JOHN wandered the streets of Hexham begging a couple of quid for a bag of chips by day and sleeping by night in a car in his friend’s driveway.

The 21-year-old did that for several weeks before Barnardo’s moved him into one of the flats in its Links premises on Haugh Lane. There, he joined the friend whose driveway he’d been sleeping in, both of them taking refuge after major breakdowns in family relationships.

Sam, also 21, has been kicked out of more schools than he cares to remember and has spent the past few years going backwards and forwards between his mother’s home and whoever else would offer him a temporary bed. He is also well known to the police and the court system.

John has been there for five weeks and says life is already better: “I can see the way ahead now. That’s all we do on a night time, sit and think about what we want to do as a job.”

Barnardo’s has a very low profile in Hexham - indeed, few know it has anything to do with the Links project.

But as it considers plans to redevelop the empty middle section of the Links building, something that will require new partners to get on board, the time is right for making the general public aware of its work locally.

Inextricably linked in the public perception with orphanages, Barnardo’s actually withdrew from that field in the 1970s and has long since focused on simply fighting the corner for young people: facilitating fostering and adoption, supporting young carers and tackling child poverty, domestic violence and sexual exploitation.

Ronnie Kane, team manager in Hexham, said: “They arrive here with the skills they need to survive their background, but we need to give them the skills to move on and to do more than just survive.

“We are quite good at getting to the root causes and establishing what their real needs are. I think that’s because we are voluntary sector and not a statutory agency - they don’t regard us with the same level of suspicion, so they are more relaxed with us.”

Sam didn’t have a penny to his name when he arrived at Links in December, so he didn’t have the telephone that made him contactable, a requirement when signing on for Jobseeker’s Allowance. Barnardo’s supplied him with a mobile phone. He is now doing the 12 week long Prince’s Trust programme too and, do you know, he’s discovered activities he enjoys.

“I’ve done lots, but I liked gorge walking and ‘V’ bowling (a computer game), that was the best,” he said.

John chips in with: “They’re developing his social skills; he needs that!” Sam just laughs. John likes what he’s seen of the Prince’s Trust, so he thinks he’ll apply next.

Coming equipped with support and grant funding as it does, the programme is designed to pave the way into employment for young people who would otherwise have a mountain to climb. This particular duo are now drawing up plans to launch their own landscaping business.

Project worker Christine Welch, who’s been at Links since 2009, said: “Sam was homeless when he arrived, but he has kept up his tenancy here for six months now.

“He was also NEET (not in education, employment or training), but now he’s on the Prince’s Trust scheme and about to start up his own business.

“We are the service he has engaged with for the longest period - he works really well with Links.”

Sam replied: “That’s because I know you all and like you all. I only stayed for a week at most anywhere else.”

Once Links residents can demonstrate they have mastered the range of independent living skills needed to fly the nest, staff refer them to the county council’s Homefinder service, complete with a reference that bumps them up the social housing waiting list.

Christine added that once they had their own home, they could apply for some additional support from Barnardo’s to see them through the early days. “Really?” said Sam. “Wicked!”

Children’s services manager for Barnardo’s, Sharon Dunbar, said: “The progression of the young people is important, whether that means to independent living or returning home to their families or perhaps to another service that meets particular needs.

“For some who come here, it will be the first opportunity to have a full assessment of their situation and what their needs really are. Before this, they might have been bouncing round friends’ houses or sleeping rough, but we work out why that happened.”

Autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit disorder are increasingly being identified. “They are quite big issues for us today,” said Ronnie Kane. “We do a lot of work with partnership agencies and signpost to the appropriate professionals in support of any care plans our young people might have.

“We work with young people aged 16 to 24, but there is a split in that those between 16 and 18 are regarded as children in the eyes of the law, so we do a lot of safeguarding in conjunction with Northumberland County Council’s children’s services department.”

The county council also runs the accommodation panel that acts as gatekeeper for Links, in other words assessing whether the client and Links are a suitable match.

There are three flats, each with three bedrooms, within the premises on Haugh Lane and then another two one-bedroom flats elsewhere in Hexham that are used as stepping stones.

The main premises could soon boast a suite of training and meeting rooms, too, that would inject life back into the middle portion that has been empty for quite a long time now.

Ronnie said: “There‘s a lack of services here in West Northumberland, so our young people always have to travel for training and other opportunities, but when their life is chaotic, it’s hard to motivate them.

“So we’d like to develop it to provide education, training and workshop facilities and we’re keen to get some other agencies to the table for their input. The wider the community involvement, the more successful it will be.

“Maybe it could have a coffee shop and we can get some of the young people trained up as baristas ... we’re exploring lots of ideas at the minute.”