Background information on the young people featured in Britain's Street Kids
Robyn
A veteran of the streets of Edinburgh, Robyn [pictured] seems older than her 16 years. Brought up in a household defined by violence and addiction, she left home aged 12 and soon afterwards was injected with heroin for the first time. She was placed in a series of children's homes and proceeded to run away from all of them, encountering rapists, paedophiles and the mentally ill as she slept rough in, among other places, Edinburgh's graveyards. Four years later, she is determined to conquer her addiction and her demons.
Chelsey
16-year-old Chelsey left home 18 months ago and has stayed in dozens of different hostels in South London since. 'Every day is a battle', she says – most frequently with council housing officials. Her inability to engage with the system is symptomatic of street kids: Chelsey is ill-equipped to deal with any adult in authority but needs them to survive.
Sophie
17-year-old Sophie's life is a constant rollercoaster of party drugs, emotional attachments and short-term accommodation. We meet her sharing a squat with her 34-year-old dealer boyfriend, and track her as she 'sofa surfs' across Bristol. Eventually, Sophie moves in with her mum who abandoned her 14 years ago but their reunion proves short-lived.
Haydon
Despite his 17 years, Haydon is ill-suited to life on the streets. Evicted by his mother after a family dispute, we meet him hours after he is made homeless. In desperation he turns to one of Bristol's frontline agencies for teenagers. The agency finds him emergency accommodation in a backstreet bed and breakfast. For Haydon it is a humbling experience – away from home for the first time, he understands he's 'too young to move out', but can't see a way to get his mum to take him back in.
