Stories from the streets

Mark started running away when he was just 10 years old to escape conflict at home. His parents were constantly arguing and there was also tension between Mark and his siblings. By the time he was 12, he had left home several times, often sleeping rough for a few days.

At this point, Mark's parents split up. He lived with each of them for a while and then settled with his father. However he says: 'I never got on with my dad and we had massive rows. I used to run away and I'd go and escape to my friends a few miles away from where I lived. I'd stay with them for a few days.'

Mark became involved in drugs and crime, pressurised into it by people he met while on the streets. 'I didn't really even like them,' he admits. 'They'd go round and see other people and persuade me to go with them - they were older and more violent than me, and I didn't say "no." Then it became a way of life.'

As a result, Mark had problems at school and was eventually excluded. By the time he was 14, the tensions at home had intensified and his father became violent towards him. He was subsequently thrown out of the house and lived with a friend's family. But that wasn't the end of the story.

Eventually he had to leave that haven too and moved in with his mother. Heartbreakingly, she was also violent towards him and he frequently ran away. At 16, he left home for good and moved into a hostel.

All this was despite help from social services since the age of 11. 'Social services helped me quite a bit, but they probably didn't help me as much as they could have done,' says Mark. 'They do try, but sometimes they can't offer as much as they should.'