As a resident of Brighton and Hove for the past 15 years, I worked, paid taxes and voted in the city. Then, through no fault of my own, I found myself homeless.

I don't have any alcohol or substance abuse problems and managed to get a referral to the night shelter, run by St Patrick's Church, Hove, from Brighton Housing Trust.

I hadn't heard of the night shelter before and was apprehensive - it sounded like an alien environment.

But the staff were good at explaining what help I was entitled to and I could get advice from them.

You could also talk to them about any other issues you might have and they worked with other agencies to find me accommodation, which, after three and a half months, I was grateful for.

When I was homeless, I felt the lowest I'd ever felt. I didn't know where to turn and had no sense of worth or being.

But the staff and other residents (yes, residents - you can talk and listen to each other, like a large self-help group) at St Pat's helped me, so I felt human again and had some sense of being and worth.

I would like to say a big thank you to all the staff at St Patrick's (at the Trust and the night shelter), as well as to the people from St Patrick's Church, who helped me feel like me again.

I urge Brighton and Hove City Council to reconsider its decision to withdraw funding from the night shelter - it only has 22 beds to cover the whole of Brighton, Hove and Portslade, which is a remarkable and essential service.

Council funding is £208,000 a year. Any council-tax payer who can't see why they should pay this should stop and ask themselves whether, when they have seen a homeless person near where they live or work, they have thought "someone should do something about them".

Well, the council is. It's going to put 22 more on the street a night. That's 8,030 more homeless people on the city's streets a year.

And all three Brighton and Hove MPs don't want to know, as my letters and emails prove.

-Andy Barber, Brighton