By then, they may well have beaten their drug or alcohol addiction, or undergone therapy to deal with mental health issues, they may have been treated for a long-standing medical condition, undertaken employment training or learned a whole load of life skills to enable them to live self-sufficiently.

Some may well have done all five, but whatever the journey they have undergone, for many the real struggle begins when they pick up the keys to their new place and step inside for the first time.

“Yes, our job is to get people in a position where they are ready to live independently, but we’ve turned up to houses where they don’t have carpets or furniture, and it comes home to you just how hard this next stage in their life is going to be,” she says.

“The people we work with are vulnerable, many will only have just learned about budgeting and paying bills and they will have very few belongings, so for them to move into a house where they don’t have anything is a huge challenge.

“That’s why, to me, the Derventio Empowerment Fund is vitally important, because even though our role ends when they move into their house, it’s the difference between them failing and succeeding, as far as I’m concerned.”

The Derventio Empowerment Fund is a separate pot of money which is used to give grants to people who need extra help to pay for household goods, or official documents or new possessions that will make a significant improvement to their lives.

In the main, the money is used to pay for household goods such as cookers or washing machines or beds or linen or carpets or sofas and wardrobes – all the things most people moving into a new property take for granted.

“It’s only when you’re in the situation that you realise quite how much stuff you need for independent living,” says Deborah, “and how expensive it all is to people who receive just enough money for food and living expenses, let alone things they need for their home.

“If that’s you, unless you know someone who can help you, there are very few places you can go for help or money, especially in the current climate, because the support that is available is extremely thin on the ground.

“At the same time, having your own house is extremely important and I’ve worked with plenty of people who whom it has made a huge difference, because it gives them a safe platform from where they can start to look for work and get on with their lives.”

These include people who have grown up in – or recently left – abusive homes, whose lives have been derailed by a sudden illness or a mental breakdown, or who have never experienced the kind of stable, settled life that most people take for granted.

“It’s ironic that the step that should represent the next step in their lives could well be the step that knocks them back,” Deborah says, “simply because of the hopelessness of having to find hundreds of pounds worth of household items just in order to live.

“It means that our Empowerment Fund is of the most utmost importance and it’s never been needed more than it is today.”

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