Kenyan-born Benson is a member of Lost and Found Choir, an Edinburgh-based men’s choir run by homelessness charity Bethany Christian Trust

Before I joined the Bethany choir, I found myself alone on the streets without a bed to sleep.

In early 2014 I arrived in Scotland from London. I worked as a security guard but at the end of the year, I lost my job so I was asked to leave my rented room. I would walk the streets and sit in Waverley train station and the City Library to keep warm. One night I went to the Bethany Winter Care Shelter.

I stayed there for three weeks in early 2015; but in the spring of that same year, I was able to move out of the shelter into accommodation where I live today.

Bethany’s Winter Care Shelter provides a free night shelter and sleeping facilities to people who are homeless. Started in Edinburgh in 1996 with a two-week pilot over Christmas, the shelter has grown over the years to span six and a half months, providing overnight shelter every day of the week from October until April.

I first heard about the choir through the care shelter. The choir is like a family for me. I’m in three choirs: Lost and Found with Bethany, one with Crisis and one at the Grassmarket Community Project. I mostly like gospel music

I am still in temporary accommodation but to me there is life where I live now, a simple life but it’s my life. I have a lawyer helping me to get a pension as I only have £60 a week for electricity and food. Every Thursday I go to the council to collect money and top up my electricity. I also attend Crisis community projects and I’m part of the A-Team Homeless Action Group for people in temporary accommodation to contribute to how these can be improved.

The choir has freed me of stress and has increased my self-esteem and confidence in myself. I’ve met so many people with different ideas such that I’m always learning. Now I never feel alone.

I am so grateful to Bethany for supporting people like me. The care shelter saved my life. I was so stressed when I was sleeping rough, but I discovered that singing released my stress. When you sing, you don’t have time to think about anything else. That’s what I use singing to do. That’s why I’m here at the choir. It is free to sing and when I sing I feel good.

Benson is a member of the Lost and Found Choir, for those that are currently homeless, or recovering from homelessness. For more information, visit the Bethany Christian Trust website.