A charity supporting homeless people has received £90,000 to help rough sleepers find accommodation.

Homeless Action in Barnet (HAB) give housing advice to rough sleepers and help them to break the cycle of homelessness, providing night shelters during the winter and helping them move towards finding independent, stable accommodation.

HAB received £90,000 from City Bridge Trust, which will last for three years and will help the charity move towards its goal of housing 40 people in the borough per year.

One man who the charity has helped, named X to maintain his privacy, was tempted to give up after his father passed away in 2012, which led his mother to fly back to Africa without telling her children only three weeks later.

X, one of four siblings, was then forced to sleep in his car for three months after his sisters found accommodation through a housing association in 2014, but did not include X in their application.

He said: "The only people who I could rely on in the whole wide world have left me with nothing. I basically gave up on life.

"But I kept going, hoping and praying for the best. One day, I was in Finchley and saw HAB.

"I walked in upset with no confidence or drive. I was basically a mess. The staff saw something in me that made them believe in me.

X eventually got a job working in an Amazon warehouse and, as of October this year, has been looking for accommodation in the private sector.

He added: "I haven't felt like this in a long time and it's all thanks to the staff at HAB helping me to regain confidence and believe all is not lost. I appreciate all that has been done for me."

As part of their scheme, HAB builds relationships with private landlords and helps rough sleepers work with the borough’s rent deposit scheme.

The charity will also recruit and train a group of volunteers to provide additional support after the individuals move in, particularly with skills to help with independent living, including money management skills.