Paul Struthers, 50, had a turbulent start to life. He experienced many difficult periods in his life including becoming homeless and going to prison. Since then, Paul has devoted himself to turning his life around and helping others who have experienced homelessness.

In his own words, Paul tells us about his volunteering journey with Rowan Alba, and the special friendship he has made through befriending.

Paul’s story

“I was from a broken home, and life became very chaotic for about ten years. I was quite self-destructive, and at one point I ended up homeless and at another I ended up in prison. That was my rock bottom, but I said to myself ‘now my life has to be different’. I wanted to use my experience to help others.

“It was difficult to turn my life around in the beginning, because I had to explain my past. But I have the life skills to support people going through similar situations. I started volunteering at first, in places like Crisis, who help people experiencing homelessness, and eventually I was offered work in that area because they liked me so much as a volunteer.

“I just kicked on from there. I worked for the Job Centre for a few years, helping people get back into work, then I moved onto social care. Eventually I worked my way into the role I’m in now, which is community outreach for a construction firm.”

Becoming a befriender at Rowan Alba

“I’ve been volunteering with Rowan Alba for over two years now. I remember having a look around the area during work and seeing what I might want to get involved with in the community, and I came across the old Rowan Alba offices.

“I wandered in and made an enquiry and before I knew it, I had gone through an interview process and became a volunteer.

“I was matched with George because they thought we would be a suitable match. George has experienced homelessness in the past and so have I. We’re both quite street wise as well and they saw that as a good match. It has worked perfectly, because we’ve had similar life experiences and we share similar thoughts on the world in general.

“I can imagine some volunteer-client relationships being very functional and going through the motions, but with me and George, you never know what you’re going to get apart from a laugh and a good bit of chat. The time just flies when we’re together.

“I think the chaos and the homelessness has meant that I’m ten years behind where I should have been in life. But I’ve learned so much from it that I’ve taken forward and I’ve been able to make a difference to other people’s lives because of that.

“Those experiences never leave you, and it makes you a better, stronger, more empathetic human.

“I think that’s why me and George get on so well, he just knows the kind of things I’ve been through, and I’ve been in his shoes.”

Rowan Alba: CARDS project

Rowan Alba Ltd, run a befriending service for alcohol dependent individuals across Edinburgh which aims to tackle social isolation. Their CARDS service matches people with a volunteer who meet up regularly and do activities as chosen by the them.

George, Paul’s “match”, said: “Rowan Alba is just amazing. I love going to the social group events, it gets me out and they’ve helped me discover new hobbies, like photography.”

“Being matched with Paul has made me feel like there’s someone there I can talk to, I’m so grateful this service exists.”

If you’d like to volunteer to become a befriender, or to find out more information about Rowan Alba, visit: https://rowanalba.org/our-services/cards/