Teesside dad on a mission to help the homeless and lonely this Christmas

HOPE kept Gavin Dawson alive. In his darkest of days, as he slept in an abandoned war bunker – homeless, jobless and full of despair – it was hope that gave him the courage to face each new day, despite its hardships.

It was hope that gave him the determination to fight against the injustice of his situation.

And it was hope that gave him the strength to walk a nine-mile round journey each and every day so he could see his young children, who had no idea of his plight.

He hid the stark reality of his situation from all who loved him – from family who knew him to be a devoted father; from friends who knew him as a joker and a hard worker; and from old comrades who had fought in wars with him in the 1990s.

But today, five years on from his struggle, the former Royal Engineer has decided to share his incredible story of homelessness in a touching Christmas film which encourages people to reconnect with loved ones and never give up on hope.

The video, filmed in the old bunker at Seal Sands, in Teesside, where Gav slept rough for five months in 2014, has been viewed and shared thousands of times on social media and raised a significant amount of money for the Armed Forces charity SSAFA.

Set to the soundtrack of Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s emotive song Memory, the four-minute film aims to encourage those feeling desperate or lonely, affected by homelessness or the impact of army life, to reach out.

“The response has been unbelievable really. So many people have commented or privately messaged me; sharing their own stories, thanking me for sharing mine,” says Gav, who lives in Billingham. “The video depicts my darkest days, but I never gave up the hope that one day I would get my life back – and I did. With the support of friends and my ex-wife Michelle, I was able to fight back.”

Gav, now 48, left school at 16 and joined the Royal Engineers. During his career he served in Bosnia, the first Gulf War, Kosovo and Kuwait. Having left the army in 1999, he married Michelle and together they set up a haulage firm called Grab Dawsons, which operated for around ten years.

Following the breakdown of his marriage and the closure of the company, Gav took a job as regional distribution manager, a job he lost in 2013 after a female work colleague made false allegations of sexual harassment against him and became embroiled in an expensive case against his employer, and subsequently against Cleveland Police, for its handling of the allegations. A tribunal found the claims made against him to be “untrue and malicious” and an appeal to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) found that he had been discriminated against in the handling of the case by Cleveland Police.

“My life was turned upside-down by another person’s actions. I couldn’t afford to live, I had to pay expensive legal fees, I was depressed and I was anxious. It all became too much and I was close to losing everything,” admits Gav. “I became homeless in the June of 2014. I remember distinctly because it was my son’s birthday coming up and I had nowhere to go at this point. I volunteered to donate bone marrow just to get a bed for a few nights and ended up going to Sheffield hospital on his birthday.”

Gav has four children. The day he married Michelle, he adopted her two children Alicia and David. After seven years of IVF the couple had their son Ethan, now 14, and then naturally conceived their daughter Maddie six years later. Despite separating shortly after Maddie was born, the pair now share joint custody of the children and Gav credits Michelle for the support she gave him when homeless.

“The children never knew how I was living. I’d walk the nine-mile round trip to see them, and Michelle did all she could to make sure they weren’t affected," he says. "When we shot the video and Maddie saw the bunker I was sleeping in, she said ‘how could anyone sleep there, daddy?’ It broke my heart.”

The video is raising funds for SSAFA – formerly known as the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association – and Gav hopes it will also raise awareness of mental health among ex-servicemen and women.

“One of the hardest things when homeless is that the days feel incredibly long. I was feeling so low and filling the time was hard. I’d naturally think of my old days in the Forces and at war. It’s hard to reach out to people when you’re at your lowest, but it’s these very people who can pull you through,” he says.

“Hopefully the video raises awareness of how people can feel after coming out of active service. It can be hard adjusting to civilian life and many suffer from anxiety, depression and PTSD. They’re not alone.”

Gav’s fortunes began to turn when a friend heard about how he was living rough and gave him the keys to a house to use until he was back on track. A subsequent large payout from his former employer following the outcome of the tribunal then enabled him to buy his own property and start working again.

As a keen videographer, with a licence to fly drones, Gav set up his own business, Skytographer Productions, now based in Middlesbrough. He specialises in creating videos of remembrance to play at funerals and works with almost all funeral directors throughout the North-East.

This year alone, Gav has created almost 350 funeral tribute videos, of which 70 have been in memory of a person who died as a result of suicide. It was this that prompted him to share his own story in a Christmas film.

“A significant proportion of those who died were young men in their 30s and 40s, which really resonated with me,” says Gav. “I’ve been there; I’ve been at the point where I’m writing a list of pros and cons to suicide. But I never lost hope that life would get better.

• To view the video and donate search Facebook for: 'Gav Dawson SSAFA'
• For other ways to give visit www.ssafa.org.uk