World Homeless Week: Former chronic gambler who blew inheritance turned life around

Old chronic gambler Will mended his ways and now helps others at a Salvation Army shelter in Birmingham (Picture: Salvation Army)

A old chronic gambler who roughshod homeless after blowing upward to £2,000 a night on his habit has turned his life around.

Volition, 31, told how a promising commencement to his twenties went into freefall as he squandered his inheritance on drink, cocaine and gaming later his dad died on the day they were due to reconcile in person.

He quit academy and developed borderline alcohol dependency, gambling online and at bookies and casinos. When his money ran out, Will 'begged, borrowed and stole' from family and friends to fund his vices.

At his everyman betoken, he was arrested for stealing a motorcar and crashing it into a wall subsequently drinking too much on his 23rd altogether.

The reformed character traces his destructive habits back to his parents' separation only later on his 16th birthday, which bankrupt up a formerly loving home as he moved out with his mum.

'I was devastated,' Will said.

'My relationship with my dad broke downwardly and I moved out of the family home together with my mum.'

Volition, from Oldbury in the Blackness Country, began experimenting with drink in the park with friends but enrolled at university and made contact with his dad on his 21st birthday after five years of silence.

A cruel blow followed. Will's dad suffered a fatal heart assail, leaving him 'robbed' of the reunion he had longed for.

World Homeless Week: Former chronic gambler who blew inheritance turned life around

Will was given an emergency bed in a Salvation Army centre before moving into a room as he addressed his problems (Picture: Salvation Army)

'On the day I was due to run across my dad, at that place was a knock on the door from the police to say that he had died that morning,' Will said.

'He had been found in his home alone, after his workmates were concerned near his whereabouts.

'I felt robbed of the reconciliation on the day we were due to see. It was like a kick in the stomach. I wanted the reconciliation and never got it.

'What happened later on pushed me into a screw of drinking.'

Quitting university, Volition began frittering abroad his dad's inheritance on parties where he developed borderline alcohol dependency which spiralled into cocaine and gambling addiction.

'I was gambling every day – online and at bookies and at casinos at least two or 3 times a week – oftentimes spending over £500 at a time and sometimes up to £2,000 in a night,' he said.

'I was using cocaine and drinking daily.

'Cocaine would fluctuate in terms of the amount used daily and drinking would be anything betwixt seven and x pints in a night.

'The money ran out very quickly. To feed my addictions, I begged, stole and borrowed from friends and family.

'I would steal items from friends and when they challenged me virtually it, I would make upward stories and lie to them about what may take happened to their possessions. It was really low.'

Will overcame an abyss of drink, drugs and gambling after hitting rock bottom following his father's death (Picture: Salvation Army)

Will overcame an abyss of drink, drugs and gambling after hit stone bottom following his dad'southward expiry (Picture: Salvation Army)

The fiddling thief was reduced to working for free in a pub and had few clothes to call his own. He quit cocaine but continued to drink and gamble and stole from friends he had made at a church where he used a community cafe.

Rock bottom came subsequently Will, who asked to be identified past his first proper name, spent his 23rd birthday drinking before stealing a car and crashing it into a house. He was arrested and charged for driving offences.

Will was now homeless, having let more friends down and with no options left in his family and social circumvolve.

So, in September 2012, he moved into the Salvation Army's William Booth Lifehouse in Birmingham, where his turnaround began.

During xiii months at the shelter, he addressed his drinking and gambling and worked in diverse roles to gain skills and experience.

'I had issues that needed dealing with just becoming homeless was the catalyst that fabricated me desire to bargain with them,' Will said.

'My support worker helped to pull everything together for my benefits, they as well helped liaise with probation near finishing my community service and assisted me to discover paid employment.

Online Gambling Sites

Will would spend upward to £2,000 a dark on gambling online and at casinos and bookies as he fell into the grip of addiction (Picture: File image)

'Gambling was notwithstanding an issue for me while I was in supported accommodation. My support worker would often cheque in on me daily, to encounter if I had gambled and whether I felt tempted.

'There were occasions where I had slipped up and I would be honest with my support worker nigh this.

'She would then remind me of how far I had come up and would encourage me to abstain, while reminding me of what gambling had toll me so far.'

After being given a supportive and safe identify to recover by the Salvation Army, Will was able to movement on to his own accommodation.

He now works as a programme director for the church building and clemency at the same Lifehouse that helped him in his time of need and continues to repair the relationships that were left hurt and broken.

'I've just achieved nine years gratuitous from drugs and haven't gambled for eight years,' Will said.

'The only matter I would alter is the hurt I created over that fourth dimension.'

The Salvation Regular army is braced for a surge in cases after the government ended its £20 Universal Credit uplift during Covid (Picture: File prototype)

Will spoke during World Homeless Week as the Salvation Army urged the Government to keep the £xx-a-week Universal Credit uplift introduced during Covid. The charity warned that information technology is braced for a surge in demand from thousands of vulnerable people.

Lieut-Colonel Dean Pallant said: 'The Government worked hard throughout the pandemic to protect people from financial hardship, but the loss of the furlough scheme and the Universal Credit uplift volition plunge vulnerable people into poverty almost overnight.'

The government views higher wages rather than increases to taxpayer-funded benefits equally the all-time way to support people on depression incomes.

A spokesperson said: 'Universal Credit will continue to provide vital support for those both in and out of work, and vulnerable households across the land will be able to access a new £500 million back up fund to help them with essentials over the coming months equally the land continues its recovery from the pandemic.'

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