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Alex Moran

Alex grew up in several foster homes in different parts of Scotland. He always wanted to join the Navy and escape the situation he was in. At the age of seventeen Alex left the care home he was in and headed to Plymouth, serving on HMS Raleigh.

Having left the Navy after five years, Alex worked as a Landscape Gardner before heading to London to find work. 'I had been doing several live-in jobs as a Barman and Handyman when my original family tried to make contact with me. My Mother and Father had died but I was able to develop a relationship with my two brothers who were Fisherman in Peterhead. They asked me to join them and suddenly I was back at sea. I remained a Fisherman for eight years until the industry collapsed and we were without a job.

'I decided to head back down to London but I was unable to get any work and my money soon ran out. Before long I was sleeping rough on the streets and selling the Big Issue just to survive. It was whilst living on the streets that I began to develop some mental health issues. I became very insular and wary of people. I managed to get myself to New Belvedere House, an ex-service hostel that works very closely with the Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation, where I was diagnosed with Paranoid Psychosis.

'Being given a home at the Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation has made an enormous difference. For the first time in a long while I feel secure. The Foundation also provides lots of opportunities for homeless people to retrain and get back into the community.

'I have joined up with the allotment scheme that is part of the Foundation. It has been wonderfully therapeutic and has aided me with my illness by getting me out and about. The Community here is fantastic and I am starting to meet more and more people who want to help me. Ultimately if I can cope with my illness I would love to get back to work.'