“When you’re homeless, it’s much more difficult to get a job and lead a normal life,” says Trevor Luxford. And he should know.

When his marriage broke down he had to move out of his home in Dagenham. Suffering from depression and unable to work, he moved into a local hotel, but it proved to be only a short-term solution.

“After three months there was no chance of carrying on staying in the hotel because of my money situation,” he says. “I was in real danger of being on the streets.”

After contacting the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham’s Homeless Persons Unit, Trevor was referred to Bevan House, Look Ahead Housing and Care’s hostel for single people and families needing temporary accommodation in the Barking area.

Providing one, two and three-bedroom, self-contained flats, with a courtyard garden at its centre, the scheme – which has been funded by the Housing Corporation – offers somewhere secure and comfortable to live. Residents are also offered support with issues such as relationship breakdown, drug and alcohol misuse, domestic abuse and mental health problems.

“It’s made a big difference to me,” he says. “The best thing about being here is that it has given me a future.”

Now he feels able to consider the future again, he says. “With help from my key worker, I’m hoping to find a flat through the council’s Home Choice bidding system. Now that I’m getting back on an even keel, I’m really looking forward to moving to a place of my own.”