Rhyss became homeless at the age of 18 after he was forced to leave his family home in Newcastle. Over the course of the next six years, Rhyss would attempt suicide 14 times. After moving into a Salvation Army hostel, he began to suffer from severe depression and anxiety. Within a month of being homeless he was introduced to legal highs for the first time. He soon became hooked on Spice as it helped him sleep and forget his situation. During the next few years Rhyss was constantly moved between different hostels. He also endured more than 12 months of rough sleeping and served a term in prison. In January 2015, an outreach team found him in a doorway in the city centre suffering from hypothermia and put him into emergency accommodation. Still battling a Spice addiction, Rhyss lived here for a year before being asked to leave for persistent rule-breaking and bringing drugs onto the premises. Rhyss was sent back to prison for three months. After moving back in, Rhyss managed to stop offending but was still struggling with his addiction. Over the next 12 months he tried to kick Spice on three occasions, only to relapse again.

Then, at the beginning of November 2017, TRC launched a pilot programme in Newcastle and visited the hostel Rhyss was staying in.

“I remember like it was yesterday I had been off spice for only five days and was struggling to keep it up when [The Running Charity Programme Manager] George came to where I was living and asked if anyone would like to go for a run in the park. It was dark and wet but for some reason I agreed to go out with him and that was the start of my running journey. We ran for half an hour with head torches in Heaton park and it was the first physical exercise I had done in around five years – the feeling was amazing. However, the feeling doesn’t last forever and the next day I was feeling low again and waiting to get some Spice dropped off at Simonside. I couldn’t sleep. But then I saw the headtorch George had left and decided to go out and run around the block to try and kill time and ended up running for 45 minutes. I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face that night. One week later, George came back and we got out running again and he suggested I tried a Parkrun, which I did and loved it. I think this was this point I realised I was actually better than I thought at running. I continued to attend the running sessions and done Parkruns whenever I could. The progression in my running and my mental health were getting a lot better and I just started feeling better in myself. One of the support workers signed me up to volunteer at a Parkrun so I ran then got straight into the volunteer jackets and started barcode scanning as I was now finishing in the top 10. This also gave me a great feeling.”

It was clear from the first session that running could do a lot for Rhyss and from that first week he has never looked back. Weekly runs led to him making changes to his social circle to avoid temptations into harmful behaviours. Friday nights became early nights instead of party nights and over the following weeks and months, Rhyss transformed himself into a strong, competitive runner. The benefits were more than physical and he grew in confidence, making different choices and starting to believe in himself, even going back to college. In January 2018, he moved into his own flat and is now happily settled there, opting to run to most places rather than catch a bus. He continued to train with us through this year, graduating from our programme and taking part in our series of Young Ambassador training workshops. He completed his first 10K race in a blistering 37 minutes before going on to finish the Great North Run in September. Since that first day in the park, Rhyss has worked tirelessly to become a better version of himself, helping others along the way. He now supports our work in the North East and attended an England Athletics Run Leaders course in December. Rhyss likes to keep busy these days, using his lived experience of homelessness and addiction to support others in similar situations as a Mental Health Support Volunteer at nearby charity. He is an inspiration to everyone who meets him and in December 2018 he won a Newcastle Council Service User ‘Inspiration Award’, to mark his incredible journey.

“I recommend anyone who feels flat or just not as great as you hope, to join The Running Charity as their work really does work. I never thought running would help me change my ways and recover but it really did work and I honestly think I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I didn’t meet The Running Charity.”

Rhyss is running in this year’s London Marathon, follow his progress and donate here.