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This is Paul Spencer. A 32 year-old man who’s been sleeping in the woods near Clevedon since the breakdown of his marriage.

Paul is desperate to get a job. But ever since finding himself homeless he’s struggled to get himself back on his feet.

Just under a year ago he claims he was kicked out of his family home in Birmingham by his partner. He says he was left with no friends and no support network in the city. He felt completely isolated.

After unexpectedly being threatened a knife-point while homeless in the city, he decided to return to Somerset where he grew up and where is family lives.

For the past nine months now he’s been living in a tent in the woods doing everything he can to get his life back on track.

Things aren’t that easy however. Having lived in Birmingham for seven years, he’s unable to get on the housing register in North Somerset.

He said: “All my family and support network are here in a Clevedon. As a result the only sensible thing to do when I lost my home in Birmingham was to come back here.

“Unfortunately, since coming home, I’ve been told by the council that they will not help me for at least three years because I was away for two years too long.

“This is complicated by the fact I have a dog. Although she’s wonderful and house trained it does make things difficult.

“There are very few hostels who will take animals and those that do can be very oversubscribed.”

(Image: James Wood)

Before all this, Paul had been living with his now ex-wife. They have a child and he was working for a shed manufacturer in Birmingham.

All it took for him to lose everything, however, was the breakdown of the marriage.

He said: “I became homeless not through any specific fault of my own. I simply became homeless because of what happened between me and my ex-partner.

“Our relationship got really bad and we broke up. As a result I couldn’t live in the family home anymore and did not want to cause issues for my child. So I moved out.

“I got very temporary council housing accommodation but was then kicked out from there after three months because they could not find me more permanent accommodation.”

Paul said he's never been one for slacking off work. This didn’t stop him from losing his job after he became homeless, however.

He explained: “I was working as a cutting technician at a company called Empire Sheds. I spent six months there cutting floors and roofs for sheds.

“I’ve never been a shirker. Never been a slacker. I always liked to be working. The most frustrating thing about the whole situation is that I can’t work.

“If you don’t have an address getting a job is very difficult. If you don’t have a job how do you afford to get an address?”

Explaining why he was let got from his previous place of employment, Paul said: “It became completely impractical to work because I ended up by this point living in a tent again with no way of washing.

“So after three, four, five days coming into work smelling because you can’t wash, the boss said look mate, I’m really sorry, I really want to keep you on, but I’ve got to let you go because of the customers.

“So unfortunately as a part of all of this I lost all employment.”

(Image: James Wood)

It’s not easy living in a tent, Paul explains. Not only did it cost him his job, but it also comes with its own daily struggles.

He said: “Living in a tent adds major complications to your life. You have to be really careful about what the weather is doing.

“If it snows you have to put up tarpaulin. You have to do various things to ensure that you don’t end up under a foot and a half of snow, crushed. It’s very cold.”

If the weather gets unbearable, Paul has even sometimes had to resort to sleeping in the public toilets.

He said: “It can be quite dangerous. It can sometimes outside get to as low as -8C or even -10C. Thankfully my wonderful dog acts like a hot water bottle.

“But there is no way to keep anything dry. You put it in a tent, it will get damp and that is a regular thing. I end up sweaty and gross because the damp is everywhere.

“You also have rats and mice who like to come in and eat your pasta and leave poo everywhere, which is a health hazard.

I have no water supply. I have to walk to the local church and they very kindly said I could use their water supply whenever I want.”

Water became a particularly difficult issue for Paul during the last week after a parasite was found in the water in Clevedon.

Residents were advised to boil their water. But for Paul, who has no kettle, things weren’t that easy. He ended up having to boil twenty litres of water at a friend’s house the other side of Clevedon and carry it all the way back to his tent.

As well as this, he has to try and store all of his possessions in the tent. These include a large bin bag of Christmas presents for his child that he hasn’t been able to give her yet.

He said: “Even though I have no money, I spent days searching the local charity shops for presents.

“I want to be a part of my child's life and I’m going to make sure I am.”

Even though life has been incredibly tough for Paul over the last few months. He explained that the local community has been incredibly generous to him.

He said: “Without the support of the local community I really could not have survived. I could not have kept going. I really just want to say thank you to absolutely everyone.

“Everyone who has helped me, been there for me in any way. Even if that was just saying hello for two seconds as you walk past. Thank you very much.”

Paul believes that with their help he’ll soon be able to get his life sorted.

He said: “I guess really, all I want is to get my life back on track so that I can live in a house, get a job, and support my daughter. The most important thing of all.

“I really need help and I don’t know how to go about getting that.”

Paul wants his story to help other people who find themselves homeless.

He said: “I hope that this will make an impact not just for me but for lots of other people in North Somerset who are in a similar situation to me.

“I am distraught seeing all of the people who are in this situation. There are five that I know of in Clevedon. One of which lives in a shed.”

With the help of the local community, he believes he can raise awareness around homelessness and get his life back on track.

Paul set up a Go Fund Me page only two days ago to get the deposit for some accommodation. This has already raised £580 of a £700 target.

If you would like to donate towards his page, please see here.

Are you homeless? Are you in difficulty or do you have a view on this story? Let us know. Get in touch using james.wood@westgaz.co.uk , call 07870 505 906 or tweet me @JamesWood24

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