A couple who re-located to England's south coast dreaming of an outdoorsy beach life with their young daughter
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who → re → daughter
have revealed how their plans dramatically unravelled – and they were left living in a borrowed motorhome on a caravan site in the depths of winter.
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they → reveal → winter
Daisy and Will Bevis, both personal trainers, decided to make the move to the seaside after their landlord terminated their contract suddenly on the successful studio gym they ran in Reading, close to where the couple both grew up.
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couple → decide → Reading
The unexpected decision meant original plans to emigrate to Toronto, where they had friends, were put on hold, leaving them looking at a less expensive move within the UK instead.
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they → mean → UK
After visiting a close friend of Will's who lived in the scenic harbour town of Christchurch in Dorset in December 2024, the couple were quickly sold on life by the coast, feeling like it would give them a better work-life balance and plenty of fresh air-fun for their toddler and their pet dog.
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it → visit → toddler
'As a young family, we just wanted to give our daughter, Isabelle, the best upbringing and it's so much more outdoorsy down here,' says Daisy.
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Daisy → want → family
'You've got the New Forest on your doorstep and the seaside.
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You → get → doorstep
In Reading, we would go to soft play and it felt like our lives were often indoors.
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lives → go → play
However, despite their company thriving in Reading, the couple found it much harder to emulate their success in a new place after opening a new gym in Christchurch that May.
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it → thrive → Christchurch
'We genuinely thought: "We've done it before, we were so busy in Reading, we'll have clients lining up at the door".
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we → think → door
We really struggled to build up a clientele.'
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We → struggle → clientele
Without a steady income to rent a property with, finding a home for the family of three that was affordable proved impossible.
Will and Daisy, who now runs an Instagram page (@southcoastmum_) aimed at raising awareness about hidden homelessness, were eventually forced to move into a motorhome after 'exhausting all other options', where they didn't have a shower or proper cooking facilities.
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they → rent → shower
Daisy and Will Bevis (pictured), both personal trainers, decided to make the move to the seaside after their landlord terminated their contract suddenly on the successful studio gym they ran in Reading, close to where the couple both grew up
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couple → picture → Reading
It was cold and damp, like living in a grey tin can,' 32-year-old Daisy said.
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Daisy → live → can
'We had no running water, no toilet – at one point we had no lights either as the electric stopped working.
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electric → have → lights
'I couldn't turn the tap on to fill up a glass of water if I was thirsty in the night – these tiny things can change your life.
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things → turn → life
We only had an air fryer at one time and our fridge was an old-fashioned, mini fridge.
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fridge → have → time
We lived on a lot of rice and sausages and porridge oats, which was miserable.
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which → live → rice
It affected absolutely everything.
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It → affect → everything
There was no separation between the stress of homelessness and family life because we had nowhere to switch off from it, and we also had no extra money to spare.
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we → be → money
We were trying to make life as normal as possible for our daughter, but even basic things became difficult.
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things → try → daughter
Showering, cooking, keeping warm, having somewhere for her to play and simply having a safe, comfortable place to sleep became things we had to think about.
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we → keep → place
As a mother, I found that incredibly difficult.
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that → find → mother
I could cope with a lot personally, but knowing that my daughter didn't have the home environment I wanted for her was heartbreaking.
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I → cope → her
I found it to be very isolating, because I couldn't find many stories like ours, that would inspire me to keep going.'
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that → find → me
Because they couldn't shower at home, the family had to take their daughter into work to use the showers there, which she hated.
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she → shower → which
The unexpected decision meant original plans to emigrate to Toronto, where the couple had friends, were put on hold, leaving them looking at a less expensive move within the UK instead.
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couple → mean → UK
Pictured, Daisy and Will in front of the campervan they had to spend time living in when they were homeless
Both Daisy and Will struggled with their mental health during this nightmare period, says the mother.
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mother → picture → period
She said: 'It got to the point where I was, like, not showering, not looking after myself, not being able to wash Isabelle very easily.
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I → say → Isabelle
'I wasn't really eating properly because our cooking facilities were so minimal.
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facilities → eat → ?
I thought "I can't live like this with a two-year-old".
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I → think → old
I went and stayed with my mum, she lives in Reading, for a couple of weeks.
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she → go → weeks
I think Will's mental health also started to really fail, but he had to step up while I was suffering, and that is exactly what he did.'
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he → think → what
Not only was the motorhome lacking several basic facilities, the family was also forced to move camping sites every 30 days.
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family → lack → sites
Eventually, Daisy and Will declared themselves homeless with the council, before moving into a friend's holiday home for a few weeks and then sleeping on another friend's living room floor in January.
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themselves → declare → January
The council supported them to apply for Universal Credit that same month, which proved difficult because they didn't have a permanent address – and, for the same reason, they could not register with a GP.
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they → support → GP
Daisy said: 'Hidden homelessness is where you have no fixed permanent address, so you could be in temporary accommodation, living in a vehicle, on a friends living room floor or temporarily staying with family with nowhere else to go.
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you → say → family
It honestly feels really scary, it's the most stressful and unwavering experience because you just don't know what's going to happen next.
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what → feel → ?
There's no roadmap, everyone's story is different and it's not entirely clear what yours is going to look like.
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yours → be → what
Our family supported us in the way they could but our friends were the ones to really help.
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friends → support → way
…and 40 more, not listed.
The Aporia
