Gary Staniforth really is a shining example of how a person can not only turn their life around, but can rise from the bottom to help others.

Not so very long ago, Mr Staniforth found himself living on the streets. Now he has secured a huge grant of Lottery cash to help others who are in the same situation he managed to escape from.

After finding it difficult to access housing, Mr Staniforth began to protest on the steps of Bradford’s City Hall. Then he directed his anger and frustration into a more fruitful pursuit by setting up a foundation to help other people who were homeless and finding it difficult to get housing.

Now his perseverance has been rewarded by the Big Lottery’s Reaching Communities Fund, from which he has been awarded £220,000 to help with the work of the Hidden Homeless Foundation he set up.

It would have perhaps been easy for Mr Staniforth to remain angry at the state even when he managed to better his own situation. But rather than just harbour resentment, he decided it would be better to put his own experiences to use for the benefit of others.

There’s an old adage that if you give a man a fish you will feed him for a day, but if you teach him to fish you will feed him for a lifetime. Mr Staniforth has not only turned around his own life, but wants to help other people to do the same.

Perhaps those who benefit from the work of the Hidden Homeless Foundation will go on to further help others, and from one man’s misery great things may emerge.