After an unstable childhood and becoming a victim of human trafficking, Natasha* shares her journey of securing a permanent home and gaining independence:

I grew up with my grandparents outside of the UK and lived a sheltered life. They were very strict, trying to make sure I gained good grades at school. I was bullied at school and had a lot of pressure at home to perform well, so this had a big effect on my social life.

I moved to Aberdeenshire with my mother when she had a baby, and I found the transition hard from my home country.

The friends I ended up making at my new school were a bad influence, and I went downhill. My relationship with my mother became very strained, and I moved out of the house.

I stayed with my boyfriend at the time. During that time, my grandad passed away, and that was a really hard time.

I ended up breaking up with my boyfriend and I went to a homeless shelter. While I was there, I was quite worried, thinking, ‘What’s going to happen? I’m going to end up homeless’.

All these possibilities constantly flooded my brain, and I just felt like I couldn’t breathe. Then, a lady from my local EveryYouth charity, Aberdeen Foyer, came to see me. She had an interview with me and said that they could give me a place to stay and teach me how to manage a household.

“If she didn’t pick me up that day, honestly, I think I would have been dead by now.”

But I became very dismissive and rude to my support worker. I was ignoring her and I was being really horrible, which she honestly didn’t deserve.

I fell out with a lot of people that I thought were my friends. One thing led to another, and I became involved with a lot of bad people. I was taken down to England and trafficked.

I was stuck in this cycle and didn’t see a way out. One day I sat outside on a bench and I thought ‘I can’t do this anymore’.

I hadn’t eaten in days. I couldn’t even walk. I’d take two steps, and I’d be out of breath and have stitches. It was really bad.

I phoned my support worker that I had before all this, and she still came and picked me up. Despite everything that happened, she was still there for me and helped me. I got better from there. If she didn’t pick me up that day, honestly, I think I would have been dead by now.

At first, the change was quite a scary thing, but slowly but surely, I made progress. The support worker went with me to appointments and they helped me go to the chemist.

They check up on me weekly to make sure I’m okay, which I appreciate a lot. At first, they helped me get food parcels and helped me with my doctor’s appointments and all those things.

If I didn’t have that support, I wouldn’t be nearly as far as I am now.

I’m volunteering now and have moved into permanent accommodation, thanks to the EveryYouth Homed fund. It helped to cover my rent deposit and moving-in costs.

I also benefitted from counselling through the EveryYouth Health fund. My mental health is improving.

My advice to other people in my situation would be to get support – it’s worth it.

To find out more about our EveryYouth Homed programme click here.
To find out more about our EveryYouth Healthy programme click here.

*Name has been changed for privacy and safety reasons.