

was just like thinking back over

18:05

the years of like Christmases

18:05

that I spent with like my family

18:09

and stuff kind of before I moved

18:09

into the hospital, I moved out

18:12

when I was really young. So I

18:12

was like 16 When I moved into

18:15

the hospital. And I lived there

18:15

until I was like 22. And then

18:19

like, I obviously haven't been

18:19

home ever since really, other

18:22

than when I was a child. I can't

18:22

really remember having any super

18:28

like positive experiences of

18:28

Christmas at home just because

18:32

my childhood was was really

18:32

chaotic. And there was you know,

18:38

lots of things at play, there

18:38

was addiction, there was mental

18:40

health, there was arguments and

18:40

fights between my siblings and

18:45

my parents and all of those

18:45

kinds of things. So it was never

18:48

really like plain sailing, but

18:48

that kind of just goes for

18:52

anything. You know, I feel like,

18:52

you know, if you live in a

18:56

dysfunctional family, you can't

18:56

just expect everything to pull

19:00

together for one day. Like, if

19:00

you can't, you can't get things

19:04

to pull together for one life.

19:04

You know what I mean? But I did

19:09

have a really amazing Christmas

19:09

with one of my best friends a

19:13

couple of years ago. She knew

19:13

that like I wasn't really sure

19:18

what I wanted to do. And she was

19:18

really, really kind and she said

19:21

come and spend Christmas with us

19:21

and she's like family to me

19:23

anyway. And, you know, friends,

19:23

our family that you choose, I

19:27

truly believe in that comment.

19:27

And so, yeah, it was a day of

19:32

cooking of playing games, of

19:32

reading books, laughing and

19:38

joking with children. And just

19:38

like dancing, playing music and

19:44

all of the normal things. I

19:44

truly felt like I belonged to a

19:47

family that Christmas and I

19:47

truly do believe that you can

19:52

spend Christmas in any way that

19:52

makes you feel good. The

19:56

Christmas period for me right

19:56

now is making myself up Project

20:00

like, I'm literally looking at

20:00

my year, you know, we're coming

20:05

up to the end of 2021. I'm

20:05

looking at my year, I'm looking

20:08

at the goals I've achieved. I'm

20:08

really strategizing and re

20:11

planning and rerouting where I

20:11

see my life going and what I

20:14

want to do in the next year. So

20:14

I'm dedicating the month of

20:18

December to prioritising myself,

20:18

and growing my skill set

20:25

becoming more knowledgeable and

20:25

just like giving thanks for my

20:29

own life. You know, I think that's really great.

20:31

That sounds amazing. I think

20:35

more people should take on that

20:35

advice of just being the way you

20:39

want to spend it in the way you

20:39

want to. And to be honest,

20:42

Christmas doesn't even need to

20:42

be a significant day for you, it

20:45

can just be any other day of the

20:45

year. And not everyone

20:48

celebrates online just as a

20:48

particular significant date. So

20:52

if it's nothing for you, it's nothing for you don't feel pressured into doing away or

20:54

being around particular people

20:59

and that they enjoy it wherever

20:59

they want to or not enjoy it, or

21:02

just make it be another day of

21:02

the year for you. But I also

21:05

wanted to share a really

21:05

positive I suppose. It's spirit

21:11

or journey of mine through my

21:11

spirits bombers, as well my

21:14

closest friends now actually met

21:14

in the hostel in my first year

21:18

live in Los so she's one of my

21:18

closest friends now. And I spent

21:22

several of my Christmases with

21:22

her and her family actually. And

21:25

those were the most memorable,

21:25

most enjoyable Christmases have

21:28

ever had. Some of the gifts I've

21:28

gotten during those Christmas

21:31

have been the most like

21:31

meaningful ones I've ever

21:34

gotten. Like someone that truly

21:34

knows your friend truly knows us

21:37

get in your present that is

21:37

actually meaningful to you, as

21:40

opposed to just getting really

21:40

expensive walked up and really

21:43

random because it's a

21:43

Christmassy gift. And I wanted

21:45

to share that. The your

21:45

experience of homelessness might

21:49

be challenging and really

21:49

difficult and pressing really

21:52

hard at times. But there's some

21:52

positives that definitely come

21:54

out of it. And for me, one of

21:54

those really huge positives is

21:57

having one of my making one of

21:57

my closest friends now, and

22:00

having her as part of my chosen

22:00

family. Many of Avianca will

22:04

have similar stories of me and

22:04

friends long after they've left

22:07

the services. Me in that press.

22:07

I've been friends for what going

22:10

on seven years now. Yeah, that's

22:12

really, really beautiful. Dale,

22:12

thank you so much for sharing.

22:16

Yeah, they say if you known

22:16

someone for seven years or

22:19

longer, then you're more likely

22:19

to know them and the rest of

22:23

your life following on from that

22:23

point about the positives that

22:27

come from being in a situation

22:27

like that. We're like human

22:31

beings. So we we thrive off of

22:31

our challenges, we have to go

22:38

through stressful situations to

22:38

find our strength and our

22:41

perseverance. So the character

22:41

that you'll build, if you don't

22:46

let certain things break, you

22:46

will be unmatched. So if you're

22:51

going through the dark times,

22:51

now it will pass it doesn't last

22:55

forever. And when you do

22:55

overcome it, you will be

22:58

unbreakable. I'm somewhere to make a comment,

23:01

or like on that kind of thing.

23:05

Because I'm always a bit

23:05

cautious when people say things

23:08

like that, because it's a great

23:08

message to hear. And I do

23:12

definitely believe in some

23:12

circumstances, what doesn't like

23:15

destroy you does like lead to a

23:15

lot of growth, but equally as

23:18

like, it's okay, if it doesn't.

23:18

And I think we should definitely

23:22

add that in there somewhere like

23:22

not everyone's expensive

23:24

promises not going to be a great

23:24

experience and not going to take

23:27

some massive growth journey out

23:27

of it. Sometimes it'll just was

23:31

horrible. And they wanted to

23:31

forget. And that's equally fine,

23:34

too. Yeah, I think I was saying more

23:35

in terms of like a skill set. Do

23:39

you know what I mean? Like I'm not knocking what you're

23:40

saying that I'm conscious of. I

23:46

love hearing as well. I'm just

23:46

constantly that there's going to

23:49

be sung to young people on their

23:49

journey. This might be their

23:52

first Christmas they're spending

23:52

by themselves or without family

23:55

and stuff. There's a young man

23:55

that I'm speaking to. This year,

23:59

he's experiencing homelessness.

23:59

I've been me and a colleague of

24:01

mine had been supporting him

24:01

with his journey. So yesterday,

24:04

he actually messaged us about

24:04

what we normally do for

24:07

Christmas. And if we have any

24:07

advice about how to spend

24:09

Christmas, then he's not looking

24:09

forward to it. And he's right

24:12

now he is only just like the

24:12

prince of homelessness, that for

24:15

him is not a positive experience. There's nothing coming out. And I think it's

24:17

important to like let people sit

24:21

in that room rather than

24:21

sometimes pushing people to be

24:23

in a great place similar three,

24:23

how we say we should not force

24:27

people to experience in the same

24:27

way everyone else is

24:30

100% Like, I feel like you know,

24:30

going through homelessness

24:35

probably forced me to look at

24:35

myself a lot more and 100% gave

24:41

me skills like Survivor skills

24:41

that I wouldn't have had and I

24:46

feel like I could be in any part

24:46

of the world or in any situation

24:49

and basically sort myself out

24:49

from that. And I don't think

24:54

that I would have had that if I

24:54

hadn't gone through homelessness

24:58

but again, Like, even though

24:58

like I'm 27, and things are

25:03

going well for me now

25:03

relatively, I still go through

25:06

depression that probably stems

25:06

from those experiences in the

25:10

past that still resurface. And I

25:10

still have those days where I

25:15

sit in that sadness. And, ya

25:15

know, if someone was to come to

25:19

me and be like, Oh, it's fine.

25:19

I'd be like, you don't know the

25:23

half of it of what I'm going

25:23

through. Do you know what I

25:25

mean? So 100 was and I, it's

25:25

okay to sit in your sadness.

25:32

The podcast from centre by young

25:32

people, for all people.

25:38

So alright, guys, it's time to

25:38

wrap up this conversation. I've

25:44

really enjoyed speaking to both

25:44

our panellists today. And on a

25:49

final note, I would love to hear

25:49

from both of our panellists what

25:53

your message to young people in

25:53

services would be this

25:58

Christmas. My Christmas message to people

25:59

this Christmas is to just do

26:06

Christmas the way you want to do

26:06

it. Don't let people tell you

26:10

how it should be done. Find the

26:10

strength, and just celebrate it

26:15

the way you want to celebrate

26:15

it, because you'll feel so much

26:18

better doing it the way you want

26:18

to.

26:21

Amazing, thank you so much.

26:21

Zinnia. I completely agree with

26:25

that. And yeah, you make a

26:25

really, really good point. So

26:28

thank you. And Dale,

26:31

I'll pretty much echo the same

26:31

as Zinnia. To be honest, spend

26:35

Christmas the way you want to.

26:35

Don't feel pressured into doing

26:39

it the traditional stereotypical

26:39

way or doing it with a nuclear

26:42

family, or with your biological

26:42

family. Do it with your chosen

26:46

family if you want to

26:46

collaborate. Again, you don't

26:49

have to celebrate Christmas, and

26:49

not all of us acknowledge

26:52

Christmas significant date of

26:52

the year. So do what you want

26:56

that day essentially do what's

26:56

best for you. If you do want to

27:00

spend Christmas in the

27:00

traditional way or and celebrate

27:03

as close to the traditional way

27:03

as possible. But there are

27:07

options available to you. Even

27:07

if you don't have access to the

27:09

traditional network. You can do

27:09

it with a chosen family, which

27:13

is friends or whoever. Whoever

27:13

you consider family said earlier

27:17

there are organisations

27:17

available out there for you if

27:20

you want to spend Christmas with

27:20

people or the young people

27:24

within the centre point and

27:24

other similar youth homelessness

27:27

services that will be having a

27:27

similar experience. And you can

27:29

always network and connect with

27:29

them to know that you aren't

27:32

alone. This time of year. There

27:32

are many of us many, many of us

27:36

that are struggling this time of

27:36

year. It's a very difficult

27:39

period for a lot of us and we'll

27:39

get through it.

27:42

Yeah, amazing. Thank you so

27:42

much, Dale. And I guess my

27:47

Christmas message to people

27:47

would just be that if you

27:51

haven't been told recently, you

27:51

are so worthy. Inhale deeply and

27:58

go forward strong. That was such

27:58

a super insightful episode. And

28:03

I'd really like to thank all the

28:03

young people involved in this

28:06

month's episode of point made.

28:06

And thanks to all of our

28:11

listeners for your continued

28:11

support. Catch you back here in

28:15

the new year, May 2022. be full

28:15

of joy and hope.

28:21

If you want more information,

28:21

then visit our blog at

28:24

www.centerpointe.org/blog. Don't

28:24

forget Centerpoint offers free

28:32

advice via the centerpoint

28:32

helpline to anyone aged 16 to

28:37

25. who is homeless or at risk

28:37

of homelessness. Call us free on

28:44

Oh 808-800-0661 We're open

28:44

Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm you

28:54

can also leave us a message on

28:54

our website at

28:58

www.centerpointe.org.uk/youth

28:58

homelessness slash get help now.

29:09

The podcast from centre by young

29:09

people for old people