Callum made two suicide attempts in a year after being forced to share a bedroom with his severely hyperactive brother.
Callum’s story
A story about four children, two tiny bedrooms, two suicide attempts – and one life-changing letter.
In the summer of 2005, 13-year-old Callum was found by his mum Abby standing on the scaffolding outside their cramped fourth-floor maisonette, threatening to jump. The child had been pushed to the limit by having to share a room with his severely hyperactive older brother.
Abby and her four children were evicted when her landlord decided to sell their flat. They were temporarily housed in a single room at a B&B where they spent Christmas and New Year. The following year, the family of five was offered a two-bedroom maisonette. Abby’s children were aged between nine and 17 – meaning young children were sharing tiny rooms with teenagers. The oldest, Will, suffers from difficult behaviour and finds it hard to calm down.
In the spring of 2006, Callum again attempted suicide, trying to drown himself in the bathroom. The youngest, Ella, was having problems at school and 16-year-old Mina found it so hard to study for her A-levels she had to move out. After the flat was sold and the family was evicted again, in desperation Abby contacted Shelter for help.
What she didn’t know was that, for years, her local authority had been breaking the law. The Housing Act makes it clear that accommodation provided for a family must be ‘suitable for their needs’.
Michael Parry, a Shelter solicitor, challenged the local authority, telling them that Shelter would take them to court if they didn’t take action to remedy Abby’s situation immediately.
Michael had to chase up the letter just once. Six weeks later, the family were allocated a four-bedroom maisonette. Not palatial, but it made an incredible difference to a family on the point of collapse.
The children have somewhere to do their homework. Things have improved at school, and Will has some space to calm down when things get on top of him. Abby and her children have their own rooms again for the first time in years.
Homeless children are three times more likely to be anxious and depressed.
Names have been changed to protect anonymity. To protect the identity of our clients, models have been used in photographs.