A former homeless drug addict who turned his life around through writing has won national recognition.

Tom Jayston received the Silver award for his flash fiction Lifebird, in the Creative Future Literary Awards.

The national competition was launched by the Brighton-based charity to discover the best writers from disadvantaged groups who find it hard to get their work published.

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Creative Future at Community Base in Queens Road, Brighton, works to nurture marginalised artists and writers in their creative development.

These include homeless people, those with physical and learning disabilities and others with mental health or substance misuse issues.

Long-term unemployed, carers, ex-offenders and refugees can also get help.

The charity provides skills training, mentoring, exhibiting, promoting and publishing opportunities.

Mr Jayston, 41, from Brighton, was a heroin addict and was sleeping rough when he started working with Creative Future more than ten years ago. He started writing poetry, had it published and went on writing courses.

He progressed on to its mentoring programme and decided to come off drugs so he could focus better on his writing.

Talent Mr Jayston, who writes poetry and fiction, said: “Discovering that I had this talent for writing really helped me. I was homeless and depressed and was addicted but this was a way I could express myself.

“Being a writer gave me a positive label about myself that I could use and it has made such a difference.”

Mr Jayston has just finished a psychology degree at the University of Sussex and is now about to start a job.

He said: “I was really pleased to have had the recognition at the awards.

“Writing is something I will always carry on doing as it is the mainstay of my recovery. I’m now helping Creative Futures by teaching writing classes and it is good to feel that I can help other people.”

Creative Futures project director Dominique De-Light has been working with Mr Jayston since 2002.

She said: “I am just so proud of his success. He discovered a talent he didn’t know he had and it inspired and motivated him to turn his life around.

“The association with well-known authors, publication and national coverage of the competition will ensure that winning writers will experience greatly boosted self-esteem, acknowledgement of their writing skill and increased opportunities.”

The awards were presented at Charleston House, Lewes, on Friday.

There were 20 prizes totalling £5,000 in value and the winning pieces are published in an anthology called The Spark.

Other winners included Moray Sanders, from Haywards Heath, and Wendy Bettis, from Horsham.

For more details, visit cfliterary awards.wordpress.com.