Jacob* was 15 when he ran away from home last year. He hadn't been getting on with his mum for a while and when she became violent he decided he couldn't stand it any more.
"Me and my mum used to argue all the time," he says. "Then one day it got so bad that she attacked me and that's when I left. I thought, I've got to get out of here while I can."
Jacob first stayed with a friend and together they contacted the local police who told him about The London Refuge.
"It really helped to have some space away from home," he says. "Everyone was really friendly and it felt very safe. There should be lots more places like it."
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