IT is hard to imagine a bright future when you have spent your adolescent years in care and then within a week, at the age of 16, find yourself in a homeless unit, B&B accommodation and then moved into your own tenancy.

These were the shocking and stressful experiences for Andrew Christie, who left care with no support network and few life skills to prepare him for the adult world.

“I had to grow up very quickly, I felt my childhood was over in 24 hours once I reached 16,” he said. “It had a big impact on my mental health. I had no-one to turn to for support.”

Now 18 and living in his own rented home in Motherwell, with a modern-day apprenticeship as a care assistant, he said he found the confidence to make the move thanks to the help of Barnardo’s Scotland. Andrew was referred to the charity’s housing support service by North Lanarkshire Council, which offers housing support to assist and sustain independent living on leaving care.

Young people are referred to the service through the local authority, where they receive practical advice and support to set up home, from registering the property in their name to teaching them how to stay safe and link up with services in the area, from a GP to a dentist.

This is just one of the services provided by Barnardo's Scotland that will benefit from money raised in The Herald's annual Christmas fundraising campaign.

Any money you give, details on how to donate are in the panel on this page, will boost the charity's efforts to improve the lives of young people in Scotland.

“I had a bad impression of support services based on my experiences, I had formed a negative opinion on what to expect,” said Andrew. “Barnardo’s Scotland was totally different, no words can express how good the staff are.

“I had a negative attitude at first but that changed after the second meeting. I can’t explain how much of a difference it has made to my life.”

Staff from Barnardo’s Scotland North Lanarkshire Housing Support Service met Andrew regularly, helping him register his name with utility providers and updating his details for housing benefit. He also learned basic housekeeping skills, how to budget, shop for food and cook. Support workers also advocate on behalf of the young person, helping with letters to job centres or utility companies, for example.

Loneliness can be a big problem for many young people living on their own and the team encourage them to find out what’s going on in their local area, make friends and take part in activities.

“My support worker asked me to write out what I thought I should try to achieve, what goals I wanted to reach,” said Andrew. “They taught me not to launch into things, just take baby steps. They taught me life skills, I had no idea about living on my own and running a house. I can now budget, work out my finances, food shop and cook.”

Andrew left school at 15 with no qualifications with his dyslexia going undiagnosed. Now he has six exam passes, chairs the local youth forum representing North Lanarkshire and plans to stand as a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament.

“The youth forum is the voice of young people in the community. I’m going to put myself forward as a candidate for the Scottish Youth Parliament, one of the things I will put on the table is teenage homelessness,” he said.

“There is a lot of homelessness in this area and I would like to see that improve.”

He added: “I have benefited hugely from the support I received. I’m now going to fundraise for Barnardo’s Scotland to return the favour. Someone raised funds to benefit me so now I’m going to do the same. That’s my goal for 2016.

“My world was empty, crashed down about me. Barnardo’s Scotland built me up and I’ll remember that forever.”

To donate to the Herald/Barnardo's Scotland Christmas Appeal 2015, email heraldchristmas@barnardos.org.uk or visit www.justgiving.com/heraldchristmas/