If your cat is very timid and shy it can take some time for them to be able to trust you. However, if you take your time and you do not rush them, you can establish a strong bond with these cats.
For whatever reason some cats are much more apprehensive around people. If you happen to have this type of cat, it will take more work for you to gain their trust but it is possible.
Its always best to keep these types of cats in a room by themselves so they have a much smaller area to explore, and this makes them a little bit less apprehensive already.
Then you should only allow one or two people into the room to interact with the cat at any time. When you do go in the room do not directly approach that cat. Simply just sit in a corner of the room by yourself quietly for a while.
Do this several times a day so your new cat realizes that you mean no harm. You can also go in there with treats as well. But again, do not approach, you can simply set to treat near you or in a neutral position.
Let the cat approach you on its own time and then you can brush them or pet them. The main thing is never to rush these types of cats because you’ll simply just scare them away. If you do take your time, eventually your shy and timid cat will grow to trust you