“I didn’t realise at the time, but I experienced abuse and neglect as a child. My mum was an addict and her life was too chaotic to look after herself, let alone me as well. Her boyfriends were often violent and I saw drug use on a daily basis. I remember one Christmas when I was about six being left alone in the house with nothing to eat all day. These experiences stayed with me and in later life I turned to drugs to numb the pain, and sex work to fund my addiction. I had a son who was taken into care, which was devastating. Before long I was homeless with nowhere to turn.”