'˜Keep me off the streets' pleads desperate former addict

Shane Wiles, 37, is asking for donations to help him afford the £1,500 he needs for a deposit and rent for a new home.

He had been living in Mansfield with his long-term girlfriend until October 2017 but after the pair split he has been left with nowhere to go.

He said: “I’m not blaming her, but since I wasn’t on the tenancy I was up the creek without a paddle.”

The firm Mr Wiles worked for offered him a job in Bath so he could stay with a relative, but after just three weeks, he was told the site was closing due to financial problems.

The company has offered him his old job back - working at Cash for Clothes at St Peter’s Retail Park in the town centre.

He said: “I am now in a position where I do have a place to work but no place to live.

“The money is for the rent, deposit and bond on a property to get me back on my feet . If you can help in any way shape or form that would truly be amazing.”

Mr Wiles said he had asked Mansfield District Council and homelessness charities for help, but said he has been told there is little that can be done to help him.

Although he has been sofa-surfing at relatives homes, he says they are also strapped for cash and will struggle to support him.

He said: “I will be sleeping rough until I can raise the funds to rent a place to call a home.

And Mr Wiles is no stranger to being homeless. He spent two-and-a-half years on the streets after becoming addicted to heroin but has since turned his life around.

“I’m older now and a different person. All that is behind me. I don’t think I could handle it again.

He said he is worried about living in a hostel as it could mean mixing with people struggling with drug addiction and would prefer to rent privately which is why he set up a GoFundMe page to help raise cash, writing “help me off the streets.”

“I don’t want to go back to that life, “he said. “Anything at all will help, even just one or two pounds. I just want to find somewhere to keep out of the cold. I’ve raised over £600 so far - so I’m halfway there.

“I’ve been ringing round to try and find myself somewhere, but its a case of if I don’t have the money for a deposit,I can’t rent the property. I’ve been shut down quite a few times.

“So if there are any landlords out there that could help, I would be grateful for that too.”

Dozens of friends have come to his aid and raised a total of £645 - but Mr Wiles says he still needs around £900 to enable him to rent a property.

n To make a donation visit: www.gofundme.com/6bf8hk-help-me-off-the-streets.