When Georgia Randall left home at 18, she had her sights set on a bright future and her first taste of freedom... but tyrannical flatmates put paid to that and she almost ended up homeless. She told her story to MARION SAUVEBOIS

“I FELT trapped but I was too scared to tell anyone the truth. They said they would send someone to drag me back by my hair if I left.”

Moving out of her father’s home at 18, Georgia Randall yearned for independence and a place of her own.

Couch-surfing seemed an ideal solution while she found her bearings.

Soon, the so-called friends who had kindly offered to take her in turned on her, threatening, abusing and stealing from her.

Beaten into submission, she was powerless to escape her tormentors.

“I became their slave,” recalls Georgia, now 20. “I was doing everything for them, I was being sent to the shop at all times, I cleaned. If I didn’t do what they wanted they would hit me. I was covered in bruises.”

Georgia decided to leave home in the summer of 2013. She was invited to sleep on the sofa at the flat of ‘friends of friends’. While the arrangement went smoothly at first, the cracks soon started to show.

“I didn’t really have a plan when I left home. I’m close to my dad now but I needed my own space. At the start I felt relieved.

“These people acted really nice at first. But it got out of control quickly. I wasn’t allowed to go and see friends. They were threatening to hit me all the time. One of them bit me on the arm once and he found it hilarious. I got stabbed in a leg with a dart. Some people have said I’m lucky I got out alive.

“They were taking all my money, although they said they were just looking after it. I was so unhappy.”

Except for her repeated shopping trips, Georgia was only allowed to leave the flat once a week to attend a voluntary placement allocated by the Job Centre.

At the end of her tether, one day she showed a fellow volunteer her bruises and revealed her ordeal. Her friend accompanied her to the police station, where she reported the abuse.

But when confronted by the police, her flatmates denied harming her.

“When I went to work that day I knew I had to do something. I was scared of what would happen. The police got my dad to come and get me – he had no idea it was happening to me – and they took me to the flat. One of them got a caution but that’s it.”

Georgia was born with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, as a result of her mother’s drinking during pregnancy. The condition causes restricted growth, leads to facial abnormalities and learning and behavioural disorders.

Over the years, this has made Georgia vulnerable to being preyed upon.

Two days after she returned to her father’s house, she received a call from one of her tormentors spinning a tale about being asked by Georgia’s mother to get her out immediately.

“I tend to believe what people tell me. I find it hard when people joke, I never know if they are being serious. It’s part of my condition. She sent a taxi to my dad’s to pick me up when he was at work. They got me back to their flat. They probably felt like they owned me.”

Soon she was moved to another part of Swindon to stay with one of her flatmate’s acquaintances.

The cycle of emotional and physical abuse resumed.

Despite her shopping duties, Georgia was only allowed one meagre meal a day. Hunger was a constant concern.

To avoid raising suspicion she was allowed to attend her appointments at the Job Centre, see her doctor and social worker. She never whispered a word of her daily ordeal to anyone.

Meanwhile, one of her housemate’s violent behaviour escalated. His efforts to undermine her and chip away at her sense of worth took their toll.

“I was trying to be strong, to get from one day to the next. But I was blaming myself.”

Noticing Georgia’s increasingly frail state, her social worker grew concerned. She referred the young woman to homelessness charity Threshold Housing Link.

Not at any moment had Georgia considered herself homeless – and yet she was.

“I never thought I would end up homeless. But there are different types of homelessness. Everyone thinks that it means living on the streets. But it was sofa-surfing; I had nowhere permanent or safe. I would have ended up on the streets if I had left but not had any help.”

She moved into Mullane House in September 2013, a staffed hostel run by Threshold for 16 to 21-years-olds. With the help of the charity and her positive activities worker Donna Harris, Georgia has grown in confidence and after a few ups and downs has finally cut all contact with those who preyed on her. Overcoming her sense of guilt and self-loathing was her greatest challenge.

She is now working towards achieving the Duke of Edinburgh award.

“Threshold helped me get away. I had given up hope; I thought I would never get out. My advocate worker from Threshold was there when I got my things. If I hadn’t had someone with me, they wouldn’t have let me go. When I came to Mullane House people said I looked like a rabbit in the headlights. I was really nervous. I was happy to be out of that situation but I was confused. I felt guilty for leaving. These people were still trying to contact me and they gave me abuse on Facebook. But Threshold helped break that cycle; they helped me get my life back.

“I was living in fear and I still am. I suffer from anxiety now. I’m not completely there yet but I feel stronger.”

To find out more about Threshold go to www.thl.org.uk.

PANEL

• Threshold Housing Link is a Swindon charity dedicated to tackling homelessness.

• The charity was formed in 1972 as The Swindon Cyrenians by a group of local people, who rallied together, to provide soup to those found sleeping rough on the streets.

• The charity offers a range of services including a street outreach service and substance misuse programme.

• It also runs a direct access emergency hostel at Culvery Court, a young persons’ project at Mullane House, The Old Appleyard, a substance misuse residential project, a women-only service at Mireller House and a men-only supported accommodation resettlement scheme.

• Each year more than 750 people access Threshold for advice, support, advocacy or accommodation.

• It cost Threshold around £1.1m a year to run all these services.

FACTFILE

Threshold Housing Link is a Swindon charity dedicated to tackling homelessness.

 The charity was formed in 1972 as The Swindon Cyrenians by a group of local people, who rallied together, to provide soup to those who were found sleeping rough on the streets.

 The charity offers a range of services including a street outreach service and substance misuse programme.

 It also runs a direct access emergency hostel at Culvery Court, a young persons’ project at Mullane House, The Old Appleyard, a substance misuse residential project, a women-only service at Mireller House and a men-only supported accommodation resettlement scheme.

 Each year more than 750 people access Threshold for advice, support, advocacy or accommodation.

 It costs Threshold around £1.1m a year to run all these services.