David Fussell had hoped sales of his film online would allow him to live on the Regent’s Canal

A HOMELESS film director who has lived in a tent in the West End for a decade is set to start a new life with a roof over his head – at university in Cornwall.

David Fussell, who has been based outside the Heal’s store in Tottenham Court Road, has been accepted for a BA honours film degree at Falmouth University in September.

Aged 60, he will live in halls in the picturesque coastal town and use a student loan to pay his fees and rent over the next four years.

“You could make a whole documentary about me doing the UCAS form – it’s been a real roller-coaster,” Mr Fussell said. “I can’t quite believe it because it’s going to allow me to completely take control of my life. The halls have got 24-hour washing machines, an en-suite toilet and shower. I’m going to have three showers a day!”

Falmouth University specialises in the arts, has many top alumni painters, and is run by chancellor Dawn French, the comedy legend from the TV hits French & Saunders and The Vicar of Dibley.

Mr Fussell praised the Salvation Army charity for helping him navigate the complex bureaucracy and to get all the official documents he needed, including a driver’s licence ID, and to set up a student bank account.

Mr Fussell outside Heal’s in Tottenham Court Road

He said he had struggled with filling out the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service form at first because he only had an old iPhone for internet access and forms were designed for people working at a home or office with a desktop computer.

He added he had been contacted by the university after his application and had been asked to write a 750-word essay on his film experiences so they could see what he was like.

“I wanted to show them that I was aspiring to a very high level. I am not going there to do something half-heartedly.”

Mr Fussell has been featured in our newspaper several times since he arrived in Paddington in 2013 on a one-way ticket after losing his home.

He had a hard drive containing a horror movie he had shot before he became homeless, Mystic Demon Killer, that he later managed to get premiered at The Screen on the Green cinema in Islington. The story was made into a documentary by Vice and Mr Fussell had hoped would boost sales of his film online so he could buy a house boat and live on the Regent’s Canal and work up future scripts.

In the past he has spoken about the positive side of living on the street and praised services that have helped him over the years. But he has warned that – particularly since the pandemic – many of the food-aid projects that made a difference to him have hit the wall.

He said at times he had felt under pressure to lie about having mental health problems so he could go on full benefits. He also said he preferred life on the street to hostels that were “not very nice places”.

“This way I am given four years to train up in industry. I reckon most film editors, even the ones at the BBC, are on £30-£40k starting wage. So I’m going to be all right, aren’t I? I didn’t go to university when I was youn-ger. I didn’t want to really at the time. I’ve always believed that you should only do things when you are ready yourself.
“It’s the people who run their lives by set time frames that make the mistakes. And now I’m really glad I didn’t waste that ticket, because it means all the funding is still available for me now.”

And Mr Fussell said he thought the beautiful Cornish coast would be a perfect place to realise his dream of one day living on a boat.