After living in my own apartment for over two years I made friends with people who after a while started taking advantage of me and my home. As time went on I was not strong enough to tell them to go away and leave me alone; one of these people was my younger brother and one was a friend of my mum's son.

The things that they used to do upset me; this included taking drugs smoking and drinking heavily leading to bad behaviour.

After a while my mum and her boyfriend were informed of what was going on by the landlord who had complaints from neighbours. This then got me into trouble with my mum as she was supporting me to be independent.

All the problems caused by this meant that I had to move from my home and away from the area that I lived, as several attempts to stop what was happening failed. These people would not stop coming to my home and demanding that I let them in; when I refused they would gain entry by force. It was hard for me as these people included my brother and family friends.

After my mum tried to stop these people from using my home as a drinks and drug den, my mum and her boyfriend decided that I had to move and move quickly. Things were getting worse and I was finding it increasingly hard to deal with.

After all this my mum and her boyfriend moved me from my flat and away from the area where I lived. This happened very quickly and within two weeks I was placed with Linda and Terry which I was very nervous about.

I have been living with Linda and Terry in their home now for over four months and find it a very nice place to live; this makes me happy.
I go out walking and bike riding a lot and also go to the pub, which will keep me fit and healthy.

Linda helps me cook and clean so that I can learn to eat good healthy food and keep my bedroom nice; this will help me to become independent.

One thing that I must mention is that Linda has helped me book driving lessons in a car simulator which has been really good and I hope will help me to drive a real car one day.

I help Terry with DIY jobs and tidying the garden, which has taught me valuable skills.

Where I am now makes me very happy and I am learning valuable skills all the time, which I think is very important.

I would like to think that sometime in the future I can have my own home again with a job, car and motorbike, also a dog like Martha.

Andrew