Abingdon autistic man saved from homelessness by couple

Harry Lawrence said he had previously felt "completely worthless"

An autistic man has described how he was saved from a mental health crisis and potential homelessness by a couple who offered to share their home.

Harry Lawrence from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, said relations with his family had deteriorated to the point where he had to move out.

He found a new place to live through the Shared Lives scheme, which is run by councils across the UK.

Mr Lawrence said his life had been turned around.

He said he was previously clinically underweight, sleeping for most of the day and could barely go outside.

"I genuinely felt completely worthless. My relationship with my parents, my brother and my younger sister was just deteriorating to a point where it was looking unrecoverable," he recalled.

"There was a point where if I wasn't going to get help I would have been homeless."

John and Pam Fowler gave Mr Lawrence a home through the Shared Lives scheme

Pam and John Fowler, who are trained Shared Lives carers, gave him a room in 2017.

Mrs Fowler said her guest was now "part of the family".

She said: "It's lovely when you consider what the alternative might be which I suppose could be sleeping in a doorway or it could be in a hostel."

Mr Lawrence said: "The difference here is just insane. I still go back to my mum's... and every time she's shocked, like, 'This is Harry, he's changed so much', which is really nice."

Shared Lives offers a place to stay for adults with needs that make it harder for them to live on their own.

Oxfordshire County Council won a share of government funding in March to expand the scheme beyond its current roster of 80 households.

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