15/08/2026
When Lily, 20, picked up the phone to call the Centrepoint Helpline, she had already spent more than a year moving from place to place.
“I’ve had quite a bumpy start to life,” she says.
After a breakdown in her relationship with her mum, Lily left home and moved in with her partner’s family. But she was experiencing significant challenges with her mental health, and as tensions grew, she was asked to leave. She then moved in with her partner’s sister, but that arrangement also didn’t work out.
Lily found herself with nowhere stable to stay.
A family friend who had known her since childhood offered her a sofa and encouraged her to contact Centrepoint. Together, they called the Helpline.
Lily had already asked her local council for help with homelessness support and temporary accommodation, but weeks had gone by without a response. “We were just waiting for weeks and weeks and weeks,” she says.
When she spoke to Ethan, a Centrepoint Helpline adviser, she finally felt heard. He took time to listen as she explained her housing situation, her mental health and the steps she’d already taken to try to get help. He began advocating on her behalf, contacting the local authority and supported accommodation services to find somewhere safe for her to stay.
At the same time, Lily contacted her local MP, explaining that she wasn’t receiving the support she needed. Her MP intervened and contacted the council to push for action.
Not long after, Lily was offered a room in all-female shared accommodation.
Today, she’s settling into her new home. “It’s really nice and the girls here are really nice and respectful,” she says. For the first time in a long while, she has a space of her own.
She now has both a support worker and a social worker and is accessing mental health support that wasn’t available to her before. Lily lives with several mental health challenges, and having professionals who understand her needs is making a real difference.
Her bedroom is becoming a place of safety and personality. She’s decorating it with her artwork, furniture and lots of items inspired by her favourite animal. “I love, love, love ducks. They’re literally my favourite animal in the world,” she says.
Looking back at her journey, Lily is incredibly grateful for the support she received from Ethan and the Centrepoint Helpline. Having someone listen and explain her options helped her feel less alone during an overwhelming time.
With stable housing and the right support in place, Lily is starting to think about her future. Her focus is on building confidence and gradually reconnecting with the world outside her front door.
“I definitely want to try and get back out into the world,” she says. “Having this support means I can try and take another step forward in my life.”
