“I DIDN’T want it to come over as if I was this important person,” said Liz Osborne of her Adver interview.

“That’s not the message at all. The important thing is Booth House.”

The remarkable achievements of Booth House, she insists, are a team effort between staff, clients and supporters.

Booth House has 50 beds and 25 staff. Three of the latter are former residents.

The centre is also the headquarters of two social enterprise businesses staffed by residents and well on their way to being self-sustaining. The Sandwich People is a caterer with a growing list of clients and a five-star environmental health rating, while Recycle repairs and refurbishes bikes.

Both reflect the Booth House ethos.

“We’re about breaking down those preconceptions and prejudices around homelessness,” said Liz.

“I think Booth House is quite a special place in that staff and clients work together to make sure that Booth House is a safe place for people to turn their lives around.

“What we don’t want to do is define people by the situation they’re in. These are people who have potential, who have skills, and we’re here to support them as they find their way back into independent living, employment, volunteering – back to contributing to the community.

“I think that’s important to say at the moment because we’re heading for an election, and it’s important for local politicians to understand that these are local people who have something to contribute and a voice to be heard.”

Liz fights against the widespread notion that homeless people are somehow ‘different’ from the rest of society.

“The number one cause of homelessness is relationship breakdown and that’s something that could happen to any one of us.

“Jobs are less secure; there’s a saying that you’re only two paydays away from homelessness.

“But there’s still a perception that it happens to other people. I’ve been working in Booth House now for over seven years and have seen a huge variety of people from all walks of life, all sorts of backgrounds.”

Liz was born in Aberystwyth, the youngest of a family of four. Her mother was a home-maker and her father a plant geneticist whose work included helping to maximise crop yields in the developing world.

At 16, wanting to make her way in the world, Liz left school and headed for the Wirral, where she worked as an apprentice at Ness Botanic Gardens, part of the University of Liverpool.

She spent just under a year there.

“I ended up in Bristol, via a short stay in Aberystwyth again. I realised I wasn’t happy unless I was working with people. People were my thing.

“I spent some time in local government, working in recruitment, then moved over to Swindon and worked in training.”

Her roles included careers guidance with the old Wiltshire Training organisation.

She became a Christian in her 30s and is a member of Aldbourne Methodist Church.

Of her faith, she said: “It’s an important part of my life – it’s what keeps me going.

“It’s why I do the job, and the job fits perfectly into my faith – knowing that wherever we are, we are loved and accepted, and that wherever we are it’s about where we’re going to. It’s about valuing that in people.”

Liz began working at Booth House after looking for volunteering opportunities on the Salvation Army website. She was working in house sales at the time.

“I wanted to give something back. I saw a job which involved setting up two businesses – social enterprises – for people who had experienced homelessness. I thought, ‘What a fantastic job!’ And it was.

“We set up The Sandwich People and Recycle.

“It’s not a project – it is two real businesses.

“There are the skills, there are the qualifications, there are the social skills such as working as a team, there’s the confidence that they gain, and one of the things I think is important is the understanding of business.

“If you understand the importance of professionalism – of doing what you say you will do when you say you will do it – and the importance of customer service, then you can transfer that knowledge wherever you go.”

Liz isn’t a Salvationist but is full of praise for the organisation.

“For the Salvation Army it’s about acceptance, it’s about having compassion for people who are vulnerable or in need, about having a warm and friendly welcome for everybody.

“But it doesn’t stop there because it is about transforming lives.

“That sounds quite dramatic but it’s what we’re about. It’s about giving people a safe place for them to look at what their needs are and where they want to be, and to get them there.

“We had a client who talked about the downward spiral. He’d lost his job, his relationship broke down as a result, he suffered depression and the depression meant he couldn’t leave his room when he came here.

“He talked about that downward spiral where things fall away and how difficult is is, but he described coming here as an upward spiral. It’s not an immediate solution but it’s an opportunity to take small steps.

“He got his confidence back, started to interact with people, started to get involved, started to volunteer.

“We’re talking about 18 months to two years but then he moved out to his own accommodation and started working again.

“As far as I’m aware he’s still in employment, still in his own accommodation, and will have colleagues and friends who may not know that he had ever been living in Booth House.”