Glee star Cory Monteith has spoken out about the "hidden problem" of youth homelessness - linking it to his own troubled teenage years.
During a break from rehearsals of the live Glee tour, the Canadian actor visited a hostel in west London, the Foyer.
There he told residents of his turbulent teenage years, during which he changed schools 12 times and battled drug problems. At one point he was homeless.
"I moved to Vancouver because I wanted to act," he said. "I had nothing more than a plastic bag full of T-shirts and slept on my drama teacher's floor and friends' floors. This is a personal issue for me. I've been at risk and living in a marginalised situation and my passion is to give something back. That sounds so hokey, but it's a shame to be in a situation and not raise awareness for the greater good."
Through his role as an ambassador for the Virgin Unite foundation he works with three homeless charities - Foyer Federation, The Albert Kennedy Trust and Depaul UK.
He says he hopes to inspire young people not to be limited by their circumstances.
"If you focus on what you want and you persevere, chances are you'll succeed," he said. "That's what I've found. It may not be in acting, but business, finance, the arts. It's all about focus and being inspired."
It is estimated there are 75,000 homeless young people in the UK. Some live on the streets, with others in temporary accommodation, bed and breakfasts and hostels.
Monteith said: "It is an all-pervading social problem, not just here in the UK, but worldwide and in my home country Canada and the USA. It is something that is truly unacceptable in this day and age and in the first world for people to overlook the problem of youth homelessness."
He told Sky News he was enjoying his trip to London and described the live tour as the TV show "on steroids".
He said: "It's going to be larger than life. Pyrotechnics. Fireworks. The rock concert of Glee."
For the uninitiated, Glee is a TV programme about an American choir of high school misfits and has enjoyed remarkable success.
It has won two Golden Globes and its superbowl episode in 2010 was watched by nearly 40m people in the US.
The show is famous for its cover versions of songs, with numbers from Amy Winehouse, Beyonce and Madonna among those to have featured.
And it is not just TV bosses happy with the success of the series, as it has also boosted sales for those originally behind the songs.
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