Although Joanne doesn’t blame the mental health team, she believes Robert could have been saved with early help. “I think he’d have been all right – he’d have still been here.”
More than a year on, Joanne is still haunted by death. Each word brings back painful memories, but she wants to share how she is feeling. “I can see the flashbacks. I can see him every day in my head – when I get up, when I go to sleep.”
She says one day everything just became too much for her. “I rang Pastor Mick and he told me to come down. He’s been great.”
Church on the Street has been Joanne’s salvation. She says it’s a place where she and her family feel safe – and she’s not the only one. Hundreds of others come here each week looking for hope.
"This place is breathing new life, it's helping people. The people who don't make it through the door die"
The former drug dealer offering a lifeline to those in need https://t.co/Mv5TLbI0OI
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) December 17, 2021