Watch Sheffield homeless people talk about escaping life on the streets

The Cathedral Archer Project is working with Homeless Stories, a social enterprise that supports charities to produce videos featuring first-person accounts of men and women affected by homelessness. Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales has funded the project to create four videos.

In the first film, Chris talks about his abusive childhood and how this set him on the road of drug and alcohol addiction and finding himself homeless following a time in the army .

He said: “When you are homeless you don’t exist - you are invisible.” When he was introduced to the Archer Project Chris had lost all contact with family and friends.

He said: “My assessor genuinely cared and that was life changing to have someone to care for and trust me.” He discovered a passion for writing and said: “I pour all my pain and all my trauma into my writing.”

In five years he has turned his life around - is clean, sober, has a home, is marrying the ‘woman of his dreams’ and has a one-year-old son.

The other three films include Danielle’s story, talking about her journey and experiences of being a woman who has been homeless, how she has also managed to rebuild her life and now volunteers at the project.

She said: “I thought I was useless but where I first was to now is a massive difference.”

Sisters take on charity challenge for dad

The project chief executive Tim Renshaw and mMarketing and development manager Emily Bowes talk on another film about the welfare and emotional support provided by the project and Chris recites an emotional and poignant poem that he has written highlighting male suicide.

Cathedral Archer Project chief executive Tim Renshaw said: “It is so much more meaningful to hear the stories in their own words from the people we help.

“We have been so impressed and humbled by the open and candid way Chris and Danielle have shared their experiences in order to help others and increase understanding of what homelessness really means.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The films are on the Cathedral Archer Project YouTube channel.

You can watch the first two films now and the second two will be released on March 2 and 9.

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor