12^th March 2021 -- Two decades on, former child runaway Ben Westwood finds it hard to accept that as a 13 year-old boy he was able to live for quite some time missing in plain sight on some of London’s busiest streets.

In his debut book ‘Poems From a Runaway’ he goes into detail about how from the age of 12 years old, whilst claiming to be a much older adult, he was able to hitch lifts around the country, live on the streets of London, gain access to day centres, get a legitimate Big Issue sellers badge, evade police radio checks and even get with older girlfriends.

“Although I was somewhat invisible to a lot of people, others simply didn’t seem to question my stories” says Westwood, now in his thirties. “It was just too easy to live a different life as a runaway child missing from foster care. Was anyone even really looking for me?”

He’s not only written about his experiences of street-life in ‘Poems From a Runaway’ but is also sharing his five ‘overlooked tips’ on how people can do better at spotting runaway children such as he was.

You can read Ben Westwood’s 5 tips as well as find out how you can read his book for free at https://www.benwestwooduk.com/post/streetkidsunseen

https://www.benwestwooduk.com