Vulnerable man given home in time for lockdown thanks for British Red Cross

Andrew McPherson has struggled for several years with ill health, precarious housing and homelessness.

But the 54-year-old South Londoner now has a stable home thanks to a British Red Cross support worker based at King’s College Hospital in Camberwell.

Andrew found a flat just weeks before the lockdown started, thanks to the Red Cross’s Melanie Blumsom, 29, from Lewisham, and the hospital’s dedicated homelessness team.

Melanie has also helped him learn vital skills which will enable him look after himself during this crisis.

Andrew said: “I’m so thankful that I have somewhere to live. As someone who has had heart trouble I do worry about catching the virus, but things would be so much worse if I was sleeping rough right now.”

Following the breakdown of his relationships and hampered by learning difficulties, Andrew struggled to maintain his housing and benefits situation and often ended up on the street.

“I slept out in the cold and rain,” he said. “Everything I owned was stolen. Sometimes I didn’t eat for weeks. I used to wish I could wake up and find it was all a dream.”

He was admitted to King’s and treated for a blood clot to his heart in January. Melanie’s role is to get to know vulnerable patients and offer them support once they leave hospital – something that makes a huge difference to people who don’t have friends or family to help them.

With more individual support, these patients can leave hospital sooner and have a better chance of coping with life in the community, meaning they’re less likely to need more hospital care in the future.

“Melanie gave me a bit of hope,” said Andrew. “She made me feel much less anxious about leaving hospital. I felt like she was there to stand up for me.”

Melanie went with Andrew to pick up the keys to his new flat and to ensure it was clean and secure. She also helped him buy food and clothes. She also went with him to the job centre and guided him through the computer system so he could manage his benefits correctly.

“I went to school in the 1980s, before we used computers, and I’ve never had internet access myself,” he said. “I’m a bit slow on the keyboard. The job centre can be really overwhelming and I always used to just give up.”

But after two visits with Melanie, Andrew became confident enough to use the computer system on his own, which meant he could manage his own affairs for the first time.

“It’s a really big step for me to be able to do that,” he said.

Pictured top: Melanie Blumsom with Andrew Macpherson