A kind-hearted community have rallied together to turn a rough sleeper’s life around – offering him a job fixing cars and a spare room to stay in.
Michael Peaks, 45, was sleeping in a shop doorway in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, when he was spotted by Shane Sharkey.
Mr Sharkey, who just finished playing snooker with his friends, said he ‘felt guilty that everyone was enjoying their Friday night’, so decided to try and help.
He said: ‘He told me he’d fallen on hard times but wanted to turn his life around. I was really struck by how nice and humble he was.’
He posted an appeal for help on Facebook and within 24 hours, Mr Peaks had been offered a room in someone’s home and a job.
The rough sleeper described the response as ‘like something out of a Christmas film.’
Homeless man Michael Peaks who has had his life changed thanks to a kind-hearted community response
Mr Peaks has been given a job in a local garage and a roof over his head after a resident in Melton Mowbray helped him and launched a Facebook appeal
Mr Peaks said he’d been struggling to get his life together after being released from prison for petty thefts and drug abuse five months earlier.
He said: ‘People have given me a second chance. I am bowled over by their compassion and good will.
‘It’s overwhelming what’s happened to me.
‘I have been sleeping rough, on and off, for 30 years. I had a spell in prison and stopped using drugs but when I was released I had nothing and knew nobody.
‘I first went to Lincoln but I got badly abused and threatened by drug pushers.
‘I moved to Leicester but the same thing happened there. I was determined to stay clean so went to Grantham but again I didn’t feel safe.
‘I came to Melton and got no bother. People are very friendly and sympathetic. It’s a place I want to stay.
‘People have given me a second chance and I am trying to change. I hope that one day
I can repay their kindness in some way.’
Mr Peaks has been given a job in a local garage and thanked people ‘who have given me a second chance in life’
Mr Peaks (pictured right, in 2014) said he’d been sleeping rough, on and off, for 30 years
Mr Sharkey spotted Mr Peaks on November 10 after he had finished playing snooker with a group of friends.
The 34-year-old said: ‘I saw Michael and felt bad that I was out having a good time while he was shivering in a shop doorway.
‘I’d walked past him several times before I spoke to him. I took him a cup of tea and some biscuits and we just started chatting.
‘He told me he’d fallen on hard times but wanted to turn his life around. I was really struck by how nice and humble he was.
‘He didn’t blame anyone for his predicament and seemed genuinely determined to change.’
Mr Sharkey then went home and posted an appeal on Facebook.
He described his message as being ‘absolutely phenomenally received’.
Mr Peaks was sleeping rough outside this building in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, when he was spotted by Shane Sharkey.
Mr Sharkey wrote this Facebook message and was met with a fantastic community response
Businessman Graham Limbrick, who runs a local garage, offered Mr Peaks a job and he started repairing and valeting cars on Monday.
Mr Limbrick said: ‘He said to me “I’ve taken money off the benefits system and it’s my turn to pay back. I want to pay some tax”.
‘He wants to go and earn a living and pay his way. So to me if he wants to do that he’s got the bones of someone who wants to get up in the morning, come to work and earn a living.’
A woman in a local cafe has also offered him a room to stay in.
‘It’s an amazing community response’, Mr Sharkey said. ‘I just hope this gives him the best possible chance.’