Martyn's story
Martyn Warr first moved into the St Mungo's hostel at 9 St Pancras Way in July 2007. He was suffering from depression and had severe alcohol and substance use problems. In 2009 he started a new job in St Mungo's Learning & Development team.
When Martyn's daughter died, he hid his emotions and continued to support his family. But he struggled to cope and his mental health declined.
"I found strength in drugs and alcohol and that became a ruling part of my life". His depression deepened and eventually he found himself homeless and without a job, "being very lonely, being alien, being an invisible person in a big city and not engaging in anyone or anything".
After moving to St Pancras Way, a member of the project team introduced Martyn to Outside In, St Mungo's client group. At first his participation was minimal but over time his interest grew and he became more and more involved. Outside In is a voice for clients across St Mungo's. The group meets with the Board of Directors every six weeks to represent clients' views and provide honest feedback on projects and services.
Martyn has been a member of Outside In for over two years now. During that time he has trained as a 'Peer Facilitator' to support other clients to run their own meetings. And he has represented St Mungo's on many occasions. He spoke at a parliamentary reception during Action Week '09, to highlight the link between mental health and homelessness and to urge the Government to act. He also featured on a BBC London News item about the subject.
In Summer 2009 Martyn applied for a place on St Mungo's Apprenticeship Programme, a scheme that provides career opportunities to people who have experienced homelessness. The scheme has been extremely successful over the past few years and places are limited, so demand far exceeds the number available.
Martyn applied for a role in St Mungo's Learning & Development team as part of the programme and was successfully interviewed in July, and became a member of the team in September.
"I wanted to work in learning and development because I wanted to influence training of staff and clients across St Mungo's".
His new role will involve organising and delivering training to staff and clients as well as inspecting the standard of training across the organisation.
In the last few years, Martyn has really turned his life around. The time he spent as an active member of Outside In has really helped him prepare for his new role.
"I built up my involvement to three days a week and then to five, so I am used to being busy. Now I am ready for a full-time job.