Ryan’s Story — Finding Safety After Fear
“Even in the middle of busy crowds, I was invisible.” — Ryan
When Ryan left home, he wasn’t walking away from responsibility or seeking a fresh start. He was running from harm.
After months of escalating threats and controlling behaviour, he reached a point where staying was no longer safe. He left quickly, with only a small bag, hoping the city would offer protection and space to think. Instead, he found himself facing new dangers on the streets of Edinburgh.
Like so many people escaping violence or instability, Ryan discovered that leaving danger doesn’t guarantee safety — especially when you have nowhere to go.
Alone in a crowded city
Edinburgh in winter is lively: festive lights, busy pavements, families celebrating, tourists exploring. But for Ryan, the noise and movement only made the isolation worse.
“When you don’t know where to go next, you just keep moving,” he says. “Stopping feels risky. You don’t want to draw attention. You don’t want to be noticed.”
He blended into the flow of commuters, wandered alongside groups heading to Christmas markets, tried to look like he was simply part of the crowd, but he felt painfully alone.
“I could be surrounded by thousands of people, and still feel totally alone.”
At night, Ryan searched for places with warmth or shelter. Looking for quiet places where vents blew out warm air from hotels, hidden doorways where he might be protected from the rain, benches where he might be able to lie down off the floor.
Sleep came in shallow bursts, never peaceful, never safe. Every footstep echoed as a warning. Every shadow felt like a threat.
“In a city like this, you’d think there’d be a place for everyone to sleep safely.”
Ryan’s name was added to the housing list soon after he presented as homeless - but like thousands of others across Edinburgh, he was told he could be waiting up to two years for a permanent home.
- Two years of temporary solutions.
- Two years without stability.
- Two years trying to survive in the margins of a busy city.
His hope faded quickly. The future felt impossible to plan when he was simply trying to make it through one night at a time.
“If you were me,” Ryan asked quietly, “where would you go? Who do you ask for help when you don’t have anyone left to ask?”
On a freezing morning near Rose Street, exhausted and resigned to another day of trying to find places to sit a while, feel warm and not draw too much attention to himself, Ryan met one of Cyrenians’ outreach team.
We introduced ourselves, offered a warm drink, a little conversation, and most importantly, dignity.
“They didn’t talk down to me,” Ryan recalls. “I wasn’t treated like a nuisance. I was treated like a person.”
It was a small moment of humanity in an otherwise overwhelming day, and it became the start of a turning point.
What support looked like for Ryan
Cyrenians’ outreach team work one-to-one with people like Ryan, offering practical support and consistent care. For Ryan, this meant:
- help accessing emergency accommodation
- support connecting with specialist services
- guidance navigating the housing system
- regular check-ins and safe places to rest during the day
But beyond the practical, what mattered most was reliability.
“They showed up when they said they would. There was never any doubt that they’d be there. That’s something I hadn’t felt in a long time.”
That consistency helped Ryan begin to rebuild trust — in people, in services, and in the possibility of a different future.
Why your support matters
Ryan is still on his journey, still waiting for a permanent place to call home. But he is no longer facing it alone.
Every day, Cyrenians support people who are easy to overlook in a busy city: people sleeping rough, people in crisis, people surviving minute to minute.
Your gift this Winter helps us continue that work — providing:
- warm drinks and essential supplies
- one-to-one support on the streets
- help navigating housing and health systems
- safety, care, and connection.
Most importantly, it helps offer something many people in Ryan’s situation lose quickly: hope.
Together, we can tackle homelessness
Homelessness is not inevitable - it’s preventable.
With your support, we can stand alongside people like Ryan, making sure no one is left out in the cold. Your gift this Winter will help change someone’s story.