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The Evening Standard is working with youth homelessness charity Centrepoint to help launch a helpline for young people who are homeless or at risk of being homeless.
The freephone will be the first in the country for 16 to 25-year-olds who could be facing a night on the streets and need housing support. It will also help them with wider issues including mental health, addiction and family breakdown.
In less two months, our campaign has raised more than £2million pounds towards the new helpline. But it has also shed light on the true meaning of youth homelessness, showing that it can be anything from sofa-surfing to staying in the house of a stranger.
And we have heard from numerous inspirational young people, who have faced the terrifying ordeal of having nowhere to call home. With the help of Centrepoint they have turned their lives around and taken control for themselves.
Here are their stories:
Poppy: My brother slept in a phonebox but I got a place in a hostel…and a degree from Cambridge
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Monique: Centrepoint helped me go from sofa-surfing to a world powerlifting champion
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Matt: I have never met bad kids. As soon as you start giving them better opportunities, they turn it around
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Ben: I am a priviledged boy from west London but I turned to Centrepoint for support
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Sade: I saw missing posters of myself on buses
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The Evening Standard's Homeless Helpline appeal is raising money for the Centrepoint Helpline, a brand new support service that will save young people from ending up on the streets.
To donate please visit our Just Giving page.